Door opening, I saw that, indeed, four tired and bruised faces were looking at me with despondent expressions, demeanours sullen. There had been an argument when I was away, I noted with a healthy dose of vilipend aimed at the two adults. What utter bastards. They'd get theirs, one day, when they grow old and no one is around to help them do basic tasks.

The Master released me, and I went to my side of the war, letting him speak with the adults as the jaded five that we were spoke.

"You should have hid better," William said, sounding on the verge of bitter tears, "We're going to be killed."

I glanced around, only to feel slight alarm when my sisters didn't deny it. The blood left my face, and I wondered if I had gone too far, this time. Kiana, Taniya, Don, and William were all gripping hands, and I tried not to feel too apprehensive even as I spoke, voice barely above a whisper.

"If it comes to that, only one of us has to die for the rest of you to go free," I looked each of them in the eyes, and as they realized what I was offering they all started silently crying, Kiana shaking heavily with sobs, the effort to stay silent probably putting her in a lot of pain, "And you four, you can stick together, yeah? You all need to stick together, stop pretending you aren't siblings or whatever- It'll be tough, okay? But when- if... If one of us dies, you all need to be extremely honest. No exaggerating, or lying, or making the situation seem worse than it is, or the case will be dropped, okay?"

"I won't let you die," William refutes, standing tall and prideful even as tears stream down his face.

I give him an amused look that I wasn't feeling. He'd not be able to prevent it, would he? Don was silent still, and I looked over at him to see him looking like he couldn't speak if he tried. He looked terrified, and I suddenly realized that I was going to die. I'd not be able to stop WW3, I'd not be able to write down my journey, I'd not be able to tell someone how I made the machine... I was going to die. Because if there's one thing you can't shut up, it's a retarded three-year-old in the body of an eight year old. The fact he was silent with shock meant that it was more serious than... Than anything.

"I'll do my best to-" At their looks, I stopped talking and looked behind me to see that the Master was walking closer, and I took a slightly deeper than necessary breath, "Do you trust my judgement?"

They glanced at each other, then me, then the quickly encroaching Master, before William nodded once, and Taniya and Kiana looked almost desperate even as they tried their best not to piss themselves or throw up. Or both. I didn't acknowledge the Master even as he acknowledged me, looking at Taniya and Kiana as I waited for an answer. Kiana was the last one to nod, and I nodded.

"Trust him if... It happens. He'll help," I ordered, and then moved a bit away so that the four could mourn as the Master and I spoke.

I looked at him, and immediately knew he had no clue what my parents were planning. What my parents probably promised my siblings. I glanced at my siblings, only to be shocked as they flocked over after hissing at each other for a few moments.

"Y-You said to trust him, right?" William said, and when I nodded they all stood by my side. I gave them a worried look even as I mused how we probably looked like the front cover of a kid-hero comic or something.

"I was given permission to take you and your siblings for the day."

The Master froze as Kiana finally couldn't hold her sobs in any longer, and William whispered in my ear what our parent's plan was. I straightened up, eyes wide and mouth parting as terror and shock filled my veins. Oh, god, I'd not be able to save anyone. Tears filled my vision, and I swallowed. I didn't notice when Kiana turned to Don for comfort and to comfort. They... They wouldn't- surely they wouldn't! Oh god. Oh fuck. Shit!

"Let's go. Now. Then," I said, tone verging on worry. I looked at Elise and Glen, only to see Elise looking smug and Glen looking tiredly accepting. That tired acceptance that you see on a soldier's face just before they shoot a kid with bombs strapped to them. Or in this case just before you go out and buy a gun with plans to use them on fucking children.

After quieting Kiana, we all wander to the pools, them just opening, and when the Master went to get towels I was filled in entirely. Ice flooded my veins, and I couldn't help but hug myself as Kiana, Don, and Taniya all broke down sobbing. I didn't even recognize that it was "stage one" of one of my freak-outs. Elise was a liar, and Glen was a guard dog, but when Taniya and William filled me in on what they said, as accurately as they could with Kiana sometimes inputting, I realized that Glen never lied. Not about shit like that. He stayed fucking silent when Elise lied about doing something. He was the one to tell her to calm down. Did I just end up killing everyone? Shit, what if they killed us while we were in the waterpark? We weren't safe. We weren't safe.

