Book 3} Chapter 25
Inspection, Part 2
検査、パート2

"Mom... what's wrong?" Emma asked as she neared us.
{ What's going on? Why is Mom here? What happened to Ray? Don? Gilda? "It's over when Mom thinks of us as uncontrollable." What does she want? What is she planning to do? Could she be... shipping us out immediately?! }

"Ten years," Mom said with a smile.
"H-Huh?" I asked with a forced smile.
"We've been living together for ten years... but this is the first time for us to talk without acting. Nice to meet you, Emma. Nice to meet you, Norman. Nice to meet you, Y/n. Teehee... hee hee hee," she laughed.

"Come on, relax. Don't worry. It's just me. No one else is here. You don't have to pretend to be good kids who don't know anything. Here, in this moment... we're just the caretaker and the child meant to be food," Mom said.

I tensed up as my heart dropped.
"But don't get me wrong. I love you children. I adore you. Truly. As if you were my own children. That's why I'm here. I want you to give up," Mom told us.

{ "Give up"? Escaping? Our lives? Becoming adults? }
"Give up what?" I asked cautiously.

"Give up resisting. Because I love you, I don't want you to suffer. I don't want to have to make you suffer. It's a happy life, isn't it? A warm house filled with delicious food and love. You don't starve or get cold. Without knowing the truth... you can die with a satisfied feeling. What part of this life is unhappy?" she asked us.

I thought of Conny. My lip quivered and I bit on it.

"It's impossible to escape. The outside is dangerous too. It's full of despair. Come on. Let's just live happily at Grace Field House," she offered, putting a hand out.

"For the limited amount of time... until the end... I want you six to be happy," she said with a smile.

{ She... did they notice? She doesn't intend to ship us out immediately. She's not shipping us out immediately. Mom still wants to control us. OR else there would be no need to persuade us. The problem is her method is clearly different before. What happened to Ray? Did she cut him off? }
 I wondered as I clenched my hand into a fist.

{ If that's the case from now on, Mom will control us directly. That means right now is the only chance we have to go and inspect!! But even so, what's our next move? If we rush through the inspection now that will make us seem uncontrollable, and we could be shipped out immediately. What should we do? If we go, we'll be shipped out. But this could be our only chance!! Yeah, Mom knows. She knows we'll waver. Because she raised us that way. Think. We can't just push through and ignore the risks. Should we give up quietly and kneel before her? No, we shouldn't give up! Mom knows that we have Don and Gilda on our side too. And she probably also knows about Ray's betrayal. Yet she still wants to control us that is the method she's crossing. Mom won't ship us out immediately just for inspecting the vicinity. We must be that special... we won't lose. And we won't flinch. No matter what the world is like outside I want to live. Together. With everyone. }

"Okay, Mom. I'll quit being a good boy," Norman said with a smile.
I ran at Mom.
"Go, Norman! Emma!" I shouted.

{ We'll push through and inspect the area. I'll keep Mom here. }
I wrapped my arms around Mom and reached for the tracker.
{ I'll buy time for Norman and Emma. Even if it's only five or ten seconds. And maybe if I can grab the damn tracker. They'll be able to disappear. }

My arm slipped as she quickly brought me down.
{ And we can... complete our inspection. }

She grabbed my leg and before I could react. Broke it.
Pain rushed through my whole body.
I felt a sharp pain along with that.
"AAAAGGGGHHHH!" I yelled in pain.

I grit my teeth as tears brimmed in my eyes.
My breathing became rapid as I whimpered.
Mom hugged me, "Shh... It's okay you'll be okay. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. You poor thing. My adorable Y/n. That's why I said to give up. But you haven't hugged me in a while. That made me happy~ Norman, Emma, you realized too. Amazing!" Mom praised.

She let me down as I clenched my hand into a fist. She took out a bandage.

The tears slipped from my eyes.
"You're right. I'll control you all until the end. That is how special you are. Special food that only a special one can eat. The highest quality of children that I have raised. Then... that's why I have to protect you," she said looking up at Norman and Emma.

"No matter what. I had to do this if you weren't going to give up. You won't be able to move for a while. You can survive until tomorrow, safely," Mom said to me.

"Tomorrow?" I asked as she placed her hand on my cheek. More tears ran down my eyes.
"Yes, tomorrow. Stay put and celebrate, Y/n. I got a notice from headquarters. Congratulations, Norman. Your shipment date has been set," she said.

My eyes widened.
"No..." I muttered as tears started to stream down my eyes.

11/10/19
Word Count: 928