VIII

By the time you reached the A wing it was 11:00. 

You were surprised to find Gadot, Maqui, Lebreau and Yuj loitering in the hallway you were currently strolling down. What surprised you even more, was that they seemed friendlier with you as you stopped before them. 

"Hey (Name), how'd your counseling meeting go?" Lebreau asked. How did she know that? Unless she had seen you walk into Hope's office...

You didn't see the harm in having a friendly conversation with these guys, even if you barely knew them. You didn't have to open yourself up to these guys but that didn't mean you couldn't get along with them.  However you found it slightly strange that the group had seemed a little hostile towards you when they first met you. It was as if they thought you could do no harm. Did they forget that this place was only for the most messed up and dangerous criminals. 

You rather liked the atmosphere that hung around this group. You figured that they didn't hold any hidden agenda and were generally a nice bunch of people. So then what had they done to end up here? 

You took a step back in your thoughts suddenly. You couldn't be getting friendly with these people. You were simply using them to get information. That was all. Or was it? 

You removed yourself from your thoughts and replied.

"Hope said my first job was in the kitchens." You said walking in between the brunette and the blonde. 

"Got let off lucky, huh? That's one of the ok jobs in this place." Gadot commented. 

"You'll be in the kitchens for a few weeks until they move you around. Let's just hope you don't end up with a job that requires you to go below ground level." Maqui muttered the last half. The group shared weary glances at each other. 

"Below ground level?" You questioned, slowing your pace. 

"It's- oof" Maqui began before getting elbowed in the ribcage by Lebreau, who nervously grinned at you.

"What he means to say is that we don't know much about the level below ground." She clarified. 

You tried to shrug off their unease about the topic but you knew it would be lingering around in your mind for a while. 

Below ground level. This place had an underground? 

You would be lying to yourself if you said that the thought hadn't intrigued you. For now though you dropped the subject. Perhaps once you had gained their trust they would tell you about it.

"What do you mean by one of the ok jobs?" You asked. 

"Well, a lot of the jobs around here aren't exactly...nice." Maqui began. "For example the one you really don't want to end up with, is corpse duty." He shivered. 

"And? What do you mean corpse duty?" You questioned. 

"Just outside of the building and possibly even beyond the wall, theres the countless bodies of previous inmates who have tried to escape. 'That job' requires you to clean them up and throw them into the truck where they take them away to Etro knows where." Gadot said gravely. 

As you walked with the four, your eyes narrowed suspiciously when they caught sight of Yuj's sleeves.

Small speckles and splashes of red stained his clothing, only noticeable to those with keen eyes. Had his friends not noticed? You had the faintest feeling that it could be blood, but you couldn't be sure, so for the moment, you let it slide.

You followed the group out into the courtyard, which surprisingly was fairly empty, to a bench with a small table to go with it. The letters   N O R A   were engraved into the cheap looking wood. 

"Nora?" You voiced your thoughts aloud. 

"That's us!" Gadot said proudly. 

"It was Yuj who did it." Lebreau smiled cheekily at the blue haired male who kept a stoic expression. "Said that we couldn't have anyone stealing our table." She giggled. Her smile faltered when Yuj didn't smile or laugh back. 

"Anyway, back to what we were saying, there's also a job that requires you to go with a squad out into the plains of Gran Pulse and capture the meat."

"Meat?" You asked puzzled. 

"The monsters. However the squad don't risk their own lives, they're only there to see that you don't try to escape." Gadot said glaring down at the table. "They make the inmates hunt down monsters themselves and don't give two shits if you die." He grumbled. 

"You're not alone in this job though." Maqui piped up. "You go with two others, but still, it's not a job that you would want, but I do know some psychopaths here that would love to hunt something down." The blonde grimaced, glancing around the courtyard at the other inmates. 

"From what I've heard about 40% come back alive from that job. Luckily I haven't had the pleasure of doing that yet." Lebreau added sarcastically. 

Without much warning, Yuj stood from his seat on the bench and began walking back inside without a word. The others exchanged worried looks before Lebreau excused herself to follow the silent blue haired male. 

"I'm gonna go see what's up with him." She said quietly.

"Whats wrong with him?" You asked with a slightly uninterested tone. 

