Chapter 4 - Tag but with Teams?
"Emma, starting today, let's play tags in teams." Norman told Emma. Ah yes, I believe I suggested that idea to Norman.
"In teams?" Emma asked, confused about what Norman meant by playing tag in teams.
"At this rate, most of them would die if they escape individually." Ray explained.
"Hey, Ray!" Emma yelled.
"But everyone's movements aren't bad. Right, Y/n?" Ray asked me as I fixed one of the bedsheets as we were hanging the wet bedsheets to dry up.
"Indeed. So we shouldn't break them up individually." I said as I put down the stick I was holding.
"We'll make formations and run away in teams." Norman added.
"We'll play tag in a way that's similar to what a real escape would be like." Ray mentioned.
"A real escape..." Emma mumbled.
"And I have another idea aside from the teams. Let's tell Don and Gilda. We'll explain the situation to them and have them lead the teams." I brought up the topic.
"What if they're mom's informants?" Ray asked. He has a point but Norman and I have already discussed that part.
"Don't worry. Finding out who the informant is, and also how to win them over. We can do it simultaneously. And Norman and I have already made arrangements." I replied.
"Emma, for now, I'll tell you 100 types of formation patterns, so memorize them." Ray said to Emma.
"You mean by ear?" Emma stammered sheepishly as she took a step back.
"Why? You can't do it?" Ray smirked as he said that. Emma pouted but got back to being her determined self.
"Easy peasy!" Emma exclaimed with confidence but there was some hesitance in her tone.
"If you have any trouble, you can always ask me for help. I'll always be there." I offered. Emma smiled and cried while hugging me.
"Thank you so much Y/n! Ray is being a bully! How are you two even friends?!" Emma cried on my chest. I giggled and patted her head.
"Ray, be a good boy and teach Emma slowly. She may be a quick learner but I don't think her head will be able to process that information on the first try." I said as I looked at Ray.
"Tch, fine, but only because you told me to!" Ray pouted as he crossed his arms making Norman laugh while I giggled at Ray's childishness.
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"Okay, try not to get caught for 10 minutes. Start." Ray said and they all separated in groups. Ray and I were 'it' and we also had our own group. I was his assistant.
Emma and Gilda are leading a group while Norman and Don lead another group of children.
When it was time to start searching, I asked Ray if I could have a moment with the children and he nodded.
"Now children, stay together ok? Don't leave anyone behind. If there's a problem tell me or Ray. Understood? Say 'I understand' if you get it." I told the kids.
"I understand!" all the children said which warmed my heart. We began our search. We entered the forest and I began using my weird ability.
"Y/n, do you smell anyone? Or hear anyone?" Lannion asked me as he tugged my long-sleeved button-up shirt.
"I do, I smell Norman and his group." I said as I lifted him up and carried him in my arms.
"Y-Y/n! I'm not a baby anymore! And plus what does Norman even smell like?" Lannion blushed as he got embarrassed.
"Aww, you guys grow up too fast! Anyways, Norman smells a bit like parchment and a bit of Emma. Emma smells like the forest so it'll be quite hard to find her." I said as I put down Lannion.
"Woah! Ne ne, what does Ray smell like?" Thoma asked.
"Let me see." I smiled kindly at Thoma and approached Ray. Ray looked at me confused. I placed my hand on his shoulder and went close to the crook of his neck and sniffed him.
I stepped away and looked at him. He was blushing and covering his face which made me giggle.
"Ray smells like books. He smells like the library and..." I said but then stopped.
"What's wrong, Y/n?" Ray asked. I told them to shush and I closed my eyes to listen around me.
"Norman is to our west, around 2 kilometers from here. They're heading North." I said before opening my eyes. Ray nodded and instructed our group.
"Remember. Lannion, what does this stand for?" Ray said as he put up two fingers. I looked at Lannion who grinned.
"It means our team will be separated into two groups. I will follow Y/n." Lannion proudly said with a smirk.
"Correct. Now try to catch up. I will lead the group. Y/n, keep track of them. You will follow them in silence. Got it?" Ray asked as I nodded and we began running.
We followed them and we immediately caught up with Norman's group until they separated.
"Norman went East while Don went West. Who shall I follow Ray?" I asked the ravenette boy.
