Whilst our eyes were focused on the man he took the time to introduce himself as the owner of the house and the masked lady.
"How can you own a person?" I said without really thinking.
The man laughed a raspy laugh, then interrupted his own laughter with a comment.
"You really think she's a person don't you?" He said in a snarky, condescending tone.
"You don't mean..." I said, pausing, myself slowly realizing the truth.
The lady then took off her mask and shows us her face. half of it made of cogs and bolts, the other pale and peeling with a sunken eye like a corpse.
Normally I would gasp at a situation like this but it did make sense with the way the world is at the moment.
The lady put her mask back on and faced the man. The man then raised his hand quickly, dismissing her from the room.
Pocket looked like he was putting on a brave face but I could tell he was scared.
The man looked at me with his narrow eyes the man said in a calm but stern way.
"Young lady, what is your name?"
I told him my name was Copper Lightwood.
The man sighed and told to us we all had to leave this village as soon as we could. Of course Pocket and I both asked as to why that was. The man was silent and put his finger to his lips then pointed to the walls.
We both looked at the walls, confused, then we noticed something, each wall had a small hardly noticeable hole in them, all the same size.
I looked closer at them and noticed a metallic eye looking back at us.
I felt something watching us the whole time we have been here, but I didn't think it would be in the literal sense.
"What are they?" I asked hesitantly.
The man looks at me and I finally realized why he was wearing a bandana across his face, he was covering his lips so the eyes couldn't read them. He said they were called hunters eyes. They are the eyes of the infected that still had cores, the hunters had just dismantled them keeping them alive and in pain.
He said they are used in all homes in this village as a method of finding out who is infected, or doing something they shouldn't be.
"That's just cruel." I said in an empathetic tone.
The man simply replied
"They are metal they don't need them other then to kill, might as well make use of them I say" he snarled which made me shiver with disgust.
"So how do you keep your property alive than?" I questioned in an irritated tone.
He just just gestures around himself at the many doors of the house.
"It's like a maze, so easy to get lost, and she keeps herself coverd head to toe in clothing to not show the metal. Quite like yourself miss Copper." He then crossed his arms in his chair looking smug.
"I knew the bandages had been moved slightly damn it. What, you gonna turn me in?" I said bluntly.
The other children in the room looked like they were going to cry looking scared between the two of us. Pocket looked ready to fight, as weak as he is I have to admit he's brave.
"No. I can tell your only a half infected not a mix of animal or tree but something else I suppose. I wonder what your a mix of. But no, I won't turn you in as half infected can't pass on the virus and are hunted for sport not survival." He said so nonchalantly.
Slight relief fell on all of our faces. Pocket backed off a bit, now letting me stand on my own.
"You can stay here for 2 nights at most, but you need to leave soon. The hunters will do an inspection soon and I can't hide 5 children here, not to mention I don't have the food for you brats." He scoffed.
We nodded as he then waved us away. The lady then appeared and led us back to our rooms.