The Crimson Tales:

the Crimson Red Orphans (continued)

(updated 6.1.08)

by:

BJ & JB

Part 2

C.R.O

Chapter .08

Unforgiving

Dear orphans,

Last night you four made a complete fool of me in front of all my friends. You did everything, which I nicely asked you to do, terribly (except for the rainbow rolls, those were delightful.) On the card I left you yesterday morning, it said that if you do not do what I tell you to do, unpleasant things will happen to you. So for not following my rules, it leaves no choice but to punish you. You are to not leave your room, EVER. When I come into your room to drop off your meals, you shall not make direct eye contact with me. If I catch you outside of your bedroom, EVER, I shall strike you. If you do not finish up the meals I leave for you, than I shall not give you anything more to eat for the entire week. Do NOT test me. I do these things for a reason.

Love and worship,

Octavius "Octave" Hazardous IV

Late at night, when all four children were asleep, Octavius entered his luscious bedroom. “Did they fall for the trap?” Octavius asked greedily.
“Yes, they have. Although I think Indigo still has some doubts,” the Mistress said as she lay in Otavious’s bed with no chains in sight. “We will have to work harder to convince Indigo though. Her mind is mysterious even to me. She may prove herself useful in the end, but for now I believe she is plotting something even I cannot control. Margo may also be suspicious, she does have those 'feelings'.”

A wicked smile spread across her face, “But don't worry dear, we will have them!”

"It won't open," Margo sighed as Indigo attempted to open the bedroom door. "It's locked."

Indigo meticulously tore up the letter from Octave and threw the tiny bits on the floor. Indigo muttered to herself.

"Indigo, why don't you make an invention to get us out of here!?" Winnie squeaked, her hands shoved into her sweater pocket to make sure Olive didn't disappear.

"I can't just make an invention whenever I want to!" Indigo snapped. "Dimwits," Indigo muttered under her breath.

"We're doomed!" Vikki dropped to the floor and burst out in tears.

"Yep, we're going to die," Indigo sighed as she walked over to her bed and went back to sleep.

"Ickem!" Winnie snapped at Indigo.

"I can't believe her," Margo put a hand on her hip. "She takes everything... like... like--"

"A stuck-up snob?" Winnie attempted to finish Margo's sentence.

"Yeah, whatever," Margo said.

"WE'RE DOOMED! WE'RE DOOMED! WE'RE DOOMED!" Vikki sobbed.

"Ugh!" Winnie plopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. "We are doomed!"

"Ickem!" Margo cheered. Winnie looked at Margo. "What? It doesn't sound good coming from my mouth?"

"No," Winnie said.

"Well c'mon!" Margo sat down on Winnie's bed. "Why don't we think happy thoughts! Why don't we make a club!"

"A club?" Winnie asked. "What for? Who'd be in it?"

"Well," Margo thought for a moment. "You, me, Vikki, Indigo and the Mistress! Wait, no, we better leave the Mistress out. My feelings say that'd it'd be a bad idea to have the Mistress in our club."

"...and maybe not Indigo either..."Winnipole said quietly.

"I like The Mistress!" Vikki exclaimed.

"What is up with all these feelings you're having?" Winnie asked. "It's starting to creep me out."

"Well," Margo started to explain. Indigo opened an eye pretending not to be at all interested, and Vikki stopped sobbing. "my feelings always tell me the truth. They just come to me. Those feelings are very useful, like for finding things, for figuring out puzzles, doing quizzes, or if something bad is going to happen."

"What are your feelings like?" Winnie asked in awe.

"It's hard to explain," Margo shrugged. "when I get a feeling, my head starts to buzz, sometimes my stomach starts to do flips, and so on."

The door creaked open. Indigo quickly shut her eyes out the covers over her head and Vikki hid behind Winnie's bed. Octave walked in holding a large tray. He didn't say anything or even look at the girls. And when he put the tray down on the coffee table he just turned around and left.

