Run.

N I N E

•Vivan•

I knock on his door. "What?" He moans. I stare at my hands.

"Casey and I made dinner. We are about to eat. Just thought I'd let you know." I listen as he moves around.

He opens the door and smiles at me. He's been smiling at me a lot. "Thank You." His eye's fall to the ground.

I step to the side to let him by. "Hey. Can I ask you why that upset you so much?"

He shook his head. "I don't really know why."

I shrug. "You must love your brother. I don't really understand what that feels like. Since people in Obtain don't have brothers or sisters. What is that like?"

He stands in his door frame staring at me. "No one in Obtain has a brother or sister?" His voice laced with confusion.

I laugh. "They didn't tell you that? Everyone is allowed one genetically modified kid. Even if they divorce and get remarried."

His eyes winced when I said genetically modified. He shakes it off. "Yeah well us naturally born creatures have brothers and sisters of whom we love a lot."

I stare at him. "Love? What does that mean to you?"

He laughs and shakes his head. "Gosh Vivian. It means a lot of things. Don't you love someone? Your mom? Your dad?"

I feel my heart drop down to the bottom of my stomach. "No. My mom died when I was born."

His eyes reach mine. He takes a step forward, I take a small step back. "I'm sorry to here that Vivian. That's terrible. But you don't love your Dad?"

No. How could I? I flinch when Ryker raises his hand, but I find that he's only running his fingers though his hair. "You know, we have dinner waiting for us, so I'm going to go eat. Come or don't come." I snap at him.

I watch his eyes fall when I quickly turn and walk away. But he follows behind me into the kitchen.

I serve myself up with some mashed potatoes and cooked fish. Travon takes a seat across from me at the small four seated table. He winks, "You made this?"

I nod. "With Casey's help."

Casey mumbles a mhm as she has some food in her mouth.

"It taste really good!" Ryker exclaims. "I wish we had food like this back home." He says to no one in particular.

I narrow my eyes at all of them. Each and everyone of them live in Amiss. They are told they are imperfect, natural, and I'm not. I wonder what they think of me.

"What's it like to live in Amiss?" I ask the crowd of three.

All of them pause for a brief moment. Silence fills the air. "It's like survival of the fittest." Travon says aloud. "You either know how to fight or you associate with people who no one wants to mess with."

Casey speaks up, "It's not that brutal. I mean, being a girl is hard. Guys can be real pervy. There is a lot of diseases of which you probably know nothing about. And deaths. And births."

Ryker sets down his fork. "To me, Amiss is about sticking together with your family and providing the ones you love with protection. And you love them no matter what. My little sister Lucy will never be accepted into Obtain. She has a lot of mental inabilities." His eyes carry a sadness to them.

"But I'd like to think someday that will change." I look at him for a moment too long.

"What's it like to live in Obtain?" Travon asks me.