I sat in the same spot all night long, until eventually, the sun began to come up. I knew I had to sleep soon, my body wouldn't be able to function properly if I didn't. I stood up, going to the room to get some rest.

I stopped by the toilet first, rinsing off my dirty feet and trying them with the provided towel. I moved toward the brightening bedroom, not bothering to move anything in front of the door, if a beast wanted in the room, he was going to break down the door regardless. I went to the bed, not covering my body up either. I knew that if someone burst into the room, I had to be able to make a swift escape to my feet. I laid on my back, staring up at the ceiling and counting the notches of the light fixture until my brain began to get tired, eventually falling asleep. 

I woke a few hours later, the sound of a door closing causing me to shoot up. I stared at my door, waiting for someone to open it. I sat there, listening to hear if anyone was making their way down the hallway toward me, but heard nothing. I slid from the bed to the floor, moving cautiously to the closed door. I opened the door carefully, peeking out into the hallway. Seeing no one, I stepped out of the room and crept down the hallway, making sure to be as quiet as possible. I checked the living room, making sure no one was there. I moved to the kitchen/dining room and saw there was still no one. I narrowed my eyes, turning around the room to make sure that no one hiding anywhere.

I felt my stomach grumble, my hand going to cover my belly. I looked to the small fridge, going to open it. I opened the fridge to see 5 already prepped meals. I looked down to see one marked with a big, red '1'. I took it out to see cold eggs, bacon, and sausage. I made a face, cold eggs? Gross. I turned to look for a drink to see a rack of milk, I shook my head and grabbed one.

I searched the countertop and found a single microwave, going to it and pulling the top off the container, and putting the food in to warm it up. I tapped my fingers impatiently on the counter, looking around to see if there was anything to eat with. I dug through the drawers until I found plastic silverware. I rolled my eyes, "Really?" I said to myself as the microwave beeped. I shook my head going back to my food and pulling it out. I hissed, the feeling of hot plastic burning my fingers for a second.

I heard something behind me, causing me to turn to look. There wasn't anything there. I put my burning finger in my mouth, taking the sting out. I turned back to my food and shut the microwave. I carefully carried my food with the hems of my dress to the table, plopping it down. I brought my milk over as well, looking up at the clock to see that it was nearly 11. Five hours of sleep wasn't too bad. Not great, but something to rest on.

I pulled out the bacon and sausage, placing them on the table to cool. I hissed again, the too-hot meat causing my fingers to tingle. I stirred my eggs, making sure that they were evenly warmed, I let them steam for a moment before going to open my milk. I twisted the lid, splashing some of it on the table. I cursed, realizing that I knocked one of my sausages on the floor. "Shit." I cursed again, leaning down to pick it up. I sat back up, frowning. Didn't I have 3 of each? I'm pretty sure I had three bacon, three sausages... not two bacon and two sausages... I looked around to see if maybe I knocked more off onto the floor. But I didn't see any.

Maybe I only had two of each... I was certain I had three though. I shook my head and began to eat, shaking the strange disappearing meat out of my head. I eat rather quickly, not realizing my own hunger until I tasted the food.

I gulped down the last bit of my breakfast and sat there for a moment, cleaning my teeth with my tongue, looking at the clock on the wall. It was half-past 11 now, making me lean back into my seat. Then a thought came to me. I stood up, placing my Tupperware into the sink. I went to the fridge opening it to look at the boxes. I saw that there were now four more prepped meals. Was that how many meals I had left until I was taken? To wherever they would be keeping me? Surely this was not where I would end up. This must be some sort of halfway house.

I saw that there was one more breakfast, meaning that tomorrow would most likely be my last day here. I closed the door slowly, taking a deep breath, something settling in my stomach. Relief? Realization? Fear?

I went back to my chair at the table, looking back at the clock. Whatever my future held, I was made to wait for it, the long, lonely hours that I was about to spend alone going to drag themselves out to the very end.

I sat at the table for a few more hours, before the tv turned on, causing me to jump. I leaned back in my chair looking at the blank screen. I stood to my feet, going to the tv and looking at it for a moment. I reached to turn it off, but the screen never shuts off. Then, all of the sudden, numbers began to count down from 10. I sat down in the chair that was directly in front of the tv, watching to see what the tv was about to broadcast.

The numbers disappeared and a long, monotoned beep replaced them followed by a 'Standby' screen. I sat there, slightly terrified by the tv that wouldn't turn off. I yelped in surprise when the tv showed a man in a suit, "Welcome," he greeted, his voice extremely deep. So much so that it caught me off guard. His features were hard to distinguish on the old TV set, by I could tell that they were striking, "You have been chosen as this year's Culling. This prerecorded tape is your first lesson into your new role in our society." He began, "What is that, might you ask? Well," he chuckled, "it could be many things. Anything from a maid, gardener, cook, hunter, stableman, anything that your qualifications may fit, is where you will be placed." He explained. "You will not get to know where you will be placed until you are brought to your new home, the place you are in now is a detox house. A place where you will begin your journey of learning your new life and losing all the scented perfume you may be wearing. It takes a full 24 hours to lose the scented perfumes you humans wear. If you haven't look into your bathrooms, you've been provided unscented soaps to wash with. This way, your fake scent will be washed away and your natural scent will return. All Culling's are required to shower during their stay." he continued to explain the process of how to properly bathe one's self as if we didn't know how already.

"There is a single outfit, based on your gender, that can be found in your bathroom. The meals that have been provided should be eaten in order, based on their numerical order. Your drinks that have been provided should also, drink in order." I looked down at the milk in my hand, seeing it had a one marked on it, sighing in relief. Why was it so important that we drank and ate them in order? Probably because these creatures thrived on order. I thought as the man continued to speak.

I sat there for another couple of hours until finally, the man ended his speech. "Long live Alpha." The screen went black, leaving me alone once again.