"Who touched my box?" Gus nearly screamed, bursting into the little apartment. 

Leo bolted upright and tripped over himself with a shriek, and I think he scared me more than Gus did. I jumped up and knocked the chair over, my eyes darting frantically across the room, still half asleep. I thought we'd been caught.

Braken didn't move until Gus marched over to him, and then his shoulders tightened and he curled up a little tighter. I could see him trying to hide the bear under his chest, but Gus grabbed his shoulder and turned him over roughly. Braken shrieked in pain as he dragged him to his feet, but the Unnatural kept the teddy bear's paw held tightly in his fist.

"That's mine," Gus snapped, his voice cracking as he tried to take it away.

Braken stumbled back and quickly pressed his fist against his chest, making a little circle, but he didn't give it back. He was apologizing, but he didn't want to give it up.

"Give it to me," the other ordered, holding his hand out forcefully. Braken shook his head and backed up again, and I quickly grabbed Leo to stop him from lunging at Gus.

"Braken, give it to him," I said through gritted teeth, trying to keep Leo from breaking out of my grip.

Braken shook his head and started to cry, holding the teddy bear up to his chest. He bit his lip and rubbed his eyes, trying to keep his emotions in, but Gus reached forward and snatched the bear's other paw, yanking it out of Braken's hand, and the Unnatural choked out a wail. He stumbled and fell, and I let go of Leo long enough for him to grab him before he crashed.

Gus ran to the other side of the room and jammed the teddy bear back in its box, shoving it back into the cabinet. "I told you not to touch my box," he snapped, slamming the cabinet door shut.

Braken flinched, now sitting on the couch with his head ducked and Leo's arm around his shoulders. Varien shuffled into the room, curious about all the commotion, and then leaned against the wall, watching with interest.

"Hey, Gus?" I asked hesitantly.

"What?" he said sharply.

"Um ... thanks for letting us stay here," I mumbled.

He frowned in surprise. "Oh. You're welcome, I guess." An awkward silence settled between us, made more uncomfortable by Braken's muffled sniffs. "So," Gus started, clearing his throat, "you guys hungry?"

Most of us nodded, and he went to the fridge, pulling out milk and eggs. I watched as Leo's suspicious eyes followed his every move, noticing how he stiffened every time Gus came within five feet of him. Braken winced as his friend's fingers tightened on his shoulder, but watched with curiosity as Gus cracked the eggs in a pan and a sizzling filled the air.

"Sorry, I'm not a very good cook," Gus said over his shoulder. "But Eoin's worse, and I doubt any of you know what you're doing."

I actually could cook, but I didn't say anything. The smell that filled the air made my mouth water. I felt like I hadn't eaten real food in years. I almost couldn't stop myself from grabbing the cooking eggs out of the pan and immediately devouring them.

The eggs' sizzling grew louder, and suddenly Braken flinched and quickly drew his hands up to his chest. "What's wrong?" Leo murmured. He waited as Braken answered, and then frowned. "It's okay. It's not going to hurt you. And if he ever comes near you again -" Leo's glare burned into Gus' back. "- then I'll personally rip his head off."

"Whoa, calm down, Leo," I said. "No one's going to rip anyone's head off."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Varien chuckled.

"You guys are so weird," Gus said with a snort of laughter, all traces of previous anger gone.

"You have no idea," Leo muttered.

We all sat down at the table and Gus dished out the scrambled eggs. There weren't very many, but in that moment, those eggs and milk looked like a feast. I guess I hadn't felt my hunger last night - at least, not nearly as much as I did now.

Braken watched me pick up my fork and shovel the eggs into my mouth, and then tried to pick up his own. After repeated, frustrating attempts, he simply picked up his plate and dumped them into his mouth. Immediately, his eyes grew wide again, as they had last night, and he seemed to inhale the rest of his food.

"You're acting like you've never had food before," Gus laughed, and all four of us shared a glance. "Uh ... is something wrong?"

