Hello everyone! We've now reach the Nest! I wanted to try exploring Six and Nona's (the name I gave to Raincoat Girl) past, so here we are.

Special thanks to Engelsoft for beta reading my chapters always. You are the best!

No warnings are necessary for this chapter.


Chapter 1: Voiceless

In the higher areas of a mansion, alone on the wooden floorboards, wrapped in a white blanket, was a little girl. The child gasped, having been startled awake by a nightmare. Taking a moment to calm herself, the girl sat up to collect her thoughts. Her nightmare... she'd dreamt that people were running away from her. People were yelling at her, calling her mean things with fear and disgust in their eyes. A deep sadness settled in her chest as the girl pulled her blanket over her small body. She couldn't even describe the feeling. It felt like she was... unwanted and... something else. A feeling she could not describe, but without it, she felt incredibly sad. It had her longing for it.

It's just a nightmare, the girl told herself.

Taking a deep breath, the child immediately frowned. Something was wrong. She tried uttering a word. Nothing. She tried making any kind of sound. Nothing. Coughing, squeaking, crying... Nothing. No matter how much she tried, her voice didn't... it just didn't come out of her mouth. She couldn't talk. Was she mute? The girl didn't think she'd been born with the inability to speak. However, it seemed that she temporarily couldn't now. Though how or why that was, she didn't know. Regardless, being mute was a problem.

The girl shook her head. She'd figure that out later. Right now, she had to understand where she was. Finally, the child took a look at her surroundings. Immediately, she frowned upon seeing the unfamiliar structures, the pipe lines, and the floorboards she had been laying on. She didn't live here. This wasn't her home. How did she even get here? Panicking, the girl tried to remember, but nothing came to mind. She'd just... woken up here. Growing more worried, she tried to recall anything about herself. Her name... what was her name?

Six... Six is my name, the girl recalled.

Perhaps it wasn't her real name, but for some reason, the name 'Six' was special to her. It was something that was treasured. No matter how much she thought about it, the girl felt like if she didn't hold onto the name, she wouldn't be able to find what she was looking for. What was she looking for exactly? Six didn't know or remember yet. Perhaps she'd know once she explored the area a little.

Getting up, Six shivered as she brought the blanket closer to her. She was only wearing a white T-shirt and shorts. Not really suitable clothes for the winter season. She needed to find someplace warm. Taking a step forward caused the child to stumble forward until she fell to her knees. Wondering why she'd suddenly collapsed, Six looked down at her feet.

There were many cuts on them, most likely from walking barefooted against any rough surfaces like concrete roads. Had she been trying to go somewhere before she'd ended up... wherever here was? The cuts hadn't healed yet. Ignoring the pain as she slowly got back up, Six shakily left the area she was in through a hole in the wall.

As she walked, Six tried to recall more about herself. All she knew was her age and her birthday. However, when she thought about anything else, nothing. She had no recollection of where her home was or who her family were. It had the girl wondering what sort of past she had. Why had she forgotten? At the moment, there was a fifty-fifty chance. Her past could have been wonderful or it could have been terrible. She wanted to believe, but she also didn't want to believe in the possibility that her past was a happy one. Otherwise, she might find herself being disappointed. Disappointed that her past might not be as good as it seemed or disappointed that she had forgotten. Besides, happy memories should be cherished. If she had forgotten about her past, that meant she probably didn't have a happy one. Most likely. Probably.

Not just that... there was a strange presence following her, weighing on her. It being there made Six feel certain that most likely... she hadn't had a happy past before this place.

So it's best... for me to not remember such things... Six concluded.

~oOo~

For a few days, Six had found many children living in this mansion, which she'd come to learn was called the Nest. These children, unlike her, knew how they'd come to the mansion. They were sent here from many places. The most common place was an orphanage in a city somewhere. Having explored a little of the top area of the Nest, Six had encountered a few small gray creatures with cone-shaped hats that covered their heads. The children who had lived at the Nest longer than her had called them Nomes.

They were friendly little things, often shyly asking the children to give them a hug. Six had plenty of time to understand their behavior. They were timid creatures who easily ran away, but longed for human affection - specifically from children. Many of the kids refused, not wanting to waste time giving hugs or affection when they wanted to escape. Six would empathize with the Nomes. Somehow, looking at them made her feel as though she craved affection as well. However, the girl couldn't understand why.

During her stay, stories had passed around, talking about the monsters who lived in the Nest. Such stories had reached Six's ears and they made her contemplate leaving the Nest. She didn't belong here, but could she risk leaving if that meant she would encounter these monsters? At the same time, she was searching for something. Would she find it if she stayed here?

