Jordan, Lynn, Hao, Cedi, Susan, Michelle..
"They were all killed?" Conny asked, still clutching her plushy, Little Bunny, in between her arms to act as some sort of stress reliever.
"Yes." There's not anyway to sugarcoat it. "They've been killed and fed to demons."
"That's horrible. Everything about our lives in the house was all a trick, how could mom do this to us?"
"The demons take form of whatever they consume, Conny. So, kids like us are fed to them to not lose their humanlike characteristics. I can only guess that mom used to be like one of us. Only instead of being shipped out, she was given the job of our caretaker. I don't know her motives, but it must be either that or death."
For now, both Conny and I are hiding out in the forest. We just hope mom doesn't find either of us. It's already past midnight making it morning.
The cold made Conny shiver. I wish we could have a fire going earlier, but I cannot risk the chance of anyone discovering the light or the smoke coming from here. Now that I'm sure everyone is sleeping, I gathered as much dry wood and sparked flames using two rocks like Mister taught me a while ago.
"Elios?"
"Yes, Conny?"
"What will we do now? I mean, if mom is going to let the demons kill me, what of the others? You saved me from the demons' clutches, but then it meant that the other kids would be shipped out in my place, right?"
"No, it doesn't work like that. Before I was ready to be shipped out, there was a certain amount of time when the previous child before me was killed, and the child before her. They have designated dates when each kid would be harvested. So, we still have time to save the others before they're eaten." She smiles at the thought of that.
"Yeah, we can do this! We'll save them all!"
"See, that's the spirit. Now, get some sleep, I'll stay up just in case something happens."
"Ok. Goodnight, Elios!" I then got up to walk around and check the surrounding area. "And Thank you for saving me."
I turn to look back at Conny, but already found her asleep. So, I went off to scour the place, it's been so long since I've been able to walk between these trees that I thought it would be a good idea to get used to it again. I recognize some parts of the forest and found a couple of good routes that Conny and I may be able to use to outrun anyone who spots us.
I eventually decided to go to the house. It's risky, but I have to map out this place if I intend to help my siblings escape. But then, as I was about to leave, my stomach grumbled.
The sun was finally rising and I could see Conny rustling before sitting up. "Good morning, Elios!"
I flashed a smile and toss Conny an apple. "Morning, Conny. I grabbed that from the house earlier. I'm sorry I didn't get more, it would be just too risky. I didn't want anyone noticing missing food off the kitchen, so I just took whichever stock is rich."
"It's okay. I know the stakes are high, and I really want all of us to live together. And I really, really don't want any of them to be eaten by the demons." She says nibbling on the red fruit.
Neither do I. "I hope Norman finds my message."
"What's that?"
"Nothing, I was just mumbling to myself." And let the game begin.