"Paige."

The voice was distant but strong nonetheless. She was sure she had heard it but detaching herself from the prisons of sleep and peace were harder for her than she wished to admit. Fear, stress, restlessness and adrenaline. If she could describe her life with just words, those would fit perfectly.

When was the last time she felt so peaceful and as if there wasn't someone watching over her, wondering whether to slit her throat or go straight to the heart.

Sleep and rest were two different concepts despite the constant confusion. You can sleep for hours upon hours and yet feel like death but if you rest for hours and hours, you'll feel energised, excited. Happy. You can rest without sleeping and you can sleep without resting.

And that's what Paige does. The last time she rested had to be before Luke's passing. She was twelve at the time and she remembered on that day Richard told her people are out to kill her and to watch herself. She lost the ability to rest at twelve. But she slept. And almost every night.

Now she was on the borderline of rest. She was right there. All she needed was to take one more step into the abyss of temporary amnesia.

"Paige."

This time the voice was accompanied by a slight shake. Then another. And another. It continued until she was forcefully ripped away from both the abyss and the prison.

She fluttered her eyes open with a hint of annoyance before making out Lincoln's figure staring down at her.

His hair was a stringy, gelled up mess due to not washing it yet. His suit was a train-wreck with his tie tight in one side and loose on the other. Some of his buttons had been unbuttoned at the top, just enough to exhibit the edge of his blanket of chest hairs.

Lincoln looked a mess and seeing that first thing after waking up was indeed a shocking sight but Paige had seen worse. She saw him right after Janey's passing. She remembered how she realised then and there just how much one could love a girl and she felt terrible.

"We're here," he slightly smiled at her before taking a few steps back so he wasn't in her face anymore.

She took that time to look around the bus they had been in. Most of the seats were empty. Only Lincoln, Paige, Hyunjin, Han, Felix and I.N remained in the bus. From what it seemed, Hyunjin and Han had also been asleep and just woke up before she did. And Felix and I.N came out to wake them.

She stood up and followed Lincoln out off the bus. To her astonishment, ahead of her was an abundance of stacked buildings. Saying the mansion was gigantic was an understatement. It was astronomical. It was your average modern home, except ten times bigger, with white walls, with a few grey streaks here and there to add a more three-dimensional effect to it -- not like it wasn't already obvious though. Ivy adorned the leftmost wall, adding mother nature's touch to it. The patio was slightly raised and made of oak wood planks, another natural touch.

A pair of towering spruce doors served as the entrance. They had patterns Paige couldn't quite make out engraved in them like tattoos. She stood in a daze, hypnotised by the building.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Lincoln voiced out upon seeing her reaction.

"Beyond that," she managed to squeak out on her third attempt. "But... isn't this a bit too flashy for a hideout?"

He shrugged and ran a hand through the stringy nest glued to his scalp.

"If you were a member of the Society and the Head along with a bunch of your best agents ran away, where would you think they'd hide? In a public area? Or a private area?"

"In a private area so they aren't easily found... Oh, I get it. That's smart..."

The Head of the Society smiled at the comment before starting towards the door. Paige followed close behind.

The first room was the living room which was a spacious square with one-sided windows covering the right wall. Three long, light grey loveseats sat in the middle of the room, gathering around a lone coffee table. The floors were made of the same oak planks as the patio while the walls were ivory and arrayed with black-and-white pictures and a television on the one ahead of the coffee table. In the left corner, was a set of stairs leading up as well as a half wall, displaying the kitchen which, in size, was pretty disappointing compared to the living room. However, it was still equipped with the latest, best technology and devices.

In Stray Kids boys immediately got comfortable on the loveseats after noticing the shelf of video games they couldn't wait to play. Kyla went right up to claim a room and stayed there while Cassidy said she was going down to the bookshelf the disappeared after walking into the kitchen. Lincoln joined her.

