Chapter 8
"Let's go over the plan," Emma said to Scarlett, Gilda, and Don. "Ray would most likely start the fire at midnight in the dining room since it's furthest away from our rooms. I'll go down and try to stall him enough that he doesn't set things on fire yet."
"Make sure Ray doesn't find your act," Scarlett reminded her.
"Thoma and Lannion will come with the supplies to make the fake body," Gilda continued.
"And the rest of us will be getting rid of our trackers," Don recited. "When the fire's started, we'll go outside and grab our equipment and get ready to escape."
"And Gilda needs to keep track of Mom to make sure she doesn't catch drift of this," Scarlett said.
"Don't forget to get Ray's tracker in the fire so that Mom thinks he's actually in there," Gilda reminded them.
Emma nodded. "We can explain to Ray once we escape. Or while we're escaping."
"We also need to prevent Mom from contacting Headquarters," Scarlett pointed out.
"Easy!" Don replied. "Just steal the key from Mom and she can't get in!"
"She'll probably just smash her way through if she can't open it," Gilda countered.
"She can keep the key," Scarlett shrugged. "She'll most likely be able to get the device. Once she realizes she can't put out the fire, she'll then realize that we're missing and that we set the fire on purpose. She'll try to contact Headquarters first thing. There is a chance that she won't reach the room before the fire spreads there, but not likely. Mom always seems to find a way."
"We should still try to stall her somehow," Don argued. "Why don't we plug up the keyhole with glue?"
"That works," Emma agreed. "I also think that she'll eventually notify Headquarters. We just gotta hope that we've got enough of a head start. How's training?"
"I'm confident that I can shoot the rope across," Don replied. "And the others are doing pretty good at ziplining, combat, and running."
"Emma, are you sure you can zipline?" GIlda asked worriedly. "After all, you haven't been practicing with us."
"Don't worry," Emma reassured them. "I can do it."
Don sighed. "I can't believe the escape's tomorrow night."
"Yeah," Scarlett murmured. "It's hard to believe that. And that the home we've lived in is gonna be destroyed by us."
"The other kids who aren't coming are probably gonna be relocated," Gilda added. "I just hope they go to the same plant."
"It's not likely, but we can hope," Scarlett said.
"Let's do this," Emma said determinedly. She put her hand out.
Don and Gilda readily put their hands on top of hers while Scarlett hesitated. Sighing when they all looked at her, she also put her hand on top.
"This is so gonna go wrong," Scarlett muttered.
~0~0~0~0~0~
"Is everyone prepared?" Emma asked.
All 16 of them were gathered outside in the back of the house. Mom was busy with the other children. And keeping an eye on Ray.
"Yep!" Thoma replied. "We're ready!"
"I feel so nervous but excited!" Dominic said.
"We're like those super cool spies or ninjas!" Lannion grinned.
"You know…" Scarlett said a bit awkwardly. Everyone looked at her. She sweated slightly at the attention she was getting. "I never apologized."
"Apologize for what?" Don asked.
"I've pushed all of you away," Scarlett frowned. "I was afraid that you all would fear me or hate me for being different. I failed to see that my fears were foolish. And for that, I'm sorry."
Silence.
Then Don started laughing, the others following soon after.
"Are you serious?" Emma asked incredulously. "That's not something to apologize for!"
"Yeah, what Emma said!" Nat agreed.
"Everyone has fears. Why apologize for them?" Anna pointed out.
"And even if you wanted to apologize, you should do it by putting all you got into this!" Lannion said.
"I…" Scarlett trailed off. She then looked up at them. "Thanks. And I will do everything I can to make sure we survive."
~0~0~0~0~0~
It's time. Emma slowly walked downstairs with one crutch. As she walked towards the dining room, she heard Ray humming a song. She wondered for a bit about why he was doing so, but dismissed it. That wasn't important.
Ray was leaning against one of the tables, a book in his hands as he hummed the song. His eyes were tired and seemingly dead.
"Ray," Emma murmured. Ray stopped humming and looked up at her. "What are you doing here this late?"
"It's my last night," Ray muttered. "So I'm saying my goodbyes."
"That's right," Emma said. "It's your birthday tomorrow, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Tomorrow, it's goodbye." Ray hung his head slightly.
Emma slowly limped towards him.
"Hey Emma," Ray said suddenly. "Did you actually give up?"
