"Get up!" the guard yelled at Arthur. "Get over here, Englishman!"
Arthur slowly stood up and walked over to the bars of his cell.
"What? What do you want?"
"Don't talk to me like that! You're being released temporarily. We need to talk to you."
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly.
"About what?"
"Do not question me." The door was opened and a rough hand latched onto his arm and dragged him out of it. "Now come with me."
When their next 'free time' came around, all the kids hurried to hear what the counselor had asked Peter about.
"Are you alright? What did they ask? Did she hurt you?"
Peter didn't answer, shaking his head slowly.
"Talk to us Peter," Matthew said slowly. "They're tearing us apart." He hugged him gently. "I can't lose you too. We've been together through so much…please don't let them win…"
"She just asked me…about HER…"
Matthew's eyes widened.
"W-Why would she do that? That's a VERY sensitive subject. For ALL of us."
Peter nodded.
"I know…and it was hard…"
Matthew hugged him tightly.
"She's gone. I promise she's gone."
Peter started to cry silently against his shoulder.
He slowly stopped and Matthew helped lay him down on his bed.
"Just try and sleep."
Peter nodded and closed his eyes obediently.
Matthew pulled the blanket over him and walked back out to talk to the younger kids.
"Are you all okay?" He looked at Leon. "Is Steven healing?"
He nodded.
"Who is 'she'?" he asked.
Matthew averted his gaze.
"No one that concerns you. Just leave it at that."
Leon started to protest when the guard walked in and clapped his hands.
They all turned to look at him.
"Tomorrow is your first day in court so wear something nice."
"All we have is the clothes you caught us in!"
"You will be provided clothes. Your house was searched for your clothes and other belongings so you could be more comfortable here."
Matthew glared.
"We will NEVER be comfortable here. We want to go home."
The guard seized the front of his shirt.
"For now, this is your home! Get used to it!" Matthew pulled free and backed away, still glaring. "You will be up at six so you can go to court at six-thirty." He peered at his watch. "Your belongings will be here soon." He raised his head to look at them. "You should go to your rooms and wait."
"But it's still free time!" Chelle protested.
The guard bent over and glared in her face.
"You will go to your room. Now."
"But I wanna play with Mattie!" She clutched her brother's leg tightly. "I dun wanna go back yet!"
The man tore her away from him and pulled one of her pigtails.
"Get in your room," he said forcefully as she yelped in pain and started crying.
"Y-Yes sir."
He let go of her hair and Matthew picked her up quickly, rubbing her back and kissing her cheek.
"Ssh chéri. It's going to be okay."
She clutched around his neck and cried into his shoulder.
Leon balled his hands into fists as he watched the girl cry and before he could stop himself, he had leapt up and kicked the guard in the face.
"That was for my sister!" he yelled as he landed. "You do not hurt her!"
The guard grabbed his ankle and threw him at a wall, smashing him face first into it.
His unconscious body fell to the ground and Emily hurried to his side.
"Why do you have to hurt us?!" Matthew demanded. "Why can't you just leave us alone?!"
"Because," he guard said dangerously as he stepped close. "You don't do as you're told. You need to learn to listen to and respect your elders."
He stroked a lock of Chelle's hair and she whimpered fearfully.
"Don't touch my sisters," Matthew warned; he could be very violent if pushed too far. And this guard was reaching his breaking point.
"What are you going to do about it?"
He suddenly pulled on the lock in his hand harshly and Chelle cried out again.
Matthew's face twisted with anger and his eyes turned red.
Before the guard noticed, Matthew had put Chelle down carefully and shoved the guard backwards hard enough to make him stumble before starting to punch him quickly and violently; the guard was easily overtaken.
The man's nose was destroyed and he was soon sporting two black eyes; he was winded by a harsh punch to the stomach and a simple swipe of his leg sent the man toppling into the ground.
Matthew slammed his face into the ground to knock him unconscious.
"M-Matthew?" came a scared voice.
The boy's temporarily red eyes turned back to blue and he looked around.
"W-What?" He spotted the guard underneath him and leapt up in shock. "W-What happened?"
"Y-You kinda went crazy after he pulled Chelle's hair…"
Matthew's eyes widened.
"I-I d-did? I don't remember…" He grasped his head. "I-I…I-I can't be here!"
He ran into his room, slamming the door behind him.
Steven stumbled over to Chelle and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
She slowly pulled her hands away from her ears and opened her eyes.
Turning to look at Steven, she nodded silently.
"Come on," Steven said as he took her hand. "It's time for bed."
He led her into her room and tucked her in.
"Sleep well," he whispered as he kissed her forehead to help her fall asleep.
Tiptoeing out of the room, he crossed to where Emily was kneeling next to Leon.
"Is he…?"
She shook her head.
"No. He's still alive…just unconscious."
Steven laughed uncomfortably.
"I guess those martial arts lessons that Yao was teaching him paid off." Emily didn't say anything. "Help me take him to his room. He needs rest."
Emily nodded and grabbed his legs, Steven grabbing his arms; together they carried him to his bed.
They laid him down and Emily looked carefully at him.
"Are you okay? You came back a mess."
He sighed.
"Yeah…I know. They tried to force me to believe something, and for a while I did, but it wore off and I was back to myself." He looked away. "Though the pain was still there. They did some nasty things down there."
Emily's ears perked up a little.
"Down where?"
"I don't really know. They just led me down to this dark room and…did stuff to me…I don't know what they were doing but it really hurt." He turned around and pushed the back of his hair up to show a long cut that was just starting to scar. "I don't really remember what they were doing but I think they got into my mind…literally…"
AN: Steven was brainwashed! D: And everyone is hurting so bad!
Sorry, but that's the way it is. I gotta make it so that no one likes that place. Is it working?
But I apologize for the long wait but I was having computer problem after computer problem but I finally got them all sorted out so I can update again!
Oh, and did you guys like Mattie's little freak out?