A few months, she said. I'll stay for a few months. If I can't find what I'm looking for... then I'll risk leaving.

For now, whatever it was she was searching for, perhaps it would help if she had friends? Perhaps that was one of the many things she was searching for? So, one day, while the girl was exploring the mansion, she caught sight of a group of kids close to her age. There were five of them: three boys and two girls. Two of the boys looked to be twins with blond hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. They even wore matching clothes from their blue shirts to dark pants. The third boy had dark brown hair, a dull tank top and purple pants. A pair of glasses with red frames made his hazel eyes look bigger. A young girl with pale blonde hair tied in twin braids was wearing a dark green dress. The other girl had curly dark hair, dressed in pale green.

They seemed to be gathering materials that could help them, like a shard of glass to cut with or tiny scraps of food to eat. They were conversing with each other so excitedly, it gave Six confidence to approach them. So, she stepped out of the shadows, making her presence known. Seeing all their heads turn to her made the girl freeze for a second as she observed their expressions. Neither friendly nor hostile expressions... yet.

Smiling shyly, she waved a little. 'Hello,' she mouthed.

The children were surprised to see the girl mouthing her greeting. Seeing their shocked expressions caused Six to frown in worry. This was one of the reasons being mute had its problems. It made for awkward greetings. Still, she hoped it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience when befriending someone.

I hope I can talk one day...

The girl with the twin braids was the one who spoke, "Hi."

"Are you mute?" one of the twins, the eldest brother, inquired.

Six gave a shrug. When asked other questions, the girl tried to mouth her answers and hoped the children understood. It was easy to answer a yes or no question, but when it came to complex ones... some of the children had difficulty trying to figure out what she was trying to say. The girl with curly hair had given Six a piece of paper and a crayon, inquiring if she could write. When Six gave a nod, she was encouraged to write down her responses.

Silence filled the air until Six showed them her reply. Can I join you?

"Sure," one of the twins answered. Just as the girl was becoming hopeful, he added, "But just so you know, we aren't friends. For now, we are only acquaintances."

A pout appeared on her lips as she felt a hint of disappointment. After writing on the paper, she flipped it over for the kids to see. So... we're not friends yet?

"Not now, but maybe in the future," the glasses boy clarified.

Right. Of course. Some friendships didn't start within a day. However, the child hoped she could make friends soon. The sooner, the better.

For a few days, things were going well. Six wasn't feeling lonely as she would help around with finding anything that could aid the group. She got to know her... acquaintances' names. The twins were Terrance and Paris, the glasses boy was Neal, the girl with twin braids was Ashley, and the girl with curly hair was Marie. When Six had non-verbally introduced herself, they didn't take her name well.

"What kind of name is 'Six'? It's a literal number!" they laughed.

It had Six feeling hurt, but the name was important to her. So she tried to not let it bother her as much as it did.

Her group had been gathering supplies, planning to escape the Nest in a few weeks. There was apparently a raft someone had built at the bottom of the cliff where the Nest rested. Stories said that one brave child had built the raft but was unlucky when they'd tried to leave for the final time. They'd gotten caught, but whatever their fate was, no one knew.

Right now, the group was trying to gather as many useful items as they could. Often, they would show Six around the upper floors of the mansion, teaching her the basic skills for survival and showing her the quickest escape routes. From above the pipelines, they would occasionally see the Craftsman, an old man with long limbs on a wheelchair. Without words, Six understood that he was someone to avoid. In all honesty, it was an enlightening experience for the seven-year-old, but she found herself feeling like she was lacking something. What could it be?

Ah, Six felt the lack of intimacy. As an acquaintance, she never felt the members of her group bonding with her. She even knew little about them. They would just show her things, occasionally approach her to give her food, but never did they sit down and talk to her unless it was about their plans to escape the Nest. Despite that she knew that they were acquaintances, the girl couldn't help but feel like the trust that was formed was based on usefulness and not... well, friendship. Six wanted to form an actual bond with her group members, but she didn't know how. She'd never had friends before. At least, she didn't think she had before the Nest. How could she befriend someone when no one had really taught her how? Or was this a thing she was supposed to learn by herself?

Deciding to take a chance, the girl approached the twins, hoping to socialize with them with what she had. It was a slow process since she would have to write down her responses if the twins couldn't figure out what she was trying to say, but Six thought everything was going smoothly. Eventually, she did the same with the other members. Over the course of a few weeks, the girl got to know her group better and they did the same with her. It had been going so well until it got closer to that day - the day when the kids would escape the Nest.

