seven [peter ballard]

ch. 13

 Later that evening, Seven found herself sitting in front of Papa's desk, just as Peter had promised. She frowned as he watched her, sighing. The rest of the day had felt weird, and it had left Seven frustrated and ready for it to end.

Peter had said close to nothing to her the whole day. His silence bothered her even now, as she waited for Papa to say something. If Peter was mad at her, he'd made no visible display of it. He'd made no visible display of feeling anything, really. The Peter that Seven had gotten that day was formal. Closed off.

Her least favorite version.

Then at lunch, Twelve, Four, and Ten had all stared at her from across the cafeteria. They'd sat at a table far away from her, all sneaking glances at her through the hour. Twelve and Four's eyes had been mostly unreadable, but Seven wouldn't have been surprised if they were actively planning her murder. Ten had looked too, but more in worry than anything else.

"Want to tell me what happened, Seven?" Papa asked her finally, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She looked his way, tone bitter. "Don't you already know?"

"I want to hear it from you." He folded his hands on the desk, peering at her through small reading glasses.

"How come I'm here alone?" Seven glanced around the empty office, scoffing instead of obeying his command. "Where are the others?"

"They'll be here later, Seven," he shook his head, voice soft but firm. "Don't think about them. I want you to tell me what happened."

"We didn't go to training, evidently." She tried not to roll her eyes. Her bad day weighed on her shoulders, making the words irritated and snappy.

There was a short silence. Papa's dark eyes roamed over her, flashing with anger, "I'd watch my tone if I were you, daughter."

Suddenly, worry darted through her. What if he hurt her, just like everyone else? Could this finally be her time?

Her lips thinned into a tight line. "I just went to see Ten out of the infirmary. Twelve and Four were already there, and they wanted to go, so I just...went with them." In a quieter voice, she added, "We snuck into the kitchens."

"Who initiated it?"

She bit her lip, hesitant to put the blame on any one of them. They were already mad at her as it was. "I don't know," she said finally, words careful. "I think we were all in agreement."

He shook his head, regarding her with disappointment that made her heart pang with regret. "I don't understand. You've never ever done anything like this before. Why now?"

Seven shrugged, unable to come up with a response.

"Is it because you wanted them to be your friends?" He asked finally, voice turning into a soft, sympathetic thing. Her eyes narrowed. "You wanted to fit in?"

"I..." she hated that it was precisely the reason she'd done it. Her face heated. "I guess."

"Seven," he sighed, leaning back in his chair. Papa slid his glasses off, watching her with a frown. "This is a very big laboratory. That is why there's many people around, so we can keep track of you all. Can you imagine what we thought when all four of you were missing at once?"

Everywhere was the same. Every room, every hall. There were parts of the laboratory that Seven had never seen, not once in her life. But she couldn't imagine it being any different from where she lived. "That we got lost?"

" Lost," he agreed, "Or hurt. A lot of experiments happen here, Seven, many of them at once. This may be a surprise to you, but you're not the only dangerous thing that resides here. Because of that, it's crucial to me that I know where all my children are at all times."