That left Paige. Not really feeling like she fit in anywhere, she just walked to one of the pictures on the walls and studied it. Ten adults stood in the frame, acting all goofy and genuinely seeming like they were having the time of their lives. A soft sigh escaped her mouth as she realised she recognised four of the ten: both her parents, Nicholas and Richard smiled at whoever was behind the camera. They all seemed a lot younger than she remembered them. They had to be in their late twenties the day the picture was taken. Possibly, even before any of them had children.

Immediately, as she looked at the male again, a thought came to mind. What ever happened to Nicholas? One day he was there, the next no one knew of his whereabouts. She recalled all the good things Janey used to say about him every time she came back to Ireland for a visit. She used to go on and on about how amazing of a Head he was and then suddenly, he just disappeared from the face of the Earth. And, coincidentally, right after Janey's passing.

"My parents," a voice came from beside her, making her jump immediately. Minho chuckled at her reaction slightly before looking back at the picture. "Then that's Channie's and Changbin's... I mean Bang Chan and SpearB's."

Paige scoffed.

"As if I don't remember their names."

Minho gave her a surprised look.

"You remember us? Really?"

"Of course! Why would you think otherwise?"

"Maybe because you slapped Changbin. I just thought you wouldn't do that to someone you knew was your childhood best friend."

Best friend. Two words Paige had almost forgotten could be paired together. When was the last time she had a best friend? No, when was the last time she even had a friend? Being a Society member, and most importantly, Janey's sister, she was constantly told not to trust anyone, especially not friends. It was kind of like that phrase 'keep your enemies closer than your friends' or whatever it was. So she lived her life like that. Janey, herself, was her last best friend while Lincoln and Richard are her last remaining friends.

Friendship loses its meaning often in the world of a Society member and betrayal is an everyday word. Everyone is betrayed at least once in their lifetime and not the type of betrayal commoners often refer to. You wouldn't know this type of betrayal unless it stabbed you in the back. Ironic because that's what happens to most Society members. Literally. I can name a good number of people that died to the hand of one of their so-called friends.

"Changbin needed to be put in his place," she responded bitterly after a moment of hesitation. Should she be telling him this? A member of his own Mafia group? Then she realised he was just simply a hacker and relaxed.

"Put into place? And what exactly does that mean?" He wasn't angry, he was intrigued.

"He said stuff he shouldn't have."

"Like?"

She sighed before sending him a glare that clearly said ' back off or I'll slap you too' but Minho immediately brushed it off and made it very clear he'd rather get slapped.

"He bad-mouthed my family. Especially my sister."

His face visibly dropped then scrunched up in confusion.

"He did? That's... odd. I apologise on his behalf. Usually, he isn't this inconsiderate. I'll talk to him. Once again, deeply sorry," Minho sighed. "I wonder what the heck got into him."

"I did say a few things that weren't exactly in my place to say though. Maybe that triggered it, I just... I don't know."

"Whether you did or not, he shouldn't have taken it that far."

He combed his hair with his long, slender fingers then bit his lip. Paige watched. The boys grew up to become undeniably attractive. She was quite shocked at it and it wasn't just Minho or Chan or Changbin. It was all of them. all the boys of Stray Kids. But seeing how the three boys she used to mess with turned out shocked her the most.

He shot her a charming smile.

"Are you still as interested in scamming people as you used to be? Because I have a bunch of irritating gang members at my neck and thought it would be fun to mess them up a bit."

Paige's scowl instantly faded, leaving a wide grin instead.

"Are you crazy? That's insanely dangerous!"

"We abseiled down the side for the Main Society Headquarters and this is what you consider 'insanely dangerous'?"

She shrugged.

"I never said I didn't want to do it. I was just wondering if you'd be okay. You cried while abseiling, are you sure you can handle gang members?"

Minho rolled his eyes playfully.

"Abseiling isn't my speciality, hacking is. Now are you in? Yes or No?"

"How could I possibly say no? This is the mischief I live for."