On the night before the escape, everyone was eating dinner out of cans that they'd managed to find on one of their trips near the end of the higher levels. It was then that Six had suddenly caught the strange looks on their faces and whenever her gaze met theirs, they would look away, unable to meet her eyes. It made Six feel anxious inside. That invisible presence was writhing in her chest. Their eyes... It was as if their eyes were saying: We're going to leave you.

But they wouldn't, would they? she wondered. Our relationship goes further than acquaintances now... they wouldn't leave me...

Excusing herself, the girl wordlessly explained that she'd be sleeping early tonight. Laying on the floor and wrapping her blanket around herself, Six closed her eyes. However, she didn't sleep. She wasn't tired. Hours passed until Six could hear the other kids getting ready to sleep, laying on the floor nearby. Opening her eyes a bit, Six silently let out a voiceless sigh. She wasn't even aware that she'd been holding her breath. Why was she so tense?

"Hey, Terrance," she could hear Paris' whispering voice calling out for his older twin. "Are we going to leave Six tomorrow?"

Hearing that question had the girl's eyes snapping open fully; her heart was starting to sink. At the moment, she was glad she didn't have her voice. Otherwise, everyone might have heard her gasp. She couldn't believe it. They were going to leave her? Why? Trying not to move too much to avoid making any noise, Six slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder. From her peripheral vision, she could make out the twins' blond hair. Ashley, Marie, and Neal were also awake. It would appear that the kids assumed that Six was asleep, not realizing that she was wide awake and listening as they revealed their true nature.

"Why wouldn't we?" Six recognized that shrill voice of Ashley. "It would be a bother to take her with us. She's a burden."

"I'm tired of having to wait for her to write down her responses. Maybe she was faking being mute so we would sympathize with her." Neal's quiet voice expressed disapproval.

"Well, brother?" Paris whispered, still waiting for Terrance's answer.

"We'll leave a note that we're going to get some last minute supplies," the older twin replied. "Enough talk. We need to sleep and get well rested for tomorrow."

Hearing some rustling, Six could tell everyone else had shifted around to go to sleep. But after what she had heard, how could she sleep now? Quietly, she placed a hand over her chest. There was a stinging feeling that had settled inside. That presence was moving around too much. Why did it hurt? Why did this type of hurt feel nostalgic somehow? Could it be related to her missing memories? Could it also be related to her sealed voice?

Don't open up your heart. Otherwise, you'll only get hurt. That bittersweet advice rang inside her head. Numb it... be numb to everything.

Tiredly, the girl finally closed her eyes. In her dreamless sleep, there was nothing happy. All Six could focus on was her group's true characters, their words, and the pain building up in her chest. Inside her heart, it was moving around again. The presence seemed to be getting heavier and heavier.

~oOo~

The group had woken up early in the morning the next day. They had to if they wanted to ditch their latest member. However, there was a problem with their plan. The girl in white was missing. Not a trace of her was there. She wasn't where they'd last seen her sleeping last night. At first, a tinge of concern was in their minds, but they quickly pushed the thoughts aside. Quickly packing up, the five kids were ready to leave for the lower levels through the vent. However, they didn't expect someone to be waiting for them.

"Six!" they all gasped, staring at her with wide eyes.

The girl sighed as she got to her feet, standing between her group and the vent that would allow them to leave. Despite what she already knew, she wanted to give them a chance to be honest with her. Without having to mouth anything, she let her eyes ask the question for her. That pair of expressive brown orbs conveyed a message: Were you going to leave me?

"N-No, we were just going to find some last minute supplies," Marie answered.

"We couldn't wait because we couldn't find you. It was better that we headed out first." Paris was trying yet clearly failing to keep his composure. It was obvious that he was a terrible liar with the way his body language betrayed the words coming out of his mouth.

Feeling hurt from the lies, the girl inquired voicelessly, 'Why?'

It was the boy's older twin who responded. Clearly, he wasn't comfortable with delivering the news. "It's... not going to work out. You're still new here. You'd only run into problems with the monsters and we wouldn't want that happening to you..."

It was a lie. They were lying. The boy wasn't making eye contact with her when he tried to reason. And... he was using sugar-coated words. He wasn't truthful, he was hiding what he wanted to say. Everyone else was also the same. Six felt many things. Anger, sadness... She didn't like it when people used sweet words to hide the truth - to hide what they were really feeling... even if the truth would most likely hurt, being lied to hurt even more. Because when you treated a lie as a truth, it would eventually no longer become a lie. The moment that false truth was shattered, there would be this... collapse of lies that had built up and you would be left with the unsettling truth. It would become too much to handle.