"Calm down," The Master murmured as he walked up, kneeling before me.

I observed his eyes, and found I couldn't. How could I? He was just a man. A fucking human. He couldn't take a bullet to the head and survive- no one could, not with the marksmanship of a fucking war veteran. Images of exactly what might occur filled my mind.

We all calmed down as the Master explained logically why they wouldn't do that. Hours pass, Monica eases our minds by appearing with no clue what we're scared of. Then they appear, and it's fine, really, "Minion." Everything was fine. Then the slightly bigger than usual pile of towels is moved by Glen as we all come to dry off, and Don goes down, "Minion!" My ears ache with the loud bang, tinnitus echoing. People scream and run, and we're caught in the crowd as we all also run. William, the fastest, goes down next, having almost made it to the door, "Minion!" Then Kiana goes down with an ear-piercing shriek, because Glen isn't too perfect a shot. Taniya gets trampled by the crowd running away, shot as everyone else makes their way out. The Master and I remain where we are, hidden, arguing about the Master getting killed too, if he stayed, "May!" Silence, the sobs of Taniya as she begs for her life. The loud echo of the bang of a gun. Then Elise comes into view, looking at me with a sickly sweet smile. I was her favorite. I'd be the last to die. I hear another gunshot after Monica's voice gets louder. Elise looks to the side, the Master using that distraction to tackle her to the ground. Monica wasn't the one to win the fight, and I watch in horror as the Master jerks to the side with a bullet to the head, "Katy!" A perfect shot. Elise doesn't manage to get the Master's body off of her, I didn't even know the man's name... Glen walks over, and I take the chance and tackle him. The gun fires, and glass shards rain down as I scramble up and bolt. Fire burns in my lungs and back, and I collapse as a bullet- or bullets, depending on the gun- rips through the front of my chest, leaving a gaping hole, "Katy Lynn!" I stare at the remains of Taniya and William as everything fades, their faces forever frozen in terror. Unable to even fuck up their own lives, because I fucked their lives up for them, and now they were dead, "May Lynn," The voice of my brother rips me out of my way-too-clear vision.

"What if they bring it here?" I say instead of asking how long I've been freaking out. A glance at the clock shows it hasn't been a full minute. I was fine.

William looked slightly uncomfortable, and Kiana's sobs grow louder, Don letting out a soft keening sound that was slowly getting louder and louder. Taniya just looked miserable as tears streamed down her face.

"We, we, we, we..." We couldn't stay. We had to run. We had to escape. We needed to leave.

"What's going on? You've been freaking out and dropped your act the moment you heard whatever they said!" The Master finally snapped, irritated.

"... Can we really trust you?" William asked distrustfully, hope and reluctance warring in his tone as he walked over and put his arm around my shoulders, putting himself between me and the Master. The Master wasn't stupid. He saw that, and knew what it meant.

He straightened up from where he was half-crouched, having been trying to get me to calm the fuck down before I had an episode. Before he thought I had an episode, anyway. No matter how strong the emotions I had, logic won over, and I didn't have something frustrating and distracting to stop logic from taking me over. Any and all emotion left me at once, and my arms dropped as I stared at the Master with just as much distrust as the three others were. Don didn't count yet. The Master took note of that, and we both went into our own methods of dealing with things. Still in a suit, shoulders straight, cold and calculating obsidian eyes took in the distraut children, me included. Pajamas still hanging off my form, slightly damp socks the only thing covering my feet, my expression was flat, and I stared at the Master even as I took the time to go over and accept every bit of new information I had. The Master didn't have a car big enough to take us anywhere, but that didn't mean anything. We didn't have to go anywhere far. They were busy, presumably buying the guns Glen and Elise promised to.

"More than you can trust any other adult in your lives," The Master eventually claimed.

"We don't have time," I said, voice calm, confident, and exuding the so-called professionalism the Master believes it is, "You know the arcade across the parking lot? They won't look for us there, not if they plan to come here and kill us. Then we just need to find out a way to find out if they are actually making good with their threat, and if they are, we need to acquire their guns from them and do whatever it takes."