"You follow Don, I'll handle Norman." Ray instructed as he held up two fingers. We separated and half of our previous group followed me.
"Now, children, don't get separated! Lannion, I trust you to make sure none of them run off." I said and I see Lannion nod.
I told them to stay in the bushes since they stopped running to take a rest for a while.
"Lannion, all of you, you grab the children Don is leading. I'll get Don myself. Understood?" I asked and they all whispered a 'yes ma'am' which made my heart feel warm.
I stayed in a tree and I see the children get behind the children that Don is handling. Don was resting under the tree I was on.
"We caught you!" the children yelled which scared the other children. I went down but at the same time, I still was on the tree branch.
"Boo." I said as I faced Don's frightened face. Don jumped and almost fell.
"Emma, starting today, let's play tags in teams." Norman told Emma. Ah yes, I believe I suggested that idea to Norman.
"In teams?" Emma asked, confused about what Norman meant by playing tag in teams.
"At this rate, most of them would die if they escape individually." Ray explained.
"Hey, Ray!" Emma yelled.
"But everyone's movements aren't bad. Right, Y/n?" Ray asked me as I fixed one of the bedsheets as we were hanging the wet bedsheets to dry up.
"Indeed. So we shouldn't break them up individually." I said as I put down the stick I was holding.
"We'll make formations and run away in teams." Norman added.
"We'll play tag in a way that's similar to what a real escape would be like." Ray mentioned.
"A real escape..." Emma mumbled.
"And I have another idea aside from the teams. Let's tell Don and Gilda. We'll explain the situation to them and have them lead the teams." I brought up the topic.
"What if they're mom's informants?" Ray asked. He has a point but Norman and I have already discussed that part.
"Don't worry. Finding out who the informant is, and also how to win them over. We can do it simultaneously. And Norman and I have already made arrangements." I replied.
"Emma, for now, I'll tell you 100 types of formation patterns, so memorize them." Ray said to Emma.
"You mean by ear?" Emma stammered sheepishly as she took a step back.
"Why? You can't do it?" Ray smirked as he said that. Emma pouted but got back to being her determined self.
"Easy peasy!" Emma exclaimed with confidence but there was some hesitance in her tone.
"If you have any trouble, you can always ask me for help. I'll always be there." I offered. Emma smiled and cried while hugging me.
"Thank you so much Y/n! Ray is being a bully! How are you two even friends?!" Emma cried on my chest. I giggled and patted her head.
"Ray, be a good boy and teach Emma slowly. She may be a quick learner but I don't think her head will be able to process that information on the first try." I said as I looked at Ray.
"Tch, fine, but only because you told me to!" Ray pouted as he crossed his arms making Norman laugh while I giggled at Ray's childishness.
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"Okay, try not to get caught for 10 minutes. Start." Ray said and they all separated in groups. Ray and I were 'it' and we also had our own group. I was his assistant.
Emma and Gilda are leading a group while Norman and Don lead another group of children.
When it was time to start searching, I asked Ray if I could have a moment with the children and he nodded.
"Now children, stay together ok? Don't leave anyone behind. If there's a problem tell me or Ray. Understood? Say 'I understand' if you get it." I told the kids.
"I understand!" all the children said which warmed my heart. We began our search. We entered the forest and I began using my weird ability.
"Y/n, do you smell anyone? Or hear anyone?" Lannion asked me as he tugged my long-sleeved button-up shirt.
"I do, I smell Norman and his group." I said as I lifted him up and carried him in my arms.
"Y-Y/n! I'm not a baby anymore! And plus what does Norman even smell like?" Lannion blushed as he got embarrassed.
"Aww, you guys grow up too fast! Anyways, Norman smells a bit like parchment and a bit of Emma. Emma smells like the forest so it'll be quite hard to find her." I said as I put down Lannion.
"Woah! Ne ne, what does Ray smell like?" Thoma asked.
"Let me see." I smiled kindly at Thoma and approached Ray. Ray looked at me confused. I placed my hand on his shoulder and went close to the crook of his neck and sniffed him.
I stepped away and looked at him. He was blushing and covering his face which made me giggle.
"Ray smells like books. He smells like the library and..." I said but then stopped.
"What's wrong, Y/n?" Ray asked. I told them to shush and I closed my eyes to listen around me.
