Breakfast

When Ethan left with the last one Soren turned to Avery.

"You should get cleaned up and call it a day. You'll have to use the bathroom in the hall because I'm headed up to clean up."

Avery nodded and watched Soren leave. He glanced around the room then turned the light off, shut the door, and made his way up. Avery passed by Ethan on his way and avoided looking at his red eyes. He knew that he would be having nightmares about red eyes for a while.

On the main floor, he grabbed the bag of new clothes then headed upstairs. He headed straight for the shower, barely shutting the door before he started peeling off his clothes. He stopped when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. Am I in shock? He noticed the blood on his neck and face and suddenly felt the weight of Soren's hand.

'You really do smell good,' echoed in his head and mixed with the image of Soren over the body of Cruz, his former team leader. Only this time, instead of the face of Cruz looking at him it was his own lifeless face staring at him while Soren ate him.

Avery let out a sound between a sob and a moan and turned away from the mirror. He finished undressing and stepped into the shower. He made the water as hot as he could handle and turned it up a little higher. Avery stood still while the hot water poured over his body, leaving his skin red.

The images, and Soren's words, kept rising up in his mind. Avery found himself curled up in the bathtub, hot water pelting him from above and sobs wracking his body. It was as if all of the fear and horrifying experiences were leaving his body all at once.

By the time the water grew cold, he had found a semblance of control and quickly washed up, rinsing himself off under the cold water. Avery stepped out and grabbed a towel to dry off. This time when he passed by the mirror over the sink he refused to look. He pulled out a shirt and lounge pants to put on then left the bathroom carrying his bag.

Soren was sitting on the bed flipping through a notebook when he walked into the room. The moment he made eye contact with Soren he looked down and refused to make eye contact again. Soren's eyes were back to being brown.

"Try and get some rest. Since I'll be out part of the morning I figure everyone can take the first half of the day off and relax. You're welcome to help yourself to the food in the kitchen. No one is allowed to go to the lower level while I'm gone."

Avery nodded his head and went to the closet that he now called his room. He closed the door behind him and flipped on the light switch that was next to the door. He moved to the shelf and started placing his new clothes, organizing everything until he was satisfied with how it looked. He carefully folded the bag and placed it on top of the shelf.

After a while, there was a knock at the door and it opened up. Avery stood rooted to the spot, unable to move, as the door opened to reveal Soren.

"I just wanted to say that you did well today. I know that a lot happened, but you've handled it better than most would. That's an accomplishment in and of itself."

Avery looked up, surprised at what Soren was saying. He saw that Soren was smiling and his face gave off a friendly look, vastly different from what had happened earlier.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I'm off to get some sleep. Keep up the good work."

Soren turned around and left, shutting the door behind him. Avery did not move for a long time, when he did he turned the light off and laid down. The cot was not comfortable, but Avery did not notice. His mind was filled with a million thoughts and images that haunted him far into the night.

*******

When Avery finally woke up he got out of bed and stumbled out of the room. Soren was gone, his bed empty. Avery had a vague memory of hearing him moving around. He made a stop at the bathroom then headed downstairs to the kitchen. His stomach was growling, though he wasn't sure if he could eat.

Avery settled on some sausage and toast. It felt surreal to him as he moved through an unfamiliar kitchen and made his food. He poured himself a glass of juice and made his way to the table in the dining room. He stopped short when he saw that Jordan was sitting at the table.

Jordan had his laptop open and was giving it his full attention. The sound of voices speaking a foreign language drifted from the laptop. Avery moved forward hesitantly and nearly dropped his food when Jordan looked up.

Avery could still remember the mutated that they had encountered and had a strange overlap when Jordan looked up. The main difference between them was the intelligence behind Jordan's eyes and the friendly smile he gave when he saw Avery. Jordan motioned to the seat next to him and Avery moved to sit there.

When Avery sat down Jordan moved his laptop so that both of them could see it.

"Thanks."

Avery said, his voice low and hesitant.

A little later they were joined by Ethan and Fry; Fry with a bowl of cereal and Ethan with a sandwich that had nothing to do with breakfast. Avery tried to focus on his food and remain unnoticed, unfortunately for him, he failed.

"Boss says we get a half day off. Is there anything fun to do around here?"

Ethan looked at Jordan when he spoke. Jordan shrugged and motioned toward his laptop. Ethan let out a sigh and shook his head.

"Sorry, man, not my thing. I think you're the only one here who likes that stuff. Even Avery is giving his food more attention than your show."

Jordan flipped him off and Ethan laughed. Avery quickly finished his food and left, he planned on going back to bed. His nerves would not be able to handle being around the others for long.

Ethan watched Avery leave and could not help but shake his head.

"What happened?"

Fry glanced over where Avery had been then to Ethan. She still looked like she had not slept well, though the darkness around her eyes seemed to be lightening up. It seemed like her work with Jordan had helped her.

"He went out with Soren yesterday and when they came back there was a lot of blood and an unconscious mutated. I'm not sure what happened, but he looked worse than right after the attack.

"Soren was off when they came back. Boss was extra scary. You should be glad that you worked with Jordan yesterday."

~Soren pushed Avery, testing his capability in adapting to our lives. Now, Soren on the other hand. What you got to see was him on a high after fighting. It's been a long time since he's been able to properly fight, though it was a questionable fight from what he said.~

"Soren said you called Avery his 'human pet,' what does that mean?"

"Pet?" Ethan looked between the two, eyebrows raised.

Jordan paused his show and closed the laptop so that he could give them his full attention, and skip out quickly to lock himself in his room and watch uninterrupted.

~He could have easily put Avery with the others. Instead, he kept the human with him and continued to terrorize him. A well-trained pet stays with its person, follows them around, and listens to commands without question. Pay attention to how they interact when Soren comes back.

~Ethan came close. The deciding factor was when Soren decided to inject you with the virus.~

Ethan could not argue that observation. Even now, he would not dare question an order or cross Soren. He did not want to face an angry Soren, Ethan knew that he would not live after such a confrontation.

"I'm glad. I'd rather deal with all this, than what Avery is dealing with. Hell, his own teammates have given him the cold shoulder. They didn't pause for a moment and consider that shit happened to him, just started accusing him of shit. One of them last night was cussing him out like he'd sold them out.

"That's fucked up, man."

Ethan took a large bite, finishing off his sandwich and showing his dislike for Avery's old teammates.

"I don't know if there's a lot we can do to help him. I mean, he saw us eating his leader the same as Soren. We are just as capable of harming him."

Fry frowned, thinking about how things had changed so much in such a short time. She was no longer the same person she used to be. She was now capable of killing and eating someone. After working with Jordan in the cooler she was not as bothered by that fact as she had been.

~Not a lot to be done. It's enough to remember that he's part of our family now and treat him as such.~

Jordan stood and picked up his laptop. He gave them a quick salute then walked off. He was ready to get back to his show.