***

To say that Alex wasn't still shaken up from what happened yesterday would be a lie. She had spent most of the time after that happened thinking about all the possibilities of them escaping. If they didn't find out where the tracking devices were then the demons and Mom would find her and the others with no hassle. She had no idea what they were going to do. It would help them even more if they knew exactly where the tracking devices were.

All of the older kids were outside doing chores while the younger ones were inside. Emma, Norman, and Alex all stood away from everyone. They didn't want the kids to find out about the demons and Mom yet. It would make it even harder to hide who knew and who didn't from Mom. Besides, the younger kids might accidentally let something slip up and that was the last thing that they needed.

"A tracking device..," Emma trailed off. So she was thinking about it too... It was kind of hard not to. "I didn't think she would go that far."

Alex let out a small sigh, "How else was she supposed to know if one of us escaped? It would also make it pretty easy to find us when we do." That's why they needed to figure out where the tracking devices were hidden.

'The human flesh produced by this farm... Is high-quality food,' eh?" Norman questioned, quoting the demon from yesterday. He looked down at his hands and arms in thought.

"It's sad to think that's all we're considered to be," Alex stated. She just thought that she was a normal human being before she found out about everything. Finding out that everyone else saw you as just food was something that would really change your life. That all you were raised for was to satisfy someone else's hunger.

Norman gave the girls a side glance, "The key... To our value is..."

"Our age and test scores." Emma finished with Alex nodding in agreement.

"'Another six-year-old.' 'Shipping out normal ones,'" Norman quoted again. "Judging from what the demons said, age equals the rank of meat. And if I remember correctly, the siblings who were shipped out were all between six and twelve-years-old. And if being six-years-old is ranked as normal... Then the highest quality is..."

"Twelve-years-old." Emma guessed.

"So that means that we're most likely going to get shipped out when we turn twelve and we haven't managed to escape by then." Alex could feel fear wash over her. That was a scary thought. That means that when their next birthday hit, they won't be spending too much time in the house. They'll be shipped off to be eaten.

Emma rested her chin on top of her closed fist, "Then what about our scores?" The orange-haired girl snapped her fingers as the realization hit her, "The order of getting shipped out!"

"Unless we got full marks," Norman clasped his hands together, "Our scores were never announced. So we didn't notice, but that's probably it. After we turn six, we get harvested in the order of low scores. And when we're twelve, we get shipped out no matter what."

"So we were withheld from being harvested because we got full scores?" Emma placed her hand over her mouth with wide eyes. She looked sick at just the thought.

"Sounds like it," Alex said grimly. "They monitor how well you do on the tests whenever you start to do them and if you do well then they let you grow until you start doing badly." It would make sense. Why let someone continue taking the test if they're not getting better? That's why they just go ahead and ship those ones out.

"But I don't understand why it depends on our scores." Norman cast a glance to the ground.

"And why do you think being between six and twelve-years-old matters? The size of our bodies?" Emma suggested. That was a possibility. Maybe the more meat they had the better. But then they would have more than one kid get shipped out... So what was it? What mattered so much about six to twelve-year-olds?

Norman's eyes widened, "The size of our brains."

"Huh?" Emma turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked while she shot him a questioning glance.

"Our brains!" He exclaimed. Just because he says it again doesn't mean that they're going to get it. Still seeing the confused looks, Norman continued with his explanation, "A human brain is said to develop to 90 percent by the time we're six-years-old. And another theory says that it is 100 percent developed by twelve-years-old," He brought his fingers up to touch the side of his head, "The demons are after human brains!"

"That means..." Emma started.

"That the brain probably tastes the best," Norman confirmed, "And the more developed, the better."

"They... Eat brains?" Emma questioned.

Alex narrowed her eyes in confusion, "More like zombies than demons, don't you think?" She had read some books about zombies and in every one of them, zombies were obsessed with human brains. So were demons secretly zombies in disguise? Probably not. It's still kind of weird to Alex.

"First off, we need a rope," Norman told them. Finding out about the tracking device should be put on the back burner for now. Right now, they need to ensure that they'll have everything for the escape first.

"Let's return to the house and look for one," Emma stated.

A thought suddenly hit Alex, "Where would we even find one? It's not like Mom keeps us stocked up on ropes." They probably didn't send any rope to the house in case kids were to find out about the secret. The kid will most likely try to find a rope to get over the wall. Obviously, they wouldn't supply the house with the means to escape.

