“Would you two like something to eat?” Alexander asked. I stayed quiet. Tiffany nodded slightly. “Right this way then.” We followed him out into the hall. Miss Roberts, or whoever she was, followed behind us. I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten. I hadn’t had any food or water since getting here. At the thought of food, my body suddenly remembered that food was something that it needed, and it began to remind me with painful jabs and loud moans.

  The food that I was given to eat was a bit of bread and cheese and some goop that I think was meant to be apple sauce. Oh, and some water that tasted like metal. Now, more than ever, I was thankful for Mama's cooking skills. At least it got my stomach to shut up. Tiffany was given some kind of weird white powder for her breakfast. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and I found myself wondering if they were just giving her more drugs. However, Tiffany ate it quite happily. Then again, she ate most things happily.

  “I can get you some clean clothes to change into,” the woman who wasn’t Miss Roberts said, once I had finished eating. I shook my head.

  “No! I’m keeping these!”

  “A-are you sure about that?” she asked. She looked up and down my filthy, stained jeans and jacket with a frown on her face. I nodded. I might regret that later. No, no I wouldn’t. Because when I looked at the patched-up denim all I could think about was Mama, sitting in her rocking chair on a sunny day, humming with her sewing needle in hand. If I lost these clothes, I would lose the one thing I had brought from home. The one last reminder I had. Also, I hated this woman and wasn’t going to take anything from her that I didn’t need to survive. Once we had both finished, Alexander came up to Tiffany and me.

  "Did you sleep?" he asked Tiffany.

  "Nope," Tiffany said without any hesitation. "Not at all."

  "I'll start work with you later but first you need some proper rest," Alexander said. Tiffany just nodded and stared at the ground. Work? What did that mean? More tests? It couldn't mean anything good. The two of us were led back to the same room we had woken up in. Only now there was a tiny bed tucked into the corner. Oh, how caring of them. What were they trying to do? Give us Stockholm syndrome? The moment we were back Tiffany collapsed into the bed.

  “Why’s his voice so messed up?” I asked Tiffany once we were alone again.

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure it was always like that,” she moaned.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, I think they put something in my food. I can’t keep my eyes open.”

  “Sleep tight.” I tucked the blanket around her shoulders. She let out another moan that turned to a snore halfway through. I patted her on the head. Beads of sweat dripped down her cheeks. Poor little baby. I sat down next to her. I had a plan. I just hoped nothing too awful happened to her before I was able to act. I closed my eyes and leaned back. I needed to think through every hall we had just gone through.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Every turn we had made, every single path we had taken. True, they all looked more or less the same, but you could say the same thing about many of our fields back at the farm. They seemed the same, save for those tiny distinct differences. For these halls that meant a floor stain here, a crack in the wall there. Tiny differences, but differences nevertheless.

  And what’s best, they were the kinds of things that would be there the next day. I had to keep everything straight. Tiffany let out a little squeak in her sleep. “Don’t be scared, you’re going to be alright.” A wave of weariness swept over me. I greeted it happily. It was natural that I felt this way, it wasn’t a feeling or sensation being forced on me. I didn’t fight it, although I didn’t let it take over me.

  Stay strong, stay alert, stay angry, all for Tiffany. The thought of Mama and Papa’s kind smiling faces and the sound of hens clucking softly gave me new strength. The only thing that brought me more strength than anger was the promise of future joys… and revenge.

  “How long was I asleep for?” Tiffany asked.

  “I’m not sure. It could have been five minutes, or five hours for all I know.” Tiffany laughed.

  “Yeah. I don’t know why I asked.” I sat down on the bed next to her.

  "It's strange... I should be able to do almost anything, right? I can't die. But here I am, being pushed around all day. Alexander only needs to threaten you or our parents and I end up doing whatever he wants," Tiffany said. My heart began to race. Had he said anything about hurting our parents? "It's because I care about people that he's able to control me," she added. I shook my head.

  "Don't say that! You're a good person. But you're making it sound like being a good person is a weakness," I said.

  "What if it is? What if caring makes you weaker, softer?"

  "Do you remember Rocky Falls?" I asked suddenly.

  "Of course, how could I forget?" Tiffany smiled. "We used to go there all the time during the summer."

  "Do you remember that one time when we were climbing on the rocks? Mama and Papa were watching us on the shore. We were playing and we didn't see how close we were to the edge," I went on.

  "I remember. I also remember that you slipped and fell. I tried to grab your hand but we fell into the water. I remember how strong the current was," said Tiffany.

  "Yeah, we were screaming and crying. The moment that he saw we were scared, Papa leaped to his feet and practically flung himself into the river. He flew down the side of the cliff and dove into the water."

  "Yeah, he pulled us onto the shore in under a minute," Tiffany added. "I'd never seen him do anything like that before."

  "We haven't seen him do anything like that since! It was so unreal. It was almost like he developed super powers for a moment. I don't think he would have been able to do that if it wasn't for the fact that we were in danger. He was so focused on saving us that I don't think he even knew what happened himself. So... what I'm saying is that..."

  "That it was because he cared. Because he loved us, he became strong enough to help us," Tiffany said.

  "Yes. I think caring can be it's own form of power. Do you remember what Mama always said? That softness and strength go hand in hand and if you try to tear them apart, you'll end up with cruelty?" Tiffany smiled.

  "Yes, I remember." There was a warm glow in her eyes now. We stood up as footsteps came drifting down the hall towards us. Tiffany let out a sigh. "Now it begins," she whispered.

  "We will make it out of here. Trust me," I whispered to her. Alexander appeared once more.

  "Are you ready?" he asked. Tiffany nodded.

  "I'm coming too!" I burst out. He turned to me with a frown. I glared back.

  "Please," Tiffany said. She took my hand. "Let her come." There was a pause. Then Alexander nodded. We headed out. Instantly, my brain went into note-taking mode. I needed to have this hall maze memorized. I didn't know what was going to happen. But I also didn't know how much more of this Tiffany could take. We would make it out of here and Alexander would pay for hurting Tiffany.