Emma gave no response.
Ray slammed the book closed and looked at her accusingly. "You didn't, did you? Emma."
Emma slowly looked up, a tired smirk on her face. "For pretty much this entire time, I was thinking: What should I do for Norman's sake? For everyone else? The answer is, to do nothing. Mom told me to give up and move on. "
Emma slammed a foot on the ground. "Like hell I'm doing that! I won't let Norman and the others die in vain. What about you, Ray?"
Ray looked away. Then looked back and smirked. "So, we're always thinking the same way in the end."
"Let's run away, Ray," Emma said seriously. "With everyone. I came here to talk to you about this."
"I wanted to talk to you too. These past two months, we couldn't really talk to each other since we didn't want to get Mom suspicious." Ray stood in front of her.
"Yeah. Even though we weren't doing anything, Mom never stopped watching us. But we can use that against her," Emma replied. She pointed to herself. "If she's watching me, I can keep her eyes away from other people."
Ray gasped slightly. "Scarlett, Don, and Gilda, huh?"
"Yeah," Emma nodded. "I left it all to them. Training for the escape and all sorts of preparations."
"How far along are you guys?"
"We're all ready," Emma confirmed. "Food, clothes, and medicine. We have everything."
"Pretty good," Ray acknowledged. "But how are you escaping?"
'He said you, not we,' Emma noted. "I worked that out too. We have a plan. Let's run before tomorrow afternoon, before you get shipped."
"We should leave at night when it's harder to track us and easier to hide," Ray pointed out. He gestured to a chair. "Sit."
When Emma did so, he continued. "There's two problems. First, Mom's eyes. She's always watching us and holding one of the younger ones. She'll be doing that during the day and at night, the babies are in her room. If we're gonna escape, we need to shake Mom off."
Emma nodded.
"Second, there's the cliff we need to get across from. We can't climb down it and Scarlett's not strong enough to carry all of us across. If we're escaping, we have to go through the bridge but there's only one. And I'm sure there's gonna be security. Once the demons find out, the guards will rush there. Plus, it's near Headquarters, making it easier for them to reach unlike us. So, what are you going to do?"
Ray then looked away when Emma didn't respond. "This is my idea." He opened a box on the table, revealing multiple canisters of oil.
"Oil?" Emma asked, trying to sound clueless.
"At night, we'll light the house on fire," Ray announced.
"You're gonna start a fire?" Emma clarified, making sure to sound surprised.
"That's right," Ray said. He took out one of the canisters. "When Mom's trying to put out the fire, we'll lead the others outside, saying it's an evacuation. If we block the door to the secret room, Mom can't contact Headquarters, and they will just think it's a fire. Not an escape. That means that there would be no guards, which means it's way easier to escape."
'Too bad we're not going that route,' Emma thought.
"As a bonus, I have ten Molotovs hidden in the forest."
"Molotov bottles?!" Emma exclaimed, not expecting this.
"Don't underestimate my six years of preparation," Ray said, annoyed. "We should throw them onto the neighboring plants on the way to the bridge to make it more confusing and difficult for them. Since it's nighttime, no one would be in the forest. Which means no one will die."
All Emma could do was look at him. "Ray…"
"So, let's escape, right now," Ray said, leaning forward. "Don't worry, Emma. The fire's gonna start here, the furthest away from the rooms. Which makes it easy for the others to escape. You taught them formations in tag, right? Or is your leg still…"
Emma easily stood up without the crutch. "It's fine."
"Then it's decided." Ray started pouring the gas onto the ground. "You know, I'm still against taking everyone. If you are taking some, it should just be Don, Gilda, and Scarlett. But you won't listen no matter what. And it's better than you staying behind, so I'm not gonna complain. You decide."
Emma bit her lip. Will he really do it? Will he sacrifice himself? Norman said he will, but maybe he won't?
"What are you doing?" Ray asked, his back turned to her. "Go get Don and Gilda."
"You said… to throw the Molotov bottles?" Emma clarified.
"Yeah. You, or maybe Don or Scarlett…" Ray trailed off, closing his eyes.
Emma took a deep breath, about to ask the question that confirms it. "I'm worried about one last thing. What if Mom just decided to evacuate the building? She might prioritize the merchandise instead of the House."
