The Pariah

"Deception is a predator's disguise." ---Rocio Alvarenga

Before Nick could reply, the door swung open. Nick got up and Mia got up from beside him. The two Hart siblings stood side by side as Carter and Griffin came in. Carter was carrying two paper bags while Griffin had a box in his hands. Nick could smell something that resembled food coming from the brown paper bags and he couldn't help his mouth watering. He was so hungry, but he was sure Carter was going to try to poison him to see if he could survive. He wasn't sure if he cared at this point, he needed to eat for strength.

"Good morning," Carter greeted the two siblings with a sinister smirk on his face. "Did you sleep well? I hope so, you've got a busy day ahead of you." He said in a very patronizing tone.

"What's in the box?" Nick said ignoring Carter and looking over at Griffin who had his eyes on Mia. The two of them were having a private conversation full of glares. Nick wasn't even going to try to understand because he was sure Griffin was playing mind games with her.

Carter grinned at him lightly. "You didn't think you could walk around in those clothes, did you?" Carter asked him as he reached into the box. He threw a pair of pants, a shirt, and a pair of underwear at him all held in plastic wrap.

The clothes were all a uniform dark blue. Nick ripped the bag open and looked at the shirt, it was a simple cotton t-shirt which was made out of cheap material. He tugged it over his chest to cover the gauzes that were on display for Carter. He then tugged off his pants, he would wait on the underwear, and then put them on. The pants were like scrub pants as Mia called them, they were comfortable and breathable. Nick admitted he didn't hate this getup. These clothes were nicer than his ones at home.

"This box," Carter said showing the box in his hands to Nick. "Has your clothes for the next week. You'll get a box of new clothes every week." Carter said seeing Mia's eyes were now on them, she had finally finished her staring match with Griffin, and he threw her her own package.

"Seems like a waste to me," Mia thought out loud as she opened up her own package and took out the shirt, undergarments, and pants that were inside. Mia's uniform was more scrub like than Nick's, he guessed since she would be studying more medical things. "These clothes are made of cloth. They are going to be good for several wears."

Griffin snorted as he shoved a paper bag in her hand before shoving the other one in Nick's hands. "If you have any more comments," Griffin said as Mia let out a hiss of pain. "Then keep them to yourself."

Nick put his hand on Mia's back as she leaned over in pain. His amber eyes were full of concern and terror at seeing his little sister all buckled over because the shock hurt her so bad. He looked up at Griffin who had a smug, satisfied look on his face. He then glanced over to Carter whose eyes locked on Nick's as if daring him to do anything. He didn't know exactly what Griffin did to Mia, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with the anklet Mia was sporting.

He had a hunch of what that anklet was for that Mia wore and he knew it wasn't for decoration. It was to deliver painful shocks to his sister into getting her to behave. In some ways, he would rather have the anklet on his leg. It would mean Carter wouldn't feel the need to beat him bloody. In other ways though, Nick wouldn't want the anklet. At least when Carter hit him he knew exactly when it was coming. Mia never knew when Griffin was going to hit the little control on the remote Nick was sure was in his pocket. He made a note to try to swipe it from him later or at least destroy it.

"That was uncalled for," Nick snapped at Griffin, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. He then leaned his head down to where Mia was standing 3/4ths of the way up. "Are you okay?" He whispered in her ear as he stood back up. He watched her nod as he turned his attention back to their captors.