ANON. || l.s.

We're Safe (part 2)

I've been seeing all, I've been seeing your soul
Give me things that I've wanted to know
Tell me things that you've done
I've been feeling old, I've been feeling cold
You're the heat that I know
Listen, you are my sun

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Dinner was delicious. I had the feeling this was the same cook that had given me that tasty marinated chicken when I was in that horrible room. I still was a bit pissed off about them locking me up in there, but I started to understand. If they had plopped me down in a weird underground group, after drugging me and stuffing me in a van, I'd probably thrown some chairs at people's heads instead of a glass wall. And honestly, had they treated me that badly in there? I think it was mostly the shock that fucked me up. 

It was taco night, so the buffet was filled with food like freshly cut tomatoes, corn, beans, different types of cheese and all sorts of tortilla options. With a flutter in my stomach, I realised the desert was prepackaged. Did that mean the freshly baked cookie had been made especially for me? From Harry? Probably not, but thinking about it made me a bit giddy, so I went with it. 

There was no sign of Harry at dinner though. I had scanned the cafeteria thrice, but nothing. Niall was also MIA, so I figured they were dealing with that small crisis from earlier. What would an ANON. crisis be anyway? Lost children? A scheduled murder? I shook the thought. Until Harry gave me a clear answer about the subject, I decided to push any questions of that matter deep down and just ignore them. 

Lori had joined us at our table again, and now I saw the little cues that hinted at her past. She was okay with touching others, but as soon as someone touched her, she flinched. I also noticed her zoning out a few times, in between snarky comments about ANON. Mace was at another table so I guess she felt safe enough to make them. Ayden steered away from the comments pretty efficiently though, so the conversation topics stayed light. 

Even though I hadn't seen the familiar faces of Harry and Niall, I did see one whose name I still didn't know. He came up to me when I was stuffing my burrito. 
 
   'You're eating now?' 
The slightly chubby man was behind me - something that, in his defence, always gave me the creeps - but his tone was in between rude and invasive. 
   'I guess so...' I focussed back on the food and tried to reason with myself that I had given him a false start. Him being the first one I saw when I was in lockup and all.
He laughed at my passiveness and again, it didn't feel like a warm laugh, but more like a mocking gesture. He grabbed a plate and shovelled three spoonfuls of meat onto it. He continued, 'I figured, H is the one to get twinks to cave.'

I stilled. This man seemed to have a talent for saying things in a joking matter to hide an insult. Unfortunately, he was also one of the few people here that scared the shit out of me. I guess it was the way he laughed, sometimes flashing those bleeched white teeth, while his eyes remained cold. It didn't help that he was twice my size either. Choosing my battles, I ignored him and walked back to the table, hearing his chuckle ring in my ears. 

All in all, Dinner went fine, and at 10.30 PM, I found myself huddled up in a blanket, reading a copy of Harry Potter with a cuppa tea. I loved the book, but somehow it was a bit ruined now. Every time I read the name, I felt a pang in my chest, reminding me I still hadn't seen any sign of Harry. My eyes kept flitting to the alarm clock - the one I nicked from Ayden's bedside table - but the sounds of people getting ready for bed started to settle down, and he still hadn't dropped by. 

It was almost midnight when I heard a soft knock on the door. 

A hand with a tattooed cross on it snuck around the door and the familiar flutter in my stomach hit me tenfold. 
   'Hi...' He smiled warmly at me and leaned against the door frame. 'Care for a midnight stroll?'
Immediately my eyes were drawn to his choice of clothes. He was wearing a ridiculous blue sweater with a chicken on it. Thank God, he didn't wore that sweater when he got called in by Niall for that crisis. He was everything but intimidating right now. He pulled it off though and I couldn't help but grin.
   'Yeah sure.'