“Are you sure?” Winter held a measuring cup half full of premie powder. “This seems like a lot.”

“Positive.” Talia lifted a pitcher from the blender, then dumped the soupy vegetable matter into a green bucket. “We’re feeding over a hundred premies, remember?”

“Yeh, but this has to be more than fifty percent.” Winter had never fed her brother such a high concentration of premie powder.

“Dude.” Talia touched Winter’s chin, lifting it. “Some questions are fine, but you have to trust me. I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you.”

She wasn’t lying. As a rank five watcher, Talia had considerably more training than Winter. Furthermore, she’d lived at the Chamberlain residence for years. Granted, most of those years had been as a premie, but in her four years as a human, she’d kept the place running without incident, or so she’d said. She’d helped transform it from a suburban microenvironment of ten foster families into a ‘youth camp’, one which currently housed one hundred and twenty-eight ‘troubled youths’. Last but not least, she was fifteen with long dark hair and a tall hourglass figure — Winter’s superior in just about every way imaginable. In truth, Winter had no right to doubt her.

So, she did the only thing she could do. She poured the baby blue powder into the bucket and stirred until it had the consistency of applesauce and the smell of cream spinach. Aside from the few days when Eli had been fully regressed, Winter had never fed him a pure liquid diet, but Talia swore by it, so it must be ok.

“Looks good.” Talia mixed a second bucket (this one red) of concentrated premie solution, literally nothing but premie powder and water. At least Eli wouldn’t have to drink that stuff. It would probably give him diarrhea.

“Alright.” Talia carried the red bucket to the sliding door. “Follow me and watch carefully. Tomorrow, i’ll probably have you do this alone, so pay attention.”

“Ok.” Winter held the green bucket to her side. Less than half full, it wasn’t heavy, but she didn’t want to spill any.

Winter squinted as she walked into the back yard. The descending sun reflected against premie rooftops like a miniature solar array. There were twenty of them — premie cabins with metallic roofs each housing anywhere from five to seven premies. They were arranged in two concentric circles of eight and twelve cabins respectively. Eli had been assigned to cabin nine, unfortunately located on the far side of the yard.

She didn’t have to look far to find him though. He was still working in the southeastern quadrant on marble duty — the lamest excuse for work Winter had ever seen. Talia had dumped a bunch of colored marbles in a saucer-shaped sled, and the premies had to extricate their assigned color from the sled. These weren’t normal marbles either; they were bigger. So, it meant pushing boulders up an incline until they fell onto one of the surrounding plates.

After breakfast, ten premies had been assigned marble duty, Eli included. Only Eli and another boy remained, both looking utterly exhausted. From what she could tell, Eli still had three emerald marbles remaining.

“Suppertime!” Talia set her bucket on the low, artificial grass, then reached for Winter’s bucket.

After Winter handed it over, Talia proceeded to pour the ‘applesauce’ into a metallic trough, essentially a narrow and shallow baking pan set into the ground. Winter wanted to object, but the pan looked clean, as if it had been washed recently. They both sat, cross legged, and waited.

Premies, those who’d completed their tasks for the day, poured out of the cabins with cups in hand. Other premies, those still working in one of the four quads, looked up expectantly but didn’t move toward the center. Eli did make a move, but the other boy in the sled pointed at the marbles, causing her brother to stop and return to his work.

He had to be starving! He hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

Premies of both genders, all between the ages of thirteen and nineteen crowded around the trough, filling their cups and drinking the mixture as if it were ambrosia. Some of them stuck their mouths into the slurry, inhaling the stuff like pigs. Talia didn’t seem to mind, her eyes darting among the laggards approaching from the back.

“Keep an eye out for the heavier ones.” Talia reached for a boy who, to Winter’s untrained eye, didn’t look fat. “They go into the concentrate. Premie powder will be absorbed through the skin, but they won’t gain weight, even if they drink it. Not enough calories.”

The boy didn’t struggle in Talia’s grip, but cast his head downward as if he’d been expecting such treatment. Unceremoniously, Talia released him in the red bucket, clothes and all, before plucking a heavyset girl from the crowd and doing the same with her. She too put up no struggle.

Concerned, Winter peered into the bucket. The water level came up to the boy’s shoulders and the girl’s chest. On closer inspection, he did look a little big, but still nothing Winter would’ve considered unhealthy. They both stood motionless until the girl splashed the boy. He returned fire until they were both laughing. At least they seemed to be having fun…

“And the thinner ones who don’t think I’m watching.” She picked up a slender girl, one who’d started heading back to the cabins. “Isn’t that right Gwen?”