"Is he gone?" Vikki's asked in a shaky voice. Vikki walked over to the coffee table where Octave had left the tray of food.

"These are our meals," Margo announced. "He mentions it in the letter."

"Ugh," Vikki croaked. "It's been five days since we came to this mad house! I want to see The Mistress.

"Yeah, why don't we?" Winnipole asked.

"Uh, I don't know about that. My feelings tell me this." Margo said.

"The Mistress isn't as she seems," Indigo said darkly.

"What?!" Vikki and Winnipole said doubtingly.

"You don't know what your'e talking about!" Winnipole exclaimed. Olive meowed in agreement. Indigo just muttered to herself.

"Come on guys, forget the Mistress!" Margo said.

Vikki protested, "But we told her--"

"We'll catch up with the Mistress later," Margo snapped. "Why don't we do something fun."

"Like what," Vikki, Winnie, and Indigo asked.

"Like a... a club!" Margo chimed.

"That's stupid," Indigo folded her arms across her chest.

"Ah c'mon guys!" Margo said as she looked at Winnie for back up. "It would be a club for just the four of us."

"Well I guess it'll pass time," Winnie shrugged.

"Oh! I read something like that," Vikki exclaimed, excited that she could finally show off her knowledge (reading lots of books really pays off). "In the book A Holocaust Survivor Remembers, it says that the girl, Annie, and her friends made a small club to stay sane during the Holocaust! Who knew a club could keep their mind off the horrible things that was going on around them!"

"That was the smartest thing you ever said," Indigo commented. Vikki beamed.

"So it's final!" Margo cheered. "What should we name our club?"

"AAO!" Winnipole chimed.

"What does that mean?" Vikki asked in wonderment.

"AAO stands for All Against Octavius!" Winni cheerfully explained to her newly formed club members.

"That's brillant!" Margo said. "But I think we can come up with something better..."

"Hey! What about C.R.O!" Winnie said. "That's abbreviated for the Crimson Red Orphans. It was etched into the post of Indigo's bed."

Dear readers, just to let you know, apparantly, Indigo feel asleep as all this was happening. Who would have thought.

"Margo, Vikki, and Winnie," Margo began to say.

"Ehem!" Winnie cleared her throat.

"Oh! Margo, Vikki, Winnie, and Indigo," Margo continued. "the Crimson Red Orphans. C.R.O! I like it!"

"I'll be president, Winnipole will be the person that deals with all the words, slogans, etc., Vikki will be the secretary, and Indigo will be the...." Margo said outloud. "What should Indigo be?"

"Wait a minute!" Winnipole held up a hand. "who agreed on you being the president!? And I don't want to be in charge of words, slogans, and etc.!"

"Yeah, I want to be president," Vikki added.

"What!?" Margo put a hand on her hip.

"Vikki!" Margo snapped. "I miss the old times! Remember!? Thirty minutes ago when you didn't talk and when you always kept to yourself!"

Vikki covered her mouth with the palm of her hand.

"No democracy!" Indigo said again. "It'll drive us insane!"

"Fine!" Margo huffed. "No democracy. (Margo folded her arms across her chest.) You always have everything go your way! The club was supposed to be my idea! Not yours!"

"That's politics," Vikki added quickly and covered her mouth again. Margo rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," Margo said.

Chapter .09

the Ritual

For the rest of the day The Crimson Red Orphans, ate their breakfast, snack, and lunch and talked about their new club. They planned that every week they'll have a ceremony. Their first ceremony will be tonight. So they decorated the room with Indigo's origami and Margo's art work. Winnie had made a banner that said Cramoisi ou perir! on it. That's french for crimson or perish! And another banner said, vermelho vida (translation: crimson is life.) Vikki had planned the ceremony and painted everyones faces with the paint from Margo's cubby. Vikki had read that some tribes decorate their faces with paint at rituals like these.

When the clock stroke midnight and Indigo had made sure that everyone else in the house was fast asleep she whispered, "It's time."

