Oh my goodness guys.... I'm so terribly terribly sorry. i feel awful for like abandoning you. My gosh... I'm a horrible person. But thankfully, it looks like most of you put up with my tomfoolery because I only lost one subscriber. And then I gained one so I'm back where I was! Since you guys are awesome, this will be part 1 of a triple update! I have two of the different perspective chapters and I'm gonna post them after this one. They won't have the sign language of the day or random french though. Just a note that they are part of a multiple update and a link to their corresponding chapters. Also, I have considered making a timeline so you guys know what's happened sequentially. Believe it or not this story is only like 4 days long so far. I only need one person to request it and I'll post a quick chapter that summarizes each day in good detail but with short phrases so you lovely readers can get a good feel on the time frame. I'm also gonna make a kind of "Encyclopedia" type thing for this story so you can always access the general idea of people places and events without having to dig through the chapters again. When I start that, I'll leave a link somewhere. I dunno where right now but I'll make it obvious. And possibly obnoxious. I might also have someone doing illustrations of my OC's sometime! (if i ever get her the information ^^') those pics will go in the Encyclopedia as well.

There shall be important info about Laeri at the ending A/N just so you don't skip that one at least.

Also, I'm super excited because,

One of my friends got bored and made me a poster!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah I'm super grateful and happy. Even though she made me mad yesterday when she messed up all my notes on my iPod. I really need to keep that away from friends.... Anyway, if you're terribly curious it was Addy so she also has a little feature here.

Onto the comment replies:

@nyoko:I'll cover both of your comments in one fell swoop. Yes you are psychic! and it's creepy! but awesome! As far as Yoseob's heritage is concerned, One is right but I'm not saying which. The door is right too but everyone seems to get his right... I wonder why that is. Tristan is actually based off a Yu Yu Hakusho (it's an anime that's AWESOME~!) character by the name of Kuronue who is a bat demon but i imagined more the hairstyle of Nagato from Naruto but in a dark blue color not red.
Anna will not be showing up much. Actually most of the OCs aren't gonna be permanent fixtures. The ones you can get attached to are: Addy, Emi, Lingfei and Michelle. Also every name i pick has specific meaning, either to me or by namesake. So if you see any names of people with heritage other than north america, feel free to go look up what their names mean and ask why i picked them. And you are definitely gonna see more of her past, you can count on that one. A lot in flashbacks but some as visitors.
@Kwonnie:I know! and I'm super super sorry! and guilty... BTW Thanks for the belated B-day message. It's always better to be late than never. And for the rest of y'all my b-day was the 2nd of Nov. Yep I'm officially considered an adult in North America. Woohoo.

ONTO THE VERY BELATED UPDATE!

You woke up for once having had no dreams. Yesterday had been an all-around good day. You got some new clothes, you saw an old friend, and you had made Hyunseung umma squeal like a girl. One look at your new dresses, and he had gone all super fan girl on you. Doojoon had just stared at you like the other three had in Suzy's store. Junhyung didn't make an appearance at all, but Hyunseung and Doojoon had gushed enough compliments at you that he wasn't missed. Okay, Hyunseung had gushed while Doojoon stood behind him and mimicked his flailing gestures, much to everyone's amusement. Addy, Emi, and Lingfei had all been ecstatic over your new look, claiming it suited you much better than before. They ate at the table with you that night which led to some very interesting conversations. You had never felt so at ease.

Waking up well-slept just made you smile. You hopped out of bed full of energy. After stripping off your nightgown, you started undoing the slightly bloody bandages to pleasantly find that most of the cuts were closed and healing quickly. You rewrapped clean bandages around the couple stubborn cuts after washing them, and then you skipped over to the wardrobe to pick out some clothes to wear. To match your mood, you pulled out a yellow blouse and some white skinny jeans. The top buttoned through the bust section with tiny white buttons that shone in the light. A squared seam gave the shirt a tunic feel with a slightly fitted waist that the rest of the shirt flowed away from. The sleeves puffed slightly at the shoulders and were cut to the wrist from the top of the shoulder. Shiny gold ribbons in the same shade as the top tied in increments to keep the sleeves together but still showing a little skin. The bruises and cuts, and occasionally scars, wouldn't show unless the sleeves came untied or got pushed up. You pulled on the white cotton jeggings and went searching for a pair of shoes. You found a pair of yellow ballet flats with a daisy on top and smiled at the appropriateness. You slipped them onto your feet and walked to the door.

