——Jacob——

(Can we just assume the viewpoint is Jacob if there's none given? Ok, cool. I like being able to change viewpoints for convenience, if you're wondering.)

"You don't just walk away after saying someone's life is a setup like that," I say.

"Not surprising with my luck. I was probably cursed."

"Jay, you weren't cursed."

"Curses aren't logical or scientific," Lily says.

"Then why is this my life? I don't even know who I am. I lost my identity before it even had time to develop. Oh, and this was planned. My future was planned out by someone. I'm still not cursed?"

"Jay, it's just...Unfortunate."

"Jacob, you wouldn't understand, you know why? You're happy every second of the day. We're kidnapped, and you still find ways to entertain yourself. Do you know how lucky you are to be able to do that? I can only dream of that, and as you know, my dreams are far from that."

"Are you saying that you've tried to be happy? Really? I always thought you were trying not to be happy. But not sad either, not anything."

"No, not at all. If I tried, I wouldn't know if I succeeded, I don't know what it is."

"It's the release of dopamine and serotonin in your brain or something like that," Lily says.

"Lily, stop with the science," I say.

"But science is awesome."

"No, science sucks."

"Science is what keeps you alive and m—"

"Will you two shut up? Someone is talking."

Right after he says that a guard walks in. "You ready to kill someone, Alex?"

He gives the guard a blank stare.

"Cool. I have orders to tell you to kill the small one, so here you go." He hands Jay a knife.

"You mean me? Kill me?" I ask.

"Yeah, you're too energetic."

——Jay——

You have three choices. Kill Jacob, kill yourself, or kill the guard.

If you kill Jacob, he won't bother you anymore, and he won't have to suffer through what I have to. If I kill the guard, I alert Nico, but one guard will be down. Just fifty more. If I kill myself, everything will end, and I can finally be free from this place.

"Well come on, don't have all day," The guard urges.

I turn the knife around in my hand.

If I kill myself, Jacob will break, and this is the worst place for that. If I kill myself, I, in turn, kill Jacob.

So, it's either Jacob or the guard.

Jacob isn't that bad. He's like a little kid, are you really going to kill such an innocent thing?

The guard is not innocent at all. He has stood by and done nothing to stop the scientists.

"Alex, if you don't do it, I will."

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don't care.

I could get Jacob to stop trying to pry into my life...

Or I could kill a guard...

They're equal.

The only way to decide is to do what's right. It's not right to kill someone who tries to help you, even if you don't want it. It's not right to kill anyone, but if it comes down to it, these scientists are the first to go.

"Come on, Alex."

I look up at him, then at Jacob, and back.

"I'll give a maximum of two minutes."

Either way, they get what they want. A heartless killer.

"Why? Shouldn't you want more subjects to do you inhumane experiments on? You can't take a little resistance?"

"Are you talking back to me, Alex?"

"Yes, and that's not my name."

"Fine, subject a5, I'll just tell Nico t—"

"No, you won't." I throw the knife at his chest, and it hits him in the heart. He grabs at his chest, blood sticking to his hands as he falls to the ground. "Nico wanted me to kill you."

"It...It wasn't Nico...It..." His eyes roll up, and his head goes limp.

"Too late now."

I turn to Jacob, curled up against Lily's chest, shaking, not daring to look at the body. Lily tries to comfort him, but also makes it worse with her weird statements, which equals out.

"Blood...We could drink it, we haven't had water in a while..."

Jacob gags.

"And eat the flesh...It has good protein and fat..."

"Ok, tone it down, unless you want to have puke all over yourself."

"Good point."

"Uh, Gareth? We have an issue," I say, but he's already dragging the body away. "Thanks. Hey, want a knife? I already had one."

"Keep it for safety."

"Ok."

And with that, he's gone.

"So, Jacob, you're fine with blood all over me, but put a body in here, and you freak out?"

He points to Lily.

"See? You made the situation worse, Lily. Good going."

"He was already shaking anyway."

"Well, that's ok. It was pretty obvious I was deciding whether to kill him or the guard. Or myself."

"Why'd they have to choose the easiest person to scare to threaten to kill?" Jacob asks.

"Ah, I wouldn't say easiest, I'm sure there's worse," Lily says.

"No. I freak out because of a movie for seven-year-olds. It's not even horror."

Lily bursts out laughing.

"Because you're the easiest person to scare, that's why. You're going to be the hardest to transform into some emotionless creature, so might as well get rid of you," I say. "And test someone else at the same time."

"But if it's all a setup for you...Why do they care about me?"

"Well, I don't know what they're trying to trick me into falling for, so I have no clue. Once again, it turns out that I have no clue what was actually happening in my past."

"It could be because they hate you," Lily says.

"Lily, no. Stop with those types of comments," Jacob says.

"No, I'm right," She says. "Want to know why? This was how I used to get treated too."

"Doubt it," I say.

"Not as intense, but roughly the same thing. My oldest sister, who is freaking fat while I'm here, a stick, used to abuse me. Her only reason was because she hated me."

"No, you're misreading it. She wants to feel superior, that's why. But these people, they were already superior, I was three, not that hard to do."

She looks down. "You're not paying attention to the fine details. The answer is right in front of you."

"I still have a knife you know."

"Nico is not to blame. He's not the boss of this place."

"Uh, yes he is. Even if he's not, he still brought me here, and was the one who raped me."

"Think what you think."

"What are you talking about?" Jacob asks.

My grip on the knife tightens.

"I just don't think it was Nico's fault, he's being forced to do it."

"Then's who's fault is it?"

"I can't say or I could get a knife through my head."

——Jacob——

Ty might have been wrong. Another month goes by, and we're still stuck here. A second month goes by, and Gareth finally talks to us for half a second.

"Hey, kids, I'm the only security tonight. Everyone else went home to sleep."

We all look at each other, grinning. Except for Jay, of course.

I JUST LAUNCHED A ROCKET WITH EXPLOSIVES OH YEAH! Ok, I know, not that cool, but still! Anyway, vote, comment, share, launch, etc. 

And just to see, what do you think will happen? Besides Gareth helping obviously, but why did it take so long?

(Your answer will not change the reasoning. Everything that these people/tigers do has reasons)

-Mc out!