(Matilda's POV)
The door opens and in steps a trembling Daisy Bloom. In her hands is a tray of food.
"Hey, sleepyhead," she says kindly.
"I'm so sorry I had to do that to you. I hope the hypodermic didn't hurt that much."
"Were you also the one who knocked me out back in that lab room?"
"Oh no. That was Dizzy Flower. She's better with blunt force trauma, minus the trauma. I'm just a klutz, at least that's what they keep telling me."
She sets the tray down in front of me. Literally everything is chocolate. Feeling sick after the baking chocolate, I push it away.
"I'm not that hungry right now."
"You need to eat something. What the master has planned for you will require your strength."
Sighing, I pick up the chocolate spoon (I told you, everything on that tray is chocolate) and dip it into my chocolate soup, taking a small sip.
"You know, Matilda," Daisy Bloom tells me timidly as I continue to eat.
"It wouldn't be too bad to live here. And I'm not saying that for the master's sake, but for mine. We have no contact with the outside world. But with you completing the machine, we'll have the outside world be like this world; it'll always be new and exciting. Plus I'd…..like to be your friend."
I put down my spoon for a breather.
"Really?" I ask.
She nods.
"All of the others tease me because I'm too soft. You probably saw that earlier today in the conversion room."
I think back to when I first met her, Sunshine elbowing her, the oompa-loompas snickering. Is that what she goes through everyday?
"I can't even bring myself to hurt the squirrels if they misbehave during nut room training, even though it's standard policy to give them small shocks when they mess up. I'm kind of a loner. In fact no one wanted to come with me to give you your meal."
"That's not exactly a bad thing," I say shrugging.
"To be soft."
I nod as I pick the spoon back up.
"And the master, he's not as bad as you think. At least compared to the creatures back in Loompa Land. At least he gives us work and pays us in cocoa beans. It's considered a delicacy over in Loompa Land. We nearly worshipped them.
"The master gave us a home and safety from the creatures that tried to eat us. But he's deprived us of contact with the outside world. It'd be nice to get to know someone from there and since you're the closest, I'd like to get to know you, Matilda."
I give her a sad smile.
"You know, you're really one of the only people in here who's used my real name consistently."
"Because you're a person. Why shouldn't you be treated like one?"
We stare at each other for a few moments. Her eyes have that doe-like trait to them. It kind of makes me want to cuddle her, especially because the others treat her so poorly.
"Daisy Bloom," I sigh.
"How did Wonka kill my father?"
She purses her lips, her eyes darting around the room. I slowly put my spoon down.
"Daisy Bloom? What are you not telling me?"
She moans in anxiety.
"Oh, I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you this," she begins in a whisper.
"But he didn't kill your father."
I shake my head in astonishment.
"Really?" I ask.
She nods.
"We were supposed to, I was supposed to be the one to do it. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. He was too kind to us. He treated us like people, with respect. I told the master and he tried to get the others to do it. But we lucked out. We couldn't kill him because he was much bigger than us, and the master decided that there was no sense in making us do something so horrible if we didn't want to."
I stand up, determined to find him.
"Where is he?" I exclaim.
"I'm not supposed to tell you, Sweet One—I mean, Matilda," she squeaks.
"Why in the name of sanity does everyone keep calling me the Sweet One?" I growl in frustration as I pick her up by the collar.
"Because you're the key to powering the machine."
"What machine?"
"I'm really not supposed to tell—"
"Answer me," I snap.
I really don't want to be like this to Daisy Bloom, especially because she's so sweet. She's the only one who seems to see me as more than just a key to world domination. I see tears well up in her eyes.
"I want to tell you," she gasps.
"But I made a promise not to."
"If you promised not to tell me where he is, why did you tell me Wonka didn't kill my father?"
"Because he hurt you with that lie. I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want him to hurt you. I'm so sorry, Matilda. But I know I gave him my word on THIS."
I set her down on the ground slowly and I drop to my knees. Tears well up in my eyes because of my frustration. I feel her hand rub my back gently.
"I know you don't want to stay here forever, but the master did keep you from being institutionalized by your mother."
"Is THIS any different from being institutionalized?" I gasp through my attempts to hold back my tears.
"In both, I'd never be able to leave and I'd forever be stuck in a place of madness."
"But at least here, we appreciate your genius instead of trying to suppress it. That's something, right?"
Sniffing, I nod.
"But I don't want to be trapped here forever."
"I'm sure we can figure something out."
All of a sudden, we hear the door open. In steps another oompa-loompa. Daisy Bloom gasps and begins to shake.
"There you are," the other oompa-loompa sniffs.
"Dizzy Flower!" she squeaks.
"What are you doing here?"
"You were supposed to bring the Sweet One to the room by now."
"Well, that's what I was going to do, but then we had a little talk and she's really nice and—"
Dizzy Flower groans loudly and flicks Daisy Bloom in the head.
"Ow!" she squeaks.
"You're not supposed to talk with the Sweet One, Daisy Wimp. She doesn't want to waste her time with a stupid softie like you."
I begin to feel my body heat up. I immediately turn to the tray, the only thing Daisy Bloom had brought me that wasn't made of chocolate, and the red hands come out. They raise the tray, fly over to Dizzy Flower and whack her in the head.
"What the—?" she exclaims as she rubs her head in pain.
"Leave her alone," I snap.
"What's she done to you?"
"This one's got a temper," she groans.
"The master'll fix that right up, though. Now come on, Daisy Wimp."
Daisy Bloom tries to save face and tugs on my t-shirt. As we step outside the door, I lean the tray against the doorway as it closes before heading off with the two to whatever this madman has in store for me.