One week later
Serene's POV

Looking out the kitchen window, one could glance at the trees surrounding my home and be amazed at how they were brimming with bright green leaves. Summer was working wonders outside. The white from the freak snowstorm had all melted away and even though the anomaly should have somehow been detrimental to the environment, nature didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fiasco. Greenery bounced back into life faster than that time Mason socked Julia in the mouth. It was almost as if the snow existed in its own little reality, but that would be crazy. Right? .

"Serene," Julia whispered into my ear, interrupting my thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"Reality," I whispered back dramatically. "What are you thinking about?"

"I was wondering if anyone knew how to remove gum from hair," She grinned mischievously. I don't want to know what happened.

"Use peanut butter and instructions online," I told her, "I can't deal with it right now, these dishes have been sitting here for days and since the dishwasher doesn't work, I have to hand wash them." The dishes go in the dishwasher, and come out dirty, it's old and I have to replace it. In this home, everyone has important jobs that need to be completed. So many things that need to get done; except chores. No one does chores. No one. So I guess all of that is my job, which is fine; however, it is irritating when everyone disappears as soon as I need someone to take out the trash for me but magically reappears when dinner is ready.

"...So you're not going to help me?" Julia asked.

"Come on Julia," I said. "Be a strong, independent woman for once in your life."

"But I don' wanna," She whined.

"You have to, our guests depend on you." I said while stopping my chore to grab the peanut butter out of the cupboard.

"The cupboard is nearly empty," Julia observed. "Am I correct in assuming that the fridge is in the same state." She opened the fridge then closed almost instantly. "There is nothing in the fridge." She informed. "There's hardly any food left."

"We still have peanut butter though," I said as I handed her the jar.

"Well then all is not lost," Julia said with a sly grin. She grabbed a spoon from and draKkker, scooped a hunk of peanut butter out of the jar, then stuck it in her mouth.

"Isn't that for whoever has gum in their hair?" I asked. Julia looked to me then the jar in her hand before grinning impishly at me. She took the spoon out of her mouth, then stuck it the pile of dirty dishes I had yet to wash. "Thanks." I said sarcastically. Julia laughed to herself as she exited the kitchen. I smiled and continued cleaning the dishes.

Once the dishes were done, I took inventory of what was in the kitchen and made a grocery list of what I needed to get. I should probably take Jericho home on the way there. I should also tell everyone I'm going to be out for a bit. I wasn't expecting anyone to want to come with me, but to my surprise some people did.

My first stop was the T.V. room, which contained almost everyone, despite not having a T.V. Mizuno, Steffi, Benzene, Chimbley, and Mason were all sitting on chairs I brought into the room; they were all reading.

"I didn't know you could read," I didn't mean to say it, it just popped out.

"I didn't either," Mason commented. Chimbley scowled at the both of us.
"Is it 'dat bloody difficult to imagine?" He replied, irritated.

"I guess n-"

"Yes," Mason interrupted. Chimbley snapped his book shut and left the room, muttering something about how didn't need to be treated like this. No one reacted, being used to the minor arguments between Chimbley and mason. Time to talk about my original objective.

"I just wanted you people to know that I have to go out and buy groceries in a bit," I informed. "So if you need assistance, you have to go to Julia." Steffi looked up from her book.

"Can I go?" She asked.

"I don't think that will be a great idea," I told her. "I'll be honest, my van smells really bad."

"I don't care," Steffi argued. "I just want to go." This made me curious.

"Why do you want to go so bad?" I asked. Benzene snapped the book he was reading.

"Because she wants the leave the house," Benzene answered. "And I would like to come too if I can." Well I can't blame them, they've been in the house for about two weeks.

"Okay," I told them. "But Steffi is going to have to wear long pants, our prosthetics aren't as advanced as yours. And if you leg gives out I'll have to carry you back to the van before you can make repairs."

"Sure," Steffi said. She reached under the leg of her shorts and unclipped something. Fabric unfolded from underneath down to her ankles. Steffi now had pants.

"...What?" was all I could mutter out.

"There pretty nifty, huh?" Steffi beamed. "We can go now, right?"

"Your going to have to wait just a bit longer, because I have to take Jericho back home today, also." Steffi nodded enthusiastically. I headed upstairs, hoping to locate the other residents. As I walked down a short hall, I bumped into Climber, who became visibly nervous when seeing me. I instantly became concerned.

