Eventually, the car stopped and the others got out. Getting into the car hadn’t been that bad. Getting out was another story. With my hands bound, I wasn’t able to use them to pull myself out. Ravi took pity on me and helped me out. I mumbled a thanks and walked after Leo. We didn’t pass anyone as we walked to a cluster of low ramshackle buildings that sat in a clearing. Leo headed to one which had a large red cross on it. He beckoned me in before disappearing inside. I heaved a sigh and followed him. Inside it was all polished wood and canvas sheets. I followed him to the furthest corner and sat down on the bed. To my surprise, Leo sat down in the chair nearby. Not long afterwards, a girl with plain clothes and her hair tied up came and beckoned Leo over to talk to her. They were speaking much too quietly for me to hear what they were saying, so I gave up and just stared at my hands. That was becoming quite a habit for me. Briefly, I wondered what kind of person I was before I’d lost my memory.

The girl didn’t give me much time to ponder though since she walked in to the small area drawing closed the canvas curtains. Turning to me, she held out her hand. I looked at Leo, my confusion clear on my face. His lips quirked up for a second before he put his arm out. I did the same thing and she caught my wrist and with a wet cotton ball she wiped the area. The sharp smell of alcohol greeted my nose and I scrunched my face up slightly. She pulled out a needle and I panicked. I pulled my arm away from her and hid it as far from her reach as I could. My breathing quickened and fairly soon I was having a full-blow panic attack, gasping loudly for the air my lungs were shrieking for. I clutched my chest in an attempt to deal with the agony. My lungs wouldn’t inflate. My throat was constricted. My tongue swelled in my mouth and dried out. I’m going to die. I startled the poor girl and she jumped back and ran out of the room. She came back a few minutes later with another girl, this one a few years older. The new girl approached me slowly and sat down in front of me. She took my free hand in hers and started speaking to me in a soothing voice. She wasn’t saying anything in particular and she was rubbing circles on my hand. It was soothing. I could feel my throat relax and I was able to get air into my lungs. She gave me a paper bag after demonstrating that I was to breathe into it and fill it. Eventually, I calmed down and she introduced herself as Sabriel and the younger girl as Demitria. She told me that she wasn’t going to hurt me and said that in the needle was just a mixture of vaccines for anything I might have caught already or might catch in the future. She brought out two other needles and gave one to Demitria with instructions to use it on Leo. Leo calmly presented his arm and received the injection. Sabriel laughed at him when he shot her one of his more scary glares.

“You were due for a booster anyway, Leo, so now you don’t have to come back!”

This seemed to appease him and he sheathed his glare. Sabriel turned back to me, and to my surprise, plunged the needle right into her own arm. Injecting the contents into her body, she pulled out the needle and waited for 30 minutes. Then she allowed me to inspect both her and Leo for any signs of harm. When there was none, I allowed her to take my arm. Like before, she wiped my arm, but this time before she even touched the needle, she told me to look at her face. I followed her instructions but when she moved her arm, I followed the movement, unintentionally I tensed my arm. Sabriel tutted at me and told me to relax. When I couldn’t, a devious smirk spread on her face. Leo visibly paled and Demitria started to inch back. Before I could do anything, Sabriel jumped on me and started tickling me. It was pure torture. When I sat up, she smiled at me and told me it was all done. I was shocked. I hadn’t even noticed the needle. She stood up and hugged me. I hugged her back. Then she stepped away and, with a final wave, left.

Demitria ran after Sabriel and I could hear them talking.

“Sabriel! He’s- N’s free to go now right?”

“Yep. Just make sure the rest of him is fine, though from what Taekwoon has told us there shouldn’t be any issues.”

Demitria came back into the canvas room and performed some general health checks on me. An hour later, she pronounced me free to go. I stood up at the same time as Leo, eager to get out and stretch my legs some. Unfortunately, Leo had another idea. He held out his hand and I presented him my wrist. He snapped the handcuffs back on, although this time he made sure that they were loose enough to be comfortable. Leo led me through the little town. As we walked, I could see people stopping and staring. Some even dropped what they were doing and ran in the other direction. Whenever Leo saw this, he growled lowly in his throat. This guy was really starting to live up to his name.

After having picked our way through the buildings we stood in front of a considerably larger building. Leo hesitated before he entered and my anxiety levels multiplied a thousandfold. As we walked through the entryway and into the building proper I kept all of my attention focused on Leo’s back. I could practically feel all of the stares on me, they burned and I felt exposed. Leo led me to a raised platform with a chair on it. I sat down and he removed my handcuffs, instead securing my ankles to the bindings on the legs of the chair. It was only slightly more comfortable. I sat slumped in the chair staring at my hands. I inspected every inch of my fingers twice. I really needed to break the habit but I didn’t know where else to look. A discussion raged around me like waves around a small island. As I had in the car, I remained untouched by the conversation.

