She glanced at the many children who were all lined up, all in a row, ready to introduce themselves to her. They eyed her sternly, which made Schiza a little uncomfortable and scared. She wasn't sure why they were staring at her as if she was a common criminal, but she tried to calm herself down, telling herself that they probably did this with every new child in the home. Renee was prepared to announce their names one by one as each of them walked slowly towards her.

"This is Maxwell. He's 6 years old and he's been here for a couple months. He's a little rowdy, but he listens to me pretty well. Right, Max?"

"Yes'm," he replied.

Maxwell was much darker-skinned than her, with curly black hair and brown eyes. He was a little smaller than Schiza but not by much. He was carrying onto a fire truck and it seemed like he was playing with this and some other vehicles and small action figures. As soon as he was done being introduced, he went back to his playing, making fake siren noises and driving the truck around.

"And this is Jennifer, she's a little older than you, about 4 years older. Do you know what age she is?"

"11," she answered quickly.

"Yup, that's good, Schiza! She's…"

"Why don't you treat her like a damn animal like you do with everyone else here? Criminy!" she blurted, folding her arms and glaring at Renee disdainfully.

She returned with a sigh. "…a little cranky, and she still has a few issues to work out. Sometimes she'll say something she doesn't completely mean, so don't mind her too much."

"Whatever, Renee!" she spat.

"And this kid's John. He's 4, quite young, but he gets along well with Maxwell. Every time I see you two on the playground you're playing some sort of game. I never had too many problems with him, he's quite well-behaved."

John was smaller than Schiza as well, with a small set of blond hair on his head that curled at the tips with baby blue eyes. He continued to look curiously at her for a while, until he asked, "You want to play cat and mouse sometime? We're going to go out in the playground in a few minutes. It's almost playground time."

"I'm sure Schiza would like to play with you, John. We have one more roommate to introduce her to, but I don't know where he's at. Have any of you…"

She was suddenly interrupted by a tall, teenage boy with brown, spiky hair, wearing a Metallica shirt and ripped blue jeans.

"I'm here, Ms. Renee. You wanted me to see this new girl, right?"

"Yes, Klay. Schiza, this is Klay, he's the oldest and he's been here for a long time, and even if he likes to look tough, that really isn't the case. Klay I had very few problems over the years."

"Unless you count the time I tried to invite a girl over here. Hey Schiza, I'm Klay." He extended a hand towards her. She still felt a little uncomfortable with her new roommates, but after hesitating a little she shook hands firmly with him, meeting eye contact. "Don't worry, I don't bite. Much," he spoke, winking.

"Now that you know everyone, how about we go outside for a bit, get some energy out, huh? I'm sure John would like to play with you."

She opened the sliding glass door at the side of the house, releasing them into the outside world. John and Maxwell dashed to it quickly as if they were dogs being released from their cages, as Jennifer and Schiza slowly walked away from the house. Klay stayed inside, shutting the glass door after they left.

"So, how did Schiza get sent here? She acts shy, but she's probably a good kid," he said as he leaned on the corner of the wall.

"Well, you can't joke around with her, Klay. She really seems fragile and scared. From what I heard, her mom and dad abused her pretty bad. When CPS checked on the house, she was covered in blood, and it was all over her room and the staircase."

"Damn. That's pretty…fucked up. Don't even want to know what they did to her." He shook his head, staring at the floor.

"Yeah, me neither. And I feel bad about the kids who come here who were abused by their parents. They…usually don't do very well in here. You know what's going on with Jennifer. She's only 11, but she's already acting like a snappy rebellious teenager. She doesn't get along with anyone here, not even you. I'm thinking of transferring her as much as I hate to do it."

"I really don't blame you, Renee. She probably doesn't do well here because she's surrounded by rowdy kids and every time I try to talk to her, she snaps at me. You're not giving up on her. If you were, you would let her go out in the streets."

"I guess I can see it that way…" She walked to the laundry room, glancing at the bloody Sonic toy. "I just hope it isn't the same for her. I really feel sorry for Schiza even though I just got her, and I really do want her to get adopted to a good family and help her. I just…hope it isn't like what's going on with you."

He lifted his head, staring at the sunbeams on the ceiling. "Yeah..." He watched it as it faded away, as the sun became obscured by the clouds. "Hopefully not."

She sat on the swing set as the skies and the earth became darker, staring at the ground. She watched at a considerable distance as Jennifer sat on a chair and the other two children ran and played across the playground. She gradually levitated above the ground as she moved her swing, looking at the sky once she was up.

She could hear bells ringing faintly, chiming a familiar church song she recognized. She didn't know the name of the song, but she knew she heard it all before. There was probably a church not too far away from where this foster home was at.

