After a strenuous decade, we finally come across her room; a deception of kindness, peace, and serenity. These girls have absolutely no idea the cruelty that awaits them once they leave here. It's unnatural and degrading for any human being to be seen as an object and not as a person.

What can I do about it? Nothing. Not a single thing and I wouldn't dare to either. They'll kill me and I'm not prepared to die. It pains me knowing their fate, urging me to protect each and every single one of them, but are they really worth dying for?

As we enter her room, I notice articles of clean clothing on her bed and a tray of food on the dresser. The aroma of a hot cooked meal engulfed in perfect seasoning captivates the entire room and if I didn't have such excellent self-control, I would teleport over there right now and consume it whole.

I refuse to allow temptation to get the better of me and walk straight to the bathroom with Vivian. I gently set her down on the toilet lid and turn around to turn on the taps in the shower. My hand remains stretched out under the showerhead awaiting a lukewarm temperature. Once the water has reached a reasonably comforting temperature, I retract my hand and turn back around to help Vivian undress.

Only to turn straight into an upright, bare body with tiring eyes burrowing into mine. She has already stripped her clothing off. This catches me by surprise and my breath hitches in my throat. For some or other reason my immediate reaction is to move out of her way.

As I do so she steps forward, her legs wobbling in the process, and climbs into the shower. She simply stands there, fixed in her spot, allowing the water to flow down her bruised and tarnished skin. A mixture of dirt, sweat, blood, and other filthy substances hit the ground and slip away into the drain as the water removes what it's able to.

I stand to question whether or not she'll begin to wash, whether or not I should leave and give her some privacy or if I should stay and help her. Before I'm able to answer myself, I find my feet shuffling forward closer to the shower and my hands reaching for the sponge and body wash.

Vivian continues to stand under the showerhead as I apply the luscious essence of pomegranate and red apple body wash to the soft pink sponge. I place the bottle back to its original position and rotate ever so slightly to begin washing her.

As the sponge nears her skin, her hand instantaneously latches onto my wrist. A movement so sudden it sends panic waves to my brain and my body grows with a sudden jolt of fear. I shoot my head up to look at her, but she's not even looking my way. Her stoic face continues facing the tiled wall.

With her free hand, she brings it over to remove the sponge from my hand. As soon as it's in her possession, she lets go of my wrist. Just as I open my mouth to protest, she begins to run the sponge from her neck, across her shoulder, and down her arm as the water continues cascading upon her. Her hands slightly shaking.

I decide to let her be and step back from the shower. I close the glass shower door and exit the bathroom. Not wanting to leave her completely just yet, I sit on the bed and wait till she's done.

After a solid twenty-five minutes, I hear the shower taps being turned off. After the first five minutes, boredom took over and I decided to lay back on her bed and relax while waiting. I hurry to my feet as I get up from her bed before she exits the bathroom and finds me cozy in a place I most certainly do not belong.

Vivian comes out looking cleaner than ever before, while wrapped in a cream towel. Her wet brunette hair falls freely down her shoulders and back, dripping water everywhere. It's no longer in that thick, filthy, birds nest condition as it glistens with a radiating freshness.

I grab the clothing from the bed and hand it to her, which she actually takes without any form of hesitation. Not knowing if she's thinking straight at all, even though I'm positive her brain is completely fried, she drops the towel to the ground and begins getting dressed. Her movements stiff, cold, silent.

Do the cameras in this room not bother her? I curiously wonder while observing her actions.

I realize that I most likely look like some creep watching a teenager get dress, gender not being the issue, and snap out of my befuddled state. Then walk over to the dresser to grab the tray of food. It's surprisingly still hot.

I turn around just as Vivian's done getting dressed into some warm comfy clothing. She cautiously climbs into bed and I make my way to her with the food. I place the tray on her lap once she settles in and becomes comfortable.

"Here you go. Some spicy butternut soup. Key ingredient being the butternut of course and specialty ingredients being chunky chicken and mushrooms... Enjoy." I say with a smile, trying to lighten up the dreary atmosphere suffocating the oxygen in the room.

She doesn't say anything back, but I go ahead with the assumption that she's grateful. 

"Just be careful, it's still hot," I warn her, but she continues to raise the spoon to her mouth. Without blowing some cool air onto it, she shoves the hot soup in her mouth and doesn't flinch the slightest bit.

I stare at her in disbelief, but quickly shake it off before she notices. "Is there anything else that you need?... Want me to dry your hair for you?" Her eyes flicker up to mine for a split second then back down to the soup. That was definitely, without a doubt a look of 'do-not-mess-with-me-or-else'.

She can at least try to fake a smile.

"Vivian," I begin as I sit down next to her on the bed, "I meant what I said in the evaluation room. I'm going to be here for you whether you like it or not. I can't handle seeing you this way. If you're keeping up this stoic persona because of Steven then fine. Let it stay that way, but don't treat me this way. I'm the only person in here that cares about you and as long as I'm around, nothing is going to happen to you. Please do trust me on that." Even though she blatantly ignores me and continues to eat with shaky hands, I know that she hears me.