Curling up her hands into fists, Six seethed, 'Stop it.'

"What?"

Anger bubbled inside of her. If she had her voice, the girl wondered what she would sound like now that she was angry. Despite that she could feel herself yelling, the words couldn't be heard. Still, she made sure to mouth each word clearly so the kids would understand.

'Stop using sweet, honeyed words!' Six demanded. 'Why?'

It was Neal who spoke up. "It's because you're annoying, that's why! You wanted the truth? There you have it."

"You're so stupidly naive. And what you want is impossible. In this world, things such as friendship don't last long. It's a liability. That's why we're acquaintances," Paris added.

Six just stayed where she stood, overwhelmed as a hollow feeling entered her chest. Was that what they thought of her? Just a burden? With that last remark, the group shoved her aside to climb into the vent, leaving her all alone. She didn't try to stop them, contemplating what had happened. Somehow, now that this ugly truth had revealed itself, it brought some sort of familiarity to her. Perhaps it had happened in her earlier childhood? If that was the case, it would reinforce her wanting to not remember. Still... the truth hurt. The lie that was covering it only made it worse. Six suddenly didn't feel safe. She felt vulnerable and exposed. Picking up her blanket and wrapping it around herself, the girl sat down on the floor, curling up into a ball and resting her head on her knees.

She didn't know how long she stayed that way. At the moment, time seemed like a meaningless thing. It wasn't until she heard a rattling sound that the girl lifted her head up a bit. It was a Nome - a very little one. It was tilting its head to the side before pointing at her as if it was trying to say 'Why are you sad?'.

The girl was stuck with a dilemma. She knew Nomes could understand children, but she didn't have her voice. No doubt the Nome in front of her wouldn't be able to understand if she were to mouth what she wanted to say. Even if it did understand, it would take time to establish proper communication between them through that method. She could try writing to the Nome. She had seen them draw pictures before when she was given a tour through the upper levels. It had her wondering if the little creatures could even understand written words. Deciding it was worth giving a shot, Six grabbed for the nearest paper and crayon before writing down her response.

When she was finished, she turned the paper around to give it to the Nome. I'm sad because I found out the group I was in for a few weeks didn't really want me. I feel lonely and rejected.

Six waited to see if there was any reaction in the Nome as it stared at the paper in its hands. After a few minutes, the Nome put down the paper and gave a gentle pat on her arm. It would appear that it did understand. At first, Six flinched at the touch. She didn't recall being touched comfortably before, even her group never had skin-to-skin contact with her, so it was a strange sensation to her body. Strange... but welcomed, nonetheless. The small gesture of comfort elicited a small smile on her face. It was barely noticeable and easy to miss. But it was still a smile, no matter how small it was.

'Thank you,' she softly mouthed to it.

Reaching her arms out, the Nome happily scurry into her embrace. Huh. It felt... weird being hugged like this. Much like with the gentle pat, Six didn't understand the positive sensation her body was feeling. She... kind of wanted more of this; her body was craving it. Leaning her head a bit onto its cone-shaped hat, she rubbed the side of her cheek against it. This elicited a small chirp from the Nome, which Six presumed would probably be something as close to a giggle.

After some time, the Nome struggled out of Six's embrace. Loosening her arms, she let the little creature go. The girl felt a little disappointed, her body still longing for comfort, but she knew that hugging couldn't last forever. Getting to her feet, Six contemplated what to do. She didn't feel like escaping yet, but she couldn't just stay here either. Feeling her blanket being tugged, she looked down to see that the Nome was trying to get her attention. Not letting go of the blanket, it tried to lead her somewhere. So Six followed it.

Away from the vent, the Nome eventually took her to a little opening in the wall. The gap was big enough for her to enter, so slipping through, Six found a very spacious area on the other side. It was like a little room for children her size. However, it was very empty. There wasn't much aside from old clothes scattered around. It would appear that this area of the Nest hadn't been used at all. It had Six wondering if the adults of the mansion were even aware of little nooks and crannies that allowed escaped children and Nomes to hide in. Regardless, she could stay here for the time being until she decided to leave.

Crouching down, she mouthed 'thank you' again to the Nome before gathering the old clothes into a pile. There were still things she had to do to make this empty place more habitable. Six wouldn't give up on trying to befriend other children of the Nest, but if she failed to the point of giving up, this place would be her secret base to stay.