n

n

nKairos looked up towards the hole within the ceiling. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to close it up right away. Though he had reassured Nicole earlier about the concern about air, he couldn’t help but also have those same concerns.

nBut in the end, he did it.

nThen, he took a look at the energy remaining on the red prism.

nEnergy: 13

/1000

nIt was a very small amount, but it should be enough for the purposes of getting out. While before, the red prism had a fairly strong glow, right now it was very dull.

nThe corner of Kairos’ lip twitched as he came to a realization.

n“Speaking of rationing, how long is that flashlight going to last?”

nChase seemed to come to a realization as he frowned.

n“…I am not entirely sure, but the most it has lasted before was ten hours. Considering I have used this flashlight before without replacing the battery, an optimistic estimate is five.”

nWith that, he turned it off, sending the room into darkness.

nKairos sighed.

n“I guess we should only use it when we need to eat. To make use of that time, I guess that we should all eat quickly and at the same time.”

nTori fumbled around in the darkness.

n“Um, could you turn the light on for a second? I can’t find my bag.”

nChase let out a hum.

n“It will be less than a second, get prepared to memorize everything.”

nWith that, he turned the flashlight on for a split second, letting everyone catch sight of the surroundings for a split second before fading away.

nTori sighed.

n“Ah, there’s my bag!”

nOn other hand, Kairos froze up.

nThat was because he saw Sydney that was laying down on the ground, but with her eyes wide open. They were slightly bloodshot from what he could tell.

nWhat creeped him out was the fact she was just laying down there expressionlessly, almost like she was still unconscious.

nBut the fact her eyes were open told a different story.

nIf it wasn’t for that flash of light, he never would’ve even known.

nKairos began considering that it might’ve been a bad idea to bring Sydney along so easily, not to mention without so much as a restraint on her body. He frowned, wondering why he didn’t even consider the possibility that Sydney might not be the most peaceful.

nKairos did not act out right away. Instead, he began wondering what exactly Sydney intended on doing.

n“Anyways… we should be careful how we step. After all, one of us is unconscious right now and lying on the floor. It would probably be an unwelcome surprise if someone stepped on her.”

nNicole let out a soft gasp.

n“I should check up on her.”

nKairos coughed.

n“Maybe not right now?”

nNicole was confused.

n“Eh? Why?”

nKairos scratched the back of his neck.

n“What if you accidentally poke her eye because you couldn’t see? I think we should wait a little while at least.”

nNicole paused for a second.

n“Um, ok?”

nAfter a bit of silence, she spoke up.

n“So should we turn on the light to put everything together?”

nKairos didn’t respond immediately.

n“…Alright.”

nHe said it a little solemnly, which the rest of the group caught onto, but didn’t really understand. After a bit of hesitation, Chase turned on the flashlight.

nKairos had his eyes dead set on where Sydney was earlier.

nAnd when the light came on…

nShe wasn’t there.

nKairos’ eyes immediately widened as he frantically looked around. While the light from the flashlight covered most of the room, it didn’t cover all of it. And strangely enough, Sydney wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

nNicole gasped when she noticed this.

n“Mom?”

nShe looked around with confusion.

n“She was just here a moment ago.”

nChase frowned before wordlessly pointing the flashlight towards one end of the room, then another.

nEventually, it landed on one corner.

nTori’s grip on her sword became a little tighter.

n“What the…”

nSydney was awkwardly cringing in that corner. She was facing away from everyone else, while her head was lowered and pressed up against the corner. She seemed to be fumbling with her hands, but as for what she was doing, that was unclear. As for her body, it was faintly trembling.

nWhat topped it all off was the fact her body was emaciated, making her look even more like a monster.

nNicole’s eyes widened considerably.

n“You’re up already? Are you… ok?”

nAll things considered, Sydney definitely did not seem ok. However, she did seem to react to Nicole’s words.

nSydney slowly turned her head around with one hand on the side of her face.

nHer eyes were twitching uncontrollably.

n“I… I’m sorry.”

nNicole took a few steps forward.

n“Sorry? Sorry for what?”

nSydney suddenly clenched the hand on the side of her face, stretching out the skin. Then she closed her eyes tightly.

n“I… I tried to eat you.”

nNicole noticeably flinched when she heard that. However, she seemed to get over it quickly.

n“You are that hungry? Quickly, you should get something to eat!”

nShe picked up the bag from the floor and hastily opened it. After pulling out a bag of bread, she slowly walked towards Sydney.

nFrom her slow and hesitant steps, it was clear she was still a little afraid.

nKairos did not say anything, but he followed Nicole from behind. If he saw something out of hand happen he would act.

nHowever, it seemed that his concerns were somewhat needless.

nSydney began trying to back away, but since she was already in the corner, the only thing she accomplished was pushing herself up against the wall.

n“No, no. No… get away from me.”

nSydney covered her face with both hands, as though not wanting anyone to look at her.

nNicole seemed to be a little less afraid, and more concerned as she walked a little faster.