All three of them started to make their way to the door leading inside. Before they walked inside, they stopped. "Actually, I already have an eye on where some might be," Norman replied to Alex's question.

The boy was about to walk inside, but the back of his shirt collar was grabbed by Emma. Emma pulled him back, "Wait!" She made her voice into a whisper as she said to him, "They have a tracking device on us. What if they have other stuff? Like cameras or listening devices?" Alex wanted to hit herself for nothing thinking of that.

Norman smiled, "We don't have to worry about that. I looked around last night... And there was nothing of the sort in the house."

"So that's why you were up so late?" Alex inquired. She had woke up pretty late that night from her nightmare. She was in so much distress that she didn't realize how late it was that she woke up until the morning. That morning was when she was curious about why Norman was up that late.

He nodded, "I figured we should know about the security conditions if we want to escape. So the security measures were on us and not in the building. I should have known."

"It would probably do something to our mind if we knew there were cameras and listening devices. Maybe our brains wouldn't develop right?" The constant fear of being watched by the cameras probably would cause something in the brain to make it not develop the way it should. That's why they just didn't have any.

"Maybe," Norman opened the door and motioned for the girls to go inside. They hesitantly did. Even when they were inside, they looked around like they might have someone watching them. Alex couldn't help it. It doesn't matter if she was told that there weren't, she couldn't help but be a little cautious.

"Do you think Mom knows already?" Emma was looking around as well, "That we went all the way to the wall?"

"I wonder," Norman said. He was the one leading the way to where he said the rope might be. They were currently walking up a flight of stairs. "Last night, she didn't know we were there. So that means Mom doesn't always know where we are. She can tell our location only when she checks. So if the signal from our tracking devices can specify individuals... And if Mom checked our movements last night and today..," The three of them stopped whenever they all got to the top of the stairs. "But we can't be sure just yet. I believe... That she hasn't figured out who was there last night. If she knew, she wouldn't have warned us in such a roundabout way. She would have threatened us directly."

"That's true," Alex agreed, "She also could have been trying to check our facial expressions when we saw her pull out her watch to check where Naila was. That way she can figure out who knows and who doesn't by who reacted weirdly." It was a clever tactic. You can find out a lot about a person by how they react to something. The way they stand, their facial expressions, and even the slightest thing like tapping their finger.

"That's why-" Norman cut himself off as they heard footsteps. The footsteps were coming straight for them as well. Alex started to shift nervously as she turned in the direction they were coming from. Was it Mom? Did she hear what they were talking about? Was she going to ship them about because they knew about the secret? Please, don't let it be Mom.

Alex's prayers were answered when she saw Don coming around the corner. He had a smile on his face so it didn't seem like he had heard what they were saying. Don had his attention on mostly Norman as he called out, "Hey, Norman! Do you have a second?"

"Sure, what's up?" Norman walked over to Don, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"The clock in our room..." Don started.

"Ah, you need to oil it," Norman informed him.

The two of them walked away so Norman could fix the clock. This just left Emma and Alex together. They decided to just wait here for Norman to come back so they could find the rope he was talking about. Alex turned her attention to the wall in front of her which had multiple drawings that the kids had done. Her eyes fell onto the one that Conny had drawn before she left. It was of her, Little Bunny, and Mom. 

Was Mom there when Conny was killed by those demons? Did she even feel bad when it happened? Suddenly, Alex felt a stare on her. A very intense one. She slowly turned her head to see what was staring at her. She saw Emma looking in the direction the stare was coming from. Standing there, giving them a very intense stare was Mom.

The stare felt so intense that she felt like she could feel daggers being stabbed into her. Mom didn't let up when she saw both the girls now looking at her. She made her stare even more intense than Alex thought was possible, "What's wrong, Emma, Alex? You look pale. Come to think of it... You weren't as cheerful this morning. And you didn't go to the library like you usually do, Alexandra." Mom reached out her hands to cup both the girls' cheeks.

This was when Alex knew that something was up. No one called her by her full name unless something serious was going on or they wanted her to be truthful. Mom only ever called her Alexandra when the girl had lied about staying up all night reading books in the library with Norman. Alex was so taken back by this side of Mom that she couldn't even bring herself to answer.

