Lost
She sat in front of the TV watching the fuzz that was always there. She looked away from the box and into the dark street; this dark abyss that she called home. She walked down the trash-infested street to the alley that held her belongings and the cardboard box that she called home, only to find that someone had invaded her sanctuary.
She walked over and tapped the man on the shoulder. The man turned around to look at her, and she gasped as a memory hit her.
~*~*~*~Flashback~*~*~*~
A little girl ran up to a man in a white lab coat. " Daddy," she said. "I made a new friend today. He said that I could go to his house later. Can I, huh can I?" she begged. The man looked down at his daughter and smiled an ugly smile. " No, we're leaving this place." He replied. " For how long?" she asked. " Forever." He said looking down at her again and grabbing her hand taking her to a white van that was filled with lab equipment and followed the other vans that were already heading down the road. ~*~*~*~End of Flashback~*~*~*~The girl looked up at the man who was looking down at her with concern strewn across his face.
" Hey lady," he said, "I didn't know this place was yours. I'm real sorry I'll leave right away if you want me to." She looked at him with slight interest, and then she gestured at the box as if to say: "Take it." She then got up off the ground onto which she had fallen and walked away to the park, wondering what had triggered that memory. The night was cold and made her wish for the army blanket that she had left in her box. The next morning she woke up to birds chirping and the cars whizzing by taking people to work. She got up off the bench on which she had spent her night. She looked around and realized that the man who she had given her box to was sitting on the part of the bench that hadn't been touched by her body.
" Good morning." He said cheerfully. She nodded back at him.
" Don't you talk?" he asked.
" Only when absolutely necessary." She replied quietly. The man nodded in agreement.
"The name's Bram, what's yours?" he inquired. She shrugged, giving him the impression that she didn't know. " You can't not know your name." He replied to her shrug.
" I don't have one." She replied abruptly. He took that as the hint not to question anymore. He held out a simple glazed donut that he had gotten from God knows where. She accepted it with a polite nod of her head and proceeded to eat it slowly, knowing from experience that eating quickly after having not eaten in days was a bad idea. When having finished with the donut she turned to Bram who had been sitting there the whole time.
"How old are you?" she asked, uttering the first words she'd said without prompting.
"Twenty, you?" he questioned hopefully. She looked at him thoughtfully before answering.
" Eighteen, how long have you been homeless?" she asked, saying the word without hesitation, as most people would have.
" Since I was fifteen. What about you?"
" I don't know." She replied softly, looking at the ground. He looked at her with suspicion in his eyes.
" What do you mean you don't know, how can you not know when you left your home?" he said with a hint of anger in his voice. She shrugged, got up off the bench, ending their discussion and the first human contact she'd had in a long while; he decided not to follow her. She walked down the street wondering why he had talked to her and why she had talked to him. What made him different than all the others that wanted to talk to me before him? She passed by the market, which was bustling with people getting ready for the day to begin. She deftly picked up an apple from a basket of a merchant who was getting something from his truck. Biting into the fruit she walked down the road away from all the noise and commotion.
She entered into a better part of town and wondered what her day would hold. Her black hair swished as she passed by a few young gentlemen who all seemed to be too happy for their own good. She laughed in her head at their idiocy in believing that life could be anything but heartbreaking. She was at the end of the road, where the sidewalk turned into sand and the beach came into full view. She watched as little children built castles in the sand and teenagers flirted by a snack shop. She was so intent on her examination that she didn't notice the man come behind her and look at her with interest.
"Hi." He said. She turned around and gasped as yet another memory crashed into her mind.
~*~*~*~Flashback~*~*~*~
A teenaged girl stood in front of a machine that was about a foot taller than her.
"You will be tested endlessly before you are allowed to enter into society." The man in the white lab coat said.
" What does it do?" the girl asked in a small voice.
"It tests your strength up here." He replied, indicating his head. She nodded as she stepped into the machine and watched as the door fastened closed behind her. A slow hum started up and she thought of all the other tests that she had been put through and cried at the thought of the pain slamming into her body and mind again.
~*~*~*~End of Flashback~*~*~*~
She turned back to the man who and moved her to a bench and was now standing a little bit away and talking to, who she guessed to be, his friends. Upon seeing that she had come back to reality he walked over and sat down.
"Are you ok?" he asked. She nodded in response, waiting for him to ask her a question where she would actually have to talk to him. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say that she was grateful. When the words didn't come he stood up and walked back to his friends. She watched as they conversed in low whispers so she wouldn't hear. The man walked back to her and said: "My name is Quatre." He looked at her waiting for her to reply with her name. She looked at him pensively and remained silent.
"Do you talk?" he asked. She again nodded in response, yet she didn't honor him with her voice. He looked at her with a bit of a smile.
"Well, my friends and I think that we know who you are." He said, hoping that this time she would display some emotion. She stood up suddenly and started to smile but caught herself and sat back down. " We were actually sent out to find a girl who is supposed to be your age." He told her slowly, as if talking to a small child.
" I'm homeless, not stupid." She told him angrily. He looked at her, a bit astonished at her comment.