Vikki, Margo, Winnie (and Olive), and Indigo gathered around the coffee table and got down on their knees. Well, Winnie just stayed standing.

"We must bow our heads and pray," Vikki ordered. Everyone did as they were told. Indigo, who wasn't big on religion raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her palms.

"Who would like to start the prayer?' Vikki asked. It was weird taking orders from a girl who was once afriad of her own shadow.

"I don't know how to pray," Winnie said.

"Me either," Margo shrugged.

"Indigo?" Vikki asked.

"Uh," Indigo stuttered. "Okay."

"Um, dear dark gods of down below. We thank--"

"Never mind!" Vikki interrupted Indigo's dark prayer. "I'll do the praying."

"Oh my dear beloved Lord Bo!" Vikki began. Olive shifted in Winnie's sweater pocket.

"Wait!" Margo said. "Who the heck is Lord Bo!?"

"Oh I made him up," Vikki shrugged, and took out her Rituals For Dimwits book. "It says it right here. At most rituals, tribes always pray to their Gods. Since we don't have one, I just made it up."

"So you mean Lord Bo?" Margo questioned. "Like Mr. Bo from the orphanage?"

"Yes," Vikki said hesitantly. "Now can we stop the interruptions!?"

"Oh my dear beloved (Indigo coughed) Lord Bo!" Vikki continued. "We thank you for blessing us with a lovely meal (Indigo couphed.) and lovely new home (Indigo and Winnie coughed.) and a lovely new foster father (Margo, Winnie, and Indigo coughed some more.)"

"C'mon guys! Let me do this please!"

"I say we skip the praying," Indigo suggested. "This praying to 'Lord Bo' bites."

"I hate to say this," Margo said. "But I, agree with Indigo."

"Ew!" Winnie gagged. "Indigo and Margo agreeing!? This cannot be happening."

"Okay then," Vikki sighed. "Lets just skip to the ceremony."

"Future Crimson Red Orphans rise!" Vikki demanded like a drill sargeant. the girls did as they were told. "From a straight line! Shoulder to Shoulder! You to Olive! Well, in your case, Olive, you can just sit on Winnie's shoulder."

The four girls and Olive formed a straight line and stared a the North wall.

"Now please hold up your left hand," Vikki said more gently. "Now repeat after me: I pledge to the C.R.O."

"I pledge to the C.R.O."

"That I will be faithful and never lie to it's members."

"That I will be faithful and never lie to it's members."

"And to never ever tell another adult about the C.R.O"

"And to never ever tell another adult about the C.R.O"

"Including the Mistress," Indigo added. Margo nodded.

"Including the Mistress."

After a brief moment of silence Vikki said quietly, "Now from single file line."

The sound of the shifting of feet erupted, and then all was silent again.

"Me first!" Margo cheered.

"No way!" Indigo snapped.

"I'll be first," Vikki announced. "Viktoria. I now officially announce me a Crimson Red Orphan. Indigo, knife please."

Indigo handed Vikki a small blade. Vikki took the blade and a made a small cut on her thumb. A drop of blood oozed out.

"What the heck are you doing!?" Winnie gasped.

"It's called a sacrifice!" Vikki snapped.

"You're crazy!" Winnie said. "Vikki has gone mental!"

"Shh!"

Vikki then wrote with her bloody thumb, Viktoria Crimson, on a piece of paper. Vikki then walked across the coffee table to the other side.

"That's so cheesy!" Indigo said. "Viktoria Crimson! We are all changing our last names to Crimson! Pathetic if you ask me."

"Winnie you're next," Vikki ignored the rude comment. Winnie stepped forward and held Olive close to her chest. "Winnipole. I now officially announce you, a Crimson Red Orphan."

Winnie beamed with delight, and climbed up on top of the coffee table and made her way across.

"Ehem!" Vikki cleared her throat. "Winnie come back here!"

"Oh! Heh heh!" Winnie nervous giggled and walked back to Vikki. She then held out her palm as Vikki took the pocket knife and cut Winnie's thumb. Winnie then wrote on the piece of paper Winnipole Crimson.