"That's not..," Emma was the first one to speak up. Alex could feel that she also was having a hard time with Mom's killer stare on them. Emma smiled widely, "It's nothing! I just got a little sad thinking that... I'm going to leave the house soon."

That's right. They had to act like everything was normal. This was when Alex plastered that fake smile on her face, "I've also been missing Conny since she left with her new family. I wasn't able to get good enough sleep last night because of it." Not a total lie. She did miss Conny. But she knew that Conny never went to a new family.

Mom smiled at the responses she got, "Do you like it here at the house, girls?"

Emma jumped up and hugged Mom tightly, "We love the house and you, Mom!" Alex joined in on the hug too no matter how much her body and mind were telling her not to. "I wonder what Conny's doing right now," The girls let go of Mom. "Did you know? Conny said she wanted to be a mother like you when she grew up."

"She seemed pretty happy with the idea of having that life." Alex grinned. She was hoping to see a hint of remorse on Mom's face. Maybe she actually did feel bad about sacrificing their siblings to monsters. Maybe Mom was still the gentle and caring Mom they grew up with. The one that was basically their whole world.

That's not the reaction she got at all. Mom just stood up straight with a smile never leaving her face, "Yes, I know," She turned her gaze to the wall of drawings, "I'm looking forward to it. I know that Conny will become a lovely adult... And a good mother." Mom didn't look bad about what she did in the slightest. Alex couldn't believe it... Was this who their mother was the whole time? Did they ever really know her like they thought they did?

A bell-ringing caught their attention. They all turned to see Ray standing there with the bell. He was just watching as everything went down, "Dinner... Is ready, Mom." The other kids, hearing the bell, all started to come out of the rooms to go to the dining room.

Mom smiled, "I'll be right there." Mom finally started to leave the two girls alone.

Alex couldn't help the relief that washed over her as she did. She felt even better when Norman came right over to the two of them. He placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort which she very clearly needed, "Emma. Alex. Let's go." Norman told them.

It didn't seem like that were off the hook yet though. Mom suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway and asked, "Did the three of you go to the gate yesterday?"

The three kids stopped in their tracks. Alex could feel herself tense up again. She reached out to grab Norman's hand, hoping it would make her feel a little bit better and calm her down. Norman squeezed her hand before turning to Mom, "Huh? Nope. That's against the rules. Besides, we were having so much fun playing tag yesterday. Right?"

"Yeah, we couldn't catch you in the end!" Emma lied.

Alex faked a laugh, "I don't think we'll ever win against, Norman."

"Why do you ask?" Norman inquired.

Mom turned away and continued to walk down the hallway, "Never mind. As long as you didn't go." Each step Mom took away from them made Alex feel a little better. She couldn't help but still feel like she was going to throw up.

Once Mom was finally out of their sight, Emma collapsed to her knees. Norman was left in shock at the girl's reaction. Alex was surprised that she hadn't collapsed from fear or relief yet. Emma quickly said, "Sorry, I'm just so relieved... I... It's like my heart suddenly started beating again now."

"Tell me about it," The redheaded girl placed a hand where her heart was. She could feel it beating rapidly like it was going to beat out of her chest. "Who knew Mom could be that intimidating?"

"Can you get up?" Norman asked. He and Alex started to help Emma get up off of the ground as the girl replied with a, 'Yeah.' When Norman was sure that Emma wasn't going to collapse again, he leaned near the girls and whispered, "Mom is investigating. She knows that her targets are three kids."

"But she still doesn't know who," Emma said.

"Let's try to keep it that way," Alex replied.

***

The three of them went back to look for the rope Norman was talking about when the kids were distracted outside. Norman had told them that there weren't any real ropes on the way here since you didn't need rope to live a normal life and they wanted this cage to be as normal as possible. So they were looking for something that was similar to rope. He led the girls to a locked door. He was currently picking the lock as Emma and Alex were keeping an eye out for any kids that would come by or Mom. They couldn't have kids see them sneaking into somewhere because they might tell Mom.

"We don't have much time. I looked over the entire house last night. If there is rope..," There's a click that came from the lock which meant that it had successfully been unlocked. Norman stood up and opened the door with a cloth. The girls came over to the side. They all stared into the dark room. "It would be in this room."