To say the night was quiet would've most definitely been a lie, though with the awkward silence in the "room" that Hannah and I shared it would've been easy to make that mistake.

I had to wonder what sort of error I'd made, seeing as things had been going so smoothly at first.

Now, on the other hand, Hannah didn't respond to me even when I was informing her about the plans for tomorrow. She seemed... lost in thought, barely even nodding or recognizing my existence.

We were both laying on top of the floor. More precisely, it was lightly padded with some airplane pillows. For blankets, we used jackets. It seemed like it'd been a good move of me to take the jacket for more than just the cold outside. From what I knew about James so far, he would've done everything possible to make sure I got as few supplies as possible.

As Hannah and I laid a few feet apart, soaking in the gentle warmth of the gems embedded in the ground, she kept her back turned to me. Even though she was a few feet away, the soft, sweet smell of her hair tickled my nose. The scent made me feel oddly at ease, resulting in my almost forcibly drawing myself back to a more defensive mindset.

However, though things would certainly be a lot easier if we were to be in an isolated world, this was not the case.

Poor attempts to stifle sensual moans and grunts could be heard from the other room, accompanied by cries somewhere between arousal and sorrow. The silhouette of William could be seen to one side through a set of blanket dividers, his head clutched in his hands. So much for everyone being "well rested."

At some point, I'd assumed that the situation was as simple as James getting a kick out of cuckolding William, but things seemed to be getting more and more complicated after seeing William's abuse towards Samantha earlier. All I could do was think that I'd do something if only I could.

Once again, powerlessness was a sharp, painful thorn that I couldn't seem to dislodge from my side.

Hannah's eyes were closed as she tried her best to focus on rest, something that didn't seem especially possible for me to do anytime soon with the noise both inside and outside of my head. After some deliberation, I decided to speak.

"Um... sorry."

Without opening her eyes or turning towards me, Hannah responded after a few seconds of silence.

"Sorry?"

"...Well, I think I somehow offended you earlier. I figure making enemies wouldn't be a smart move... plus, I may have taken an ever so slight liking to you."

Though it wasn't exactly something I had much practice in, I tried my best to lighten the mood. I was surprised by the degree of sincerity in my words. I wasn't sure if it was because some part of her seemed fragile, reminding me of my sister Alice, or some other reason, but my desire to avoid what connected us from being cut off was genuine.

"..."

I swallowed hard, pushing back the mess of sadness, regret, guilt, and rage that arose whenever I thought of... her. It felt like Hannah's silence was some sort of deliberate torture for me, though I knew that was a nonsensical perspective.

"It... it's not like that. Well, it's not not that entirely, but it wasn't really your fault. Just... you're fine, don't worry about it."

"Come on, you can't look so outwardly tortured like this and expect me to be ok not even knowing why. At least tell me so that I can avoid doing it again."

Hannah flipped to face me before brushing her hair out of her face.

"It's not that simple. Just... back off."

I wasn't sure whether I was making progress or the exact opposite. More than anything, I felt even more lost about how to approach Hannah after this.

"We're going to be stuck together for a long time, looks like, and I don't know about you but I'd prefer to have somebody to talk to without having to monitor every word out of my mouth."

"I get it, but nothing I could say would help you out with that. I'd probably only make things worse."

As Hannah became increasingly cryptic with her words, I couldn't help but get a bit annoyed.

"Is this about your past or something? I noticed you deliberately avoided talking about it, but how would I know what to avoid mentioning if you don't give me anything to work with. Everybody has ghosts in their closet, but I-"

Hannah cut me off by covering my mouth tightly with her hand. She put a finger up to her mouth, signaling to m that I'd been getting increasingly loud, but didn't move her hand even after that.

"I recommend shutting up now. Why does this matter so much to you, anyway? We literally met today."

Silence followed.

I couldn't say anything to that, as I really had no reason to have such a stake in her.

I could even dismiss any connection I felt to her as some aspect of my gullibility, my inability to prevent myself from being duped again.

But I still couldn't manage to get myself to leave her alone.

She just... didn't seem fake like everything and everyone else.

Fuck

I could only curse internally before gently removing her hand from my mouth, leaving the lingering warmth of her body to fade.

"In all fairness today has been the longest day of my entire life. I know..." I took a deep breath before continuing, "I feel like you want to get along with me like I do with you, so if you could give me something, anything to work with..."

Her black eyes met mine as the sensation of being analyzed washed over me. However, it felt different than the first time we'd met. Rather than trying to find out who I was, it seemed like she was searching for the why. Why I was like this, what had made me this way.

"What happened to you, Jack Moore?"

A faint smile traced her lips, dissipating the tension once more.

"You first." I breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"...Fine." Hannah paused, and though it was to prepare herself to share it felt more like it was for some sort of dramatic effect, "It's pretty simple, really. Nothing."

My smile immediately dropped.

Is she... playing with me?

"Nothing?"

"Mhm. Nothing I can remember at least."

Hannah gave a smile that somehow managed to make me feel pain inside.

"You mean-"

"That's right. I have amnesia."