'So, she came to that conclusion too, huh? Well, no point in lying to her,' Ray thought. "You realized that too, huh? There's a good possibility of that happening. That's why starting a fire won't be enough. But don't worry."
Emma gasped slightly when he took a canister of oil. "I have to do this." He suddenly poured the oil all over him.
"R-Ray?!" Emma choked out. She knew this was gonna happen, but it was still shocking.
"Isn't this the greatest?" Ray asked, his eyes wide and a large grin on his face, making him look insane. "The top scorer about to be shipped the next day will burn up. She won't be able to abandon me." He dropped the canister. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
Emma could only stare, shocked. Why couldn't she move?
"You know, Emma," Ray said almost casually. "I was never really interested in reading or studying. But I endured it so that I can boost my quality up to the maximum. Twelve years. Twelve years they've been waiting to feast on me. It would be a shame if I happened to die, wasted."
His voice grew louder and crazier. "They think they can kill me? Eat me? I don't give a crap about any of that! I'm a human being! Serves them right!"
"R-ray…" Emma said shakily.
He calmed down a bit. "Also, I don't mind. I've been watching my family walk to their deaths for all these years, not doing anything. And they were all good kids."
"Don't-!" Emma was about to walk forward.
"Don't move," Ray said harshly. "You only have one chance, Emma. So don't let me, or Norman, die in vain. Here, this is for you." He threw her the book she was reading.
Emma caught it barely and opened it with shaking hands. She saw the photo Ray had taken that day. Emma was flinching a bit while Norman and Scarlett had mildly shocked expressions.
The clock suddenly chimed. It was midnight.
While Emma was looking at the book, Ray lit a match on fire, making her look up at him in panic.
"I'm twelve years old now. It was a life that I wanted to curse. But I had fun. With you and Norman, you made my life more bearable. Thank you. Goodbye, Emma."
Ray dropped the match and Emma quickly raced forward hoping to catch it. But she was too far and was still limping slightly.
'Come on!' Emma willed herself.
Right as the match was about to hit the ground, the door busted open and the match glowed red, only an inch from falling onto the ground.
Ray and Emma, both shocked, turned towards the door.
There, Scarlett was in the front, an annoyed expression on her face and red glowing hair with Thoma and Lannion behind her. They were holding boxes.
"Tch. I really was hoping you wouldn't be so stupid," Scarlett muttered. "And Emma, couldn't you stall him for longer? He literally almost lit himself. If I hadn't been here, he would have burned. His hair is all greasy too, which is just great."
'Since when was she this snarky and blunt?' Ray couldn't help but think.
"Heh heh?" Emma laughed sheepishly, relieved. "Why are you here though? Not that I'm complaining," she added hastily when Scarlett narrowed her eyes. "Shouldn't you be helping the others?"
"Call it intuition," Scarlett replied coolly. "Besides, the others are fine. Gilda and Don can easily deal with them. I figured I'd come here to see how it was going."
"What?" Ray breathed. "Why are you-"
"Can it, pyromaniac," Scarlett snapped. "I'm so done with your attitude. And we don't have time to waste. Thoma, Lannion."
"Yes!" The two of them jumped to attention.
"Start setting it up."
"Right!" They took out a fresh set of clothes. "Here! Change into this!"
Ray did so rather hesitantly. He had his outdoor shoes on and a new white jacket and shirt. Thoma and Lannion took the old ones covered in the greasy stuff and laid them right in the middle of the oil puddle. They then put meat on top of it along with other chemicals and Anna's braids.
"Ready, Ray?" Emma asked him happily.
"I don't want to-"
Emma suddenly slapped Ray across the face before Scarlett could. Emma then held his face and pulled him forward towards her. "Do you still want to die, idiot? Stop complaining and start escaping cause we're not leaving you behind!"
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Scarlett muttered.
"We're done here!" Thoma and Lannion announced.
Ray walked forward to see what they did. "What is this?"
"Your replacement," Lannion said simply. "It'll create a certain smell."
Ray gasped slightly when he saw Anna's braids. "Those braids…"
"Anna gave them willingly," Scarlett explained. "Though I wanted to do it."
"Now, all we need is your tracking device!" Emma grinned. "Hold still." She took out a knife and walked towards him.
"Emma, are we really-?"
"You can die anywhere and it doesn't have to be here," Emma said slyly. "That's what Norman said."
"N-Norman?" Ray clarified, even more confused.