You paused with your hand over the doorknob. You didn't know if you were allowed to leave your room unattended. Eventually deciding that Hyunseung would be at breakfast, you opened the door and set off for the mess hall. You walked down the hallway and then the stairs. It was a rather quiet walk until you came to the hallway that led back to the kitchen. A boy slightly younger than you but a head taller ran up and fell into step with you.

"Good morning!" he said pleasantly. "Are you new? I don't recognize you. My name's Harvey. What's yours?"

You pointed at your throat while you mouthed 'I can't talk'.

"Oh, you're the new girl who can't talk! I heard about you! How do you like this place? Oh, um, let me rephrase that. Do you like it here?" He nervously rubbed the back of his neck while smiling awkwardly.

 Your good mood got the better of you, and you nodded with a slight smile playing over your lips.

The boy smiled back. "Well that's good. Are you going to breakfast?" You nodded. "Cool. We can walk together. I bet you still sit up with the beasties don't you?"

You made a very confused face that eventually caught his attention.

"Oh, sorry. Since all of our masters are demons while we're all humans, we sometimes refer to them collectively as 'the beasties'. It helps keep 'master' out of the mindset here. They don't like us to use that word, but most of us are too lazy to just name all of them." You watched as his face took on a look of serious concentration as he tried to get his point across. You giggled noiselessly at his frustration. The uneven sounds of your breathing caught his attention, and he looked at you in confusion. His expression just brought on another fit of silent laughter. "You know, as weird as soundless laughing is, you make it adorable." You smiled brightly and batted your eyes. Harvey flushed slightly and looked away.

When you came up to the door to the kitchen, he held it open for you and did the same for the next door. He gave you a friendly wave before walking off to his table. You approached Hyunseung who was drinking coffee and reading some papers. He looked up at you and smiled. "Well, don't you look adorable today. Did you sleep well?"

You flushed at the compliment and nodded.

Where are the others?

"Well, since you're up especially early this morning, I wouldn't expect to see Dongwoon or Yoseob for at least ten more minutes. Gikwang will wander in about fifteen minutes after one or both of them is up and continue sleeping on the table for around twenty minutes before finally giving up to actually eat. As you saw yesterday, Doojoon and Junhyung normally don't eat breakfast or at least not with the rest of us," he answered. You nodded, truly not realizing how early it still was. "Well sit down silly! Have some toast. There's eggs in the green bowl." Hyunseung shooed you toward a seat. You felt your lips twitch slightly.

Sitting down, you spooned some eggs onto your plate and grabbed a couple pieces of toast. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that your stand-in mother had cracked a smile. You batted your eyes innocently at him and quirked your head to the side. He laughed lightly. "I'm sorry but it appears that you have an extremely contagious disease known as good-day-happy-itis. And I would know because I'm a medic." He tried to fix a serious stare on you but failed miserably and broke into a fit of laughter. "I mean it though. You are extremely contagious." He gave you a bright smile that had your mouth lifting at the corners as well.

"Hyung! Where's Yoseob?" You started and looked behind you at the maknae who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. You looked in front of you at the door and back at Dongwoon who was behind you.

"Son Dongwoon! Must we go through this every morning?! What did I tell you yesterday?! Don't do that!" You glanced at Hyunseung slightly nervously. He was trying to glare a hole through the maknae's forehead. It might have been a trick of the light, but his eyes looked red.

Dongwoon turned extremely pale. Actually, pale was an understatement. He was white with terror. "S- s- sorry Hyung," he stuttered. He flinched when Hyunseung raised his hand to point at the door. The maknae quickly ran out of the door.

You raised your hands in confusion and began to sign.

What-

"Don't ask that question please," Hyunseung sighed. "The answer could upset you, and that's not a good way to start off such a wonderful morning. Suffice it to say that our maknae has a bad habit of not remembering to do as he's told." You nodded absentmindedly, more concerned with trying to figure out what had just transpired. If Hyunseung didn't want you to ask, though, then you weren't going to.

Just then, Yoseob popped his head in the door. "Hyung, are you calm now? Can Woonie come back in?" Hyunseung sighed again and nodded. "Come on, ya 'fraidy cat," Yoseob called over his shoulder. He pushed the door open and walked around to sit by you while Dongwoon hovered nervously in the doorway. After a nod from Hyunseung, the maknae sheepishly stepped over to the table, taking the seat across from you.

"I'm sorry Hyunseung-hyung. I know I'm not supposed to do that, and I didn't think about what could happen. Don't be mad please?" He gave a little pout and used puppy dog eyes in an attempt to melt through the cold facade of the elder.

