Cherly tried to see if life was like those off-shore spy movies and thus lock picking was as simple as a tiny long thin object and basic finger nimbleness. The hairpin wiggling through the lock was unfortunately pulled with an awful bend, making it even more useless than it already was.

“Give it up, it's a lock,” Holger, the typically lazy boy said as he lay upon the bed. He tapped away at his phone with little care, as if not bothered with their entrapment.

“I can see that,” Cherly barked back.

Rodney sat at the edge of his bed as he waggled the plastic fork with a bent prong, showcasing the previous failure in prying open the vents. He looked as tired as Holger at this point. “Am starting to think dat guy gave us cheap plastic on purpose or somethang.”

The horse-beast kin took a celery stick from their lavished lunch earlier and took a big bite.

“Come on, you gotta eat at some point, you know,” he said. “I'm tired from trying to escape the prison your crazy nutty brother put mah in,” the man scoffed before lying back on the bed. “This sucks.”

Cherly’s severe expression soften once he remembered Rodney had nothing to do with this. Cherly invited him to that dinner thinking it would be something fun, and only for the humble stable man to be held prisoner, just like them.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that,”

His boyfriend chuckled, “hey don’t go all soft-eyed on me. You’re all stressed out. I don’t blame yah for being snappy. I’m pissed off myself.”

He came up to Cherly and gave him a big, crushing hug. “Be pissed. It is what it is.”

“If you two are going to be like that. Do it when I’m asleep or something,” said the apathetic teen reminding them of who they were also trapped with.

“Holger Watch your tongue those words are-” Cherly started

“Nah, honest lad,” Rodney interrupted the red-faced boy. “He’s doesn’t butter up his language. Little Man got some bite.”

Cherly scoffed, “Doesn’t mean I like it. Rude.”

Then Cherly remembered… Loukas trapped them there.

Cherly sat onto the floor, much to Holger’s alarm.

“Cherry!” he said.

Loukas…

Why…

What went wrong?

Why did you do this?

What are you?

One minute he was his obnoxious older brother who would not leave him alone for five seconds, but now…

He murdered the people who raised them, slaughtered so many innocents and now locked them, the few remaining of their family, in these rooms.

The good food, the comfortable furniture, and the amenities did not change the facts. Loukas, his big brother, trapped them in a prison. Even the ones who were only children. Edgar is 14, and he was bawling his eyes out with what Loukas had done.

Cherly remembered his soft smile, that nervous stutter he developed, his kind words, his declarations to protect…..

Who was Loukas?

Who was the thing pretending to be his brother now?

Did... did that day he disappeared with uncle... was that the last he truly saw him.?

A tissue bumped Cherly’s cheek. He looked up and saw the stone-faced Holder holding it out with Rodney sitting right next to him with his arm over his shoulder with a soft smile.

“Crying doesn’t fit you,” Holger said.

Cherly huffed, snatching the tissue blowing his nose, “What do you know?”

“You ain’t alone here.. Okay..” He turned to the window. “The stars are beautiful tonight, don’t ya think?”

“Yeah… they sure are. Even covered with smog you can still see they glow behind them.” Cherly leaned his head to rest on Rodney’s shoulder, still sniffling. Maybe one day he may get to see stars not covered by ventis.

A package fell through that mechanised slot on the door and landed on the floor with a thump.

Early dinner? That was rough of a way to deliver it.

As it was routine Holger began opening the package and what was within was…

….

….

....

A... key...

Cherly took one look at that manor as his youngest brother, clearly traumatised by what had happened, shivered his arms. To think such a place was all he had ever known. All of it... gone.

“Cherry, that’s all of them right? We have to go before the train leaves!” Rodney yelled out as he already piled himself along with Holger and Edgar into the car.

“I'm coming I'm coming, I don’t have infinite brothers Rod.”

He carried Enok into the vehicle as the engines started up and with one final hum; the car rushed to the trains to take the pile of once-wealthy, privileged children to an unknown new start. To think a year ago he would have fought tooth and nail against the very notion, but now…

He wanted to be as far away from Ildens.

He wanted his brothers safe, away from this cancer of the world.

As the manor grew smaller and smaller, and despite the brewing disgust, he wanted to talk about... Loukas.

He felt empty, and hoped maybe someone, any one of them, had better insight than him about it all.

But by the way, Edgar shivered when they even so much as uttered their so-called brother's name. He held off on this.

Maybe... He would hold it off indefinitely.

Loui… What even was Loui to them other than a name to be feared?

He was a monster.

Still, Cherly looked down at the letter.

In it were the following words:

Cherly, take these train passes and leave with all our brothers. Your card has $3,00,000 transferred to it. Take this money, take these passes, take these keys to your freedom and leave.

Never come back. I do not so much want to see you when you do.

These passes will take you far, but still, go even further and keep going.

Take care of them, take care of them all.

I'm sorry Cherry

The train station was in front of their eyes. Holger was the first to exit the car and tried to get Erna to leave faster.

Cherly crumpled the letter. He did not know what to think of Loukas anymore.

Loukas… Loukas was his big brother, now Loukas was-

Cherly found their living quarters on the train as the last chance of escape from Ildens blasted its loud horn. Cherly gave the city one last glance as the distance between them grew.

Cherly was the only one who looked back to see the manor's pipes blasting smog into the air, disappearing once and for all.

For the first time, within the next 3 hours, He saw the blue sky and the golden sun.

He had never known it was morning until now.