"You guys go back to the others," Emma said, ignoring Ray. "I'll stay here and put on a good show for Mom."
"Right," Scarlett nodded. She, Thoma, and Lannion started running to the door. Scarlett turned back when Ray was still standing there. "Oi, get moving, Pyromaniac."
"Don't call me that," Ray muttered, finally moving.
Once they left, Emma took a match from the box of matches that Ray left and lit it. She held it up and said, "Let's do this, Norman." She dropped the match and the oil immediately lit up.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Isabella was humming the melody of the lullaby she learned from Leslie. She gently caressed the cheek of Carol. Picking back up her lantern, she went back to her office. She sat down and began doing some paperwork.
After some time had passed, the clock suddenly rang, indicating it was midnight. It startled her for a moment, but she quickly calmed down. She stood up and walked towards the calendar with a pen, crossing out the day.
'Happy birthday, Ray,' Isabella thought.
"Ray!"
Isabella jolted. Was that just her imagination? She quickly went out of her room, running towards the voice. It was in the dining room.
She gagged slightly at the smell that came through her nose. "What is that smell?" Quickly opening the door, she was suddenly blasted by large puffs of smoke. Coughing, she looked at the scene before her.
Emma was kneeling on the ground, crying. She was looking at the raging fire in front of her.
"Ray! Ray!" Emma cried.
Isabella quickly ran towards Emma and kneeled beside her. "Emma! What happened?"
"Ray! Mom, help! Ray is in there!" Emma cried.
Isabella shielded her nose and eyes as she looked at the fire, trying to spot him. When she couldn't, she reached into her nightgown's pocket for her tracker. Opening it up, she saw a green dot where the fire was.
"Did he set himself on fire?" Isabella muttered. She quickly ran out of the room. As she did so, Gilda was running towards her.
"Gilda!"
"Mom!" Gilda stopped running.
"Get everyone outside!" Mom ordered. "Also please get the babies in my room!"
"Right!" Gilda ran towards the stairs.
Isabella came back to the fire with a fire extinguisher. Emma was still kneeling at the same spot.
"If I can… just get his brain…" Isabella gritted her teeth. "Stand back, Emma!"
As she was spraying over the fire, Emma took this time to run. She quickly went down into the hall. Fearing that she doesn't have enough time to remove the tracking device, she decided to just remove the entire ear. It's a shame, but it's better than the alternative of being caught. After slicing it off, she took the ear and hid it in the bathroom. She then ran outside, clutching the bloodied side of her head with some toilet paper.
Meanwhile, Isabella kept spraying the flames. It eventually ran out and nothing has changed. The fire was just as strong, if not stronger than before.
"Damnit!" She cursed. "Why isn't it going out?" She threw the fire extinguisher to the side. "Emma, you need to get out of here as well, before the fire-" She turned around to find that Emma wasn't there.
"Emma?" Isabella looked back down at the tracker and saw another green dot down the hall. She quickly ran towards it, ending up in the bathroom. She was confused. Looking down at the tracker, she definitely saw the tracking device there. But Emma wasn't. Slowly, she turned over the bucket and picked up a bloodied ear.
She gasped when she realized something when she saw Gilda. Gritting her teeth, she muttered, "What were those children wearing on their feet?"
~0~0~0~0~0~
"There's Emma!" Chris said, pointing at her.
Emma kept running until she was in front of them. Panting, she caught her breath. When she looked up, she said, "Thanks for waiting everyone! Sorry it took so long."
Everyone merely smiled at her in response. Except for Ray, who was still shocked.
"Norman…" He said.
Scarlett gasped all of a sudden. "Did you cut off your entire ear?"
"Um… maybe?" Emma replied sheepishly, knowing they weren't going to be happy about it.
"You know what? We'll talk about this later. Right now, we need to get that wound sorted." She looked at Anna, who nodded.
Anna quickly walked forward with some supplies to clean and bandage the wound.
When she was finished, the two of them stood up.
"Alright, everyone!" Emma grinned at them. "Let's go to the wall and escape!"
"Yeah!" Almost everyone cheered.
"You still need to do something about your hair," Gilda reminded Scarlett.
"Right," Scarlett muttered. An idea suddenly came to mind. Reaching into her backpack, she took out the ribbon Emma gave her on her birthday. She tied up her hair into a ponytail, making a bow.
