In silence, Brenda and her fidget with some guns and knives.

Not very usual for kids, but they don't think too much of it. They're just cleaning them up a bit.

"Are you okay?" Brenda whispers, so quietly it almost sounds like she's scared.

"Fine," it nearly comes out as a snap. Everything pisses off. They all sound like they want to listen to her story, but then they don't even pay attention. And she doesn't want to scare or hurt Brenda.

"You're... changing, I guess," the girl says hesitantly. "Did something happen?"

"No. Nothing."

They continue doing their thing until Brenda clears her throat again. "Amery's nice."

In just a second, Siren's head snaps up at her friend. "What?"

"Hey, don't get angry at me." Brenda laughs. "I'm just saying. Barkley's busy so he can't always tuck me in. Amery sometimes does it. He's ten times nicer than Barkley."

"Stay away from Amery."

Alarms are going off inside her body again. She jumps up to seem sterner. To make her point even better.

So Brenda jumps up as well. "I'm not trying to steal your friend. I'm just saying he's nice. No need to be snappy about it."

"He's not nice," Siren replies. "Don't come near him."

"Are you jealous?" Like Siren's absurd, Brenda looks at her.

Siren scowls. "No. I'm just saying you should stay away from him."

"He's been your best friend for years. He won't choose me over him, and I, once again, won't steal him—"

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Siren throws her hands in the air, frustrated. "He's. Not. Nice! Stay away from him!"

"I don't get to choose who tucks me in," Brenda says, her tone becoming snarling, too. "And so far, he's nice. I'll make sure to tell someone when he does something I don't like."

"You don't understand."

"I understand damn well. You're jealous he became my favorite guard, too. You think he will replace you. You think I will take in all the time you get to spend with—"

"No!" Siren shakes her head so heavily that it hurts. "That's not true! I'm not jealous! You just need to stay away from him!"

"But you do get to spend hours with him every night, talking while Barkley doesn't even say a word?"

Siren wants to scream so many things. It makes her dizzy. But all she can reply with is, "He's not nice during those hours. He hurts me! He—"

"Are you saying that because you want me to stay away from him to—"

"No!" With a loud cry, Siren gives Brenda a push. "Why is it so hard to understand that I'm not jealous? I'm warning you!" She can feel the tears again. She hates herself for it. They make her feel useless. Miserable. What're tears gonna do about this whole situation? Make Amery disappear?

"Why won't you..." The little girl stops. Freezes in her place. Stares at her friend on the floor. "Bren?" She asks slowly.

Nothing. No movements.

Her eyes are closed. She's on her side.

Then slowly, a metallic smell fills Siren's nose trills. She takes an automatic step back, eyes wide when a red liquid begins streaming from Brenda's head.

She looks up at the table that was right behind Brenda when she got pushed. The edge of it looks dangerously sharp.

"Jorge!" Panicked, Siren starts yelling. "Jorge! Brenda's hurt! I—"

Three seconds later, he's in the room.

It should relief her.

But what it does, is make her sad. And angry. So very angry; he doesn't listen to her when she tries to tell him something important, but he does listen when Brenda's hurt.

"What happened?" He crouches down beside the unconscious girl.

"I— I pushed her," Siren stammers, tears in her eyes. "But I didn't mean to—"

"You pushed her?"

"Yes, but—"

"First, you hurt my guards, then you break my radio, and then you hurt your own friend? Seriously?"

She looks down at her hands. "I'm sorry," she whispers.

"Tell that to Brenda when she wakes back up. I better hear a good reason for this soon, but first, you're going to your room."

"Wait!" She tries to protest, but Jorge is already taking her away from Brenda. She sees Meredith next to Brenda before the doors close, and she continues getting dragged to her bedroom.

"I'll see you at dinner. Don't misbehave again. This is my last straw," he warns.

"Please!" Her fists slam against the door just as it closes. "Jorge, please! Wait—"

Uncontrollable tears are flowing down her cheeks. Loud sobs leave her mouth. Her hands are trembling, as well as her legs. "Jorge!"

"Ren," a calm voice warns. She spins around, startled, and then jumps away so hard that her head hits the door, causing a cry to leave her mouth.

"It's okay," Amery assures. He gets up from her bed. "You'll be okay. He's terrible, isn't he?"

"No, no—" everything's driving her crazy. She doesn't know what to believe. "Leave me alone," the girl cries out. "You're the terrible one here."

"Siren, I'm not. Jorge is. He won't even hear you out on the most simple thing in the world!" He laughs.

"The most simple thing?" Like poison on her tongue, the words leave her mouth. "You literally... you— you!"

"Me?" His eyebrows raise. "What is it that I did, Ren?"

"You..." she trails off, unable to find the right words. What did he do? What's it called? She still doesn't know.

He says it's okay for him to do. But it feels too wrong for it to be okay. It can't be. Jorge would've done it before, wouldn't he?

"You're doing something I don't like," she ends up saying. Very hard, she tries to sound tough, but she fails.

"Well, Jorge is also doing things you don't like. Barkley is doing things you don't like. Even Brenda sometimes does things you don't like. Is Jorge stopping when you ask? No. Is Barkley? No. Why would I need to be an exception?"

Her bottom lip starts shaking even heavier. "Because I like you more than anyone here. You're my friend. Friends don't do unlikeable things to each other."

"Wasn't it you that gave Brenda a wound?"

"No— well, yes, b-but..." she stammers. He must've been watching, somehow. "But I didn't mean to."

"And I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he replies calmly. "Siren, I've told you before, you're so much better than them. You're mature for your age. That's why we're acting like it here, too."

"I'm nine," she cries out, still backed away from him.

"It's just a sign of affection people show when they really like each other. It's normal. You're not as close with Jorge, which is why you don't have that affection. I want to show you how much I care for you, that's all. Why don't you relax? It's okay. I can make you feel okay. About everything."

She doesn't know what to say. He's giving such good statements. Jorge never taught her what to do in these type of situations. "And if I don't relax, you will stop," she says slowly.

He nods. "Yes. But I swear, you'll be okay."

Slowly, the girl sits down next to him. There is space between them, but not enough for him to be unable to reach her. She's shaking, afraid. She knows he won't leave before he does this.

Amery gently rubs his fingers across her arm. The hairs on there jerk straight up in some kind of warning. Then he takes her hand, moving little circles with his finger on her palm. It tickles, but doesn't feel bad. He runs his hands through her hair, touching her scalp. Pulling bad thoughts away. Comforting her, now more gentle.

"See?" He whispers.

She nods. "This is okay."

"It is?" His voice is between surprise and something urgent.

"Yeah," she whispers. "It is."

"Really?"

She nods again. "This is."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Promise what?"

"I promise that this is okay."

"Okay." He continues working on her scalp until, eventually, his hands start trailing down her spine. They reach the bottom of her back, then make their way to her stomach.

"Stop," she whispers fast. "I'm—"

"You just said it's okay," he tells her, now sterner. "Relax, Siren."

"No, I—"

"You said it yourself," he repeats.

"Yes, I did, but..." but what, again? She presses her lips together. "But I'm no longer relaxed."

"And yet you said it was okay," Amery says sternly.

"But I- I'm no longer okay with it," the girl stammers. She scoots away from him, but he scoots along, all the way until she's pressed against his body and the wall. "I'm no longer okay with it," she repeats.

"It's not nice to promise something and then take it back."

"No." She tries to jump up, but fails as he is holding her arm. "You should take it back. You should take your hands back. I don't want you to touch me."

"I thought you liked me!"

"I do!" She nearly cries the words out. "I do like you. I like you a lot."

"Then why can't we do this?" He tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I just told you, it's an affection we have. I understand you need to get used to it, but I promise it will be nice. That's what I promise. You just have to get used to it a few times."

She blinks a few times, a dozen thoughts wandering through her mind.

And his hands are working on her body again. She tenses, but no words leave her mouth. An affection we have. It will be nice. Just get used to it.

Her eyes close. She feels herself being lain down. She can't feel her sheets anywhere. Just a pillow below her head. Bare legs. Bare torso. Bare everything.

✩

Tears well up her eyes as she clutches tighter onto the blanket. It wasn't nice. How is she ever supposed to get used to this? To the dirty feeling once it's done? To the pain?

Sometimes, she wonders what would've happened if she just stayed in Australia.

She doesn't remember much of it. It just sounds better than this place. From a nice home, it has become the worst place on earth.

If there's no Amery's at WCKD, she'd even go there. Without hesitation.