"He ..." I looked at Leo, but he had his eyes glued to his plate. "He actually never has. Have you ... watched the games?"

Immediately, the air around Gus grew dark and suspicious. "No."

"They don't -"

"They don't treat us like human beings," Leo snapped, standing up roughly. He knocked the chair over as he marched over to the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

We all stared after him, surprised by his sudden outburst, and then Braken sighed, and our attention shifted to him. He signed his thanks and pointed to the empty plate, and then apologized and pointed to the bathroom. It took me a moment, but I realized that he was apologizing for Leo's behavior.

"It's okay," I said. "It's not your fault."

"You can understand that?" Varien asked, giving me a peculiar look.

"Only two things," I said regretfully. "Sorry and thank you. Both of which he used in that thought."

"So, is he deaf?" Gus asked softly.

Braken shook his head before I could answer and opened his mouth, covering it with his hand.

"You just can't talk," the other said, and he nodded. "Why not? Can you write?"

Braken nodded again, and Gus stood up and left the table, returning with a notebook and pen. Braken accepted them, but looked up at me for guidance. I rounded the table, wondering how I was going to help him hold his pen, but eventually, he figured it out on his own, holding it tight in his fist. It took a long moment, but finally, after writing out the alphabet on the top of the page, he started to tell his story. Most of his words looked like chicken scratch, and I could only read a little of it.

I was
Liv there
8 years
Fite
Reed and rite
She helped me
Dead
Leo is my only

He paused here, chewing on the back of his pen as he thought. I glanced up at the others, and it looked like they couldn't read much, either. Eventually, Braken continued his writing, more definite this time.

I love him.
I will pretect him with my life.

I don't think any of us knew what to say. All of what he'd written I already knew, and everything else was completely illegible.

"That doesn't explain why you can't talk," Varien said, rather coldly.

Braken shrugged and put his fist to his heart, and now that I knew what the sign was, I noticed how often he apologized.

"You can't tell us?" Gus asked, and Braken shook his head with a sad smile.

"So let me get this straight." Varien leaned back on his chair, nearly tipping over. "You've lived there your whole life, someone helped you to read and write, and you'll protect Leo with your life. That it?"

Braken shrugged again, and then cringed at the pain it must've caused. Only moments later, someone knocked on the door.

Gus ran to go answer it, and then let Anna and Eoin into the little apartment. Anna was holding a jar of some creamy paste and a lot of bandages, and Eoin was empty handed, though I noticed that half of his face was covered in what looked like one gigantic bruise, and he was limping as he came in.

"Hello, Joel," Anna said cheerfully. "Hey, Gus. Congrats on your win last night." She winked at him and he smirked back.

"No, thank Eoin. It's all because of him," he said, pointing, and Eoin came over to him and stuck his hand out.

"May we enter as enemies and leave as friends," he said.

They shook hands as dramatically as they could, and I started to laugh, but my laughter was cut short as Leo opened the bathroom door and said, "What are you talking about?"

Instantly, I realized my mistake. I started to shake my head, hoping the the powerless fighters would catch the message. They didn't.

"There's a fight every night here," Eoin said. "You pay to watch, the fighters get paid to win. Not a convenient place to earn your living, but when you're blacklisted like us, it's pretty hard to get a decent job."

"So it's like a smaller, less deadly version of the games," Varien said slowly.

"Yeah, I guess, if you want to think about it that way."

"Joel, why'd you take us here?" Leo demanded, his voice accusing and hurt. He marched over to me and I subconsciously scooted backwards. "It's like you're laughing in our faces. Some of us have been living this on a much larger scale for longer than a couple weeks worth of pay. Some of us fight to survive, because if you don't win, you don't just not get paid - you lose your life. You're dead. So why, Joel, did you bring us here? To earn a fortune?"