"Guess this is my new use for it," Scarlett shrugged.
Emma smiled happily in response.
They all started running.
Ray was running next to Don. "Do they all know?" He asked him.
"Yep!" Don replied cheekily. He was definitely saving this moment in his mind forever.
"How?"
"How else?" Don retorted. "Emma and Scarlett told them. At first, we only told four. Nat, Anna, Thoma, and Lannion. We got them to eavesdrop on Sister Krone's door when they had that little meeting."
"From that long ago?" Ray muttered.
"Yeah. And about a week after Norman left, Scarlett started telling more people. When Emma got over her grief, she also pitched in. She and Scarlett were like the leaders."
"Scarlett huh?" Ray wondered out loud. "She seems different."
"Yeah," Don grinned. "It's great, isn't it? We all love her blunt and sarcastic personality. She's embarrassed to show it still, but she's getting more used to being around us. Being a leader also helped boost her confidence. She also came up with tons of great ideas. Like making Emma act all depressed when she was giving instructions and orders in secret."
"You guys…" 'are crazy,' Ray added in secret.
They had finally reached the wall. Emma was in front, looking up. She suddenly looked to the side to see Norman there. Of course, it was just her mind.
'Norman…'
The imaginary Norman caressed her cheek before disappearing.
Emma smiled determinedly. She turned back at the others. "Nat and I will climb up first. We'll help everyone else up afterwards."
"Allright, everyone!" Don cheered, giving them some reassurance. "Just do it like we did in practice, and we'll be ok!"
Ray was still hanging back, looking at the scene before him. "Is this everyone?" Ray wondered out loud. There was no way. None of the babies were here. Neither were any of the toddlers.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Isabella was panting. It was a pain to get the communication device out, thanks to whoever plugged up the keyhole with glue. The house was now completely in flames.
"It's burning. Everything is burning," Isabella whispered softly. "But…" She looked down at Emma's bloody ear in her hand.
She started chuckling, which then led to full blown laughter. Her eyes grew wide and she had a large grin on her face. Not unlike Ray's. Like mother, like son.
"They're still alive. Emma and Ray! I won't let you escape, my precious children. You won't get far."
She then felt a tug on her skirt. Looking down, she saw Phil next to her. She stared at him in shock. "Phil?"
"Mama," Phil said, a sad frown on his monkey face.
Isabella kneeled down and Phil immediately went into her embrace. "Phil. Where's everyone?"
Phil squinted his eyes, feeling guilty about lying. But he knew it had to be done. He let go of his mom and said, "This way!" He quickly ran towards the forest.
Standing up, she noticed how Phil had on his slippers, not outdoor shoes like Gilda or Emma. She then opened up her tracker and saw Phil's green dot heading towards an entire cluster of green dots. Grabbing her communication device, she ran towards the green dots.
She kneeled down when all the little kids ran towards her.
"Mama!"
"Where's Emma and the others?"
"What's going on?"
"Everyone, don't worry," Isabella said soothingly. "I'm going to get the others now."
"No don't go!"
"I'm scared!"
All of the kids reached out to her.
"Don't worry," Isabella reassured them. "I'll be back soon. Just stay put!"
Grabbing the radio like device, she went off to the side where the kids couldn't hear her.
"This is 73584 from Plant Three," Isabella said in a commanding voice to the walkie talkie. "The children have escaped! Sound the alarm!" No doubt would she get punished for letting this happen, but that's not important right now.
'Let's see you try to run away, Emma!'
~0~0~0~0~0~
"Emma, where are the other kids?" Ray asked her when he got up.
"They're not coming," Scarlett answered for her.
Ray was shocked. Emma was willing to leave them here?
"I've thought about what you've said before. And Scarlett had some good points when she also brought it up to me," Emma grunted as she held the rope. "The others don't know about the house or fire."
Everyone had officially gotten up the wall. Nat and Emma were now gathering up the rope. She looked up at the black haired male. "I'm leaving the situation to Phil."
"Phil? Sure, he's smarter than other four year olds, but is that a good idea?"
"We trust him," Scarlett said. "He's got things under control. And he knows what he's getting into."
"Don't think we've given up though," Emma interjected. "Once we have enough supplies and knowledge and more people, we'll come back here for the rest of them. We're gonna free all of us."
