Three Hearts Left Intact

Chapter 7: Secret File

Finishing up in the bathroom, Lauren walked out in her new attire for the day seeing Kaila still in the same place she had left her. Checking her watch, Lauren noticed Kaila had been left in the corner for nearly an hour and a half. 'I take that long getting ready?!' Her eyebrow raised not realizing her ridiculous time lapse.

Shrugging it off she went over to Kaila and pulled the chair back. She had anticipated seeing Kaila sitting in the chair weeping or whining, but she didn't get any of that. Instead Kaila had dried out tears on her pale cheeks and her mouth hung open like she had been left in the desert for ages. Putting her hand to Kaila's  forehead Lauren shook her head, it wasn't a cold. Seeing the color in Kaila's face continue to drain away as she inspected different possibilities, the wire finally clicked in Lauren's head when she heard the loudest growl come from Kaila's stomach.

She relaxed internally taking Kaila by the hand and trying to help her stand. Her body was weak and the more she tried to hold her body weight on her own two legs, she found herself collapsing instantly. The tall girl sighed prepping her legs with a small stretch before bending down and lifting Kaila back up onto her hip. She was surprised to find the girl lighter than before.

Without any exchange of words Lauren had carried Kaila all the way downstairs into a large empty kitchen. Much like Lauren's room, this kitchen only had the essentials. Nothing to decorate with, and nothing that would call this place home with. Sitting Kaila down on a bar stool at the center piece, Lauren dug through cabinets and hunted through the fridge coming up with enough ingredients for two sandwiches.

She plated them on their glass silverware and slid Kaila one of the plates. "Eat up." She said standing at the other end of the island devouring her sandwich in only a handful of bites. Meanwhile Kaila sat in her seat picking at the bread of the sandwich. Lauren had already finished hers and was washing her plate when she noticed Kaila's behavior.

"Kaila, I told you to eat your food." She warned putting the plate in the dishwasher. Returning back to the island, Lauren rested her arms on it watching as Kaila continued to play with the crust of her sandwich. "Oh for the love of..." Lauren irritatedly threw her head back and arms in the air, she turned around grabbing a knife from out of a drawer before pulling Kaila's plate towards her. Using the knife she cut off the crust to the sandwich and cut the remaining piece into four smaller ones. Passing the plate back, Lauren rolled her eyes watching Kaila devour them like no tomorrow.

Slowly the color returned to Kaila's face, grabbing orange juice from the fridge Lauren poured some into a glass and sat it in front of the small girl. She hesitantly reached out and grabbed the glass lifting it to her lips carefully. Meanwhile Lauren turned around to grab a cup to make coffee in. Within the short second her back was turned she was startled and jumped to the sound of shattered glass.

"I-I'm s-sorry..." now that she had nutrients in her body, Kaila was able to produce a new set of fresh tears. She tried to jump off the barstool but Lauren yelled at her to stay where she was. Grabbing a nearby mop and broom, Lauren swept away the shards of glass from off the floor as best as she could and wiped up the mess from the juice.

Putting the pieces of equipment back, Lauren grabbed Kaila and lifted her up and over the infected area in case of any remaining stranglers she missed. Taking the small girl back up to her room, Lauren sat Kaila down on the edge of her bed. She paced around her room thinking while rubbing her chin. She stopped in the center of her room being directly in front of Kaila,  "you and I are going back to the facility now. I don't want anymore of your terrible escape attempts, if you even think about it, I'll see to it personally that your friend...what was it, Lain, gets an even bigger punishment than what you'll be getting. Are we clear?"

The second Lauren had brought Lain into this she had Kaila's full attention. She didn't want anything happening to Lain, it already hurt Kaila enough to know she wasn't with her. But knowing she would have caused Lain pain would break her. Nodding her head in agreement, Kaila was going to do what she could to make sure nothing happened to Lain.

"Good," Lauren grabbed her small bag of belongings for the day and grabbed Kaila's hand. The small girl tried retaliating by pulling away her hand, but Lauren only gripped onto it tighter. She glared down at Kaila, and immediately Kaila's relaxed arm muscles tensed as did Lauren's grip. Closing off her room and entering the code for the door, the two of them exited the house back into the long windowless corridor that led back into the general facility.

Going through the large labyrinth of white walls and randomized door numbers, Lauren used her key to unlock the door to her office. Stepping back inside Kaila took a seat in a chair opposite to Lauren's leather chair. "No, sit there" she commanded pointing her finger. Following with her eyes Kaila saw Lauren aiming straight for the rug she had on the floor.

"But I don't wan-" she began before Lauren shushed her and pointed again raising her eyebrow up and making an L shape with one of her hands. Snapping back what was important into her head Kaila got down and sat on the rug. Unknowingly she hadn't noticed Lauren's bag bigger than it was the day prior. As she tilted her bag sideways and dropped the contents of it out onto the floor in front of Kaila. She noticed a variety of belongings. Some were boring and typical like a lipstick or a notebook, but others such as a coloring book and crayons, balloons, and children'a book caught Kaila's attention.

She instantly reached out for an Aladdin coloring book, as her hand briefly touched it, she noticed a smaller package underneath it in a manila folder. Looking closer at it, she could see Lain's name printed on the side of it. Keeping her cool Kaila hid the folder under the coloring book and pulled it into her lap. Using her body to cover up what was hiding behind the book. "Play quietly." Lauren stood up throwing her empty bag onto the side of the room.

Sneakily smirking to herself Kaila nodded turning her body around and pulling the manilla folder out briefly opening it and seeing many pages within. She smiled largely to herself as she began to "play" while Lauren did some work on her laptop.
——————————————————————————
Let me know what you think. Thanks Lexx signing off