"Indigo."

Indigo stepped forward.

"Make me bleed," Indigo said darkly. Margo, Winnie, and Vikki tool five steps back. Vikki then announced Indigo and Margo Crimson Red Orphans and the piece of paper then had four bloody names written on it.

"We're forgetting Olive!" Margo gasped.

"No Olive's good," Winnie shook head. Margo snatched the tiny kitty from Winnie's petite hands, and some Olive was announced a Crimson Red Orphan too.

"Now we celebrate!" Vikki exclaimed. "Let's dig into to our feast!"

Chapter .10

the Mistress

(in the process of being written and proofread)

Winnie and Viktoria woke up at 11am the next morning. Margo and Indigo were all still asleep.

"Do you think we should go up to the attic and visit the Mistress?" Vikki whispered to Winnie, not wanting to wake up Margo and Indigo. "We forgot to visit her yesterday."

"Oh dear!" Winnie gasped. "We did forget the Mistress! Well then there's no need to ask! We must visit the Mistress. We promised that we'd visit her yesterday."

"Of coarse," Vikki nodded. It was only within less than a minute that Winnie and Vikki were making their way through the trapped door.

"Oh darlings!" the Mistress greeted as she noticed the two. Her sky blue eyes twinkled and she sat up straighter. Winnie wrapped her tiny arms around the Mistress and Vikki pecked her on the forehead.

"Goodmorning Mistress!" Vikki cheered.

"Yes! Goodmorning," Winnie squeaked.

"Why didn't you guys come to visit me yesterday?" the Mistress questioned. Winnie pulled back from the Mistress and frowned.

"We are so sorry Mistress," Winnie said. "We lost track of time. Because Vikki, Margo, Indigo and I started this--"

Winnie quickly stopped speaking before she said anymore. She remembered that she wasn't to tell anyone about the Crimson Red Orphans, even the Mistress.

"Yes dear?" the Mistress begged Winnie to go on. "Continue what you were saying. What are you guys starting?"

"It's nothing," Vikki shook her head, but the Mistress didn't seem so convinced.

"Please tell me," the Mistress said, her voice started to sound distant from being sincere. "What is it!"

The Mistresses blue eyes looked as if they were about to light on fire. And if the Mistress wasn't chained she could have possibly jumped up and strangled the two at once.

Winnie and Vikki exchanged glances wondering what was going on. The Mistresses angry glare was starting to send chills down their spines. Trying to calm the Mistress, Winnie stepped foward and patted the Mistress sympathetically on the back. But instead of calming down, the Mistress grabbed Winnie's wrist and squeazed.

"Please child," the Mistress gritted her teeth. Winnie avoided looking in the Mistresses eyes. "I asked you nicely, but now you are making me tense. Answer my question!"

"Please Mistress!" Vikki said, trying to pry the Mistresses hand away from Winnie. "There's no need!"

Vikki then took the book she was reading and bashed the Mistress in the head with it.

"Oof!" she yelped and pushed Winnie away. She massaged the back her head for a moment. Vikki and Winnie used this chance to make their way for the trapped door.

"Where are you going loves!?" the Mistresses kind and soft voice called after them, acting as if nothing had just happened. Vikki and Winnie stopped.

"Mistress?" Vikki and Winnie asked, looking back at the lady with confused looks.

"You guys just got here!" said the Mistress. "You guys are going to leave me again?"

"Well you just tried to hurt us!" Winnie explained. "I don't think you should be bothered right now."

"Oh that? I didn't mean to hurt you," the Mistress sounded so innocent. "I love you guys."

Winnie's and Vikki's hearts melted. How could they leave the poor lonely lady behind. She looked miserable being chained up in this dark attic.

"Well I promise we'll come back in a few hours," Winnie assured.

"You guys promised last time," the Mistress began to tear up.

"I cross my heart and hope to die!" Winnie said. The Mistress thought for a moment and then sighed.