She remembered when she was a little younger, probably a year younger, her parents would get her ready for church. They would get her to wear this blue and white dress that she always felt uncomfortable in, but she did looked very nice when she wore it. She would also wear small black shoes, a hat, and ribbons in her hair. Her parents would also try their best to look nice, wearing a dress and suit. She always felt like it was all a pointless effort to lie about who they really were. Church may have been a place where people would try to look their best and pray for one another, but to her, it was a place where people lied to each other the most.

The only thing she really did liked about church was when she was away from it and she could hear the bells ringing harmoniously. She despised everything else. She didn't like standing up whenever the pastor wanted them to so they could sing, hated listening to the pastor talk about some section in the Bible, trying to tell everyone that God was loving and kind. She especially hated when they would claim they would be forgiven for all their sins if they ate a cracker and sipped some wine. She knew even her parents wouldn't dare to think of showing their true colors in the church, so every time they asked people to line up she continued to sit. She would always get a lecture from her mom about if she didn't do this or that she would burn in Hell, but she would remember that she just went to a church and she shouldn't claim she was good and pure and beat her child, but by the time they came back home she would forget about the whole issue.

Whenever she looked at her parents when they were at church, she was always disgusted with how hypocritical and fictitious they were being to everyone. She always questioned the validity of the commandment, "love thy mother and father". Why should she love them if they didn't love her, or they claim to but only lie to her, which hurt even more? Why love something that was just as evil and vile as a serpent? It didn't make any sense to continue loving someone who will just try to manipulate your love and kindness for their own gain, someone who no longer had a sense of right or wrong and was only fueled by hunger, greed, and delusions.

As she glanced back down on the ground, she saw something black and scaly slither by her slowly, catching a glimpse of its tail.

Her pupils suddenly grew bigger, immediately stopping her swinging as she heard a venomous and screeching voice say, "You're going to burn in Hell you fucking heathen!"

Everyone was standing completely still, stopping what they were doing, when they heard a loud, shrill scream coming from the playground.

"Renee, this really doesn't sound good!" Klay shouted as he quickly opened the slide door, letting her sprint out of the house. She didn't waste any time as she scanned the area, seeing Schiza on the swing set, crying.

"Schiza! Schiza, what's wrong, honey? Are you hurt?"

"There…I…I saw a black snake near me, and it started to talk to me! It said I was going to burn in Hell and it was going to kill me!"

"Schiza…I…" She was in shock over what she said. She carefully got her off the swings and held her close to her body, Schiza weeping loudly into her jeans. "We…need to go back inside. You need to stay with me for a while until I feel you're safe, okay?"

"O…okay, Ms. Renee…" she stuttered, sniffling.

She held Schiza's hand, walking carefully back inside the home. Her crying began to cease a little, comforted by Renee's presence. When they were back inside, she crouched down, pulling the hair out of her eyes. "So you saw a scary black snake, huh? And it talked to you?"

She nodded her head, trying to wipe away her tears.

"And it said…you were going to burn in Hell? And it was going to kill you?"

"Yes…its mouth moved and everything and it was going to jump at me!"

"That's…very scary, Schiza. I can understand why you're so scared. Definitely not something many people would see."

"I…think I should lay down, Ms. Renee…" she muttered. "Is…Sonic all cleaned up?"

She extended her arms, hugging Schiza tightly. "Of course he is, sweetie. I managed to get the stains out without putting him in the washer, like you said. I'll let you lay down, but I'm going to need to keep a close eye on you for the rest of the day, okay?"

"Okay…" she whispered, her face muffled by Renee's body as she held her a little tighter.

She inched her way into her bed, which the top was covered in pillows and her other two stuffed animals. She wrapped herself in a blanket firmly, hiding her face and body in the covers as Renee put Sonic right beside her. "I'll check back on you in a few minutes. Don't hesitate to yell for me, okay?"

She was quiet as Renee walked out of the room, turning the lights off and leaving her in relative darkness.

She looked back at Sonic, who was now clean and barely had a stain on him. He was still immobilized, staring blankly right at her.

She held him, taking him under the covers and clutching him close to her body, the warmth of the blankets eventually lulling her to sleep.

"Schiza. Schiza, wake up!"

She awoke to something pushing her gently, seeing it was now night and the other children were fast asleep. She steadily turned to the side, seeing Sonic standing over her bed.

"Hey, everyone's asleep. Since you got some extra rest, do you want to go outside and, you know, hang out or somethin'?"

"Sonic…" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "It's late. What if Ms. Renee catches us?"

"Nah, she won't notice anything. I saw her doing paperwork and she passed out on the desk! She won't notice us gone, I swear."

"Well…alright. Just as long as we're just going out on the playground…" she said as she stumbled out of the bed, still rubbing her eyes as she walked out of the room. Sonic escorted her into the main room, sliding the door open and walking into the playground.

They both went into the grassy knoll of the play area, leisurely sitting, then lying on the ground, gazing up at the sky, which was a rich dark blue as the moon's incandescent glow lit up the clouds around it, surrounded by many sparkling stars.

"So, a new place, eh? Do you feel better now that you're away from your mom and dad?"