"Emma…" This plan… doesn't she realize what she's saying?
"There's no time!" Scarlett interrupted impatiently. "We need to get running before they sound the alarm!"
The others nodded and started to run.
Right when they turned a corner, a loud alarm rang all across the area.
At the headquarters, all the demons had gathered.
"Attention all of you. We have received an alert from Plant Three. Following the fire from the plant, 16 children have escaped. Three of them are premium quality. From this point on, we must capture them at all costs. You can kill the ones that are not premium. But don't get a scratch on their heads."
"Damn!" Don cursed, not caring that there were younger kids here. "We need to get moving!"
"We're not even close to the bridge!" Ray said. "What are we going to do?"
"This way, everyone!" Emma called out to all of them. They all followed her until they reached the place where a piece of land jutted out. "We'll cross here."
"Here?" Ray said incredulously. "But Norman said the bridge was the only way across!"
"That's what a simpleminded person would think," Scarlett replied. "Luckily for us, we're not. The demons are gonna think we're gonna use the bridge, but that's not the case."
"Don't worry!" Gilda said confidently. "We've trained a lot for this."
Don had prepared his rope. "Everyone, stand back!" He started to spin the ball of rope around fast. He then threw it across.
Everyone willed it to make it.
The rope had wrapped itself on a thick branch of the nearest tree.
"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.
"Nat!" Don called to him.
"Already did it!" Nat called back. He tied the other end of the rope on a tree from their side.
"Emma, are we really-?"
"Don't worry," Emma replied exasperatedly. "As long as the first person can make it across, we'll be fine. And even if not, we've got Scarlett as a final resort."
Don took out his hanger and put it on the rope. He then ziplined across the large cliff, landing in the bushes on the other side. He took out his lanturn and waved to them.
"We did it!" Dominic yelled.
"Now it's our turn!" Thoma and Lannion announced. They had their water bottle rockets prepared. After pumping them, they then launched them across, making them land in the trees. Don then tied them securely to the trunks.
Nat immediately ziplined past them. "See you on the other side, Ray!" He called out.
The others soon followed.
Ray was still in shock. He suddenly saw Norman next to him. He knew it was just his imagination, but it looked so real.
"Well?" Norman asked cheekily. "Did we show you something cool?"
Ray looked at him in shock. He then smirked. Then quickly hid it with a frown. "Hmph. What an annoying and smug face."
"Well, we were able to completely fool you," Norman pointed out, closing his eyes. "Look." He gestured to all the kids ziplining across. "This is a scenery that we thought we would have never seen."
"Yeah," Ray agreed. "I thought I'd be impossible to take everyone. I'd thought they were nothing more than a hindrance."
"I think they proved you wrong though, right?" Norman queried. "And it's all thanks to Emma. She may be naive, but her attitude and faith in them gave them courage and determination. She believed in them, so they believed in her. Scarlett did too, but she's too embarrassed to show it. You don't have to give up, Ray."
Ray's eyes widened at the empty space that was now there.
~0~0~0~0~0~
"Did you find them yet?"
"No, keep looking!"
Isabella was anxiously listening on the walkie talkie for any good news. "Why haven't they reached the bridge yet?" She asked herself in frustration.
"No," Isabella realized, recalling the ziplining game they played. "Don't tell me-!" She quickly got up and started running to the forest.
'I have to make it before they get across!'
~0~0~0~0~0~
"Six more!" Don called out.
Jemima was the next one. She kept shaking as she held her hanger. "E-Emma," she whispered. "What should I do?"
Emma kneeled down to her height.
"I-I'm sorry!" Jemima cried. "Whenever I think there's a cliff below, my hands start shaking! What if I fall?"
Her words also made Thoma and Lannion look at the cliff in fear.
This wasn't good.
Scarlett sighed. She knew this was likely but hoped it would not happen. "Don't worry," she said to the five year old. "I'll carry you across."
"No," Ray interrupted. He looked over at Emma. "Do you still have that rope we used to get up here?"
"Yeah, why?" Emma asked.
"Tie Jemima to me using that," Ray ordered. He looked at Jemima with a smile. "It'll be ok."
He then looked over at Thoma and Lannion, who were holding each other in fear. "Oi, are you scared of a cliff? Can you not handle it?"
"O-of course not!" Lannion said indignantly.
"Yeah, we got this no problem!" Thoma added. Both of them looked more confident now.