"Is everything alri-"

"Everything's fine," Climber interrupted frantically. "We're all doing fine, nothing to worry about."

"Okay…." I was slightly confused. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes," Climber smiled a little. "I'm okay." His tone was still slightly worried.

"If there's anything wrong, you can tell me."

"Of course," Climber nodded. "But there's nothing wrong, everything's okay." He was hiding something, but it could be something minor, probably the toilet got clogged or a light bulb went out. So I decided to let it slide.

"Okay then," I said as I walked past him. "I will be going to go out for a bit to get groceries-"

"Groceries?"

"It means food supplies. Anyway, I have to tell the others, do you know where Jericho or Spoiler is?"

"Spoiler is in a bathroom with Julia, I don't know where Jericho is," Climber suddenly seemed as if he was in a rush. "I've gotta go." He said before running down the stairs. I decided I would ask him about his behavior later, and continued onwards. I couldn't find anyone else on that floor, so I went to the next one. I heard the sound of water running from one of the bathrooms. I peaked inside and snickered.

I was wondering who Julia needed the peanut butter for.

Spoiler was sitting on the toilet lid as Julia was carefully removing gum thickly wound in his hair. Spoiler noticed me standing in the doorway, and looked away, embarrassed.

"You can laugh," said Riphook, who was leaning against a wall in the bathroom. "I sure as 'ell did." Spoiler scowled at his brother.

"So what happened?"

"Well she-"

"Nothing," Julia interrupted Riphook. People just don't seem to be talking much today.

"Okay, well I'm going to the store, is there anything you want?"

"Oil," Riphook answered almost immediately. "'e needs oil, bad."

"Okay," I looked at Spoiler. I felt so guilty; he looked so miserable. "How are you doing Spoiler?"

"Fine," He answered, but he looked tired.

"Are you sure you're-"

"I'm fine!" Spoiler snapped; regret instantly showed on his face after he said this. "Sorry." He muttered.

"Is something wrong?" Spoiler didn't answer my question.

"It's Karl," Julia voice had an edge to it. "He likes making people squirm. The stuff he says to Spoiler would piss anyone off." I bit my lip, thinking about how to respond.

"Why don't you take a rest from him for a bit," I offered. "I'll help Climber keep an eye on him, and those two are a pretty even match."

"Or we could tie him up and shove him in a closet."

"Julia, no, that is a horrible idea," I told her.

"Ah'm down fer it," Riphook said. Spoiler didn't contribute to the conversation; he just sat there sulking. He flinched a bit when Julia tugged a bit on the gum in his hair.

"Sorry," She muttered.

"Where is Karl now?" I asked.

"With Climber," Julia answered.

Uh….

"Right now?" I asked.

"Yeah," Julia said. "After this gum incident, Climber said he would keep an eye on Karl."

"…. Did he?" I said after a bit of hesitation.

"Is there somethin' wrong," Spoiler asked suspiciously. In all honesty, there probably is something wrong since I just saw frantic Climber without Karl. I don't want to imagine the worst, but my little cousin, Jericho, is out of sight along with a homicidal statue, I am a tad bit worried.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm just a little out of it," I lied. I feel awful for lying, but Spoiler is a bit tense, I don't want to worry him even more. "Julia, do you know where my cousin is?"

"Maybe he's in the basement?" She asked.

"Why would he be in there?"

"If he is allowed to go in every bit of this building, but the basement, where do you think he is going to go," Julia explained. I groaned in frustration.

"Thank's I'll go look for him," I promptly left the bathroom and raced downstairs. Right before I reached the main floor, I stumbled into Climber once again.

"Where's Karl?" I whispered to him. Climber looked stunned.

"Uhh…."

"Did you lose him?" I asked. Climber, looking guilty, started to wring his hands together.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I just looked away….. and then he was gone."

"I will help you find him as soon as I find my cousin," I said. "Have you checked the entire house?"

"I believe so." He muttered. I hesitated. "Did you check the basement?" I asked. Climber looked at me, confused.

"Basement?"

"Follow me," I said as turned and raced downstairs. I didn't think that Karl would hurt Jericho, but I've been wrong before. When I arrived at the door to the basement, my heart dropped; there was a bit of light seeping out from under the door. I swung open the door and raced downstairs.

