The Red Room

ℕ𝕀ℕ𝔼𝕋𝔼𝔼ℕ

Despite being slightly broken down, the house was pretty nice. It was huge in the inside; much bigger then the house I lived in in Ohio. Tara's room matched the tie-dye theme of her life. Her walls were tie dyed light pink, blue, and purple by little spirals that blended into each other. Her twin bed matched the pink on the walls and her carpet matched the purple. She had white furniture other than that and a couch that matched the blue in the wall.

"Your room is really cool." I smiled at her.

"Thanks! I dyed it myself." She smiled back.

"That's so great." I smiled touching a wall lightly. I was glad she managed to find a life and a hobby after The Red Room. It gave me hope.

"Thank you, I love tie-dye. It clears my mind and makes me feel like I was never even at the academy. How could anyone with this happy of a hobby been tortured her whole life? It helps me to forget." She gave me a small smile and I nodded in understanding. "You can sleep on the couch over there. It's really comfortable I promise." She laughed a little.

"Thank you." I smiled.

Buster appeared in the doorway and knocked on the doorframe. "Hey Tar." He sang.

"What do you need Buster?" Tara smiled and rolled her eyes at him.

"Dang girl!" He put his hands up in surrender. "You gotta work on that attitude. I just came up here to see how the new girl is getting settled in."

"Just fine, thank you." I smiled sweetly at him.

"Great! We couldn't find anywhere for Morgan to go so he's gonna be sleeping on the couch downstairs. Also, Killer wanted me to tell you dinner will be ready soon." He said.

"Okay, thanks, Buster, we'll be right down." Tara smiled.

"Sure thing, girl." He winked and then disappeared from the door frame.

"So you and Buster, huh?" I smiled and raised my eyebrows at her.

"What? No. Don't be ridiculous. He's just a good friend." Tara said, clearly trying very hard not to smile. I thought she should be better at that after so many years at The Red Room. Maybe all that would wear off eventually.

"Is that all you want him to be, though?" I poked her arm.

"We should probably go down stairs for dinner." She said walking out the door. I followed her, laughing at her sudden subject change. She laughed too and told me to shut up.

The smell of a home cooked meal dragged me down the stairs. The kitchen looked busy as everyone scrambled to their seats at the island.

I spotted Morgan sitting on the couch trying to figure out how to approach the situation. I walked over to him as he stood up.

"Do you really think we can fit in with these people?" He whispered to me as we watched Killer throw steak knives into the tops of everyone's burgers.

"Of course. They're all runaways just like us." I whispered back.

"Maybe like you." He gave me a worried look. "I think I'm the only one that came from an average life. Everyone else had tragic back stories."

"Buster said he went to normal school." I found Morgan's hand and held it. "Maybe you can talk to him."

"Yeah, I guess."

After some awkward stares and reluctant stool moving Morgan and I finally got sat down at the island with the rest of the group.

"These burgers are great, Killer!" Tara exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, that's the last of them. We're running out of food. Someone's gonna to need to go to the store soon." At her words everyone seemed to be much more interested in their food than looking at Killer as she spoke.

I wondered what could be so bad about going to the store. I found it rather exciting since I never got to do anything like that at the academy.

"Morgan and I can go." I heard myself say. I probably shouldn't have volunteered us when we know nothing about this town, but I wanted to be helpful since they're letting us live with them.

"I don't know." Tara said glancing around. "You don't know your way around the town yet."

"Then you can go with us and show us around." I insisted.

"Okay, but you have to be carful. Being out in public is dangerous for fugitives. We'll have to lay low." She gave in.

"Of course." I smiled. I was excited to see around the town. If it was anything like Morgan's home town it would make me feel more at home.

Killer glared at me. "I'll send you with a list and some money. You better not waste it. It's hard to find money when your a fugitive."

"Don't be so dramatic." Dusty gave his sister a look. "I have a full time job that pays well and keeps me on the low side of society. We have no money concerns." He told me, his blue eyes looked kind and understanding but serious and sincere at the same time.

"You hunt animals and sell them on the black market, Dust. That is not considered a full time job." Marlee told him.

"Whatever it's considered, it pays well enough for us to live." He said looking like Marlee corrects him often.

Marlee rolled her eyes and took a bite of her food.

"We'll leave after dinner." Tara promised.

I could feel the Red Room draining out of me as I entered this new life. Maybe my life wouldn't turn out to be so horrible after all.

"Hey there, gorgeous! Thanks for reading my book. I like you." -Kira Cass

I can't believe this story is already over 4K!! It's growing so fast. Also the album "Sour" was released recently (Olivia Rodrigo, I'm sure you've heard of it). I was listening to "Brutal" and realized how much it applies to Iz! You should listen to it with her in mind. It's super cool! Sorry for taking so long on this literal transition chapter. I'll try to be faster with the next one. I know you don't really know most of the new characters yet, but who's your favorite character from this story? I'd love to know! Anyway, you guys are awesome, keep it up ;)

-me