The Choice

"What about me? Will I join them too?"

Hearing her words, Blake stopped in his tracks and looked up from his plate. For a couple of seconds he just continued to stare back at her silently, his lips pressed together as a frown appeared on his forehead.

The question was something which was also bugging him for sometime. It was the same question he had running through his mind when he ended up falling asleep. He knew that the girl was not like the rest of the teenagers which were present there. It made him want to keep her around just so he could keep a better eye on her.

The base would make the perfect safe house for her and she would always be within his eyes' reach just in case her family managed to find out about her disappearance. Moreover, this way he would have better chances at finding more about her background and keeping her updated if she wanted.

"Are you attached to those children in any way?" Blake cleared his throat and questioned her back instead of providing her with an answer.

"No." She shook her head sideways. "I just know some of their faces, that's all." She added as she thought about how she would always find some new faces through the crowd while looking around.

She would always find some faces missing every time she was asked to leave her room. There were even faces which she only saw once. Since her movements were limited unlike the other children, she never bothered herself to get acquainted with the rest of them. The empty void in her mind was more than enough to keep her thoughts occupied.

"If that's the case, I would suggest you stay here with me. It would be much safer for you, but the choice is yours to make." Blake finally replied to her previous question. "If you want to stay here, you are more than welcome. Though I must warn you that there are some rules of the place which you must follow if you choose to stay." He took a pause before continuing.

"If you want to go and stay at the place where the rest of those children are, that is also up to you. Just so you know, I will make sure to inquire about your background even then. There is no need to feel pressured."

His words were enough to push her mind to think things through. She trailed off her eyes from his face, bringing them to focus on her fingers which were tugging at the folds of the bedsheet.

Blake patiently waited for her answer. He even forgot about the rest of his food which was waiting to get finished. He just continued to observe her movements quietly, a number of wild thoughts running through his mind. He knew if she ended up choosing to stay back, it wouldn't be easy for a girl as meek as her to fit in.

He was worried that she would get hurt in the process. "If you say I can arrange a family for you to live with. They will adopt you and raise you as their own until you are ready to move out." He added, extending the list of options she was offered.

Hearing his words, she only frowned. "What if I choose to stay?" She muttered under her breath only to get a shake of his head which was followed by a release of a long sigh.

"Are you taking that option back?" She questioned him. "Why bother even offering it when you were to step back the moment I made my choice?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"This is what not I mean. I ju-" Blake spoke up to explain himself only to be cut off in between.

"What else did you mean?" Her voice was no longer meek like before. It was laced with authority while she refused to let him talk. To Blake, she didn't appear to be the same girl who was struggling to even ask him some questions earlier. The sudden change in her demeanour left him bemused.

"Little lady, this is not what I meant." He raised his hands up in the air in a defensive manner. "Now will you let me explain it?" He added.

He only got a couple of glares in return. Seeing that she was not going to talk, he continued, bringing his hands down. "Like I told you, this place is not a simple one. If you choose to stay back with me here, you'd have to follow some rules which aren't so easy to stick to."

"After seeing guns in those ugly men's hands, I figured out that it is no simple place, but you are the only person I can trust now. Though your other offer is too enticing for me to decline, but as someone who has no idea about her own family, I don't want to walk down that lane." Her expressions eased a little after hearing Blake's point.

"How can you say that you trust me blindly?" Blake couldn't help but question her. "What if I am just putting on an act?" He added with a grin.

"I know what I saw back there and also earlier. I may not have my memories, but that does not mean that I am blind. Even if it's just your curiosity about my background, I know you won't hurt me." She replied with resoluteness.

"You will have to go through the rigorous training which my men go through. Though you are younger than most of them, there won't be any leniency when it comes to the training." Blake tried to test the waters. He was elated after seeing that the girl at least knew how to be grateful.

"I know. I am willing to go through it." She replied staring right back into his eyes.

"Hmm…" He hummed lowly. "The choice is yours to make. If that's what you want, who am I to stop you. I will gladly see you suffer." With these words, Blake picked his plate again and began eating, the room falling into silence once again.