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eil slegna

Angels Lie

Hershey heard the ringing before he heard the words.

The faintness of the ringing became louder ever so gently before it occupied everything. Impossible to focus on anything else, Hershey lied still. Then it lowered, and he could hear the sounds of birds far off in the distance.

Hershey opened his eyes, but still didn't move. He knew he was lying on a bed, one surprisingly comfortable for how dirty it actually looked. The walls around him were covered in tearing yellow and purple wallpaper, and there was a pile of clothes, a sink, and a toilet pushed to the other side of the room. Hershey looked up at the light source and saw that the sun was perfectly still in the sky...through the barred windows.

That could mean either two things.

One, he had only slept for a few hours.

Two, he had slept for a few days.

The door in front of his bed opened slightly, and he let his eyelids and limbs go limp.

Hershey heard the footsteps of someone walking in slowly as to not wake him. There was a decline at the end of the bed, and he felt a cold finger land on his ankle. It was so sudden, he had to force himself not to flinch away. The hand didn't go up or down, it just stood there and shook. It seemed like the person wanted him to wake up, but Hershey didn't dare. After a few seconds, their name called out in the hallway got them to loosen their grip.

"Arthur! Get out here!" they called an Arthur sighed and got up.

He closed, and locked, the door behind him.

Hershey opened his eyes, hearing murmurs just outside the door, but not enough to comprehend their speech.

"Dinner's ready!"

"I cannot believe that you never told me you were adopted!" Matrix complained, keeping his voice low so the newly rushing feet in the hallway wouldn't hear.

Beta just shrugged. "Technically I was never adopted, not in the long run anyway." After a quick pause Beta added, "Besides, it didn't seem very important."

"Yeah well!" Matrix though about it. "Technically it's not but—"

"Okay then," He interrupted Matrix's train of thought. "So then can we go and eat?"

"Beta," Matrix intercepted him. "If you feel uncomfortable here, just let me know, okay?" The Perna just nodded before opening the door for dinner.

Beta felt uncomfortable the second they were out in the hallway, but didn't say anything to Matrix. He didn't like being close to so many other people, especially with backstories he was sure were much worse than his own. It made him feel invalid somehow.

The house was big enough to hold many rooms, but it was only two stories tall. The stairs were a straight shot into the small living room at the front of the house. The door was on the left, right beside the staircase, and to the right was a corridor leading to another, much larger living room with a T.V. on the wall and a Play Station sitting on the floor. The crowd of guys walked past the living room and through an archway that led to the dining room. There were a few boys already there, setting the table while Frankie put out the food.

"Come on kids! Sit down, sit down!" Frankie ushered them all to the table and to their seats. Beta started to count them.

9 or 10 in total.

"Leo! Get these two some chairs," Frankie ordered a boy.

He got up from the comfort of his own seat and glared at Matrix and Beta. His hair was very dark and he had a fake ring "piercing" his left nostril. His fingers were long and his nose was short. He was tall and seemed a couple of years younger than Beta, sixteen at best. He brought out the two extra chairs and they took a seat in them. Beta sat next to Matrix and Matrix sat next to a small boy about Hershey's age, maybe younger. Probably younger. At this point, anything reminded him of Hershey. He was so used to seeing his face every day on Plato that going just a few days without him felt empty.