"I s'pose."

Chapter .11

the Dream

(in the process of being proofread)

"They've escaped!!!" voices screamed. "Don't let them get to the-- Minerva!!! Hurry Minerva!!! Run faster!!! Don't let them escape!!!"

Everything was a blur to Margo, her vision was fogged. She didn't no where she was or how she got here. Beads of sweat were running down her face, but she didn't know why. Margo was out of breath and panting as if she ad been running, but she never recalled doing any cardio activities. The room she was in was dark.

"Hurry Margo," a voice whispered, but she couldn't make out who it was. "They're coming for us!"

"THERE THEY ARE!" a mans voice screamed.

"MARGO! MARGO!!!" a boys voice screamed.

"Margo!?" Indigo poked Margo's sweaty forehead. Margo openned her eyes and saw Winnie, Vikki and Indigo hovered over her staring at her (Winnnie and Vikki with concerned expressions.)

"Margo, you were screaming in your sleep and now your trembling," Winnie told Margo. Margo was trembling unconrtolably and she noticed that her sheets were damp from sweat. Vikki wiped Margos forehead with a towel.

"My... dream," Margo gasped as she rolled onto the floor. When she propped her self up on her hands and knees she vomitted. Indigo, Winnie, and Vikki jumped back as Margo vomitted a second time.

"I'm not cleaning that up," Indigo folded her arms across her chest. "No way."

Margo wiped her mouth with the back of hand.

"The... dream," Margo managed to speak. "It was... all... so real."

Chapter .12

Time

(in the process of being proofread)

Days started to turn into weeks and the weeks began to turn into months. Two long months had passed since the orphans had first arrived at Octave's mansion. Still Octave had kept Indigo, Winnie, Margo, Vikki, and Margo locked up in that one bedroom. Winnie and Vikki continued to visit the Mistress n a daily basis, and the four still had ceremonies ever week for the Crimson Red Orphans. And over the months they had formed a daily schedule.

9-9.30am: Wake up and get dressed

9.30am: Octave drops off meals.

9.45-10.15am: Breakfast

10.15am-12pm: Vikki reads, Winnie studies langauge, Indigo does origami or invents tools to make live in the bedroom easier, Margo draws or reviews her previous dreams.

12pm: Lunch

1-4pm: Study

4-8pm: hang around

8pm: dinner

8.30pm: get ready for bed and bath time

9pm: bed time

9.30pm: Winnie and Vikki sneak up to the Attic

1-2am: Indigo wakes up to think (don't ask me why.)

It's been the same thing each day. Except for every Friday when they held their C.R.O meeting. The girls were dying of boredom and lacked sunlight. They didn't know what was going on in the outside world, they were cut off from civilization it felt. They only saw each others faces, and if not, it was Octave, the Mistress, and occassionally Douglas. But that was it.

And since they've been locked up for so long Vikki was able to catch up on her reading, and has been becoming smarter and smarter each day and Winnie has been learning more languages each day. Indigo has been becoming better at perfecting her inventions and Margo has been having more and more feelings and has become quite he artist. But they haven't just been inventing, reading, drawing, and learning different languages, they practiced algebra, history, english, and science for 3 hours every day. Yes, the orphans were becoming smart, probably smarter than Octave.

It was time for their C.R.O. meeting and Winnie, Indigo, Vikki, Margo, and Olive all sat in a circle in the center of the room.

"What the date Indigo?" Vikki asked. Indigo checked her handmade calendar.

"September 1st."

"It's already September?" Winnie gasped as she looked at calendar they had made. "We've been locked up here in this bedroom for two months? How did we survive?"

"C.R.O" Margo shrugged. "C.R.O kept us sane."

"How much longer do you think we'll last?" Indigo asked as she tied her blue-black hair up in a pony tail, her hair had gotten so long that it reached just below her bum. "Do you think Octave will keep us up here for ever?"

"Seems like it," Margo sighed. Her heart sunk at the sound of being locked up in a bedroom for the rest of her life.