"Norman is to our west, around 2 kilometers from here. They're heading North." I said before opening my eyes. Ray nodded and instructed our group.
"Remember. Lannion, what does this stand for?" Ray said as he put up two fingers. I looked at Lannion who grinned.
"It means our team will be separated into two groups. I will follow Y/n." Lannion proudly said with a smirk.
"Correct. Now try to catch up. I will lead the group. Y/n, keep track of them. You will follow them in silence. Got it?" Ray asked as I nodded and we began running.
We followed them and we immediately caught up with Norman's group until they separated.
"Norman went East while Don went West. Who shall I follow Ray?" I asked the ravenette boy.
"You follow Don, I'll handle Norman." Ray instructed as he held up two fingers. We separated and half of our previous group followed me.
"Now, children, don't get separated! Lannion, I trust you to make sure none of them run off." I said and I see Lannion nod.
I told them to stay in the bushes since they stopped running to take a rest for a while.
"Lannion, all of you, you grab the children Don is leading. I'll get Don myself. Understood?" I asked and they all whispered a 'yes ma'am' which made my heart feel warm.
I stayed in a tree and I see the children get behind the children that Don is handling. Don was resting under the tree I was on.
"We caught you!" the children yelled which scared the other children. I went down but at the same time, I still was on the tree branch.
"Boo." I said as I faced Don's frightened face. Don jumped and almost fell.
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"AHHHHH!" the screams of Don's group echoed through the forest making Ray smirk at Norman.
"It seems Y/n has caught Don's group." Ray smiled as he crossed his arms.
"Are you sure she caught them or kidnapped them? Those screams were something. It's like they're being tortured." Norman sweatdropped as he felt a chill run down his spine from the thought of what would've happened if it was Y/n who caught them.
After we finally caught everyone, we went back to where we usually hang out and everyone was talking about how fun the game was.
"That was fun!" Phil said as he raised his arms.
"Phil, you were really good at running away!" Emma complimented the adorable boy.
"Phil, you were amazing. It was quite difficult to catch you, you know?" I said as I lifted Phil and played around with him as he laughed. Phil was really good...
"This is really fun! I want to be a leader for the next one. And don't you think it's unfair if Y/n plays?! She almost gave me a heart attack coming out of nowhere!" Don said as he pointed an accusing finger at me.
"Oopsie, I can't help myself. You know, I understand that the children were tired but you should be on guard." I giggled.
"Let's take a break for a little bit." Gilda suggested. Norman, Emma, Ray, and I looked at each other and nodded.
"It looks like playing tag in teams is going to work!" Emma cheered but I felt kinda worried.
"Hey guys, what was Phil's scores again?" I asked. They looked at me quite confused but Emma answered anyways.
"Hmm...let's see. He's averaging about 203 lately." Emma replied.
"That's high..." Norman commented and I nodded.
"It surprised me that he was one of the last ones remaining this time and also when we played tag with Sister Krone." I said with worry in my tone.
"He's always looking for Y/n, Emma, or Norman with Sherry too." Ray added, Emma was confused, but she seemed to catch on.
"Stop it! I don't want to suspect anyone after all!" Emma scratched her head in frustration.
"Idiot. Even if you don't want to, you need to be more suspicious! Thoroughly. This is life or death. I'm not that surprised you noticed, Y/n." Ray scolded Emma.
"Ray, any progress on how to break the tracking devices? How long do you need until you're prepared?" Norman changed the topic. He changed it for Emma's sake for sure.
"Let's see. Ten days." Ray replied to Norman's question.
"Then let's commence the plan ten days from now. We'll carry out the escape plan ten days from now on November 8." Norman declared which shocked the three of us.
"W-wait! Don't you think it's too soon? I mean it's fine but..." Emma said as she took a step towards Norman.
"It's not fine! It's been two weeks since Conny was shipped." Ray informed Norman.
"The shipment cycle should be around 2 months, so we should have about a month and a half." I said.
"Exactly! I thought the plan was to carefully prepare during that time." Ray argued with Norman's idea.
"Yeah, just as you thought that way, Mom's controlling us to think that way too. So we need to outwit that." Norman argued back.
"And if we fail from being rushed? Then what?" Ray said with an angry expression.