Talia lifted the premie’s shirt and gave her stomach a thumb massage. “I can tell by her weight and the feel of her stomach that she didn’t eat enough. Also, this one likes to cut, so check her arms and legs.”

Talia removed the girl’s pants and inspected her thighs. “No new marks. Awesome! One more big cup, then you can head back. And no purging this time, got it?”

“Yes, Miss Talia.” Gwen’s apologetic face seemed darker in some areas, as if it had been bruised.

“Good girl.” Talia set her down near the trough. Gwen did as asked, submerging her cup, filling it and drinking while Talia continued to pluck various premies from the gathering.

“How will I remember all of this?” Winter asked.

“It’s easy.” Talia said, placing another girl in the bucket. “Fat ones go in the red bucket. Thin ones eat more from the green bucket. If they look hurt or sad, check for injuries.”

“What if they don’t listen to me like they do with you?” Winter asked, still not sure how she’d determine ‘sad looking’.

Talia laughed. “Why wouldn’t they listen?”

“I don’t know,” Winter said. “Should I bind them if they don’t?”

Nearly all of the premies paused their eating and looked up at Winter.

“Back to eating,” Talia said, then continued speaking after the premies looked down. “Binding is a reward here. We don’t just hand them out, especially not for bad behavior. If they’re good and complete their work, they can request a binding on Saturday, or something else within reason. My premies never become addicts, they do as they’re told, and they won’t give you any problems. Right guys?”

“Yes, Miss Talia.” The premies spoke in unison.

“See?” Talia said. “They know I’ll be moving to the city in a few weeks, so they definitely don’t want to miss their last Talia rewards. I used to be a premie so I know what premies want.”

“You don’t know my brother,” Winter said.

“Eli?” Talia filled her hand in the red bucket and poured the water over the heads of the five premies inside. “He enjoyed the binding I gave him this morning. After we get his powder concentration up, he’ll fall right in line with the rest. We don’t get many human born, but premies are premies. They just need proper guidance.”

“I don’t know,” Winter said. “He can be pretty stubborn.”

“You’re here because you let him persuade you,” Talia said. “You’re the watcher. You guide premies, not the other way around.

“But — ”

“They depend on us for their protection and wellbeing,” Talia said. “If you cave into their ‘demands’, you’re hurting them in the long run. You don’t want to hurt your brother, do you?”

“No,” Winter said. Talia made a lot of sense, speaking in a very adult manner. It was as if she’d memorized the passages from the premie behavioral therapy chapter, passages Winter had always thought were a little weird. But she did have a point. If she’d listened to her training and not Eli, she could’ve avoided this whole mess for the both of them.

“Quads!” Talia said. The premies gulped down what remained in their cups and headed back to the cabins while those still working in the quadrants migrated inward.

“Quads always eat last,” Talia said. “Pay attention to their faces. If they’re lazy, they don’t get a reward.”

“Fine by me!” Eli appeared around the red bucket, back bent as he made his way toward the food. A few premies stopped to stare at him.

“Newbies are an exception.” Talia swiped Eli from the ground and lifted him to her face. “Sometimes they require extra attention.”

“I’m only here a week,” Eli said, unflinching. “I think I’ll live.”

“I can tell you're tired and sore,” Talia said. “Would you like me to get rid of the pain? Make you feel good again?”

“Do whatever you want,” Eli said. “It’s not like I can stop you.”

C’mon, Eli. Just listen to her.

“You’re here for kidnapping.” Talia appeared to be applying pressure with her fingers. “Why are you mad at me? Did I force you to kidnap her?”

“No, but…” Eli twisted about then froze, lower jaw going slack.

Talia whispered near his head and waited. Eli’s eyelids drooped, his mouth hung open, and he convulsed once. Twice. Then his head flew back against her finger as a cry escaped his lips.

“Eli!” Winter’s hand shot out.

“Dude!” Talia blocked using her free hand. “Winter, chill! It’s pleasure, not pain.”

“But — ”

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Talia said, then facing Eli, “It’s a small taste of what he’ll get if he works hard this week.”

Eli started crying, and again Winter reached for him.

Talia caught her wrist this time. “Winter, if you don’t trust me, you aren’t going to earn your next rank.”

Winter didn’t care about the stupid rank if her brother was in pain, but she withdrew her hand and watched.

“Talk to me Eli,” Talia said. “Why are you crying?”

“I — I couldn’t finish the marbles,” he said. “I’m s — sorry. They’re too heavy and I got tired. I know you wanted me to finish.”

“Yes, of — ” She peered down at the gawking premies. Within seconds, they went back to minding their own business.