"Impossible," Vikki gasped. "Why can't stay up here forever."

"We can't," Indigo agreed. "Even another month we can't do! We're eleven years old, the age of the beginning of adolescence! We can't be in this one room while our bodies are still changing!"

"Well what do we do?" Margo asked.

"We plan to escape!"

Every looked at Indigo as if she were insane.

"How do we run away!?" Margo asked. "We don't know anything about this city we're in! And were do we escape to!? Have you thought of that!"

"Yeah!" Winnie and Vikki agreed. "We can't live on the streets."

"Anything is better than here!" Indigo snapped.

"Your idea is crazy!" Margo said.

"Sorry Indigo," Winnie shrugged. "Margo's right."

Chapter .13

Indigo's Discovery

(in the process of being written and proofread)

"I can't take this anymore!" Indigo through her arms up into the air, her voice had a trace of frustration. It has been four months since the girls arrived at Octave's mansion.

"Sh!" Winnie hushed. "Margo is trying to go to sleep!"

"It's okay, I'm awake," Margo sat up in her bed. It was late at night, and Octave and Douglas were asleep.

"I'm so bored," Indigo whined. Indigo wasn't acting her usual. "I want to do something! I'm tired of the same thing each day!"

"We all are," Winnie hugged her. Indigo wiggled away.

"Then why don't we do something," Indigo pleaded. "We can be doing something useful right now."

"Like what?" the girls rolled their eyes.

"Like snoop around," Indigo said.

"No way!" Vikki bolted up in her bed. "Last that guy, Douglas with the hooked hands, almost got us killed!"

"But everyone is asleep now!" Indigo pointed out.

"Even if everyones asleep," Margo began. "how do we escape from this bedroom!?"

Margo's floppy bow dangled in her face, and Winnie and Vikki stared at Indigo with wondering eyes. Indigo thought for a moment.

"The floorboards," Indigo said. "The floorboards will work. Winnie?"

"Why didn't I think of that before!?" Winnie scolded herself.

"Hmmm," Margo took this all in, and asked herself if snooping around was a good idea (by now she was able to control her feelings). Her head started to buzz. "OK. My feelings tell me it's alright."

"Okay then," Indigo said. "We better get ready. And quick. Winnie you know how to get around using floorboards right?"

"Tob!" Winnie exclaimed. Tob: Like the back of my hand.

Fifteen minutes later Indigo was dressed in all black and had a flashlight in her hand. Margo had her bushy hair tied back with a deep blue bow. Winnie had Olive safely tucked in her sweater pocket and Vikki had her thin red hair in a low ponytail.

"My feelings tell me would should check Dining Room Dawn first," Margo said. "I feel that there is something in there."

"We already checked there," Vikki whined.

"Just do it!" Margo snapped. Without another word Winnie lifted up a loose floorboard that was in the North corner of the bedroom. A second later she was climbing through the small opening and she was downstairs in the front room. Indigo, Margo, and Vikki climbed down after her. They then made there way to Dining Room Dawn.

"Now what?" Winnie asked.

"Well," Indigo said. "Don't stand there, look around."

Margo didn't stop to look under the dining room table or to look inside the empty vases. Her head kept buzzing and her legs kept moving. Her whole body was aching to go into the kitchen.

"Margo!" Winnie snapped. "You said you wanted Dining Room Dawn! NOT the kitchen!!!"

"Sh!" Margo snapped. Winnie, Vikki, and Indigo followed behind her. Margo kept walking until she nearly bumped into the small door she had seen the first time she looked around Dining Room Dawn.

"Oh no!" Indigo rolled her eyes. "Not the door again!"

Margo crouched down until she was eye level with the door knob.

Chapter .14

Crow

Ding Dong Dong Dong Dong......

"What was that?!" Vikki said very alarmed.

It's the doorbell you dumbass. Indigo said to herself. She's in a pissy mood.

"I think it's the doorbell." Winniepole said.