A voice rang loudly over all of the others. I recognised it and looked for it’s owner. Sabriel stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips and an expression on her face fierce enough to rival Leo’s scariest. The voices died down to nothing as she confidently strode in and sat down across from me. She smiled at me, just a twitch of the lips, barely noticeable. She turned her attention to the others in the room and began speaking. Her voice was low and soft though her every word was crisp and could easily be heard anywhere in the room. I tuned out the words and focused only on her voice as I went back to inspecting my hands. Leo’s high and soft voice occasionally joined with hers and the melody, though not entirely harmonious, was pleasant enough. The few words I caught and processed were about me. She was trying to explain to the others that I wasn’t a… threat? What. I’m not a threat. Threat to what? Leo added comments supporting her here and there. It was strange. Two people, one I’d only known a few hours, the other less than an hour were here defending me in front of people they’d known for a long time. I felt heat building in my cheeks and I started chewing on my lip.

A few hours later it was all over. Leo released me from the chair. I was going to be allowed to stay. Stay where? With whom? Leo and Sabriel apparently had the same questions on their minds and they asked around. Apparently me being allowed to stay had had no effect on the amount of trust the others had in me. Sabriel would have put me up if only she had the room. She was already sharing with 4 other girls and Leo knew what her living arrangements looked like. Leo groaned and grabbed my wrist, walking quickly in a seemingly random direction. We weaved our way through buildings and other strange contraptions. Animal pen. Kitchen. The little voice in my head supplied the names of things as we passed them. Leo stopped so suddenly that if he hadn’t been holding on to my wrist I would’ve bumped into him. I followed his gaze and cautiously stepped forward to examine what looked like a pile of gigantic shacks all stuck together. Hesitantly I went inside and looked around. There was a large main area surrounded by 5 smaller but still huge walled off rooms. The guys came out of these rooms in twos when they heard Leo slam the door closed. Ken and Hyuk from one room, Hongbin and Ravi from the one next to theirs.

“So. N is allowed to stay huh?” Hongbin’s tone was just a little on the side of snarky.

Leo silenced him with a glare.

“Sabriel had something to say on the matter.”

The guys all nodded a few times.

“My god that girl has been nothing but a gigantic help since she rocked up.”

“Aww! Ken! Are you crushing on her?”

“No way. In your dreams Hyuk.”

“Why would I dream about that?”

“Well I don’t know pipsqueak. You ARE a strange one…”

“Hush you.”

“GUYS.”

Taekwoon cleared his throat. “Thanks Hongbin. Now guys. You’re still using your code names. Introduce yourselves properly please. N Is going to be staying with us since no one else will take him and Sabriel doesn’t have the room. Don’t freak out. He’s going to be rooming with me.”

Ravi’s real name was Wonsik, Ken was Jaewhan, Hyuk was Sanghyuk, Hongbin was just Hongbin and Leo was Taekwoon. With the introductions done and nothing else to take care of I felt conspicuously out of place. I shifted and fidgeted. Taekwoon, finally getting sick of the noise I was making stood up and told me to come with him. To my surprise the others followed as well. We came to an open area which was clear of any debris. There was a post at the far end and Taekwoon sent Rav-err-Wonsik up to stand there with a timekeeper. There was a line at the far end marked by the post and there was a line a few metres in front of me. I didn’t need to be told what to do. I stepped up to the line and breathed. On Taekwoon’s signal I bunched my leg muscles and sprang forward. Even though it was over before I could really feel the effects it was still running. Something was always better than nothing. Wonsik’s face was a mask of confusion. The others too, looked startled. I bounced on the balls of my feet. I wanted to run more. I was taken to the far side. There was a circular track with a line marked by a pole. I readied myself again but straightened up. Turning to Taekwoon I asked him;

“How many laps?” He told me to run until I couldn’t any more.

I just grinned at him and looked up at the sky. It was already early afternoon. I didn’t say that I felt like I could run for hours. I readied again and at Taekwoon’s signal I sprung off. Hongbin scoffed at my speed but I didn’t pay any attention to him. Wonsik was noting down how many laps I did. 10 laps later and there was no change in my speed. I was breathing heavily but the burn in my muscles was only a tickle yet. I was running and I felt alive. I let out a breathy laugh as I passed 50 laps and sped up. I felt like nothing could touch me. I kept going until it got dark and Taekwoon sent Sanghyuk and Jaewhan to get some lights. They came back with a large assortment of strange devices and candles. Once the equipment was set up it projected light all over the track. I used the opportunity to run faster, not having to watch where I was going. It was well past midnight when I finally collapsed over the line and lay down on the ground, chest heaving. I laughed under my breath and I was buzzing. I had never felt so good before. I closed my eyes to recapture the feeling. I passed out not long after.