03. | tracking devices

DISCLAIMERS ~ strong language

"So this map was published in 2010, eh?" Emma wondered out loud, rolling out a map. "Come to think of it, we don't know our current location. We don't even know where this house is."

Astoria picked up a book, taking a seat a few seats down from the 'raging emo' as she calls him. "The sun comes up from the south, so we're in the Northern hemisphere."

"And we have four seasons, some somewhere in the midlatitudes." He added on.

Astoria looked at him, "I don't need you to finish my sentences for me." She spat.

"Do the world a favor and shut your fucking mouth." He spat back, rolling his eyes.

"Do the world a favor and don't wake up tomorrow mornin-"

Emma sighed, "Can you two quit bickering for five minutes?!" She yelled in frustration.

Ray and Astoria cut each other a dirty look before looking down at their books.

"Anyway, that's all we know."

Astoria held her fingers out in front of her, "Checking for cameras and bugs, confirming what's beyond the fence, obtaining rope. So far, things are running smoothly for the most part." She said.

"What should we do next?" Emma asked.

"We should probably attempt to create a scene so that Mom gets distra-" Ray started before getting interrupted by a voice calling up the stairs.

"RAY, NORMAN, ASTORIA, EMMA!" Isabella's voice called from the bottom of the stairs.

The four children shared a confused look with each other before opening the door and making their way down the stairs.

Once they made it down, she made them line up. Astoria couldn't help but notice that Don and Gilda were there too and it was just the six of them.

The oldest six kids in the house.

What the fuck is going on?

Isabella stood in front of the kids, her tracker in hand, "Could I ask you six to help me with some chores?"

Chores?

Astoria thought.

Isabella gave them all a list of chores each to do. Astoria and Ray had the joy of cleaning the bathrooms in the house.

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

After finishing the chores, Astoria and Ray made their way back to the bedroom where Isabella and the others were tidying.

Astoria found it strange, it was almost as if they were making a bedroom.

Emma and Norman spotted them and walked up to them. "This is the third day in a row. This is bad, it means she suspects us, right?! Do you think she knows something?!" She whisper-yelled.

Astoria rubbed her head and let out a sigh. "Yes. She does know something because she never makes us do chores unless we're in trouble."

"Think of it from the enemy's point of view." Ray said, crossing his arms.

Emma tilted her head to the side in confusion, "The enemy's point of view?"

Someone get me a gun.

"None of the kids are reacting, Em. It's natural that she would suspect the oldest. Don't get spooked." Ray said.

"Exactly. All she knows is that something happened that night. She knows Little Bunny was taken to the gate by someone other than Conny. She knows her targets are two kids." Astoria said, leaning against the wall.

Ray raised his eyebrow, surprised that she actually agreed with him for once.

"We still have to be on guard more than ever. But don't worry, she doesn't know about us yet." Norman said, smiling at the ginger who sheepishly smiled back.

Astoria gave the ginger a small smile, "Just don't panic. That's what Mom is searching for. She wants a reaction." She said. "But this is really annoying."

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

This is our third day. Organising the pantry, inspecting the spare linen, cleaning vacant rooms.

Giving us meaningless tasks and not even giving us free time during the day, eh?

Astoria thought with a roll of her eyes as she swept the floor, for the seventh fucking time.

She accidently dropped the broom, making Emma and Norman jump whilst Ray laughed.

"Need help?" He asked her, smirking.

"Fuck off." She mumbled in frustration as she continued.

A few hours later, they were all exhausted but still going strong.

"DAMN IT! I WANT TO PLAY!" Don shouted loudly out of nowhere.

"Don, I'm going to need your help with this, come on." Gilda said, rolling her eyes as she waited for the brunette to finally help her.

Once they left, Astoria turned to the other three to find Ray already looking at her. She cut him a dirty look before talking. "We have to do something about the trackers too if we want to escape." She said.

Emma patted her arms down again in confusion, "But how? I've checked all over my body, and there aren't any scars that indicate something was implanted."

"And there's nothing in our clothes or shoes, either." Norman said before turning to Astoria and Ray, "You guys?"

Ray looked at them, "Based on human kind's existing technology, it's a tracking device that uses radio waves. But those require batteries, and they don't last long. I-"

"We." Astoria mumbled.

"I," He repeated, cutting Astoria a dirty look before looking back at the others. "Did some extra calculations. Something ultra small that wouldn't leave a scar, with batteries that last over ten years. In 2015, those would only exist in fiction."

"Meaning?" Emma asked, a bead of sweat slowly forming on her forehead.

"It's going to be difficult to predict the mechanism, specify the location and figure out how to break it. And we might as well give up if it's technology originated by the demons." Ray mumbled, making all kinds of hand gestures.

"It's likely that we're dealing with specific technology from the demons." Norman said, putting his hand on his chin, falling into deep thought.

"So... Check-mate?!" Emma shouted, her hands flying up into the ait.

"Yep." Ray said.

"THAT'S TERRIBLE!" She shouted, rubbing her hands through her hair in a frenzy.

Astoria crossed her arms, "It would be nice if we had an x-ray."

"No." Norman said, making the three kids turn their heads to him in confusion, "Even if we can't figure out the mechanism, we can anticipate things. If we think, there should and can be a way."

He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Astoria, Ray and Emma all followed him.

He stopped in front of a wall, his head falling onto it. "We need more information." He whispered to himself.

"Exactly." Ray and Astoria said in unison.

Astoria turned to him, "Don't fucking copy me."

"I didn't copy you, stupid."

"I wonder if she's so confident because she knew we'd get stuck." Norman said, walking towards the window and saw Isabella playing with the younger kids, "So? Doesn't it seem odd?"

Time is limited. Her plan should be to make us impatient so that we reveal our plans.

But time is also limited for Mom. That was her plan all along, to make us reveal ours.

But why isn't she doing anything?

"I can't quite put my finger on it." He mumbled, resting his arm on the windowsill. "But it's a roundabout strategy. She's being way too soft."

"So what you're saying is that there's no urgency to find her targets?" She asked, turning her eyes out of the window to see Isabella too.

Seeing her so happy after everything she'd done made her blood boil.

Norman nodded in response. "Yeah, exactly. The tracker isn't conclusive. Even if she suspects us, it's only a suspicion." He stated, "She has to remain cautious. Mom should want to identify and deal with the targets as soon as possible. But I feel like something's off. What exactly is she thinking?"

She's our mother.

But also our teacher.

She taught us, she raised us.

Norman thought. "Something is bothering me. I just hope I'm worrying too much." He mumbled to himself.

I have this gut feeling that something is about to happen and it's scaring me.

What exactly are you thinking, Mom?

Astoria asked herself before Don began shouting the house down again.

"HEY! DON'T SLACK OFF YOU GUYS!" He shouted, running up the stairs and throwing his fist into the air, "I DON'T SEE ANY PROGRESS!"

"Pipe down." Astoria mumbled, rolling her eyes as she picked up the broom again and began sweeping.

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

After finishing the chores, Isabella called the six children down from upstairs. However, it wasn't what they were expecting.

Some part of Astoria was expecting it to be food or another chore, not a woman.

"Let me introduce her." Isabella spoke, holding up the little ginger baby in her hands. "This is your newest little sister, Carol. And this is Sister Krone. She's here to help me with my duties."

As the words hit her ears, Astoria felt like she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. She never expected another adult.

Another enemy.

"An adult...?" Emma whispered.

"And we're getting a baby earlier than usual, too." Ray whispered back.

Astoria saw the look on Ray's face. He was scared too, he rarely got freaked out so this is how she knew it was bad.

We were so concerned about the trackers because she showed it to us.

We were also worried about revealing our plan.

We were so preoccupied with those things that we didn't even think of another adult coming here.

The chores...

The truth behind monitoring us...

It was all to prepare and buy time for this.

We didn't reveal anything. Not a single thing. Me and Ray kept our mouths shut.

We saw through her bluff, Me, Norman and Ray read her moves so easily, but she was a step ahead of us.

She always had been.

You can't beat the creator.

She moved us like pawns and drove us into a corner.

"Sister Krone, please introduce yourself." Isabella said, smiling as she looked at the lady next to her.

Time felt like it was moving in slow motion for Astoria. She felt numb. For a moment, she didn't even realize that she had stopped breathing.

She was thinking of all the what-ifs.

She was scared.

She didn't know what to do with what she just found out.

She watched as the lady smiled and took a bow. "I will be living here with all of you starting today. It's nice to meet you." She grinned, putting her hands behind her back.

What are you doing to us, Mom?

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

We got another sibling to replenish Conny.

Krone is a demon's minion.

Mom's... subordinate?

A second pair of eyes watching us. Another person in the way.

Another obstacle.

Ugh, all of these obstacles. I'm getting so sick and tired of them.

"We have sixteen kids under the age of three." Norman mumbled under his breath.

We're doomed.

"Mom's not the only enemy anymore." Astoria whispered, slightly trembling as she stared at the lady.

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

"Damn it!" Norman yelled as he punched a tree.

"This is bad. Another demon minion." Ray mumbled, "She's living in an incredibly inconvienient spot too."

"Making space in the pantry, inspecting the spare linen. We played into her hands and made preparations to welcome another enemy. I would've known had I given it more thought!" Norman groaned, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

Astoria shook her head, "Don't do that. Don't blame yourself. Nobody knew. Nobody could have possibly known. What could we have done to prevent it if we did know?"

"Why are you so..." Ray trailed off, holding his hand out, hoping for someone to finish the sentence off.

"It's not about preventing it." Norman replied, moving his hand away from the tree, "Mom dangled clues right in front of us. If it was to take us by surprise, she wouldn't have made us do those chores. I should have been able to read her moves, but I didn't."

Astoria sighed as she crossed her arms. She felt like that was all she ever did now-a-days.

"She outmaneuvered me. At that point, I'd already lost to Mom. As long as we outmaneuver her..." he said, falling deep into thought again, "It's all about Mom. Unless we can surpass her, there's no way we can escape."

"Maybe making us depressed was what she was going for." Ray said, his hands in his pockets.

"You've always been depressed." Astoria remarked, rolling her eyes.

"Shut the fuck up." He replied, hitting her head gently before continuing. "Anyway. If she dangled hints in front of us, that's what she wanted to show off. We don't have to play by her rules. In the end, if we escape, it's our win. Crying would only satisfy the enemy. We should actually be happy about this."

Emma looked at him, dumfounded. "Huh?!"

It took Astoria a second to click, "More sources of information." She mumbled before getting more confident in her answer, "She's a new source of information!"

Ray smirked, proud that she understood him for once. "Exactly. We needed more information, so in that sense, this situation isn't all that bad." He stated, holding his finger up at Astoria who glared at him.

"This isn't over yet." Norman said, smiling as he faced his three friends.

"Yeah, we're the ones who'll win in the end." Emma said, her eyes glistening with excitement as she, Ray and Norman turned to Astoria.

Astoria raised her eyebrow, "What? Am I supposed to say something motivational?"

Emma laughed whilst Norman stood there dumbfounded while Ray was trying not to laugh.

What a Stori thing to say.

Ray thought before realizing what he just thought.

Ew.

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

The four children ran off into the forest during free time so that nobody could hear their conversation.

"First, Where did those two come from?" Emma asked, throwing a ball into the air before catching it.

"Carol is replacing Conny, so they're replenishing the merchandise." Norman said, placing his hand on his chin.

Astoria picked a leaf off of the bush beside her, "Well, if this place is a farm and not an orphanage, I'd expect that they'd have some sort of base where they have one-year-olds created or kidnapped to replenish the farm." She said, picking the parts of the leaf.

"A base to supply more human lifestock from." Norman muttered.

Emma didn't know what to do with this information. She dropped the ball and put her hands on the sides of her head in confusion, "So Carol and all of us came from there?"

Ray nodded, "Probably."

"And Mom and Sister most likely did too." Astoria added on, making Ray scowl. "Awh, don't be so hostile, bitch boy."

"Kill yourself."

"I would but I still have the rest of my life to annoy you." She said, smirking at him.

"Oh, my god. Shut up." Norman groaned in annoyance, "Anyway. It's significant that there is an adult other than Mom. There might be farms, just like this. So the adults that obey the demons... Are they under control of the demons from birth?"

Astoria and Ray shrugged whilst Emma just listened.

"Or are they captured after being born in a human society? How we survive after we escape depends on that." Norman added on.

This sent Emma into an even further spiral, the thought of somebody being taken away from everything they've ever known and being dragged to the farm scared the life out of her.

"It's also significant that we got a new sibling." Ray said, hoping that someone would click and realize what he was trying to say.

In his favor, Astoria did infact click, "She's just arrived. She might have a mark. A scar from where the tracking devices were implanted." She mumbled out, not so confident of her answer until she was. "She's just arrived, She's going to have a mark!"

Ray had to stop himself from smiling at her as she became more confident in her answer. This new feeling was strange. He didn't like it one bit.

He held his hand out in front of him, "At present, we have three things to think about. One, the adults are the key to finding out the background of the outsidem two, as Astoria said," He said, gesturing his hand to the girl who rolled her eyes, "Carol might give us a clue as to where the tracking devices are and three, there is definitely something off about the way Mom is proceeding with things."

"HUH?! WAIT, WHAT?! HUH?!" Emma yelled out, scruffing her hair as if her brain just exploded.

"Isn't it.. I don't know, weird? She showed you guys the tracker to make us waver in our movements. If she already knows, then why isn't she shipping us out already? That's all she has to do." Astoria muttered. "But she hasn't."

"Exactly. She hasn't. There's a reason." Norman stated, rubbing his eyes. "Or she's not purposely doing so because she has an objective."

"A reason?" Emma asked, "An objective? Like what?"

Norman shook his head, having no idea what it could be.

There has to be something.

Mom is making this too easy and I don't like it.

"But that's why we can't really figure out Mom's strategy. And if we don't know how the enemy is going to act, then there isn't a moment to lose." Ray stated, "You get it, right, Emma, Astoria?"

"Whatever." Astoria mumbled.

"Yeah, I get it." Emma said.

We don't know what Mom is thinking. That means we don't know what she's planning to do.

We don't know, we'll be in a bind - A bind that'll get us killed.

Before that happens, as soon as possible, we have to escape.

This is something we can use to our advantage.

What we have to do next is work out how to get near Carol.

"We won't be able to get near her." Ray said, pointing between him and Norman.

Emma smiled. "Leave it to me and Stori. We'll get the clues to the tracking devices from Carol."

Astoria crossed her arms, looking at the birds flying around.

Her mind was swirling with thoughts about how the plan would go. She was scared that it would get fucked up by something.

But what exactly?

💌

sorry for the really long wait

i accidently published this chapter when i was only three paragraphs in 🧍‍♀️slightly humbling experience ngl