Emma tied Jemima to Ray. Jemima tightly wrapped her arms around him.
"Can you make it?" Emma asked worriedly.
"I saw everyone else do it. I'll be fine," Ray replied. "Let's go, Jemima." He put the hanger on the rope and easily slid across with her.
Thoma and Lannion then went across afterwards with no hesitation or problems.
"Scarlett, you go," Emma said to her.
She nodded. "Right." As she put the hanger on, they heard footsteps approaching them. They both turned to see their Mom there, panting. They had a staredown with each other.
Emma turned towards the direction of the burning house. "Goodbye, house."
Scarlett looked over at Mom. "Goodbye, Mom."
"Please don't leave, my precious children," Isabella begged them in a desperate last attempt.
"Sorry, Mom," Scarlett replied. Emma had put her hanger on the rope next to her. Together, they both slid across.
"Cut it!" Scarlett ordered the others once they landed in the bushes. The three ropes were cut immediately, stopping Mom from any chance of following them.
Mom and them stared at each other for a little bit.
"Let's go," Emma said to the others. They nodded and started running.
Right before Scarlett did the same thing, she did a small bow to Mom, surprising her. She then followed the others. To freedom.
Mom sighed. She then let her hair loose, letting it flow by the wind. 'Oh, Leslie. What would you have done? Maybe if I had kept Krone, maybe- no. I must accept that I lost. Lost to the very children I raised. There's no point in dwelling on what I could have done. The only thing I wish I could do...'
'Was to love all of you normally.'
'I'm so proud of all of you. You all did something that I thought was impossible. I was determined to live. To live for the longest time, for Leslie. But I guess that's gone now. But I don't care anymore about that. Run, my children! Until you reach the break of day! Please be careful.'
'This reminds me so much of that day…'
Flashback
Leslie was playing what Isabella thought was a beautiful song on his mandolin. She was currently hiding in the tree he's leaning on, planning to surprise him. But right now, she just wanted to hear the song.
The male was so caught up in the song, that he jolted back when Isabella's head suddenly popped up from the leaves.
"Ahh!" Leslie yelled as Isabella swung down. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry!" Isabella giggled. "I wanted to surprise you! And you were playing such a pretty song! Did you compose it yourself?"
"Yeah," Leslie admitted.
"It's so nice! What's the name of it?"
"It doesn't have a name," Leslie replied, blushing.
"It's amazing!" Isabella leaned forward. "Let me hear more of it!"
Leslie stared at her for a few moments before nodding shyly. He picked up his pick and started playing the song again. Isabella settled down and stared at the beautiful landscape around them.
'Life couldn't get better than this…'
It all changed though… when the day of Leslie's shipment date came.
Leslie was in the standard outfit for males who leave the house. All of them waved merry goodbyes to him. All except for Isabella, who had tears in her eyes.
Leslie noticed this and smiled tenderly at her, trying to reassure her in that way that it will all be ok.
Their Mom, who just so happened to be the future Grandma, put a hand on his shoulder and led him out.
That night, Isabella couldn't stop crying. By the time the sun rised, she made a decision to go past the fence that Mom forbade them from crossing. She only wanted to do it so that she could meet up with Leslie again.
She didn't expect a giant cement-like wall though. Luckily, she had some rope with her and used that to propel herself up. What was even more shocking though, was the giant cliff that separated the wall from the rest of the forest. She stared at it in shock. Why was this here?
Isabella then heard footsteps and looked behind her, seeing their Mom staring up at her with a smile. The girl tensed, preparing herself for a scolding.
Instead of that, her Mom merely held a hand out, asking her to come down.
Isabella did just that, seeing that there was no other way. It was impossible, the thing she yearned for.
Soon after that incident, Isabella's shipping date came. She stared in shock at the grotesque being in front of her. What is this?
She then saw an older woman walk towards her, introducing herself as 'Grandma'.
The girl could not stop shaking after the elderly woman told her about the truth. About what this place really was. She was furious. That Leslie did not find a happy family. That he left them. That he was… dead.
'Is that what's going to happen to me?' Isabella thought fearfully. Well, it wasn't as bad as it sounded. After all, she'll get to see Leslie again…
But the Grandma offered her two choices. One, to become a Mom, and two, to die like the rest of her siblings.