Kiana sniffs loudly, and Taniya's miserable countenance lightens. Don's keening eases, but doesn't go away. William's arm around me tightened.

"Going before a judge with a killcount of two is better than increasing dad's killcount by five to seven," I reassured William. He nodded solemnly, agreeing, but didn't look assured.

"What? Gun- what are you lot going on about?" The Master asked, his professional demeanour leaving him as quickly as it came.

"Does it matter?" I asked, "I'll take care of my siblings. Could you make excuses for us being elsewhere and discreetly check Elise's and Glen's items? We have solid reasoning to believe that if we remain here we all will die."

The Master observed me, before rolling his eyes. I observed him as a slight sense of disappointment filled me. Of course. No matter how professional or mature I may seem, and no matter how adult-like he treats me, he still sees me as an overreactive child. My eyes relax into their typical resting bitch face, and I heave a sigh even as Kiana and Taniya set everything up to look like we are still around, and I grab my personal phone and the Master's phone and put them in William's pockets, as the only one who'd be going that had pockets besides William was Don. My wallet was put in my bra.

"Don't be paranoid, they're going to a bar to cool off," The Master claimed, and I shook my head in a mix of exasperated disappointment. How could I think he'd actually care? He'd actually understand, or trust, the word of some stupid kid like me?

"Okay. We're all going on the tornado," I lied easily, "We'll be in the slide area for the next few hours as we pretend not to be terrified for our lives. Don't bother looking for us, we'll be avoiding you as much as we avoid Elise, Glen, and Monica. You already know how good I am at hiding, and I can assure you that they are just as good if not better."

We all move as a unit, getting into the elevator after William- the sneakiest- goes up and confirms that their car is gone, and not in the arcade's parking lot either. Going up the stairs- we can't take any chances- we easily sneak to the arcade. Wandering in, I pay for the most expensive passes so that we got the paper bands proving we belonged. As everyone knows no one looks up, we immediately go up to the odd balance-rope walkways, being told that if we really wanted we could stay all day. I explained, a blatant lie, that there were creepy adults after us, and that if any white adults asked him if he saw our groups not to tell them, because our parents were black as sin. As a black thin man himself, he agreed without much thought. Human trafficking was, in fact, rather rampant around these parts, go figure.

After a few goes, where we meet up with each other and speak about plans and whether it would be prudent for me to go into debt to buy one-way bus tickets to Texas or California, or just goofing around and speaking of fruits with Don, as only two people could be on the same platform at once, William runs over- which while not disallowed was still frowned upon, and I was kind of impressed as he had run over a singular rope without losing his balance and falling- to shove the Master's phone in my hands. It had twelve missed calls. I texted him, asking if anyone else was around. He said no, and I answered his next call, my brother making wave noises and blatantly breaking the rules as Kiana rushed over and started talking about whether to go on the green or purple waterslide first, at a normal tone as I had since explained the best ways of deciet to all of my siblings.

"They have guns," The Master hissed, "What the bloody fuck is going on?"

"Ah, so we should take the next bus to New York, is what you're saying, so we don't get riddled with bullets?" I asked quietly.

My siblings go quiet and lean in to hear the coversation. I hold it out so we can all hear his voice. I wasn't quite convinced he wasn't lying to get us to tell him where we are, which I'd not do. Ever. It's silent for a long moment, minus the rushing of water. A door creaks and slams, and I can hear many more children than previous, as well as more splashing sounds. He must have gone to the outside courtyard part of the waterpark. The sounds from his end would block the lack of waterpark noises from our end.

"I'll bloody give you a private jet right out of the country, if they're actually planning on killing you lot," The Master said, voice a bit louder, "Where are you?"

"Hiding, like I told you we'd be," I kept track of the seconds we spoke, "I have to go, now, lest we're found for staying in one place for too long. If you haven't called the police yet, I suggest you do so."

After hanging up at the twenty-seven second mark, I turned the phone off. If he was lying, he'd not be able to track us, at least. If he wasn't, he'd probably realize where we were soon after our parents were arrested. News is spread, and I go to Don to keep him from making too much noise or yelling too loud. Everyone kept an eye on the ground and entrance to this section of the arcade-amusement park-entertainment center thing, or whatever it was called. I'm certain it had laser tag and bowling too, so I honestly had no clue what to call the warehouse-turned-arcade. William made extra sure that the phone didn't get turned back on, which I knew was possible remotely, but unsure if it was possible in this specific case.