He let Dongwoon squirm for a moment before he sighed and said, "Yeah, yeah. I'm not mad, just frustrated. Eat something before I kick you out again." He still sounded irritated, but the slight half-smile said differently. Dongwoon smiled at the elder, and he started filling his plate and stuffing his face.

"Have you tried the toast with jam yet?" Yoseob asked. You shook your head 'no'. "Well then, I'm going to make you a slice with all the different flavors." He picked a piece of toast and a knife and set to work. When he was finished, he presented you with a piece of bread in a pinwheel of colors. You could hardly believe he did it with a knife. You carefully observed the colorful prism before picking a pinkish sliver with seeds. Biting in, the taste of strawberries exploded in your mouth. You swiveled over to a darker shade that you were sure you recognized. When the grape flavor assaulted your senses, you knew you were right. You didn't recognize any of the other colors, but you ended up tasting peach, raspberry, blueberry, mulberry, and a couple flavors you had never had before.

"So which is your favorite?" the blonde asked tauntingly. You put on a straight face and pretended to think about it. The other two were now watching for your response as well.

All of them.

You kept your face straight until the others started laughing. Then, you joined in with your own silent displacement of air. "Oh! You can laugh!" Dongwoon exclaimed in surprise. "Well, sort of." You nodded and smiled at him.

Suddenly, Gikwang walked in more awake than you'd ever seen him in the morning. "Hyunseung, there's a situation. And it needs your attention. Right now."

Hyunseung raised an eyebrow before asking, "What kind of situation? Life or death, imminent threat, or emotional breakdown?"

"None of the above, but it might escalate to the third one. Can you just come deal with it? I'm trying not to cause a scene. Yoseob, Dongwoon, and the girl can come too, but we need to leave immediately. Laeri may actually be helpful to have around this time." Gikwang looked at you thoughtfully.

Hyunseung picked up on the anxious attitude and hustled the other two up. "Laeri, do you want to join us?" By the time he looked over at you, you were already up and awaiting further instruction. "Gikwang, brief me while we walk."

He waited until you were in the hallway before launching into the story. "Well, I was getting ready to go to breakfast, but when I was looping around to the other hallway, one of the girls, Rephaela I think, came over and said there was someone at the door. I went with her not knowing what to expect because we rarely have visitors who don't call first. When I got to the door, Mita was there with a girl who was almost in hysterics. I asked her who she was, but she just kept muttering under her breath. I had her sit on the couch with Mita and Rephaela, and I came to get you."

"A girl? Human?"

"Yes, which is why I came and got you. What are we going to do?" The younger nervously wrung his hands.

"I'm not sure. We need to get all the stories straight before we do anything. How was her state when you left her?"

"Like I said, she was almost in hysterics, but I left her in good hands. Her shoes were dirty and there was leaves caught on her clothing. Other than a bad sunburn, she didn't seem physically injured."

At that moment, you rounded the corner and walked into the bright window room. Gikwang led the way over to a small crowd of people hovering around a couch. "Alright, disperse! Nothing more to see here!" The crowd gradually dissolved until only three girls were left: one standing behind the couch, one looking like a scared rabbit, and one next to her on the couch trying to console her. You guessed that the scared rabbit one was the new arrival. She had shorter brown hair with red streaks. She had a good figure, not skinny but not too heavyset either. When she glanced up, you were stricken by the stark contrast between her dark brown eyes and her pale skin. Well, the parts that weren't red with sunburn were pale.

"Mita," Hyunseung began. The girl standing behind the couch straightened up. She looked Indian, based on her physical characteristics, and you could bet she had been trained as a maid in her captivity. She was standing in perfect attention position with her hands folded neatly in front of her. "You answered the door?"

"Yes, Hyunseung," she said with a slight bow.

"Could you explain to me what happened?" Hyunseung asked gently, keeping control over the situation without causing any friction.

"Well, the bell rang, and I was closest to the door. When opened the door, she was just standing there and looking around everywhere. I let her inside and she started shaking, so I asked Rephaela to go find someone to help." The girl shifted slightly, and you could tell she wasn't very confident in her decision to let the girl in.

"You did well, Mita. You may go if you wish." She bowed and headed toward the hallway that led to the labyrinth. "Rephaela, how is she?" The girl on the couch finally looked up. She was of middle-eastern descent, possibly Israeli, and she was wearing small gold-hoop earrings.

