Children's Games: A Story of Modern Consequence

Chapter 54

~Emilia~

The room was quiet. Not silent, but quiet.

Emilia was busy in the wardrobe finding blankets and trying not to think about her file. Calico was playing with her shoelaces, and playfully scratching at her ankles every few minutes, but she didn't mind. She was glad that he had come back and was sticking around. She was determined to bring him with her, and to use it as a reminder of Molly.

Florence was also quiet across the room as she sorted through everyone's chest of draws with great haste. Before beginning, she had laid out her plan to Emilia as a way of sorting out her racing thoughts, while also double checking with her friend that she was finding the right things. The old second in command was finding all their light long-sleeved attire to accommodate for the possibility of being stranded in the desert. Three of them had lighter skin so their journey would become ten times harder if she also had to fight Australia's hot sun.

She was now sorting through Emilia's things while Emilia herself started putting Florence's neat piles into their light-weight bags. Florence had found the uniform that Emilia wore when she had first arrived with the light over shirt that would be perfect for their travel.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Emilia asked. Florence looked over and nodded with a small smile. Her thick dark hair curled around her face and her cheeks glowed. Ever since they had met, Florence had been kind of closed off and eery, though she had eased off with each conversation. But now, despite all the anxiety charging the air between them, Florence looked relieved to be out of the lie. Pretending that she believed in the whole thing had been exhausting.

"I'm just glad that it will all be over soon... out of this mess. I think I'm starting to remember what my real home looked like."

"Me too," she lied.

Emilia leaned over and placed her hand over her friends and gave a gentle squeeze. It reminded her of the time Florence had warned her about asking questions during the council building break in. Her hands were shaking slightly, just like they had then.

Florence snatched her hand away as the sound of someone running up the stairs pierced their ears.

"Guys, they're back! Hide- hide the abnormal stuff and- and act normal." Matthew was only whispering, but the sheer panic in his voice was deafening.

They put the green antidote liquid in the closest bedside table, hearing it smash against the wood, then started going through other people's draws as if they were packing for their superiors as well. At the last second, she realised the small pile of 'vitamins' she had left in a pile on her pillow, and quickly scooped the various tins into her pockets and hoped for the best.

"What a surprise," Anna said slowly as she cautiously waltzed into the room.

Yelena walked in with her hands behind her back, observing the three of them closely. She looked more openly suspicious than Anna. They were both wearing different clothes than before; dressed in all black which made the shadows of the room look lighter in comparison.

"I thought you'd all be out for another..." Anna paused to look at her watch. "Two hours. You all must be eating very well. All the extra protein causing my calculations to be off by such an annoying amount."

No one laughed to Anna's light tone. Not after they understood what she really meant. Emilia couldn't help but let a scowl smear over her face at the idea of their diet being so tainted. It was the first time that she realised that Anna wasn't really her friend. She had never really been her friend.

"Where's Petyr?" Anna asked, mimicking Emilia's expression and looking her in the eye.

"He's downstairs. We weren't sure if the armoury needed packing up as well."