His words hurt like a knife, and I almost jerked back. The room had gone silent, everyone's eyes trained on me, waiting for my response. It took me a moment to collect my thoughts, and then I finally said, "Leo, if I wanted to make a fortune, there are much easier ways to do it. I know you don't trust me, but please believe me when I say this: I'm only trying to help you. I brought you here because I knew Anna would take you in and we'd stay under the Refs' line of sight. I know I've messed up. I know I said some things I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry. I'm trying to get out of the mindset I was raised in, but I can't do it if you keep knocking me down like that."

Leo glared at me for a long time, and I met his eyes as steadily as I could. He knew I was right. I could see it in his face. He just didn't want to admit he was wrong.

"So, uh ..." Anna cleared her throat awkwardly, breaking the silence. "Braken." She forced a smile and took a step toward him. "Glad to see you're awake. How are you doing?"

He looked up at her with wide eyes, quickly analyzing her. Almost immediately, his shoulders tensed up and he started to scoot back in his chair. His wide eyes narrowed, and I could feel the distrust washing off of him.

"This is Anna," I said, trying to get him at least on her side. "She's the one who wrapped you up yesterday. She probably saved your life."

She took another step, and Braken stood up and scrambled backward, bumping into the table and letting out a brief cry of pain. He made a strange sign, over and over, roughly brushing the palm of his left hand with the side of his right. He wouldn't let her go near him, and as I stood up to try and hold him still, Leo pushed me back.

"Something's wrong," he said.

"Why? What's he saying?" I asked, feeling a hot anger rise up in my chest.

"'She kills,'" Leo translated, his voice solemn. "That's what he's saying. 'She kills.'"

She kills.

"What? Anna doesn't kill." I gave him a shove, the anger now replaced by fear. What did he mean, she kills? How could he tell? Leo stepped to shove back, but I pushed around him and put my hand on Braken's shoulder. His skin was hot to the touch and he flinched away from me. "Braken, she's nice. She can help you."

He looked up at me with those intelligent blue eyes and shook his head, his hands shaking as he repeated his sign. He was afraid.

"It's okay," I said. "I won't let her hurt you."

"Anna's really nice," Eoin piped up.

"I'd say if he wants to suffer, let him suffer," Varien said, shrugging.

"Braken -" I started, but he ducked his head. "Braken, look at me." I waited until his eyes, still untrusting and afraid, met mine, and then I spoke again. "I promise, I won't let anything hurt you. I promised I'd get you out, and I did. Do you trust me?"

He hesitated, and then nodded quickly. I gently lead him back to the table and he sat down on the chair, backwards like I had the night before. Anna sat down behind him and untied the bandage on his neck. Now that I was looking, I noticed that a lot of the bandages were covered in dark blots of bloods. He was bleeding through them.

Anna was very gentle as she pulled the wrap away from his torn skin, and once again, I had to drop my eyes. This time, bits of his skin stuck to the cloth, and he made little sounds of pain as she pulled it away, twitching every time she touched him.

"That's disgusting," Gus said excitedly.

Braken began to shake, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth as tears spilled down his face. I almost wished he was unconscious again, because then he wouldn't feel the rough, wet cloth against his mangled skin. His breaths were short and heavy, and his arms were wrapped tightly around the back of the chair, completely tensed up. His expression of agony reminded me too much of that stormy afternoon as I stood there, helplessly watching as the whip ripped open his back sixty one times.

This time, though, Leo was there, by his side the whole time. He held his hands gently and murmured soft words of encouragement, promising him that he would be okay.

"You said he got sixty one lashes," Varien said, his voice low. "What did he do to earn that many?"

I dropped my eyes again and wished I could disappear, the guilt too much for my exhausted body to handle. "It was my fault," I whispered. "I tried to save him, but ... I only hurt him. He was only playing by the rules."

"But you got him out," Varien pointed out. "The three of us. I didn't think we'd make it. In fact -" He paused, thinking hard. "I think it was too easy."

"What do you mean?" I have him a sideways glance.

"I think they let us go. I'd watch your back if I were you, Joel. Be careful who you trust, and be careful who you leave behind, because at any moment, they could step forward and stab you in the back."