She'll come around eventually.

"Goodnight Vivian. I'll see you in the morning," I say as I get up and turn to leave the room. I glance over to her one last time before exiting.

I open my mouth to say one last thing to her but decide against it. It's best if I just leave.

And so I do.

-₹៛₹៛¤៛₹៛₹-

Vivian's POV:

Protect me my ass.
        
If Peggy thinks that smothering me with kind gestures and sweet talks is going to make me open up to her and suddenly trust her, she should think again.

I'm not naive.

I won't fall for her trap.

Steven told me what she did and all this time I was stupid enough to think that she cared about me. I would have done my utmost best to help her escape this place once I found my way back home.

Yet she's the one who's keeping me in it.

Every single time I look at her, I remember what happened to me in that room. Like a bad song stuck on replay, an endless loop of torture.

*Four days ago*

"What's possibly worse than you trying to drown me?" I ask Steven as I look towards him. The tension he had in his body a few seconds ago, caused by my sassy remark, disappears and gets replaced by a smirk.

"Oh don't worry. You'll find out soon enough." Is all he says as he continues to drag me down the short passage in the basement. We stop in front of a steel door that looks similar to the other three down here. Steven lifts his hand with the key in and brings it up to my face.

"You see this key? It-"

"I'm injured, not blind." I interrupt his idiotic little speech I'm about to be forced to pay attention to.

"Let me speak!"

"No thanks, I prefer the silence. It's far more comforting."

"Well then it that case..." He drags his aggravating words as he uses the key to unlock the door.

He flicks the light on from the outside and I take a quick glance inside the room which I instantly regret. It causes my stomach to twist and a sickening feeling takes over. It too has the whole cement room design going on, except this one is completely empty. Not a single object insight. Only the dull light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

However, the walls and floor are covered in splashes of dried blood. Some army green and brown stains across the floor look like dried puke. The room gives off a putrid smell. It's absolutely filthy and extremely unhygienic. If zombies were real, this is where the infected were kept before they fully transitioned.

I'm about to question Steven, but he sends my body soaring through the air. Before I'm given the chance to comprehend what's happening to me, I make contact with a solid begrimed surface. "Was that really necessary!?" I yell as I force myself to get up, but sadly can only sit in a half-upright position, using my arms as support against the ground behind me.

"You said you prefer the silence, now you're going to get it," Steven says as he begins to close the door. 

"Peggy is going to hate you for this!" I yell at a half-closed door which immediately swings open.

"Peggy? You mean the one who told me where to find you? The one who told me to make a whole 'she's mental' excuse if you were with other people? Peggy, dear hell cat, is a world-class actress. Seems her performance has worked on you," Steven says with a smug look dancing on his face as he enters the room and towers above me.

"You're lying! Peggy would never do that! She cares about me! She wouldn't tell you where to find me or none of that bullshit! You are just some sick sadistic individual who gets off at seeing others suffer. Which I'm pretty sure I told you before, but I'll say it again and again, over and over till it sinks in that empty head of yours!" I shrill at him as I push myself off of the ground.

Suddenly a pain spreads throughout my face and it doesn't take a blind man to figure out that he gave me a backhand slap. 

"You little piece of shit! You-" He stops and takes a deep breath. Something clicks in his mind and he continues to speak, "You know what, since you believe that Peggy actually cares about you, let's put that theory to the test shall we. I'm going to lock you in this room, but since Peggy's your nurse, she gets to choose when you leave. Heck, if she decides that she wants you out today, you get out today." He says as he backs out of the room and is now standing by the door.

"I know that she will let me out! She's nothing like you." I furiously spit at him.

"Of course she's nothing like me. If it were up to me, I would have killed you by now." With that, he flickers the light off from the outside, slams the door shut and I can hear it being locked from the other end. "NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME IN HERE! STEVEN! STEVEN COME BACK! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE!" I yell as I run towards the door and start banging on it like some deranged maniac.

He switched the damn light off. The thing is, I'm not afraid of the dark itself. I'm afraid of the unknown. It's what's in the dark that frightens me. I don't believe in the supernatural or paranormal, but the mere thought that something could be lurking about scares the soul out of me.

I decide that it's no use acting like an animal and that I'm only wasting my energy. "He said it's Peggy's choice. She gets to choose. She will let me out. She'll come and fetch me and I'll be out of here in no time... It's Peggy's choice, she gets to choose. She will let me out... She gets to choose. I'll be out in no time. No time at all. I'll be out soon..." I keep chanting as I run my hands along the wall to search for a spot to sit and wait.

My hands come across a semi-smooth surface by the wall to my left and I decide to wait over here for Peggy to come and fetch me. I sit down and bring my legs closer to my body.

"Peggy gets to choose. She will fetch me. I'll get out soon. Peggy gets to choose..." I continue to chant as I sit, waiting, waiting for her to come.

*end flashback*

But she never did...