We were a paranoid bunch, I recognized. Actually, the least paranoid person amongst us was William, and he was doing a damned good job of acting like Mad-Eye Moody with how paranoid he was. I was the second-most paranoid, and Kiana was the most paranoid, though for the weirdest of things. From least paranoid to most, it went William, Don, Taniya, me, and then Kiana. I think I might surpass Kiana if the whole they're-planning-to-kill-you thing ends up being true, though. Even if it doesn't, I'm certainly not skipping out on leg day anymore, and I'm sure the others aren't either.

Hours pass, and the man on duty manages to approach one of us after being avoided the entire time. He seemed extremely creeped out when he was surrounded on all sides besides one when that managed to happen. We overheard William, the one who didn't manage to escape him in time, explain that we were planning on staying until we were kicked off or our very-real-very-black parents came and picked us up, as the-totally-real-parents said they would. He just explained that he had another group wanting to come on, so not to freak out and just be patient if we fell. He didn't bother pretending that we weren't listening from the few feet we each were, all poised on the ropes just before the platform we weren't allowed to step on. All agreeing amicably, he wandered to the entrance, and we spend a few minutes speaking, William keeping a stony glare at the entrance of this section, and each of us besides Don glancing over every few moments as well.

Each of us meet up at the furthest platform away from the beginning of the rope-maze of platforms, as planned, when the Master and a few cops appear. Our parents were there, too, and we all worry and say our goodbyes even as we reassure each other and claim that there's no way they'd actually kill us now that the police were involved. The black man came fucking through, though, and they were sent away without a fucking glance upwards. After another ten to twenty minutes, we all rushed down as quick as we could, undoing everything we had on, and thanking the black man profusely.

"I know what those bruises are fo', man, I ain't let'n no cops take you back to th'ze people. I got'chu, fam," He said in thick, broken English.

He was obviously from Africa, probably managing to get here through scholarships or something. We all hugged him, and he led us to the employee backdoor. We all went out, and snuck around, spreading out. It didn't fucking matter, even though we all planned to meet up at the Greyhound Bus Station and get tickets to New York, California, Florida, and Texas, which would leave me broke but us safe as we were taken away. Don and William were taken down first, I was told later. I was the only one that made it to the Bus Station. The Master was the one to take me down, me having managed to make the cops tase each other as they chased me around. I had almost made it, I had almost escaped.

It never mattered, though, did it? The Master was on the Enemy Team. My judgement had been wrong, and we all paid for it. Why did everything always have to be my fault? I just wanted one, just one, person to actually believe us, to actually be on Our Team. But no. We were trapped. No matter how many times we were shoved, grabbed, or thrown around like punching bags. We'd die.

The cops had taken our childish statements seriously, both seperately and together, and eventually CPS got involved. It was a dude, this time, with long blond hair and mischievous hazel-green eyes. He reminded me of a thinner and paler Chris Hemsworth, with a small amount of facial hair. Admittedly he couldn't be a stunt double even if he was all muscled up like Chris, but I figured they were born in the same region of Australia, at least. It was the only thing that really made sense, with the similarities and differences. Australian-American as the CPS dude may be.

"Hello. Your parents have interesting things to say about you, specifically," Chris' seventh cousin five times removed said as he sat me down in the police station. Was it big enough to be called a precinct? Maybe. Probably.

"My guardians also have made very interesting marks on my siblings and I," I returned with an innocently serious and professional tone.

"I see that. I'm Jacob Sterns, you can call me Jake, though," Mr. Sterns said happily. I nodded easily.

"Okay, Mr. Sterns. Nice to meet you." Formalities were a bitch to get through.

"Likewise. So, tell me, Kaddy- Am I saying it right? Kaddy? Katy?"

"It's pronounced K-D, but I go by May. My middle name."

"Of course," He made a note in his notebook, "May. I'll have to remember that. So, in your own words, what do you think happened today?"

"Do you wish to hear the entire day?" I asked.

"If you please," He agreed.