Wow guys, I just love the fact that you review just to talk about the World Cup. Real dedication to my story you got there ;)

But here's your next chapter anyway... enjoy :)

Max POV

The next morning I was woken by a loud siren wailing over the compound and I blearily opened my eyes, completely unwilling to get up and face the new day. I groaned and turned over, trying to get back to sleep, but it was no use. The loud awful screeching sound was corkscrewing right to the middle of my conscience, where the beginning of a headache was starting, courtesy of that wake up call I was being given at that very moment. Jeez. A headache about two seconds after I wake up. Only I could achieve something like that.

I groaned. 'This is how we're being woken up every day?' I muttered to myself.

I heard a similar moan beneath me. 'S'pose so...' A voice answered and I started for a moment, and then remembered that Nudge was in the same room as me.

'So... do you think we should actually get up?' I asked Nudge as I sat up slowly on my hard mattress.

Her only response was to moan again before rolling out of bed and onto the hard floor with a loud 'oof!', dragging all her sheets with her. It seemed that neither of us were morning people. I suppose that I should be thankful for Nudge's unusual quietness.

The alarm had stopped and I was just contemplating going back to sleep when there was a popping sound and our cell door swung wide open, as did every other door in the hallway. Cool. I guess a remote did that.

I lethargically pulled the sheets off me and then hopped down onto the ground from my bunk bed, ignoring the ladder that had been placed near it to help me get down.

I looked down at nudge, who was still lying on the ground with her sheets tangled around her body, eyes closed and obviously on the verge of going back to sleep.

I kicked her lightly and her eyes popped open to look at me. 'C'mon.' I said as I ran a hand through my dirty blonde hair, unsuccessfully trying to tame it before I faced the public. 'I think it's breakfast time.'

I watched as movements started in the other cells nearby and people began to emerge, yawning and stretching as they formed a large clump in the middle of the hallway, obviously waiting to be taken charge of by one of the authorities around here, who had yet to appear. O...kay. As I've stated before, it's a bit weird for law breakers to act so docile, but hey, what do I know? Maybe they all had split personalities and I'm yet to see their aggressive side... yeah... right.

I spotted Iggy and Fang join the group of juvies and I quickly hurried over to the two of them, dragging a protesting Nudge behind me.

'Hey,' Iggy said to us as we approached, smothering a huge yawn behind the back of his hand. Fang only acknowledged us with a slight inclination of his head. I wondered if he'd gotten over last night yet. Whatever there was to get over.

I was beginning to wake up now and my eyes travelled over the sea of teenagers, looking for the other kids we'd met last night, Sam, JJ, Lissa and Aedon. But they were nowhere to be seen.

I looked back at my current companions to find that Nudge had already managed to tug Iggy into a conversation which only left me and Fang to uh, talk.

Psshh, right. I mean, in case you haven't noticed, Fang isn't the most talkative person in the world. No, that position has already been filled by Nudge.

But either way, while Iggy and Nudge were wrapped in their own little convo, Fang and I just stood there in a thick silence, staring at the ground, not looking at each other.

Say it with me now: Awkwaaaard.

I glanced around and realised that the group had started to move towards where we'd eaten last night, Brigid leading them.

I followed them like the good little sheep I was (baa...) and when we reached the room, the smell of burning oatmeal instantly assaulted my nose. Ick.

'Mmm, yum. I love to have burnt porridge for breakfast,' a low voice whispered sarcastically near my ear and I spun in shock to see Fang smirking at me, apparently having crept up behind me while I was completely unaware.

'Oh my God!' I gasped. 'You're a frickin' ninja, Fang!'

His smirk broadened for a second and then he moved past me, grabbing a bowl from a nearby table where they were stacked high, moving towards the lengthening line to wait for food.

I glared at his back for a moment. I mean, it's pretty much a rule of life, for God's sake! You do not shock or scare Max if you want to live. (I mean, me? Scared? What crap are you talking?) And Fang had just broken that rule. And he was still living.

I rejoined Iggy and Nudge who were still immersed in each other (is it just me or have their tones taken a very flirtatious turn?) and tried to tune out their talking for a while.

Once we had our breakfast, we sat down with Fang where he was sitting alone at a table near the side and not long after that, JJ, Sam, Aedon and Lissa also joined us, seeming far to awake and alive for whatever hour of the morning it was.

They chattered happily as they ate breakfast and I wondered why they were so close knit when everyone else in the hall seemed to be sticking together just so that they didn't stand out, instead of from actual affection. I was very tempted to ask them why this was.

So that's exactly what I did.

JJ laughed. 'Oh, you mean why we actually seem to like each other, when everyone else's friendship's are fake? It's just 'cause they're all such bores Max! Nobody else here has any personality at all!'

'It's like the life has been sucked right out of them.' Lissa agreed with a slight shiver.

Like the life has been sucked right out of them...

'Yeah, it's actually really creepy,' Sam continued. 'Our group used to be bigger too. There were more people who were actually easy to get along with. Like – you see that girl over there? The Hispanic one with the brown hair and eyes?' I looked to where he was pointing and nodded as I spotted the girl. 'Her name's Ella Martinez. She used to sit with us every day, she was really sweet and funny. And then one day about a month ago she got taken away for some special treatment with her therapist and when she came back she wanted nothing to do with us. She wouldn't talk to us, wouldn't sit with us, she'd barely even look at us. She said that if we didn't 'behave' then we'd be 'punished' and then she just completely ignored us.'

Aedon spoke up now. 'And she's not the only one,' he said, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. Everyone at the table was listening now. 'Half of us in this hellhole have been taken away by psychiatrists, only to return with a completely different character. They usually take the louder more violent ones for this 'treatment', but sometimes they get the shyer, innocent ones, like poor Ella. And when those loud ones come back, they just don't... they just don't fight anymore, you know? And then the rest of us are too scared to do anything bad either, just in case it happens to us.'

'Fear always was a good way to settle an unruly crowd.' Iggy murmured.

My eyes slowly narrowed as I took in the information Sam and Aedon had just given me.

So apparently kids are taken away occasionally by their therapists and when they come back their characters are completely changed.

The louder, more obnoxious and rule breaking ones are targeted the most, but they are not necessarily the only ones taken. And because of this, the rest of the kids in the place, the ones who haven't been changed will happily do whatever they're told, just so they won't get taken away.

Jeez. This place is creepy.

I opened my mouth to ask another question but I was interrupted by a loud bong that I'd heard last night and Allen Stevens voice.

'Breakfast is over everybody!' the director called. 'It's time for your therapy sessions!'

Oh, goody. It was time to meet my psychiatrist. Joy.

And there you have it! I know, I know, uber short and kinda fillerish, but whatever. Some solid plot next chapter :)

Review please! Do you think we can make it to 100? I do ;)