Children's Games: A Story of Modern Punishment

Chapter 16 - Emilia

~Emilia~

Emilia sat up from her bed and looked around the room quickly. Sighing at the tranquillity, she reminded herself of where she was. Her new home. Within Home. No danger in sight.

Bonnie was still sitting up against her pillows but was now fast asleep with her forehead resting on her notebook. Her blankets were covered in different pens, pencils, and Textas. She was snoring slightly with dribble spilling onto the open page. Her dark eyebrows moved up and down quickly. Emilia watched her, wondering what she really thought about her. Perhaps she was being too hard on her, too quick to assume the worst.

Emilia sighed again as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed, her feet feeling how cold the floor was. Bonnie stirred and quickly woke with a smile... friendly, but it was hiding something.

"Good morning! Well, good afternoon," she said in a cheery voice and odd accent, looking at her digital alarm clock on her bedside table. It stood beside a candle, a book of poems, and a glass of water. They were all in a line and the same height. "Did you sleep well?"

Emilia nodded, rubbing her eyes and wondering if sleeping too long might've missed her the chance to do something productive today. Six hours was a large chunk of the working day. I need to start pulling my weight around here. She thought back to Anna's sweet blue drinks that she offered, masked as an alcoholic treat, but really, they were sleeping droughts. They shared the same bed, but Anna was bothered by the way she slept, and would push the drug on her, yet cuddled her in her sleep to feign comfort. She was feigning a twisted friendship. Emilia shivered before getting up, watching her new roommate cautiously.

"I've got some work to do today... do you want to come with me? There's probably room anywhere you go if you'd like to pick something up."

Emilia shook her head. "Not today." She gathered some things, wondering what she was actually going to do with her day. Alone. Bonnie was right, she did need to do something... She glanced back at Bonnie who smiled back politely, but it was tight-lipped and forced. "But can you help me... Uhh..."

She didn't like asking for things. These people had given her a home, a sanctuary, and taken away any need for her to worry. And had asked for nothing in return other than contributing to their colony to keep it going. They had done a lot for her, and the thought that the attack on the airport was somehow linked to her presence had already crossed her mind many times, and she worried that if she asked for anything it would be too much. She didn't like owing people.

"Spit it out. I'm sure I can help in some way." There was a long awkward pause, Emilia trying not to keep eye contact too long, and Bonnie never wavering with her big blue eyes.

"Can you help me find Elliot? I need to talk to him. But I can't find him."

Bonnie's cheeks warmed again as she smiled, pulling herself out of bed. "Oh, sure. I know exactly where he'll be, but it's not in the city. We'll need to catch a ride there if you're up for it. It'll be a day trip for sure."

The communal women's bathroom was only communal to the women on the floor, which was just the two of them. They picked cubicles at opposite ends of the room, showered under cold water and lye soap, and was out and ready to go within ten minutes. Then Bonnie gave her a large container filled with fruits, too quickly for Emilia to guiltily decline. And finally, they were outside the building, feeling the noon sun kissing their skin yet providing no signature warmth to relieve the icy kiss of the wind.

"Hey, now that I think of it, you two look really similar. When I first saw you two together, your Aussie accents were the most obvious similarity, but I see it properly now. Same vibe with the hair and the eyes, both so serious," Bonnie smiled, nudging her with an elbow.