The car turned down a narrow dirt road that seemingly lead to nowhere. Eren sat beside me, if he was curious about where we were going he did well to hide it. My heart went out to him, these past few days he had gone from hell and back.
I turn my attention to the endless gathering of trees that surrounds us as we make our way to our new house. The man which had come to tell us of Eren's parents decease told us we would be transported to a place with kids like us who were without proper care. A foster home, he had called it.
When my parents died and all my relatives gathered to discuss 'important business'. I heard the word orphanage being used multiple times along with 'poor child' and 'god bless'. It wasn't until now that I realized that if Eren's parents hadn't taken me in, then I would've been living here long before now. Although, this arrangement was knowingly inevitable, I find myself still grateful for what was given to me.
The car slows down as it passes through rusty, weed infested gates and follows the circular driveway around the empty fountain. The statue in the middle of the fountain is a little hard to decipher at first but as you look closer you can make out a small child with a symbol of wings on his back.
I often recalled this symbol from my children's book I left back home, it is known as the wings of freedom from a Japanese mythological story about protection against beasts known as Titans.
Our new house was big and beautiful, a faded sage color with black shutters. White trellises climbed up either side, ivy snaking through the latticework. Our old house always had something crumbling or leaking and needing to be fixed. The new house was close to perfect.
The car comes to a stop causing my heart to begin racing with a million thoughts and worries which were ineffective until now. 'What if the kids don't like Eren and pick on him, or-'. My worries were interrupted as Eren finds my hand and fits it perfectly in the crook of his. His toothy smile scares my thoughts away as he leads me out of the car onto the driveway. Little white daisies peek out of the cracks in the brick driveway. I hear my foot steps echo against the floor while I make my way to the terrace.
The man in the black suit places what little we have beside our feet and drives away leaving us to an empty silence, something we haven't gotten used to yet. We both stare blankly at the big French doors in front of us, unprepared for what was behind them.
I took the initiative of ringing the door bell. Over the sound of the chime, a small gasp is heard, followed by rushed pounding of feet toward the door. I see Eren flinch as both sides of the French doors swing open revealing a young teenage girl with brown hair put together in a lazy pony tail and wide eyes behind a thick set of glasses.
We can visually see her breath come in and out of her slightly ajar mouth as she starts to grin crazily. I glance over at Eren and see a big pair of green eyes looking back at me. I squeeze his hand a little tighter and face towards the girl in front of me, "Is Mrs. Teresa here?" I ask, scooting unknowingly behind Eren. "You're the new kids, right?" she asks, ignoring my questions and opening the doors slightly more, motioning for us to come in.
Eren starts to walk inside, pulling me along with him. I cling onto his hand and enter the living room. I see two sets of stairs along both sides of the wall leading to a connected walkway and a row of doors along the wall. In the center of the ceiling is a huge chandelier that remains in silent beauty even when turned off. To the left is a doorway leading to a kitchen and another door leading to the dinning room. On the right is several book cases along the wall and a fireplace surrounded by a coffee table and a sofa. In the middle of the room is a circular, crimson rug with ivory designs embedded into the stitching.
"Teresa isn't home but, she'll be back any minute." The girl walks into the kitchen and calls over to us, "Would you guys like some tea?". I nod as she pours us both cups of the steamy black liquid.
She adjusts her glasses and looks at our connected hands, "Realationships aren't allowed between orphan children here but I'm sure-" "Oh, we aren't together" Eren chuckles nervously. "We're family" I add rolling my eyes. I'm used to this accusation by now. Everyone seems to think just because we care for each other than we must like one another in an intimate way, which is definitely not the case in our situation. "Oh" Hanji giggles, "Excuse my error."
I run my fingers along the hem of my black dress. It is a simple dress, plain and modest with a sash along my waist. It drops down to just above my knees. The cobweb lace is covered by my coat and my long black hair leaks down the back of it. The netting reaches down to my knuckles in a mature fashion.
I tug the ends of my coat down nervously, as I hear the motor of a vehicle pulling up onto the driveway. I hear a couple of voices from behind the doors four or maybe five. I scoot a little more towards Eren waiting for his warmth to give me the strength I need to face these people who were going to be apart of my new life.
The door opens, "Hey Hanji, did those kids come- oh." An orange haired girl smiles gently at us, she seems a little younger than Hanji but still older than we are. She walks over to us and sits down on the sofa. "Hello, my name is Petra".
She looks over to the people that joined her side a few moments earlier and points at a young man with grey eyes and rather pale brown hair. His bangs hung over his forehead, between his eyes. His clothes feature a simple long-sleeve white shirt with brown shoes and shorts. "This is Farlan."
Petra moves on to a short, young girl around our age with green eyes, and red hair in two pigtails. Her attire consisted of an orange button shirt with a vest and knee-high boots, "Isabel".
Then, she pointed to another boy around 13 to 14 years of age with short, straight black hair styled in an undercut, as well as narrow, intimidating grey eyes with dark circles under them. He is quite short, but his physique is well-developed in musculature. He remains expressionless as he studies Eren and I closely "and this is Levi".
Isabel falls onto the couch in a sloppy manner and raises her eyebrows at us "and you guys are?". Eren immediately sits up, "oh um I'm Eren and-" Eren looks at me. "Mikasa" I say impassively, deciphering each person's personality as I begin to figure out which of them I could trust.
Farlan smiles handsomely, "Nice to meet you Eren and Mikasa, there are a couple more people coming but for now, Petra can show you guys to your rooms". I nod and follow Petra up the stairs, glancing back and meeting a mirror image of cold eyes belonging to the boy called Levi.