" Of course, I'm sorry." He said, quickly making up for his mistake. She looked at him thoughtfully before standing up. She stood up and he led her to the group of his friends.
"This is Duo," he said pointing to a man with friendly cobalt eyes and long hair that was held back in a braid. "Wufei," he then pointed out a Chinese man with black eyes and black hair, the latter of which was held back in a tight ponytail at the nape of his neck. "Trowa," he said, gesturing to a tall man with dark green eyes and hair that covered one of them. " And last but not least Heero." He finished, pointing to a stony faced man with unruly brown hair and Prussian blue eyes. He seemed to be holding something in his right hand, but it was hidden from her view and she disregarded it without a thought. She welcomed them all with a simple nod of her head, while they just stared at her. Quatre cleared his throat rather loudly, which brought the whole group of men to life.
"Hi," said the braided man who was called Duo. She did nothing but acknowledge this with another nod of her head in his general direction. No one else made any movement to welcome her into their company, as she did nothing to say that she should be accepted with warmth and welcoming. She turned around, as if to walk away and was stopped by a strong hand that was surprisingly warm.
"You must come with us." Said Trowa. The rest of the guys seemed to be astonished at his making a comment towards her leaving, she simply took it as the first real reason to stay with them. They took her to a car that was parked a few yards away and gave her the privilege of sitting in the front seat. The car ride to where they lived was silent, except for the soft playing of classical music coming from the radio. When they reached what she guessed as their destination she was calm and cool about the fact that they had just pulled up to a mansion. The rest of the group found it shocking that she wasn't astonished by the fact that they lived in a mansion. They led her inside and into a small living room before sitting her down on a couch and starting the inquisition.
"Who are you?" asked the man called Heero. She sighed realizing that she would have to speak.
"I don't know." She replied softly.
"Where do you come from?" he questioned again.
"I don't know." She said again.
"Why were you on the streets with that tracking device on your ankle?" at this question she looked confused. "You do realize that you have a tracking device on your ankle?" he asked
"No, I wasn't aware of that." She looked at him, her face showing no hint of lies.
"Your anklet, where did you get it?" he asked, a bit gentler now. She shook her head, telling him that she didn't know. He looked around at the other men, hoping they would help him.
"You have no idea who you are and why you're on the streets?" questioned Trowa, who up until now had been silent. She again shook her head in answer to his question. The men all got up at the same time, all thinking the same thing. Quatre spoke first,
"Well, your room should be ready by now. You should rest for a while." He said suggestively. She nodded in agreement, looking forward to sleeping in a real bed. He led her to an elevator and took her to the fifth floor; from there he took her to her room, which was numbered as room 517. She looked into the room tentatively before stepping in. She looked around and found that there was a bathroom to her right and a balcony straight in front of her. She opened the door that led to the bathroom and looked into it wistfully.
"You can take a shower you know. The room is yours now." Quatre told her. She looked at him gratefully and then realized that she didn't have any other clothes. Quatre realized it at the same time and pointed to the closet, which was open and full of clothes. She again gave him a grateful look and stood still, patiently waiting for him to leave. Quatre looked at her for a moment longer and then nodded her way and left her alone, lost in the utter splendor of her room. She ran towards the bathroom and turned on the shower and prepared to take a shower. Several hours later she ventured downstairs to find five young men waiting for her at a table piled with food. She looked at them wondering what had made them wait for her.
" I came to get you a few minutes ago but I heard you getting dressed and decided that we could wait for a little bit." Quatre said, answering her unspoken question. She simply nodded and sat down in the empty seat next to him. They all began eating while she stared at her plate, which was full of steaming, hot rice. Trowa noticed that she wasn't eating and nudged Wufei who was sitting next to him. Wufei looked at Trowa who pointed to her, Wufei looked and scowled.
" Why aren't you eating onna?" he asked harshly. She looked up sharply, surprised by his angry voice suddenly filling the silence.
" I can't." she said softly.
" Why not?" he asked again.
"I'll get sick." She replied again. He looked at her realizing that she probably hadn't eaten such starch filled food in years. He nodded at her and returned to eating his own food, while the rest just stared at her. She looked each of them in the eye before getting up and leaving the room, returning to her own room, while the men in the room that she had left behind wondered about her behavior.
****
She woke up the next morning wondering where she was momentarily until she remembered the events of the day before. She walked towards her closet and cautiously opened the door, afraid that at any moment someone would pop up and say she was stealing and trespassing. She found plenty of clothes in the closet most were a little bit bigger than her but she wore them all the same, happy that they were clean and without holes. She walked down the stairs and headed toward the kitchen, the closer she got the louder the noises of the men having breakfast became. She walked into the kitchen and the room became silent.
"Good morning, Miss…well how foolish of us, we have yet to give you a name." Quatre said to her. She looked at him with confusion in her eyes, wondering why she needed a name. " Well, we simply cannot let you go around being called Hey You." He said, in answer to her unspoken question. She stared up at him, wondering why on earth these people cared enough to name her.