"...Yuj has been acting strange recently." Maqui replied, fidgeting in his place. 

"When did this occur?" You wanted your suspicions to be eased. You had to find out whether what was wrong with Yuj was what you thought it was. The eerie feeling you felt around him to the sinister darkness that swirled around in his irises. 

"Around the time when you arrived." Gadot affirmed.

Your body tensed up as you felt your blood freeze. Now you were sure. Or rather 99% sure. Not that you wanted to be right, but if you were then this would turn out to be your problem to fix. 

If your theory about Yuj was correct, that would mean that is was your fault he was like this. 

Softly putting your hands on the table, you stood from your seat. 

"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to help him." You said, forcing a smile on your face. 

Thats right. Act like a good little samaritan, gain their trust.

"Not, sure if there's anything you can do, but thanks for offering. Knock yourself out." Gadot admitted. 

Maqui beamed at you. "Thanks (Name)." 

For a minute you paused. A strange warmth spreading throughout your chest at his smile. It...felt nice, to have someone smile at you. Such a simple gesture. 

You nodded stiffly and went off in the direction of Lebreau and Yuj.

Once inside you managed to locate the two, by following the sound of Lebreau's voice, echoing through the corridors.

You came to a corner and stayed there, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Yuj you've been awfully quiet today, something up? Or does someone have a wittle crush on the new girl?" Lebreau said, probably with a huge grin. Yuj said nothing, probably still holding onto that stoic expression. Peeking round the corner ever so slightly, you caught sight of the two. However your eyes widened at the flash of silver that peeked out of Yuj's sleeve. It was out of Lebreau's sight but you couldn't be sure what his intent was. 

You darted back behind the wall as Yuj's head turned in your direction slightly.

"Anyway, you know you can tell us if something's up, dummy. I'm gonna go get the guys cause it's almost 12. We'll see you there right?"

"Hn." Yuj grunted in reply. 

"Ok then." Lebreau nodded jogging towards where you were hiding behind the corner. Luck was on your side as she jogged straight passed you not once sparing a glance your way. Not wasting anymore time, you turned and headed the way Lebreau had left from only to be yanked backwards by a firm hand.

The blue haired man thrust you against the wall sending you a sick smirk. 

"I saw you around the corner, you know, eavesdropping on us. Thats rude." He drawled, leaning closer until your noses were almost touching, his hot breath fanning over your cheeks. You would have leaned back if your head wasn't pressed into the wall as much as it could have. Now that you were this close to his eyes, you could definitely tell something was wrong. You could see something else behind his eyes, something dark and sinister, controlling Yuj's body like a puppet. You showed no signs of struggle, which puzzle Yuj slightly. In fact you were calm and the thump of your pulse was steady.

'Yuj' advanced to your neck taking a long sniff though his nose, breathing in your scent.

"I can see why they attach themselves to you. Your scent is divine." He marvelled in ecstasy, to the point it was creeping you out. 

Your eyes darted to the red stains on Yuj's jacket. The sight just unnerved you further. Your (e/c) eyes locked with Yuj's again. You ignored his comment and said,

"That knife, you were going to use it on Lebreau?" It was more of a statement than a question.

A dangerous glint crossed over his eyes, as his opened his mouth to speak but was suddenly cut short. 

"Yuj? (Name)?" 

Both of your heads shot in the direction of the voice. Maqui stood there, eyes flickering from you to Yuj and back again. You could've sworn you saw his eyes narrow the slightest bit at Yuj. 

"What's wrong Maqui? Cat got your tongue?" Yuj grinned, stepping away from you. 

"I was going to ask (Name) if she wanted to join us for lunch, Gadot and Lebreau are waiting for us." Maqui said through his teeth. There was confusion in his blue orbs as he looked at his friend. 

Did Maqui sense something wrong with Yuj too?

"Umm, sure." You agreed, taking a quick glance at Yuj. 

"Ok then, lets go." Maqui smiled.

Yes things are probably confusing you guys a lot but things will be revealed as you read on ;) Also I haven't checked it, so please tell me if there are any spelling mistakes or if  it looks like something is missing, after all this chapter was slightly rushed. I have a feeling that this is going all over the place...does anyone feel the same or is it just me? -Rikki