“Yes, of course you got tired.” Talia pet his hair with a free finger. “Poor thing. You’re sweating like crazy.”

“I’ll finish it tonight,” Eli said. “I promise. Just give me a little more time.”

Talia laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not a slaver. Just eat and rest. You’ll sleep like a baby and wake up refreshed and ready to go back to work. Right?”

“I — I guess so,” he said.

“Say, yes Miss Talia.” She wiped his cheeks.

“Yes, Miss Talia.”

“Is everyone making you feel welcome here?” Talia asked, peering around at the audience of premies who were certainly listening even though they pretended to eat.

“Yes, Miss Talia.” Eli had stopped crying and looked at Talia reverently.

“Is there anything you want to tell your sister?” Talia said.

“Yes, Miss Talia.”

“Go ahead then.” She set him down near Winter’s right knee.

“I’m sorry.” He looked up, his eyes still wet. “I should’ve listened when you said no. I should’ve — “

She picked him up and held him against her cheek. His clothes were soaked! He’d been working all day in the hot sun, and he hadn’t even fully recovered from the construction project a couple days ago. How would he ever survive the remaining six days?

“It’s ok.” She held him in front of her face. “Just eat and get some sleep like Talia said. Ok?”

He nodded.

Oh heavens what she would give to be back home, sleeping with Eli safe and sound next to her. She no longer blamed him for wanting to visit Premoria. She just wanted it to end, to cuddle with him all night, to read stories, to watch movies — to just be together. That’s all she’d ever wanted.

She loved her brother so much.

***

They shared a diagnosis — pneumonia — and the same room at the hospital. It was Mom’s hospital, Sacred Heart, so perhaps room assignment had been a perk. Whatever the case, Winter need only turn her head to see her brother lying a few feet away.

“C’mon sweetie,” Mom said. “We need to let them rest.”

“Ok.” Ally squeezed Winter’s hand. “Tell Eli I got his homework for last couple days. I’m sure he’ll love to hear that.”

“I will,” Winter said, her voice phlegmy. She didn’t want her Mom and sister to leave, but at least Eli would be here with her. She only wished he’d been awake to see them.

“You get some sleep too, punkin.” Mom kissed Winter on the forehead. “I’ll check in on you tomorrow. K?”

“K.”

“Love you, sweetheart.”

“Love you too, mommy.”

After the door closed, it was just her and Eli. It was her fault he got sick. She’d caught the bug from Emily at school. The next morning, she’d sneezed in Eli’s face. Not once but twice! She’d wanted him to get sick. When he did, she’d felt incredibly guilty, but at least — at least he was here with her now.

She didn’t want to be alone in the scary hospital. Her big brother would protect her. He always did. He wasn’t even upset about getting sick. Probably because he didn’t mind missing school.

The sixth grade must be really hard.

***

She awoke in confusion to the sound of coughing, moments later realizing the sound came from her own mouth. It didn’t sound like a cough she’d make. It was deep and throaty as if she had sticky frogs in her chest. Her ribs were sore and her face hot, and she wished Mommy were here.

She closed her eyes, but her breath made squeaks and she couldn’t breathe through her nose. She doubted she’d ever get back to sleep.

That’s when it happened. She heard Eli getting out of his bed. A chair rolling towards her.

His hand closed around hers, lending warmth to her in a big way. She dare not open her eyes, fearing she’d scare him off. He didn’t hug her anymore. Well, he still did, just not as much. Mom said it’s because he was a boy and he’s growing up. She didn’t understand, but it had something to do with boys being different than girls. It was stupid so she just hugged him more, though it wasn’t quite the same if he resisted, which he did sometimes.

Maybe if she pretended to be asleep, he’d give her a kiss.

She waited, but when it didn’t come, she decided to open her eyes. Luckily she didn’t, because at that moment, he started to sing. It was little more than a whisper, but it was her song, a song he hadn’t sung since she’d been a little girl.

She didn’t know the name of the song. He’d written it himself. But when he sang, it was as if he’d written it for her — just for her — not even Ally or Mom had heard him sing it.

Her breathing eased and her heart thumped as the soft words reached her ears. She longed to squeeze his hand, but dared not risk stopping her song. She needed this. Something deep inside her needed this.

Needed him.

Once, when she was little, she’d asked her mom if she could marry her brother. Mom had said no, but that her brother would always be there for her. She’d wanted to press further, to ask why Mom’s brother wasn't around much, but she didn’t. Now, at the age of nine, she understood marriage to be an impossibility, but it didn’t change the way she felt. She dreaded getting older. She dreaded the day when her brother would leave her.