"She hasn't stopped mumbling, and she looks almost comatose. Also, I'm pretty sure she doesn't like being touched." She glanced nervously at the girl beside her.

"Thank you, Rephaela. You can go, too." She stood up, bowed, and walked off after Mita. Hyunseung sighed deeply and took a moment to center himself before diving into a conversation. "Hello," he said softly, kneeling in front of the girl. She glanced up, stopping her muttering for a second, but then returned to her previous state. Hyunseung frowned. He looked at you with a question in his eyes and jerked his head towards the girl. You nodded and moved to sit by her.

You sat close to her but not close enough to infringe on her personal space. Watching her lips move, you noticed something peculiar. You leaned toward her and tried to catch the slight sound of the words she was saying to herself. Confirming your suspicions, you leaned back and signed to the others,

She is not mumbling. She is singing. Or she is quoting song lyrics or poetry.

"She's singing?" Gikwang said with a confused face. "Why is she just randomly singing?" You narrowed your gaze defensively at him. Carefully, after a deep breath, you responded,

Everyone handles stress differently. Some sing, some block everything out, some pray. I can pray to twelve different deities in at least sixteen different languages.

Gikwang blinked at you, not knowing what to say. Yoseob whispered to Hyunseung, and then he and Dongwoon walked off. Hyunseung gave the remaining male a look and sent him running off after the other two.

Do you know how long it will take her to pull out of this?

You glanced at the girl and watched her for a moment. She was still staring down at the ground and mumbling, but she was slowly becoming more lucid and aware of her surroundings.

It is difficult to say. She seems to be becoming more aware.

Alright we can wait then.

The two of you only had to wait about five minutes before the girl was lucid enough to sit still and look around. You watched her carefully as Hyunseung moved closer again. Her head jerked up, and she suddenly looked relieved. "Hello! Can you help me? I need to get back to my manor. If I don't get back soon, my master will notice, and I'll be in trouble." Her voice dropped to almost a whisper on the last part. "Can you help me get back?" You could feel her energy slowly rising back into the hysteric zone and worriedly put a hand on her shoulder. Her head snapped toward you in a second, and you could see terror clouding her vision. You frowned, not being able to talk.

She might slip away again. She is starting to panic. I can not calm her down.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked curiously. You looked at her in surprise as you felt the energy around her settle as suddenly as it had started to rise. You looked at Hyunseung to answer.

"This is Laeri, and I'm Hyunseung," he answered easily. "She's mute, so she talks with sign language. I can understand her. What's your name, honey?"

The girl's eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I just wandered into your house. I was just so confused and tired and worried..."

Hyunseung cut her off saying, "It's alright. We don't mind. Our doors are always open to those who need help. What's your name?"

The girl fidgeted uncomfortably. "Michelle."

"Alright, and you said you have to go home? Where is your home?"

"I'm not sure. We're not supposed to leave the grounds. I was loading a truck and I.... Well, I fell asleep. I didn't mean to. When I woke up, the truck was moving, and I didn't know where I was. When it stopped, I slipped out and started walking to try to get back home. I hadn't been asleep for more than twenty minutes, so I knew it wouldn't be too hard to get back. The trucks don't go very fast."

"And what is your master's name?" Hyunseung asked with a slight frown.

"Master Kim. We don't know his full name. He likes to keep things impersonal. He doesn't know our names, either. Claims he doesn't need names for meaningless faces," the girl whispered sadly.

Hyunseung shared a dismayed look with you.

We can not let her go back there. We need to convince her to stay.

You nodded in agreement with his suggestion.

But her master will notice her absence. She will not be safe unless you can keep him away.

His lips fitted together in a tight line as you watched the calculations going on behind his eyes. When he switched back to talking out loud, his statement was directed at the girl again. "Do you want to stay here? With us? We don't have to send you home if you don't like it there. You can stay here. You'll be safe from everything."

When you sensed her hesitation, you gently squeezed her shoulder. She looked at you, and you encouraged her with a smile. She looked nervously at Hyunseung and back at you. Then, she leaned in and whispered to you, "Can he be trusted?" Her question caught you off guard. You didn't like to put so much faith in people. It just gave them more opportunity to disappoint and hurt you. For the girl's sake, you took in a breath through your nose and nodded. You would do everything in your power to make sure your statement would ring true.

"I think I'd like to stay here. But I'm sure Master Kim will notice I'm gone. I'm one of his favorite... toys." She flinched on the last word, and it nearly broke your heart. You knew what it entailed to be a favorite. It was not a pleasant position to be in.

