I couldn't remember exactly when I fell asleep, but I could later recall eerily specific details of my dreams. One of them, which I remembered the most of, was different from the others. I felt more seated in reality, instead of like I was floating in space. I was sitting on my bed; my real bed, back at the base. It was so nice to be home. Except nobody else seemed to be around.

Oh, yes. I remember this day.

I stood up and tied my hair back like I always did. It was about two feet shorter now, the most I could manage was a small ponytail. I pressed my mask to my face and stood up, my hands curling into fists. There was a faint, almost unnoticeable ambience surrounding me that made me feel nauseous. But I wasn't going to put this off any longer. I needed to be sure of it.

I walked the long, winding hall down to the Elder's office where she was most likely reading up on new arrivals, open patrol slots, whatever needed to be done. I could barely see past my nose, it was so dark. I gently knocked on her door, not really expecting an answer, but able to catch a snippet of the conversation going on inside.

"...and would you just look at these files, Ernest. Twins, names A and G...it's just perfect."

"I'm sure it is, ma'am, but you have someone at the door."

"Oh! Well, let them in. It's Masquerade, isn't it..." she muttered to herself.
"Sure thing."

A hefty-looking guard unlocked the door and gave me a piercing stare like he'd grown tired of seeing me already, even though I had never met him in my life. He stepped out and held the door open for me, and I nodded to him in a silent thank you. The Elder was at her desk and shutting some drawers with a smile as if nothing was wrong.

"Hello, dear. Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Hello, Elder. I...came to ask you about my sister."

"Which one?"

I felt my face grow warm underneath my mask. "N-no, I'm sorry. I meant my untrue sister. Kayla Ryong."

Her smile slowly faded and she sighed, hesitantly standing up and folding her hands. "Masquerade, we have talked about this, haven't we? You cannot go back, no matter how much of a hold your imposters had on your mind. It isn't safe."

"I don't want to go back. I was wondering if maybe we could save her, too."

The Elder raised an eyebrow. This must have been something she'd never heard before. "Save...Miss Ryong? One of those complicit in your capturing? I hope you're willing to tell me why you want to do this."

"Because with all my time here, all I've heard about my so-called 'family' is that my old mother and father were deceitful, amoral criminals. I haven't learned a thing about what my sister had to do with it. I have no idea whether she's been just as led astray as me." I shifted uncomfortably where I stood as the Elder continued to look over me. I needed to watch my words very carefully. I gulped and closed my eyes. "I...I do want to go back. But not to stay with them. I want to see for myself that Kayla can't be saved. If there's nothing that can be done, then I won't talk about it ever again. I promise."

She mulled over that for a bit. It was clear she didn't know what to do, and I couldn't blame her; most of her recommendations came from the more experienced guards and outside sources. Finally, she turned back to me with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, son. If this girl truly were one of ours, I would have found out by now. Besides, she is older than you by far, no?"

I nodded, feeling something sink in my stomach.

"Then it may very well be too late if she does belong to us. She's been advised against talking to strangers. She has been taught to repel attackers, or anybody that could be considered such. She is female, which means she is half as trusting as your average teenager. There is nothing now that could sway somebody like her to our side."

Who said anything about sides?

I scratched my arms, though nothing was itching. "Thank you for your time, Elder. I won't bring this up again."

"Goodbye, Masquerade." She gestured towards the door with a sad smile. I knew she did feel bad for this. But right now, I couldn't trust that smile to mean anything real.

—

I woke up on the ground, feeling worse than ever about the chances of finding my family. My body ached, my face felt like it was on fire, and I knew that something about today was going to be different. I wasn't sure whether it was for better or worse, and that scared me. I rolled over to try and ignore the daylight that seeped through cracks in the trapdoor and onto my face, while grappling for something that wasn't there. Like a stuffed animal.

It took me way too long to realize that I'd probably been sleeping with someone.

Oh.

I opened one eye to find that I was actually laying on a blanket. Well, kind of. It was more of a worn out sheet than anything. I saw that part of it had been ruffled, and immediately sat up. Where did he go. I know he's still here.

A quiet sizzling sound came from behind me, and I turned around to see Jeff fiddling with the stove, clearly in a struggle. Eventually, he just muttered, "Shit," and dumped what looked like a completely burnt meal into the garbage can. He seemed more upset than annoyed at this, which was confusing, to say the least. I knew for a fact we had plenty of fresh food; he didn't have to go to all the trouble of preparing something.

I walked up to where he was standing, scratching at the base of his throat, and put a hand on his shoulder. It was strange seeing him like this; he was only wearing a baggy t-shirt and jeans, and I could see where the burn marks on his arms ended, just at the elbow. He startled at my touch.

"Jesus Christ! Warn me next time, would you?"

"I still would've eaten that."

Hodek paused, then gave me a withering look. "Well, then you're a little too late. I should've known better than to try to cook something like that in the morning..." he said, almost to himself. He let out something of a laugh. "Hell! I should have known better than to do any of this."

"Any of what?"

"You...of course. You're so oblivious to these things, you know. Just...look, ignore anything I said yesterday. Good or bad. I got carried away, I wasn't thinking. If I were, I would have known that this wasn't going to work out any better than—" he stopped before finishing that thought. After a long, awkward moment, he started to walk away and I grabbed him by the wrist.

"Mr. Hodek."

"Please just call me Jeff. It's not that hard."

"Where did you learn how to do all that?"

"...listen, Max. Whatever happened last night was a mistake. I thought it'd be different with you, but it wasn't. I just don't feel that way towards you. I really don't want this to happen again, okay?"

"Me neither."

Jeff opened his mouth to talk again, but didn't seem to know what to say other than, "What?"

"I don't really want all that to happen again, either. It was...nice. But I felt weird about it. Everything we did seemed so forced. I think kissing is about as far as I'd like things to go, with anyone." I let go of him, and for once he seemed speechless. He was still just inches from me, and I got that strange feeling in my stomach again. Finally, he said, "You're perfect."

And he walked away, as if it made sense to end it there.