It was already happening, little by little.

But for tonight at least, he held her hand and sang her song. He was her protector, and she’d never felt so safe. Before the song ended, her mind, wrapped in the comfort of her brother’s love, drifted off to sleep.

***

Winter’s eyes remained open as she lay in the Chamberlain’s guest bedroom, recalling the memory. Eli had stayed with her even after she got better. He’d faked sickness until she was well enough to leave the next day. He’d protected her then, and too many other times to count. He’d loved her, and he still did, even though he was a teenager now and didn’t always show it. Boys were silly that way.

Was he asleep or were his aches keeping him awake? She contemplated sneaking outside and tapping on his window, making sure he was ok, but Talia’s foster parents were still awake watching TV in the livingroom.

Oh, she’d give anything to have Eli on her pillow right now!

Sleeping with a premie was dangerous ONLY if you fell asleep. She’d simply stay awake all night and watch him sleep, just like he’d done with her back at the hospital. And other times, when he’d read books to help her sleep.

Since he’d become a premie, things had turned backwards. It was her turn to be the protector, but she didn’t mind. Actually, she looked forward to it. Talia’s methods seemed a little harsh, but they also seemed to work. Winter ought to listen. Talia only wanted to help.

Plus Talia could help Winter reach rank four. And at rank four, they could all move to Premoria, her entire family. Eli would reach his goal and she wouldn’t have to leave him. Even without marriage, she’d literally be able to live with him forever.

The thought caused such fluttering in her heart. She knew it would happen! She’d become the best watcher she could and her brother would stay with her forever.

She closed her eyes.

***

“Breakfast!”

Eli awoke to the sound of Talia’s voice booming through his cabin. Though the morning sun shed light through the windows, it couldn’t be later than six, much earlier than he’d prefer to awaken. Still, he didn’t want to miss breakfast. If things went like they did yesterday, he wouldn’t get another chance to eat until dinner.

For the most part, the other kids ignored him. The five other boys sharing his cabin donned their faded blue coveralls without even a look in his direction. He’d hardly spoken with them and only knew the name of one, Jaxon, the thirteen-year-old who’d shown him around after his arrival the other night.

They seemed friendly enough, but Eli wasn’t much of a talker. Even if he was, they’d hardly had a chance to talk. Most worked all day and passed out from exhaustion at night. No one complained, and everyone looked forward to Saturday. Talia probably handed out special bindings like the one he’d received last night. He couldn’t deny it had felt good, amazing even, but certainly not something for which he wanted to trade his life, essentially all his free time.

Still, he’d expected hazing or something worse. Didn’t new prisoners always get raped the first day or at least roughed up? Where were the gangs, the shady drug deals, the trading of cigarettes for shivs? Admittedly he’d assumed ‘camp’ was just a politically correct name for juvey, but it really did seem like a camp. Oddly disappointing. He’d kidnapped someone after all!

He followed Jaxon out of the cabin, wincing from both the sun in his eyes and the agony in his legs. His bladder chimed in too, threatening to release last night’s liquid dinner directly into his underwear. How much had he drank? Talia had told him to eat after she’d bound him, so he’d likely filled his stomach to bursting. Binding memory, as he called it, wasn’t always the clearest of memories — another drawback to the experience.

He veered toward the nearest restroom cabin, half running half hobbling. As he reached for the handle, the door burst open and a red-haired girl in red coveralls came out. She turned to him and paused, half smiling.

“Sorry, Eli.” She waved, then ran off toward the center.

Everyone seemed to know his name, perhaps from YouTube, perhaps from the spectacle he’d made of himself last night. He wouldn’t bother trying to learn their names. He’d only be here for a week after all.

The restroom wasn’t empty. One of the stalls was closed and he could see black shoes and red coveralls beneath the door. Why’d the bathrooms have to be unisex? As if using a public bathroom wasn’t awkward enough. Furthermore there were no urinals, only stalls. At least it was clean. The premies assigned cleaning duty did their jobs quite well.

He selected the stall furthest from the one occupied, sat down, and waited for his bladder to do it’s thing. First he had to stop thinking about the girl two stalls down.

Concrete sidewalks.

Fire hydrants.

Old man sitting on bench reading paper.

Finally. He let loose a torrent and stifled a sigh of pleasure. Few things felt better than peeing after being forced to hold it in a long time. An odd thought perhaps, but he couldn’t deny the truth of it.