"Either way, we need to escape before winter comes. As soon as we break the tracking devices, let's execute our escape as quickly as possible." Norman stated.
"That means we have to do what's necessary for the remaining ten days." Emma said. Norman and I nodded but Ray made a 'tsk' sound.
"Let's talk to Gilda and Don tonight." I suggested and they agreed. The rest of the day, Ray seemed quite stressed which made me worry but he seemed to calm down a bit.
We started approaching the library. Emma opened the library door and gestured Don and Gilda to follow us.
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"What? Human trafficking?" Don seemed like he didn't believe what Emma was saying.
"Yeah. All of our siblings have been sold off to bad people." Emma looked at the ground. I was standing beside Ray. And suddenly Don started laughing.
"There's no way! No way!" Don clutched his stomach from laughter. It made me frown a bit.
"But the walls, the gate, and the siblings who left and never writes us letters." Norman tried to argue but Don was really stubborn.
"Oh come on now. What's the punch line? What kind of prank is this?" Don thought this was a joke. The whole room turned silent.
"You're not saying it's true, are you?" Don looked at Emma then at Norman but they kept their head down and their lips shut.
"It's true." Ray bluntly said to answer Don's question.
"Wait. Then what about mom?" Don asked as he looked at Emma.
"She's the one who's selling us to the bad people." Emma's voice is different, it's shakier than normal.
"Hah?! There's no way that kind mom would do such a thing! Take it back, Emma!" Don placed his hands on both of Emma's shoulders.
"Don. Emma loves this House and Mom. So there's no way she would lie about that." Gilda said. Don removed his hands from Emma's shoulders as he looked at Gilda.
"And I did think it was weird. The night Conny left, Emma and Norman went to the gate, and..." Gilda paused.
"You did?" Don looked at Norman who was behind him and Norman nodded.
"You broke the rules, the both of you would usually apologize immediately and everything would be back to normal. But you haven't done that." Gild said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Emma, you've become so serious now. So I couldn't ask about it. I told all of my problems to Y/n one night and told me that everything will soon be alright. Still, I couldn't help but feel worried." Gilda started to break down in tears.
Emma ran to Gilda and hugged her from her back while apologizing to her.
"Did you see it, Emma? Conny being sold off...to those bad people." Gilda asked but Emma remained silent until Norman answered with a 'yeah'.
"Conny is safe, right?" Don looked at Norman who answered with an 'I don't know'. I'm surprised he lied.
"But how.....how could this even happen?!" Don clenched his fists.
"I don't know if this could help, but these are our siblings' scores that I had Ray, Y/n, and Emma look into for the past few days." Norman showed them a piece of paper.
"The ones who left are over six years old and adopted in the order of the lowest scores first. Isn't that weird?" Norman asked.
"True, Conny's scores are...and Hao and Sadie." Don said as he scanned the paper.
"You're right, Norman." Gilda said as she scanned the piece of paper with Don.
"Don. Gilda. Let's escape from here and go help Conny and the others. Let's all run away from here, together. Please help us." Emma lied. But they nodded their heads.
"They're lying....how interesting..." I mumbled so that only Ray could hear what I was saying. I pinched my nose so that the horrible smell won't get in my nose.
"I know. It caught me off guard too." Ray said.
Since I had to go take care of the babies and Emma needed to do something, we waved them goodbye and left.
"Hey, Norman!"
"Is this about the shipment?"
"What do you mean by you 'don't know'. You should have said they died." Ray yelled at Norman.
"That was the best way to smoothly get them to help." Norman argued with Ray.
"If they weren't the spies after all...then this kind of lie is too cruel. 'They're alive'? Don't give them hope that doesn't exist. How and when are you going to tell them the truth? Can you tell them?" Ray said with anger in his voice.
"I'll cross that bridge when I get there. We're still assuming that they're spies too. So I'm going to lay a trap." Norman announced to Ray.
"A trap?" Ray asked.
"I'll tell both of them where the rope is hidden. I'll tell Don it's under my bed. To Gilda, I'll tell her it's in the ceiling of the second-floor bathroom. Who will make a move? How will mom find out? We can trace it from there." Norman said.
"And the ropes? If they weren't the spies, and there's nothing there, it'll get complicated." Ray said.
"I have something else for that too." Norman said.
"So you're fully prepared, huh?" Ray asked.
