" T-Twelve." She gasped for some air. She was somehow not collapsing yet. "S-Sorry, I get a-anxiety attacks." She replied. Is it just me or is the room starting to spin? "I-I'm sorry, i-if I'm sl-lowing you d-down. I feel s-so helpless."
Chase got up and cautiously walked to where the group was, fixing his tie.
"It's alright, niña," he said with a warm grin. "My nephew's around your age. He's got mild social anxiety."
He glared at Chase. Seriously? Another person?
Lixi managed to calm herself down a bit and get under control. "T-Thank you." She gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand as they got closer.
Chase gave the group a friendly- albeit slightly worried- smile.
"Let me guess, you likewise have no idea where you are," he deadpanned.
Enzo didn't really want to think about his nephew. All alone in their crappy apartment, waiting for his tio to come home with the groceries. It broke his heart. "Here we are," he said, interrupting his own thoughts. He rounded the corner and stared into the room at the end of the hall. It was large, like a huge lounge, with old beat up couches and chairs strewn about. On the furthest wall, there was a large, at least 60 inch TV screen.
"Yeah," Chase says, fidgeting with the knot of his tie.
"Hm." Liam observed the area. "A bit shabby, though it's better than nothing."
"I'm confused," Enzo said softly, analyzing the area with a frown. "The TV is obviously expensive, but the furniture looks like someone stole it from a dumpster." He knew because he'd done that before. "And where the hell are our kidnappers?"
"Maybe they dumped us," he suggested, though didn't think that was likely. "As for the furniture and TV… I'm not sure. We should stay cautious, just in case."
"Yeah," he agreed, wandering from the main room into a different, adjacent room. "This looks like a kitchen," he called from inside. There was an old stove, refrigerator, oven, and some cabinets.
"Think it has any food?"
"Food?" Lixi perked up at the word. She was really hungry. She let go of Enzo and started to explore the room. The room looked so normal it was weird. "Maybe theres a hiding place or passasge somewhere."
Strangely, he felt concern for her. "Be careful."
Lixi nodded but continued to wodner the room. She walked towards the cabinets and started pulling them open.
"See anything useful?" Enzo asked her.
"Umm." She saw some tools including an old can along with what looked like a box of Fruit Loops. She held it up and checked the experation date. (Whenever that is.) Its new. She rummaged a bit more. "Well I found some tools, an old can and FRUIT LOOPS!" She held up her box proudly and started eating ravenously. "I mean theres other things in there too." She said with food in her mouth before swallowing.
"Fruit loops, huh?" Enzo crouched down and peered into the lower cabinets. "There's more cereal, crackers, other canned goods. Basically, a lot of foods that don't go bad." He squinted.
He stiffened as she began to eat, freezing even more as his own stomach growled. The last thing he ate was some eggs at yesterdays breakfast. What if it's poisonous…?
Lixi saw how hungry Liam was. "You want some?" She offered and held out the box.
"I uh…" his stomach roared once more. "Please," he said hastily.
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Xander had been following closely behind, observing silently. He was too afraid to eat anything placed in this house.
"Um… are you guys sure that's a good idea?" he asked.
"If they wanted to kill us, they probably would have done it already," Enzo pointed out.
Paige's heart thundered in her ears. "Hello?" she repeated to the girl, this time louder.
"Well, yeah, but who knows what else might be in that stuff? When you're like me and live in a constant state of overthinking, you think poison, then 'oh, no, that's not logical.' But then, I'm not sure… Something insane like perhaps mind control is trying to be pulled, or maybe they're experimenting with us by putting something in the food? Think me insane if you wish, but I don't trust these people enough to take food they left for us. I'd rather starve, please and thank you," Xander replied shakily.
"And if the food is poisoned and we don't eat, we'll eventually starve anyway and still die."
Chase observes the group, remaining silent.
(I'm gonna have to unjoin this, sorry)