"You can leave that part to me. I'm going to go find Addy. She has around the same body type as you, and she should have something you can change into." With that, Hyunseung got up and left you with Michelle.

"Hello. So you really can't talk?" she asked curiously. You nodded. "Have you always been mute or were you made mute?" You shrugged, honestly not knowing if you had ever been able to talk. After that, you simply sat in comfortable silence until Hyunseung returned with Addy.

"Michelle, this is Addy. Addy, this is Michelle. Michelle is moving in with us." Hyunseung was all smiles now, but you could sense a kind of apprehension in his body language. Addy was being her usual chatty self, meaning she hadn't said a thing, and Michelle was equally silent. You could feel the tension mounting from the quiet.

"Hello."

"Hi."

And with that, the veil of silence was broken. "You need clothes?" Addy asked Michelle.

"I suppose so. I kind of fell when I was running." She brushed at some of the dirt stuck to the knee of her pants.

"Come with me," Addy said while walking toward the stairs.

"Laeri, go along too. I'm going to go find Doojoon." Hyunseung waved you off and disappeared down the right hallway. You turned back to the girl on the couch and gestured for her to follow after Addy. Said girl was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"Follow me please," Addy instructed before turning to lead the way up the stairs. She stopped on the second floor and walked down the hallway. You walked next to Michelle who was looking around at everything much like you suspected you had done yourself on your first conscious day here. You were surprised that Addy had a room on your floor; you never saw her in the mornings. She glanced back at the two of you and continued down the hallway. And you had thought she was quiet around you.

Addy stopped before the first intersection at a door on the left side of the hallway. She opened the door and looked at the two of you before motioning you inside. Her room featured a big picture window in the wall across from the door. The doorway was on the far left side of the bright yellow wall. The cheery hue reflected light all around the room, giving it a warm and happy glow. The remaining three walls were painted in light shade of a cool, calming green, keeping a calm but energized feeling in the space. The wall to the right of the window was overtaken by a huge, elaborate headboard that accompanied the king sized bed. The bed was done up in a set of forest green sheets and comforters, keeping up with the color scheme on the walls. The window drapes matched the dark bedspread, you now noticed. The left wall featured a matching vanity and wardrobe to the set in your own room.

Addy moved over to the wardrobe and started rummaging through it. Every so often she would glance back at Michelle, who had taken to hovering near the door while you had moved to the window. Addy stepped back with a few things in her arms and turned to set them at the end of the bed.

"You can wear these. We'll wait outside. Please, don't touch or move anything." She motioned you toward the door with a nod of her head. You bowed slightly toward Michelle and followed Addy out the door. When the door had been shut with a quiet click, she sighed. "I hate dealing with new people." You fidgeted at her comment. "You don't count. You've been here longer, and it's not awkward if I don't talk to you. I don't like dealing with new people by myself. It would be easier if you could talk, so I wouldn't have to."

Just then, the door quietly creaked open. "Um, can I come out?" Addy looked at you with a 'what the heck' face, so you turned and nodded to the new girl.

We should go find Hyunseung.

You signed slowly in letters. It took a couple of minutes for you to get your point across, but when you did, Addy nodded in confirmation. She started leading you down toward the stairs again. "I know where the study is. I'll take her there. You can go off and do whatever until someone comes looking for you."

You nodded but followed the two into the window lounge. There was one particular place that you were dying to take a better look around.

For those of you who think that Lae is recovering and trusts them, she doesn't really. She does right now but it's only because she deals with things by blocking them. When her memories break through, she herself breaks. She's fine right now because everything is locked safely away. Later on, she's going to start remembering things and she's going to become increasingly more terrified and inconsolable.

This is not a story for the faint of heart or those looking for a story full of love and rainbows. Turn back now while you have a chance.

Just thought it'd be fair to warn you. Things are going to become depressing very quickly.

Anyway, time for your sign language of the day!:

This is how I feel so i thought it was appropriate. You make the sign for "s" which is a fist with your thumb to the side of your fingers, not tucked or across your fingers. Then you rub your fist in a circle on your chest. Use your right hand. the circle goes from the right side of your chest to up by your chin then to the left side and down. I don't know which clock direction you would understand for that but keep the circle small right on the center of your chest.

your french phrase: Je me noye ( jeu meu noi) (eu is still the u in put) It means I'm drowning. I dont know when you'd use that but there ya go.

Ta Ta!