Brendon sat on the cold concrete, his mind distracted by the word search in his lap. He held only a highlighter in his hand, highlighting any words he found. Everything was silent and peaceful, the way its always been. He heard a large bang and he looked up toward the ceiling. All that hung from the roof for him was a small lightbulb to illuminate the room. He could hear boots clacking on the floor above, and the door to the basement swung open.

The faces he so dearly despised appeared, but they held an unconscious girl. They layed her down on a piece of fabric that played on the concrete. One of the men looked at him and smiled before they both headed upstairs. Slowly but surely she came to.

"Where am I?" she asked. Brendon had been asking himself that for nine years.

"Sorry, I don't know." he said. His voice startled her, she looked up and saw him. Her face softened when she realized that he was about her age.

"Who are you?" she asked. Curious girl.

"Brendon. You?"

"Oh. I'm Talia." she said. Brendon nodded. There was an awkward minute of silence.

"How long will they keep me here?" she said, fear dripping from her voice. Brendon shrugged.

"Who knows?"

"How long have you been here?"

"Uhh, 9 years." he said. Her eyes widened and filled with tears.

"I'm going to die here..."

"No, don't worry." Brendon said, rushing to comfort her. "Its not that bad. They dress me well. They feed me, no torturing. Just.. keeping." he said. She softened to his touch but was still rather stiff.

"You're lucky you have someone here, at least. I was 6 when I came here and I was alone." he said. "I don't even remember what my old life was." Brendon blinked harshly and stood up. He didn't need to be sad right then. Brendon pointed to one of the beds. Both were very rickety, made out of wood.

"You can have that one." he said. She nodded and hesitantly stood up. Brendon watched as she slowly sat down. He still wasn't very used to human interaction.

"Thank you Brendon for making me feel even the slightest bit better in the worst circumstance." she said. Brendon smiled, and lay down on his own bed.

"Welcome to your new home, Talia." Brendon said before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep.