EXPERIMENT X

@ k1ssmysass

(you're fine, i promise lol)

The man absentmindedly followed the line until his tray was full, and then stepped aside to let others pass until his light eyes located the girl. He sauntered over, eyebrows slightly raised.

-

"How would I know?" She wanted to ask how old he was, but part of her feared he was in his twenties or something, and that even after she'd aged a few years she'd still be stuck in the same place.

@ rust and stardust

Eyes following the passer-bys making their way by Jackson, something stirred in her palm. "C'mon, blondie." She chirped.

"You don't." He replied with a false mysterious flare.

@ rust and stardust

A small group approached - strangely motley, consisting of a boy no older than twelve, a girl with charcoal colored skin, a petite blonde whose stance measured Jasmin's, and a dark-eyed boy with jet-black hair. "Watch out for that one, newbie. She'll get you when you ain't looking." The steel-eyed male said, following them with a certain saunter.

Jasmin's jaw twitched and her chin lifted as she plopped down in her regular seat, the seat beside her's open and inviting. Her table was primarily seated by girls, but a few older males eyed Jackson respectfully as he approached.

The group from before lingered.

"Aye, y'all better get eating, 'cause it looks like lunch is about to be interrupted." Jasmin kept her voice low.

What was going on?

@ k1ssmysass

Jackson glanced down at the girl whom he knew so little about, and having decided that he wouldn't take one boy's word for it, sat down in the seat next to her and began eating without a word. He couldn't defend her, didn't have enough knowledge of her to. She was his cell neighbor, and her name was Jasmin, and everyone seemed to know it.

-

"Hm," Savannah stopped when she reached a dead end, and turned around to wander back up the hall, hands tracing the walls—painted in neutral tones.

@ rust and stardust

Everything happened so quickly. A younger member went down first, tray and feet slammed out from under them. Jasmin stood, scrambling to position herself so that Jackson was between her and the table.

"Daisy, block her with your goddamned tray-" Jasmin spit in their direction, the two brawling on the ground growing a crowd. She couldn't risk leaving anyone else exposed - especially their target; fresh meat, Jackson.

He was older, lean, attractive. Rival gangs were in a fit over him.

Daisy, the tiny girl on the ground, kicked and screeched and whacked with her tray, but nobody came in to help, Jasmin's table standing and waiting for orders with round eyes and pale faces.

Daisy was helpless against such a large girl, her lip already trickling blood and her ashen face streaked with tears.

As if it was a universal rule, nobody lifted a finger. Some even continued eating their lunches.

"You want my girl to back off, you let the newbie roll with us." The brooding one with the eyes snarled, making Jasmin look like the slight thing of a teenage girl she was.

Jasmin trembled in front of Jackson, whether from rage or fear, she wasn't sure.

---

"Aye-" Damion shouted after her curiously. He followed along the opposite wall, miming her gesture with his much larger fingers.

(I drew it out some so you could add in a few characters from Jasmin's gang and the rival gang? Things are about to get bad, and then they'll start to make more sense once everyone is acquainted.)

@ k1ssmysass

Jasmin was up and standing between him and the group, which he didn't care to protest until the first kid went down—a smaller-framed girl—at the hands of another. The littler of the two seemed to be one of Jasmin's friends, or at least an acquaintance, but she did nothing but offer advice. "Block her with your goddamned tray—"

Jackson stood and stepped out from behind her, his patience waning. "She can't be any older than twelve, and you're not doing shit." He snapped, reaching forward to wrench the bigger girl off and shove them both in opposite directions. Kraemer hadn't eaten properly in days, and as a result, anything that prevented him from eating in peace was an aggravation, and an inconvenience.

A brunette, no older than sixteen, and a boy with features that matched hers in a more masculine form looked on, but said nothing.

-

The girl hardly paid him any mind, following whatever wall her hand happened upon next. The right-hand rule. She'd read somewhere that any maze could be solved by placing your right hand on a wall and following it. Maybe her right hand would lead her to the kitchen.

@ rust and stardust

'Fuck!' Her mind croaked as he shoved her aside. Her hand unraveled, something metal flashing in her grip.

All Hell had broken loose, and now the two tables had meshed, tearing into one another.

Daisy's arms pulled around Jackson's leg in a hug, her bloodied, pallid face wanly smiling in thanks. "They would'a killed me if anyone else had helped." She breathed heavily into his leg, wetness soaking his pants - crimson mingling with salty, fresh tears.

"The guards are coming!" The tiny girl piqued, still clinging, now ogling Jasmin. Her finger lifted to point toward the young woman who'd taken a hard slice from something sharp to her cheek.

"Hey, labrats, back the fuck off!" Guards yowled, rushing in. An alarm sounded, and everybody in unison dropped to the floor. Everyone besides Jasmin.

All mighty Jasmin, always there with a back-up plan.

"When the siren goes off, you gotta lay flat on the floor on your tummy." Daisy guided Jackson toward the cool tile.

A guard was examining the steepness of the blood on Jasmin's face, and after a few words, foot steps approached.
---.

"Damion, why don't you give up and just score for the other team? Guys dig masc dudes." A southern drawl lit up the corridor, feminine and high.

"Suck a bag of dicks, Lydia." He snorted.

@ k1ssmysass

Shortly after he'd done so, the small girl was clinging to his leg and staining his pants red, he noticed with a small glimmer of annoyance. He wasn't a good Samaritan, exactly, but he couldn't sit by and watch a twelve year old get slaughtered.

The words she uttered didn't quite register. She was pointing at Jasmin's now-bloodied cheek, and then guards were rushing in to break up the chaos. An alarm rang out, and on cue, everyone dropped. He hadn't gotten the memo, and was instead guided down to lie on his stomach by the kid. A few feet away, the pair of twins was lying on their stomachs side by side, murmuring back and forth.

-

Savannah stopped and turned to try and locate the source of the feminine lilt. "Do you know of any other profanity besides a bag of dicks?"

"Back to your cells!" A guard barked, and with several groans, people lifted, and the leader of Jasmin's opposing gang was pulled off.

Jasmin pulled an arm around Sandy protectively, like a wing around a baby bird to shield it from the elements. Kneeling, she stroked Sandy's hair out of her eyes, a gesture too gentle for people to keep eyes on, too gentle for Jasmin.

Even the guards withdrew their pinched gazes.

"Baby, you gotta work with 'em and let the nurses clean your face." Anyone close enough by could pick up on their words.

Jasmin hesitated. "I love you, San." She dropped a hand from the girl's head as the same guard jerked his thumb toward the hallway her and Jackson's cells were located in.

--

"He doesn't know jack diddly shit beyond his little I-am-man-hear-me-roar gig." The walls had voices. A tall, curvy and rough-edged red-head skipped from beyond a corner, purposely rumpling the corner of a Persian rug.

"Aw, fuck off with your feminist shit." Damion puffed, face pinking.

@ rust and stardust

@ k1ssmysass

Jackson hesitated, and then stepped out of the way of the guards and followed the others out of the cafeteria. He was still hungry, and in need of a fresh pair of pants, but he had a feeling neither of those needs would be fulfilled.

"Stupid bitch is blaming the cut on her cheek on him," The dark-haired boy was saying to his feminine look alike, head craned downward so that it was more level with her own.

-

A redhead appeared and she was able to match the voice to a face. "Lydia, right?" She stepped closer to Damion to try and get a better look at the girl he was arguing with, curiosity evident.

@ rust and stardust
Pulling through the endlessness of her sweatpants pocket, she lifted a linty cup of pudding from the depths and slid it to Jackson. "Shit happens all the time, blondie. 'M real sorry you're here." Her voice broke.

She'd been strong these years - what was going on now that was making her brittle and frayed?

They were forced into their cells. The locks clicked.

Her face was stiff and caked with blood, like a slimy second skin. She fingered the wall, eyes fluttering, tracing invisible words: "HELP ME"
"LOVE ME" "GET ME OUT," and a new pair

"TOUCH ME."

God, did she crave affection - a brush of limbs, a friendly smile, heaven forbid a hug.

Her eyes burned with the new words.

"Fuck!" She shouted.

--
"Sorry, darlin', how impolite - yah, my name is Lydia. Y'all must be new in this part. You sure look new." Lydia smiled widely, butting her elbow into Damion, the two tussling it out.

He took the cup from her and nodded, watching her go with a flicker of confusion across his features. He allowed himself to be ushered into his room and waited a while before slipping out again to knock on the door next to his—hers.

"You're going wait for him, aren't you?" Grayson murmured, stopping to look down at his sister. When she nodded, he exhaled and gave a slight wave of his hand. "I'll see you later on, then." He sauntered into his own room, and she, after glancing over her shoulder, strode into Pike's.

-

It wasn't clear how one could simply look new, but she wasn't about to question it. "Are you the only two that ever leave their rooms?" Where was everyone else? Was she dreaming? She was considering pinching herself, but didn't want to be looked at strangely by the other two teenagers.

@ k1ssmysass

@ rust and stardust
She was seated on her mattress the way she always was - a little lopsided, the peeling fabric from the bunk wrapped around her finger idly. "C'min, blondie," She mused, humoring him. Jasmin's room was snug. It was a downgrade from her last one; trash had been cleaned out of it. "You hurt?" She murmured. She always did that when she spoke to him - used that low, motherly tone.

"I'll kill that dyke ass bitch." Pike spewed, usually smooth complexion blotched over with rage.

--

"Why don't you ask?" Damion sing-songed, only to be slammed in the chest by a heavyset Lydia. "They do. We're just the friendliest. They're all too rich to function."

(Using the word dyke was so hard for me. I hate, hate words like that. I would never use them out of writing like this & I can quit using them if it offends you. It's just a part of his character, though. I won't write certain words, though, like fa* or the n-word. Ever, ever.)

@ k1ssmysass

"I'm fine." Her concern was nice at times, and annoying at others. He was perfectly capable of holding his own, whether she or the others were willing to believe it or not. "Are you?" He stepped inside and shut the door.

She'd been sitting on his sorry excuse for a bed when he came in looking completely enraged, and stood to meet him. "What's the penalty?"

-

"But..." She trailed off, confused. Hadn't they been told about the experiments? They seemed to think it was just a normal mansion. Savannah was too focused to have imagined such things.

(Oh, you're fine. I avoid any extremely foul language, but I'm not offended by them, either. And remember that the ones in the mansion are sorta kinda drugged to where they don't even realize they're being experimented on. Sav just hasn't started eating the food yet.)

@ rust and stardust

Jasmin unwadded a roll of paper towels from her pocket and dabbed at the wound as best she could without a mirror. "Could you-?" She inquired, tentatively offering the outstretched, bloodstained paper towel. "Good." She quipped, eyes rolling toward the ceiling. Her eyes never seemed to stay still.

"They'll get you some soap an' a toothbrush tonight, a few of the guys from our table."
--
"I'm stuck in my fucking room for a fucking week - fuck me, FUCK. I have my meals delivered." Pike gnawed on the skin of his middle knuckle.

--

"What?" Lydia and Damion blurted all together, halting in their play-session.

@ k1ssmysass

He nodded, and taking the paper towel, stepped forward to dab at the wound gently and steadily. Once he'd finished, he discarded the towel and stepped back once more. "Thanks, I appreciate it." He wouldn't bother asking what the chaos at dinner was about.

Aspen reached for his hand and moved it away from his mouth; gnawing on the skin of his knuckle was a bad, nervous habit he had. "We'll get her back. You know that." Even if it meant Pike wouldn't be there to see it, her brother and the others were probably already thinking up their next move. A sort of sick game.

-

"The experiments," Savannah continued, brows furrowed. "You don't know about those? That's why you're here, right? It's got nothing to do with how rich they are." The others weren't there for wealth reasons.

@ rust and stardust

Jasmin uttered a soft "ow" as he worked as the matted gobs of blood, wiping away the streaks. She lifted her hand, pushing a few strands of hair away from his eyes. "No problem, blondie." She chirped.

"I didn't fucking ask you," Pike slapped his palm into her hand, withdrawing it roughly. His gaze softened in an instant. "Hey - I know, I know."

--

"Experiments?" Lydia tried, talking around a piece of bubblegum.

He pulled away stiffly, unsure of her intentions when she brushed the hair out of his eyes. His eyes traveled around the room and settled on words poorly etched into the thin plaster. "What's that?" Jackson felt as if he'd intruded on something private, and turned to go.

He slapped her hand away and her jaw tightened. "Gray was right. I shouldn't have come." Grayson wouldn't have a field day with the fact that he'd been right, but part of her wished he'd gloat. Part of her wanted him to be a little less sure of himself and have a reason to gloat. But he'd always been so sure of his opinion that, when it came true, the only thing he had to say was, "I know."

-

"She's just hungry, is all," A man strode into view and put a seemingly caring arm around the little redhead's shoulders. Savannah tensed, ready to shrug him off, but decided against it when she considered how many brownie points she'd lose if the man was important.