"Todd?"
"Yes Alfred?"
"Do you think we'll get out of here alive?"
"Master, even if we did die, I would die protecting you."
"Thanks Todd."
The butler looked at the young boy.
"Todd, there's another question I have to ask you."
"What else?"
"Do you think we'll ever see Sequoya again?"
"…"
xxx
Todd walked over to talk to Maya. "Milady, I think something is wrong with your brother."
"I've noticed too." said Maya. "All he talks about lately is Sequoya, Sequoya, and Sequoya."
"You mean the fireworks girl?" asked Shady.
"This doesn't involve you, Shadey. Wait Todd, do you know what I think is wrong with Alfred?" chuckled Maya.
"Our little Alfie's in love," said Todd.
Shady secluded himself in the corner.
They always leave me out…
xxx
"So what are you going to do when you get out of here, Princess?" asked Janus.
"Not much, I just want to see the sky again," said Virginia. "We've been here staring at white lights for hours.
Gallows was busy preoccupying his self by asking Romero and Dario, "Are you related to those two guys from the Morte gang?" He'd always expect an irritated response back.
"I hope Jet is okay," said Virginia. "We should get going. There are more drifters to free and as each minute passes, Jet is closer to danger."
The team left the room and continued from there.
The room was similar to the other six they've been in.
"You know the drill," said Virginia.
This time, there was no button to be found.
There was no mirror or anything in that matter.
There was a simple door.
"Be careful, it might be a trap," said Clive. He went closer, deciding whether to open it or not. Twisting the doorknob he got out of the way as the door opened.
There was no booby trap, but something else.
Virginia made her way into the room. It was pitch dark as she stood at the doorway.
"Feel on the walls for a light switch—"
"No, don't touch the walls. They're booby trapped and motion sensitive."
A figure came towards the light. "Thank god."
It was a boy. His skin was very light and he had shocking reddish-brunette hair. He wore a pair of protective goggles on his head. On him stood a long tan coat, which opened at his waist, revealing his black-booted legs. He was about as old as Alfred.
"I remember you!" snapped Maya. Todd held her behind the arms to keep her from lunging at the young boy. "You're the kid brother of that bitch, Josephine Clementine."
Todd had to drag her out of the room.
"What's your name?" asked Clive.
"My name is Trisk, Trisk Clementine."
"What in god's name happened to your hand, Trisk Clementine!" Gallows started freaking out, pointing at the boy's palm. A dagger was stuck inside his hand, going right through it. The blood covered his hand, but it looked like it stopped bleeding.
Trisk looked at his hand, gagging. "I spent hours in a pitch dark room, searching for a way out. That's how I found out about the booby-trapped walls. I learned the hard way."
He looked at his blood-stained hand, horrified seeing it for the first time after hours in the dark.
"That's so cruel," said Virginia. "Begucci would do anything to his liking, even if it means keeping a young boy in darkness."
"Thank you, if I did try to look for the exit, I would've died by the time I found it."
Todd came back into the room. "Milady is outside, trying to cool down."
"What's wrong with her?" said Virginia.
Todd hesitated. Sitting down cross-legged, he beckoned for the others to sit.
"Her and Josephine, used to be best friends," said Todd.
"Like Milady, she was born with noble blood. She lived across the street actually. Milady would always play with her all the time, back when Milady was a child. But one day, Josephine hurt Shady and their friendship ended. She didn't know why exactly she did it. They started despising each other. Next thing you know, lady Josephine left to drift, sickened by seeing Milady's face just across the street. That's why she holds such great anger towards the Clementines."
"Does Shady remember that event?" asked Ginny.
"Yes, but we tried not to bring it up when he's around," said Todd.
Shady was in a corner, facing the wall. Trisk, still holding his hand, walked over to Shady as Todd was discussing Maya's grudge.
"Hey kitty, what's wrong?" Trisk patted Shady on the head with his uninjured hand.
"Get your hand off my head."
Trisk's eyes grew three times their size. "I must have been in that asylum for too long, now I'm becoming insane!"
"No, I can talk," said Shady.
"Wow, talking kitty," said Trisk, poking him to make sure he was real. "Why aren't you over there with the others?"
"They don't listen to me anyway," said Shadey. He looked up sadly upon the boy's brown eyes.
He took a seat beside Shady. "Feel left out sometimes, huh?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't have a choice when my sister started drifting," said Trisk. "It's hard feeling useless."
"You remind me of my team mate, Alfred," said Shady. "Except for you actually listen to me."
"Don't say that," he petted Shady's head. "The people who are close to you really care about you. My older sister is really annoying sometimes. One time, she actually slapped me, but I knew she didn't mean it."
"Wow, thanks kid." said Shady.
"Who are ya calling kid, shrimp?" Trisk's face curled into a childish smile. He nudged Shady. Shady nudged him back.
"Say, what's your name?" said Shady.
"Trisk Clementine."
Shady looked at the boy in fear.
"W-what's your last name!" said Shady, it was like the air around him slowed down.
"Clementine."
"Tell me your sister's name!" said Shady.
Trisk looked weirdly at the cat he was having a laugh with a minute ago.
"What exactly is your sister's name?"
"Josephine Clementine."
Shady backed away from him. Everything turned white.
xxx
An orange kitty played in the backyard. It was his first time outside in years. His owner told him to wait out there.
A shadow blocked the sun from him. He turned around, just to receive a slap to the face, rolling all over the sandy grass.
He struggled to get up, only to be hit again. A girl picked him up by the neck, her cherry brown locks falling over him.
He flew and landed in the wood pile. A crash was heard.
He could remember a black boy, about thirteen at the time, running towards the girl.
The boy had heard the crash, and shoved the axe back in the stump where he was chopping wood.
He was running towards her, screaming his head off.
"Leave that cat alone! Go home before I tell your parents! Get out now and don't let me catch you running around here again."
The girl fled in fear. The wood was hard as he remembered the young boy's strong arms picking him up. All he could remember was the blue sky moving by, as he was carried into the fairly large house.
A blonde girl turned around and dropped her glass of milk. It broke all over the floor, spilling like her tears.
"Who did this to him? What happened?"
The black boy looked into her eyes sadly.
"It was Josephine, Milady."
He could remember the girl crying into her hands.
Anything other than that, he could hear Alfred, being born just in the next room…
xxx
"Shady…"
The event just played itself fast forward to him, but he could remember it all.
"Shady…"
The glass of milk crashed on the floor…
He flew awake, looking up to Ginny's face. "Shady, you passed out."
"Sixteen years ago," said Shady. "That's when it happened."
"Shady, all of it is over," said Todd.
"Shady?" Trisk came towards him.
"Don't let him touch me!" Shady was struggling to get free.
"Shady, it's only Trisk. Josephine is not here," said Virginia.
"Let me go!" In a blind fury, his paw reached up and clawed Virginia across the face.
Everyone was shocked as the room stood still.
"I have to leave!" Shady scurried out the door.
The door opened suddenly as Shady stepped into the hallway.
"Where are you going?" He looked behind him.
Maya looked at him with sad blue eyes as she sat with her back to the wall. It looked like she was crying.
"I can't stay in that room with the kid brother of that monster!"
She grabbed him and put him in her lap like she used to do so many years ago. She held him like he was a normal kitty.
"It is okay, Shady. If she comes back, I'll make sure she doesn't hurt you…"