As he finished, his stomach growled, reminding him that breakfast wouldn’t wait forever. He washed his hands in the dixie cup and dried them on the communal washcloth pinned to the wall. Unsanitary perhaps, but from what he’d learned, premies rarely got sick — another testament to their evolutionary ‘superiority’. He figured bacteria and viruses would eventually evolve to —

A choking sound came from the closed stall.

What the hell? Did someone need help?

Fuck it, he was hungry.

He walked toward the door but heard it again. Not quite sob, not quite a cough. He wasn’t sure what it was. The sound of constipation? Probably.

Still, he looked back one last time. In addition to the feet, a couple dark splotches marred the otherwise clean, white floor. Blood?

Shit. He returned to the stall and knocked. The door tilted inward slightly. “Hey, uh...you ok in there?”

Nothing. Not even the choking sound.

Slowly, he inched the door open. “Are you — oh shit!”

The hysterical girl held her top up, exposing her left breast. In her other hand, this one dripping blood, she gripped a piece of glass and sliced along her ribcage, tracing a third line of red parallel to the two already present. Only when she finished did she look up, startled by his presence.

Eli grabbed her wrist and wrenched the glass from her hand, cutting his own in the process. He pulled a huge wad of toilet paper from the dispenser and pressed it against the girl’s bloody side. Weakly, she reached for the glass but he dropped it, then kicked it backwards under the door.

“What the hell are you doing?” He’d heard of people cutting themselves before but he’d never understood it, nor had he bothered to try to understand. Crazy people did crazy shit.

She looked up at him with surprisingly dry eyes. “Don’t tell Talia.”

“What?” He tried to focus on her face, and not her breast which was still exposed. She did have a nice face, clear and tan, but thin and bruised too, as if she’d skipped a few meals and been in a few fights.

“I’ll stop.” She grabbed his forearm. “Just don’t tell Talia.”

He cautiously removed the makeshift bandage. More blood oozed out.

“Fuck.” He returned to holding the tissues in place, his thumb awkwardly brushing her breast.

Inhale. Exhale.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Gwen,” she said. “You’re Eli, right? I saw you on YouTube before my parents sent here.”

“Yeh.” How could this girl have a conversation as if she hadn’t just tried to kill herself? “Isn’t there a hotline or something. You know...for suicidal thoughts?”

“I’m not suicidal,” she said. “I’m just cutting. Promise me you won’t tell Talia. She’ll — ”

The roof vanished, replaced by the faces of Talia and Winter.

“Oh this is not happening,” Talia said. “This is not happening.”

Eli dropped the dirty tissues and let Gwen’s shirt drop into place, hiding her wound. Hopefully no one had noticed. Maybe it would look like he’d just been groping her. Not much of an improvement over the truth, but an improvement nonetheless.

Winter’s eyes were wide. “Eli — ”

“Why is there blood all over my floor?” Talia said. “Gwen if you’ve been — “

“I did it!” Eli said. “She startled me. I turned and slashed with a piece of glass.”

“Why?” Winter’s brow arched.

“I thought someone was going to haze me, so I’ve been jumpy,” Eli said. “When I realized — ”

“Give me the glass.” Talia lowered her hand. “Now.”

Eli scrambled. He fell to the floor, retrieved the bloody shard, then deposited it on Talia’s fingertip.

“Where’d you get it?” Talia asked, though she didn’t appear to be looking at him.

“I found it in one of the stalls,” Eli said, not entirely a lie.

Talia sighed. “I can’t. I just can’t.”

She reached in and plucked a morose Gwen from the stall. “Winter, put Eli in the time out bucket and make sure everyone’s doing their job. I’ll take care of Gwen.”

“What about Eli’s breakfast?” Winter asked.

“He can drink whatever he wants from the time out bucket,” Talia said. “It’s not breakfast, but he’s lost that privilege this morning.”

“But — ”

Talia simply gave her a look that shut her up, then rose, and took off toward the house, Gwen still in hand.

Winter scowled at him. “I can’t believe you did that!” She grabbed him more quickly than usual, lifting him high in the air to her face. “You’re going to timeout and you deserve it!”

“Winter, listen. I — “

Shut up, Eli!” She bound him she said it, making it impossible for him to talk back.

She stripped him, carried him to the red bucket, then lowered him inside, completely naked. The cool water rose to his chest.

“I hope you absorb all the powder in there,” Winter said. “Maybe then you’ll finally start behaving.”

He tried to speak but it was easier to remain silent. After all, he probably deserved it.

The sun, the sky, and Winter’s face disappeared as a frisbee descended upon the top of the bucket. He was left with darkness, wetness, and himself.

And plenty of time to think about the bad things he’d done.