n“You have to eat something! You aren’t thinking properly right now.”

nSydney shook her head violently.

n“No! No!”

nShe reached out with her hand as though wanting to push her back, but then retracted it seemingly out of fear.

nOriginally, Kairos had pressing worries on how they were going to manage their food if Sydney was so desperately hungry. However, the problem quickly reversed into finding a way to get her to eat in the first place.

nKairos had seen something like this before.

nAnorexia.

nIt was when someone desperately didn’t want to eat, the most common cause being the desire to lose weight in order to look a different way. However, the cause was definitely different here. The reason why it stood out to him was that he remembered this was something that Nicole dealt with before.

nIt came up just when their teenage years were starting, just barely thirteen. At the time, their relationship was still really close, essentially best friends.

nKairos wouldn’t often get things like candies or snacks, but whenever he did, his first instinct was not to eat it himself, but to save it for Nicole. The only time when he ever did actually eat them was when he had at least two, so that one of them could be given away.

nAs for why he did that, it was as simple as the fact that he enjoyed sharing with Nicole.

nThere was nothing more than that.

nHowever, one day, when he offered her a tiny chocolate egg, she refused it. Kairos didn’t question it, and took the egg back. But he did feel a little sad. After some time, Kairos got back home and just stared at the chocolate egg instead of eating it.

nBut then, that egg melted.

nSo he threw it away, though he did think it was a waste.

nThe next day, he felt the urge to give Nicole something, thus taking one of his favorite snacks, a small pack of sweet and sour candy as he went outside.

nYet, when he met up with her and offered it, she still seemed reluctant.

nKairos couldn’t help but ask why, prompting Nicole to respond by saying that she was full. He did feel a little sad again, but quickly thought of a solution.

nOn the next day, Kairos made sure to buy a pack of strawberry flavored bubblegum using his allowance money. While it was cheap, it was also most of his monthly allowance since his parents only gave him a little bit.

nThough he didn’t feel aggrieved over that loss at all.

nFor the third day, he met up with Nicole and offered her a piece of strawberry bubblegum. Initially, she refused, but Kairos insisted.

nAfter all, it was gum, which wasn’t supposed to be eaten.

nFollowing that logic, Nicole ended up accepting it. She still hesitated before putting the gum in her mouth and after chewing only once, she stopped.

nKairos looked at her strangely, asking if the flavor was bad, all the while chewing on one himself.

nHowever, Nicole shook her head as tears fell down her face. It was actually her favorite flavor. Though it seemed hard to do, she forced herself to continue slowly chewing.

nKairos panicked and ended up apologizing, thinking that he forced her to eat a bad flavor, even though he himself thought it tasted pretty good.

nHowever, Nicole quickly clarified the situation. She told him about how she really didn’t want to eat, even when it became really painful. For some reason, she began thinking that she was becoming ugly.

nKairos was completely blown away by this.

nHe couldn’t comprehend why she thought this way, and said that he thought she was the prettiest in the world. Nicole didn’t believe him, but he asserted this intently. It seemed that because his thoughts were genuine, it gradually rubbed off.

nNicole seemed quite happy because of it.

nHe brought over the gum for the next few days and chewed it with her. Though he didn’t do more than that, it seemed to cheer Nicole up.

nKairos did notice that over the days she got uncomfortably skinny, but by the time the pack of gum ran out, she didn’t seem against eating.

nThough Kairos was actually a little afraid of the weight that she lost during that short time. Her parents didn’t notice it, but with how often he was with her, it was quite noticeable.

nAlthough that was not the longest of experiences, it was something that stuck with him.

nKairos looked at Sydney for a few moments, cowering away from the food. He slightly narrowed his eyes. Then, he walked over to his backpack and opened up a small compartment.

nOn the inside was an unopened packet of strawberry gum.

nHe came back, peeled it open and unwrapped a piece of the gum before handing it over to Sydney. Nicole seemed a little shocked when she saw it, but didn’t say anything.

nIn the end, Sydney didn’t even look towards the piece of gum. She kept her hands in front of her face, not even looking.

n“Get away!”

nKairos crouched down and spoke softly.

n“It’s just a piece of gum. There’s no food.”

nSydney slowly averted her hand, peeking out from a small gap. She ended up cowering back and shaking her head.

n“I… I don’t want it.”

nKairos could guess the reason why Sydney was so averse to eating food. He very clearly recalled all the half eaten bunnies that rested at her feet.

nIt seemed that Sydney had remembered that experience. Kairos himself knew how it felt to bite down like that as he did that before in desperation to kill a monster. It definitely wasn’t comfortable.

nShe was traumatized by the very act of chewing itself, just like Nicole.

nKairos took a deep breath and put the piece of gum in his own mouth before chewing.

nSydney flinched at the sound.

nKairos spoke softly once more.

n“It’s just a piece of gum, with a sweet strawberry flavor. Want to try one?”

nSydney slowly moved the hands away from her face.

n