"I told you. We have to outwit her." Norman told Ray.
In the middle of the night, I woke up and realized that Ray's bed was empty. He sleeps beside me so this was strange.
I stood up and immediately went to the library, knowing he was once again reading.
I knocked on the door and entered it and found him sleeping on the floor with a book over his face. He always reads in the corner.
I sighed and went back to the room and grabbed his blanket and walked back to the library.
I placed his blanket over him and rested his head on my lap and shut my eyes and went to sleep.
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"Y/n..." I heard a voice call for me. I fluttered my eyes open and saw that Ray was clutching my shirt and rubbing his face on my stomach.
"Y/n...don't go..." Ray mumbled. I giggled and placed my hand on his cheek and rubbed it.
"Ray, wake up." I whispered in his ear. He turned and twisted before finally sitting up.
"Y/n...I have to look for her." Ray said as he quickly stood up but I grabbed his wrist.
"Ray, I'm right here." I said. He calmed down and I stood up and as soon as I stood up, he wrapped his arms around me.
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Later on, I was playing with the children and I played as the 'princess' who was apparently locked up in a castle.
"Don't worry! The great Thoma is here to save the day!" Thoma announced as he grinned at Lannion.
"No! I shall fight you for Princess's
Y/N's love. You will never have her!" Lannion and Thoma started chasing each other.
"Be careful you two! Don't hit each other with those sticks or else none of you will have my love! Understood?" I warned them.
"We understand Princess Y/n!" they both yelled as they continued to battle, using sticks as their swords.
Sherry was sitting on my lap, telling me stories and how she wants to beat Phil since he was so smart. Phil was a bit further away, playing with a flower.
"Y/n!" I heard Phil call me and he started to run towards me while slightly tripping over.
"Phil, be careful! You might trip." I told him with concerned eyes.
"Y/n! Look a flower." Phil showed me a beautiful flower. I read in one of the books that this is...
"Ara ara, this is such a lovely flower. I believe this is called the 'Stargazer flower'." I said in surprise. He pulled my hair back and placed it behind my ear.
"Wow! You look so pretty, Y/n!" Sherry complimented me. I blushed and patted her head.
"Thank you, Sherry, thank you for the flower, Phil!" I thanked Phil who smiled at me and sat down beside me.
"While we were fighting for Y/N's love, Phil came out of nowhere and stole her heart..." Lannion said disappointed.
"Phil that's cheating! You can't just dive in and steal the show!" Thoma started flailing his stick around.
I giggled and looked at Ray and Norman who were washing the clothes. I wonder what they're talking about...
I decided to approach them and so I did. I put down Sherry and told them that I'll be back.
"Hey guys, have you seen Emma?" I asked, wondering where she went since I haven't seen her anywhere.
"I think she's with Gilda. Why?" Norman asked as he nudged Ray who was a bit red.
"Well, she left me to take care of all the children and I started to worry if she wandered off somewhere and got lost and maybe she tripped and then she hurt herself, which is bad..." I paused.
"Y/n calm down, I'm sure she's just having fun with Gilda. It's been a long time since they talked. Oh, and by the way, Ray has something to tell you." Norman nudged Ray once again.
"Hmm? What is it, Ray? Are you having problems? Are you tired? Is it about that dream you had this morning?" I asked as I started to worry.
"N-n-no! It's not that. It's just that, you look..." Ray stopped and covered his face making me tilt my head.
"Come on Ray! Don't be a chicken! Just say it already or I'll tell Y/n myself!" Norman threatened the blushing boy.
"F-fine! I'll do it now shut up. Y/n, y-you look..p...."Ray mumbled something but I barely understood what he said.
"Hmm? What was that?" I asked and he started flailing his hands around and he started to panic until he calmed down.
"You look really pretty with that flower! I-I mean you're always pretty but you're especially pretty now, please don't get the wrong idea I-" Norman started laughing.
"You're hopeless, Ray." Norman clutched his stomach while Ray gritted his teeth in embarrassment.
"Thank you, Ray" I thanked Ray who got flustered and smacked Norman in the head.
While I was going to the restroom, I heard Ray and Norman talking in a room.
"So you're the traitor, Ray"
Wh-what?!
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(A/N: Eyoo, that will be 4345 words for you! Peace out!)