"Oh, no! I sense trouble, we have to get back to our rooms!" Margo said hurridely as she turned her eye away from the doorknob. The strong urge to open the little door left her. Everybody rushed upstairs to the bedroom.

"My darlings! Come down here and meet Crow!" Octavious sweetly called from the front room. Apparently he wasn't mad at the girls anymore. Up in the bedroom, Vikki, Winnipole, and Margo looked at each other bewilderedly. Margo noticed that Indigo seemed to instantly fall into a deep train of thought once the name "Crow" was bellowed.

"Who's Crow?" Winnipole asked to no one in particular.

Is it Klaus? Margo hoped, but her feelings told her it wasn't.

"GIRLS!!!!!" Octavious shouted. Indigo started to walk down the dusty stairs in a trance-like motion. The other 3 girls followed wondering who Crow was. At the bottom of the stairs were 3 figures: Octavious, Mr. Bo, and another mysterious shadow that looked like a boy.

"I thought there were only 3 of you?!" Octavious muttered as he looked upon the 4 girls. "Well, that doesn't matter. Girls, meet Crow."

As Crow looked over the girls, a flicker of interest flashed across his face as he saw Indigo. Indigo just looked down at the floor. What's going on? the other three orphans thought to theirselfs.

"This guy looks familiar." Vikki said to herself. (She was always good with faces).

"Your bedroom will be right next to these girls' bedroom." Octavious told Crow. "Girls, show him his room."

The girls exchanged glances, then started to go up the staircase. Crow followed.

Upstairs, Winnipole showed Crow around the house, including his bedroom. Everybody then went into Crow's room and sat down.

"Hey, I remember you, you used to be at our old orphanage!" Vikki exclaimed, finally remembering who Crow was.

"Yeah, you're right!" Winnie agreed. Margo just stared, of all the boys, why couldn't it have been Klaus?! Margo thought to herself sadly and a little frustrated.

"Hey Indigo, you haven't said much. Are you okay?" Winnie asked. Everybody stared at Indigo. She just looked at them indifferently, but inside her head she was thinking about Crow.

"Hey Indigo, how's your little project going on?" Crow asked.

"Wow, he speaks," Vikki gasped in awe.

"How do you know Indigo?" Winnie started to question.

"Well, for one thing, the orphanage is pretty small..." Crow said.

"He has a point there." Margo admitted.

"Remember that one blackout at the orphanage?" Crow said. Indigo smirked.

"Let me guess, you did it." Margo said.

"Yeah, with the help of Indigo." Crow admitted with a smirk similar to Indigo's.

"And I thought Indigo was friendless." Winnie remarked.

"Yeah me too," Vikki said.

"Meow!"

"Wha!" Crow jumped back and stood on his bed.

"Don't worry," Winnie giggled. She took Olive out of her sweater pocket. "He's harmless. And look out how tiny he is!"

"I hate tabby cats!" Crow explained. "I heard that they're bad luck!"

"I thought that was black cats?" said Margo.

"No black cats are the lucky ones," Crow stated. Indigo nodded in agreement. Margo, Vikki, and Winnie exchanged glances.

"Well it's late," Margo started towards Crow's bedroom door. Winnie and Vikki agreed and followed Margo out. They stopped at Crow's bedroom doorway.

"Indigo?" Margo asked.

"Im going to stay here for a bit," Indigo said nonchalantly. Winnie and Vikki giggled.

"Shut up!" Indigo said. "For once, I am going to have a conversation with someone I can actually relate to."

When Winnie and Vikki were asleep, Margo stared at the bedroom ceiling from her bed.

Why did Octave bring in another orphan? Margo thought. Her palms itched.

Octave wants something.

What does he want? Margo asked again.

You'll soon find out.

Margo thought of another question to ask herself.

Where's Klaus?

In the house.

Where in the house?

In the house.

Where in the house?

You'll soon find out.

Margo's heart lifted. Then she slowly drifted off to sleep.

(to be continued)