"Are you a pirate?" The two of them came into my sight the moment my cousin asked Karl this question. Karl was sitting down looking through what appeared to be a photo album with Arma perched on his head. Jericho curiously gazed up at him from his side.

"No," Karl, uncharacteristically, replied in a dull voice. This worried me, so I quickly walked over to them.

"You a ninja then?" Jericho asked as I scooped him up in my arms.

"No," Karl replied again.

"Then what are you?" Jericho asked before I could hush him. Surprisingly, Karl didn't answer; he just remained silent.

"I was supposed to watch you," Climber told Karl. Karl smirked as he looked back at the album.

"And what I fantastic job you are doing," he jeered. Climber began to lecture Karl about how he wasn't doing what he was supposed to and Karl would argue back that he wasn't doing anything wrong. I chose to ignore them and focus my attention on my little cousin in my arms.

"Jericho sweetie," I said. "Don't bother Karl so much, I don't think he likes that kind of attention." He pouted as I kissed his forehead. "Also, your going home today." Jericho frowned.

"I don't want to go," Jericho frowned.

"You need to go," I insisted. "Your father will worry about you."

"Okay," Jericho muttered. I set him down on his feet.

"Gather up everything you brought," I told him. "And find Julia." Jericho nodded and, giving a passing glance at climber, ran up the stairs. I turned my attention to Karl, who seeming to be looking right through me. His change of behavior unnerved me, to say the least. Sitting silently, not making that much of a fuss with a blank stare on his face.

"Are you okay?" I asked him without thinking. He blinked in surprise then grinned.

"Why wouldn't I be," He cheered. "Looking through photos of you and your boyfriend is ceaseless entertainment."

"What's a boyfriend?" Climber asked

"It's someone you have romantic relations with," I told Climber.

"..what do you mean?" He asked.

"I really don't understand it myself," I admitted.

"You sure about that?" Karl asked.

"First off, please don't go through my dad's things or come down in the basement at all," I said. "Second, I am currently single, and I don't have any pictures of the guy I dated before." I looked down at the photo album. I saw a page of picture of my dad in his teens.

"That's my father," I told him. Karl furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He flipped back a few pages without taking his eyes off me. He stopped on a page that had a picture of my father kissing a girl with long black hair with looked almost identical to me. I blanched when I realized why Karl was so confused.

"That isn't me," I exclaimed. "Oh god, I don't kiss my father. Geez that's just-" I paused and looked back at the picture. "just… my mother." I silently gazed at the picture, then pointed at her eyes. "See, she has green eyes, mine are brown." Climber also looked at the picture in the album.

"She looks just like you though," he mused. "Does she act like you too?"

"I don't really know."

"What is she like?"

"She was nice," I explained. Memories of her drifted through my mind. "She was an artist also. She would give me advice and almost had an answer to everything, even her ridiculous answers held wisdom" I gently took the photo album from Karl. "She was also willing to deal with the worst things possible, in hopes that things would get better."

"So she's just like you?" Climber asked; I frowned. "I would like to meet her someday."

"She died," I answered a little to darkly. Climber's became panicked.

"I-I'm sorry," He stammered.

"No you didn't do anything wrong," I sighed. "I'm sorry, it just hurts to talk about her." I looked her smiling face in the album. "She died when I was ten years old." I looked back at Karl and Climber and realized; I just gave sensitive information to Karl, that he was probably going to use to torment me.

"You didn't really answer my earlier question," I said, hoping to change the subject. "Are you feeling okay?" Karl, who originally appeared as though he was going to make a comment, paused.

"I am having the time of my life here," Karl grinned. "Knowing that you'll do almost anything to aid me of any problem I have is a real relief."

I am not sure what to make of that.

"Listen," I told them. "I need to go shopping for supplies and such, do you need anything?"

"No," Climber said.

"I'll take a violin," Karl said. "Or rat poison. Whichever you find first." I waved him off and headed towards the stairs.

"Please get out of my father's basement," I told them as started to walk up the stairs. "And Karl?"

"Hmmmm?'

"Make sure to tell me if you have any problems. I'll would actually do almost anything to help you."

Karl didn't respond.