Isabella was tempted to go for the other option, but then… the fear of death struck her faster than lightning. And the thought that came to her was, 'I could live longer than any of my siblings. I could do it for them. For Leslie.'
And so she accepted, taking the hand of the older woman.
After that, she was standing in a line with other 12 year old girls, waiting for instructions from Grandma.
And so, for years, she trained to become a Mom. And…
Had even gotten pregnant. She hummed the song that Leslie taught her, for that was the only thing keeping her sane in this place.
After her pregnancy, she was ordered to become Mom of Plant Three, much to the jealousy of the other Sisters.
There, at Grace Field, she cared for every single one with love.
One day, when she was walking along the wall near the gate, she heard a certain melody that made her stop in her tracks. She then followed the sound to… a little Ray.
Isabella's face was stricken. Ray stopped humming the song to look up at her.
"Ray… how do you know that song?" She asked shakily.
Ray smiled at her, making her look even more fearful, touching her belly.
"Hey, Mom," Ray said. "Why did you give birth to me?"
Slowly, her face shifted into a cold smile. "Well, Ray…"
"It was to survive. Longer than anyone else."
Flashback End
'But, I guess that dream is over though.'
When she returned to the other kids, they all immediately ran to her. She noticed Phil was hanging back hesitantly. She smiled at him. "Don't worry. They all escaped."
Phil was surprised that she knew he was in on it. But she didn't seem mad. More like… accepting and happy. He then remembered what Scarlett gave him that day.
"Mama," Phil ran to her with the letter in hand. "Here."
Confused, Mom took the letter. After getting the kids settled onto the grass with sleeping bags, she sang them a certain lullaby.
"What's this song?" One of them murmured.
"It's really pretty!"
"This is Mama's favorite song," Isabella replied to them lovingly. She then continued the lullaby until she finished. By then, all of the kids were asleep.
Now was the time to open the strange letter Phil gave to her. Not having anything to cut it open, she just ripped the top of it instead. The neat writing on the letter was easily recognizable as Scarlett's. Out of everyone, she didn't expect the letter to be from the timid girl.
Mom,
To be honest, my opinion of you has changed ever since I found out the truth. But surprisingly, I don't hate you. I hate what you're doing, but I can't bring myself to hate you. I know that even if you have harsh methods of keeping us here, it's because you want to protect us. To give us a happy life. When I saw you by Nalia's side in the infirmary, it just confirmed that.
You may be on the side of the enemy, but I think that you're unwilling to do so. You decided to be with them, to survive, right? I don't blame you for that. I don't think any of us do. In fact, if I was given the same situation as you, I would have chosen to become a sister. But that was before I actually bonded with my siblings. I was alone. Scared. My siblings gave me light though. They gave me the will to go through with our plan.
That day when Norman, Emma, and I went past the fence and you caught us, I noticed something. It sounded like you related to us. That you felt this sensation before. But you didn't do anything when you discovered it. And I think it's because you had no one to rely on. To protect or to help you. You were all alone. I'm thankful that I wasn't. I should have realized earlier.
This is risky to say. But I think after you've seen our escape, that you found a new light. A new hope. Which is why I'm gonna tell you something. We're not just gonna escape. We're gonna free the rest of us here. We're gonna free us from being cattle. And no, it wasn't my idea. It was Emma's of course. The reason why I'm telling you this, is because I hope that when we return, you'll be on our side.
-Scarlett
By the time she finished the letter, tears fell from her eyes. Scarlett had no idea how accurate she was. Scarlett seemed so different now. Deep down, she was still the quiet and timid girl they all knew. But now, she has a new air about her. One with confidence.
'My children. I may or may not be alive by the time they come back, but if I am, I'll give them everything.'
~0~0~0~0~0~
'We did it Norman!' Emma cheered internally, tears in her eyes. 'We escaped! We made it to the outside! This is the first step.'
All of them were running through the forest, panting as they did so.
'We may have escaped, but we still have a long way to go,' Scarlett thought. 'And I highly doubt the demons are just gonna let us go that easily since some of us are top scorers and Ray's supposed to be shipped today. We need to be on the move constantly and throw them off our path.'
Eventually, they made it out of the thick forest and saw the sun rising.
"It's so pretty!" Yvette gasped in awe.
"This is our new life now," Anna said in her serene voice.
"Our first step to changing this world!" Don cheered.