"Yeah, but I'm still a little scared. I mean…what if Ms. Renee and everyone else find out I'm a bad person and not like me anymore?"

"You're not a bad person, Schiza. Far from it. I'd feel a little scared too with what happened but I think you're going to be okay," Sonic calmly assured her, still staring at the sky. "I also like what Renee did to you. You look pretty."

She didn't respond and continued to look at the many stars, intrigued by the beauty of the night and still thinking she didn't look pretty at all. "It's a gorgeous night, huh? I especially like it when you can still see the clouds up in the sky. Have you ever just sat back and looked at the stars?" Sonic asked, facing her.

"No, not really. I was never allowed to go outside at night and I never looked at them much from my window."

"Well, it's nice, isn't it? For some reason, looking up here is reminding me of something, but I'm not sure what it is. It's like…something in the back of your mind, but you can't exactly recall it, you know?"

"I'm going through the same thing, Sonic. Because something happened to me today that gave me that feeling."

"What happened? When you held me when I was a toy you did seem upset…"

"I was at the swings when suddenly I see this black snake with big teeth, telling me I was going to burn in Hell and he was going to kill me. I got really scared and screamed. When Ms. Renee came, it was gone, but I can't help but think there was something behind it. I'm not sure what it was…"

"That's terrible, Schiza! I…I really don't want you to get hurt, definitely not killed! It was good that she got there in time, or else…I wouldn't know what to do…"

"I'm okay now though, Sonic. I haven't seen the snake anymore and I didn't get hurt. But I was so scared…what if the snake tries to hurt me again?"

"I'll snap its spine if it ever says anything like that or tries to hurt you ever again," he harshly replied, angry that such a thing thought of harming her.

She thought about the event again. The snake seemed to be so realistic, but yet very surreal. She knew that snakes couldn't actually talk, but stuffed toys couldn't either. "I'm beginning to think I'm going crazy, Sonic. I know snakes can't talk…"

"Well, no, but then again, how am I able to talk? But…I want you to think about this later. We got the entire playground to ourselves. Do you want me to push you on the merry-go-round?"

She did indeed want to forget the whole issue. She thought playing with Sonic would make her feel better. "Yeah. Hopefully Ms. Renee won't wake up."

"She seems to be knocked out cold, don't worry. Just get in the middle of the merry-go-round and I'll push it, okay?"

She complied, stepping on it and sitting in the middle, holding onto the metal bars. "Hold on tight, I'm going to make it go pretty fast."

He gripped on one of the bars and began to run, steady at first, then picking up speed every second (He prevented himself from going too fast, however, as he didn't want to make her sick or harm her). As he got the merry-go-round at a good pace, he stopped, letting it turn quickly.

She woke up abruptly to the sound of laughter. She noticed right away that she once again slept while she was working on her paperwork, but it was usual for her to pass out while signing something. What was unusual, however, was this laughter that seemed to come from outside her window.

She veered through the blinds of her window, seeing the merry-go-round turning and something blue running near it.

"What the…hell? Is it just the wind…or is someone outside?" She hurried to the main room and looked out the screen door, seeing Schiza laughing joyfully as the merry-go-round spun. She no longer saw a blue blur around it, but she paid it no mind, thinking her tired mind was playing tricks on her.

"Schiza! What on earth are you doing out here child? It's 11 'o clock at night!"

Schiza immediately ended her laughter, realizing she was now in trouble. She looked frightened as Renee discontinued the spinning by firmly putting her hand on one of the bars, looking annoyed.

"I know you slept earlier than everyone else here, but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want out here, Schiza! It's only play time out here when I say it is!"

"I…I know…" Her heart began to race. She was going to hit her for coming out here this late, she knew it. She would be whipped with a belt, punched, screamed at. She couldn't let herself cry. She would only become even more enraged.

"Schiza, why do you look so stressed out all of a sudden? I don't want you to come out here whenever you want to, but good lord kid, you're acting like I'm going to…hit you or something."

"You're…not going to…hit me?" she peeked at her head, surprised.

"Oh no no no no. That's not how I do things around here. That may have been something your parents did, but not me. I'm better than that. I just want you to go back to the bed room and sleep, okay honey?"

She was immediately relieved, her anxiety levels plummeting. "Okay…"

As she picked her up from the merry-go-round, she saw Sonic, sitting on the ground lopsidedly.

"Can't forget Sonic either, can't we?" She held Schiza's body with one arm, while picking up Sonic with the other.

As she carried her back inside, she wondered about him. He was nice to her and she felt his hugs and did seem to be able to move things, but she wondered about her mind as well. She heard of people seeing things that aren't really there and hearing things too, but she couldn't possibly be like them. Wasn't she?

Renee tucked her in, while she clasped Sonic close to her body. He was the best thing that ever happened to her. She thought on how she hoped it wasn't true as she fell asleep, the moon shining through the windows and on her.