Hello everyone! I just recently finished watching TPN and let's just say I binged it all in one day and became obsessed. So of course I had to write fanfiction. I hope to get to at least the end of season one. From then on out I'm not sure what I would do. I may complete it or start another book following the manga since season two is trash.
At this orphanage, the morning starts at six o'clock sharp. Once the clock strikes, you could hear Emma yelling bright and early. It's such bothersome. In my room, you could hear the groan coming from some of the kids. Anyhow, I have been living here for about 11 years now. As of this morning, this household has 38 siblings total. Our personalities, age, ethnicities are all very. So yes, we're not blood-related. Despite that, they're all I really have as of now.
You see Ray and I know something that Emma and Norman don't know. Neither the other siblings. I have ever only to found out by horrible nightmares when I was about 8. They got so consistent I confronted Ray instead of Mom. It was best I made that decision.
The truth of reality. This is a farm, and we're all livestock to be eaten by demons. We're in this horrible world where demons rule over humans. You only lived older if you were lucky enough to be a mom at an orphanage. The day I confronted Ray about my nightmares he said he made a plan to run away for as many years since he has known.
None of us will live here forever. Before turning 12 all of us are arranged to leave this house handset out to live with foster parents. As most of the other kids think. Today was our sibling Conny's turn of being adopted by these so-called foster parents that never existed. Knowing that death was upon her I knew it would be rough saying goodbye to her tonight. I almost don't want to see her leave.
"Gewodmhworningg!" Emma greeted as Phil's hand was yanking her cheek.
"Hi, Emma. Morning." Norman greeted as he was wheeling in the food supplies.
"Goodmorning, Emma." Ray teased.
Following behind him I struggled nearly losing grip of the bottle. "Always so full of energy." I let out a huff in relief taking a good hold of it on time.
Norman chuckled, "That's our Emma. And she hasn't even had breakfast yet."
"How old are you? Five?" Ray joked around.
I couldn't help but chuckle at his tease. Yet of course she took it seriously. The two of us went to the table to put the vases down. Mom seemed to be having a pep talk with Emma. My eyes gazed over to Ray. I gave him that remembering glare and looked down. Knowing Conny's death was upon us today. It made me not in a mode to eat.
"I am not in the mood to eat, Ray."
"Leia, you're gonna have to eat no matter what. Mom would get skeptical if you don't."
Him saying that made my stomach feel even more upset as it is empty. We had to keep conversations like this on low especially around our siblings. We rarely had any like this, only when we were alone. It was like we felt a pair of eyes watching us. My body stiffened as my head snapped up as my eyes locked with Norman. I let out a sigh of relief.
"You two always seem to be taking off in secret." He said almost like he acknowledges our secret conversations.
"Listen, it's best you find out on you're own," Ray said in a crucial tone.
Norman blinked for a second then chuckled, "Huh? I was gonna say you two act like a couple when you do that."
My body froze. It was like I could feel my body shattering in such shame. If anything I would expect him to be suspicious of us. Not anything like that. It was like I couldn't say anything. My cheeks felt like they were burning.
"How dare you accuse us of that?" Ray examined slamming his fist into the table.
After breakfast, we head to the classroom. Every day we take litany of daily exams. It's supposedly for our future and well-being. That's a complete lie. We have no future that is meant for us. Other than to be eaten. These tests are apparently suitable for conventional schooling. Every question was is pose to be answered within 10 seconds.
They have never complicated questions either. They all had to deal with selecting a figure form. Once we were done Mom always collected our scores. To no surprise, three of us got perfect scores.
"Let's quiet down and look at the results." Mom looked at the papers in her hand. "Norman, Ray, Emma. You three got perfect scores again. Fantastic! I'm so proud."
Emma cheered in excitement. The rest of us never stand a chance against those three. I always couldn't help but to be jealous of all of them. Norman alone is smarter than all of us combine. Then their Ray who is good at solving any problem he is faced with. To top it off Emma learns really fast so she could keep up with them easily.
"They said any house has never had three kids at this level before." One kid behind me announced.
"Then no wonder mom is proud of them." Another followed.
Suddenly Don bursts from his seat, "Norman! I'm challenging you to tag."
After each exam, we were left to our own devices and allowed to go out and play to our heart's content.
"How about you, Ray?" I ask looking down at him. He was flipping through some old book.
"I'll pass."
"Tch… would it kill you to come and play with us once in a while?" Emma asked annoyed that he was being left behind again.
Ray wasn't the type to get all enthusiastic about a tag. He pulled up his stopwatch and looked up over to Norman. I better go and take off.
"One day you should just join us," I say before waving and running off into the forest.
Once I made it through the forest I kept on running. I let my feet take me as far as I could go. I even passed Don and Conny. As my eyes laid upon Conny holding that bunny of hers I couldn't help but slow down a bit. I shook my head and kept pressing forward. This will be our last final game of tag with her.
After some time I found a nice spot to hide. Sitting down I find myself some time to catch my breath. If anything, it is quite peaceful out here in the wilderness. The thing is the only real type of animals out here are birds. In books, I read that they are all sorts of animals in the human world. Only none of us will expect to see anything like that. Being alone like gives one some time to think.
It even makes me lost in thought after some time. For year's Ray has been making an escape plan. At first, he originally planned for us to leave this place. It wasn't till recently he wanted Emma and Norman to find out on their own.
"And… there you are, Leia. Lost in thought aren't you?"
My attention was soon brought to Norman as he kneeled to my height. I hummed as I was soon brought to reality.
"O- Oh!" I stuttered, "You found me didn't you." I chuckled.
He nods, "Yes I did. Your weakness is that you get distracted by your thoughts. You need to start paying attention to your surroundings."
Both Norman and I stand up. He is most definitely right about that. However, the reason why I get lost in thought. Is about Conny along with how our destiny is death. It frightens me and keeps me up at night. It distracts me from reality. It's like I'm constantly living in fear.
"You are not wrong about that." I smiled.
"Now, I gotta go find Emma." He waved and ran off.
Watching him run off was a natural feeling. I always watched him run off after finding me. Only this time I couldn't help but to feel a sheer bit of jealousy. I then made my way back to the house. Naturally, everyone else was back there.
Heading over to the tree I flop down sitting next to Ray. He watched me sit down then glared over to his reading. Looking up at the sky let out a sigh. "Watching him run off to find Emma. Felt different this time."
"Oh?" He asked, "How so?" Ray flipped a page.
"Like I was being left behind. Or I'm unwanted, I cared for." My eyes glare down to my cling fist.
"Pure jealousy. You're just wishing you had that connection with Norman that Emma has."
My body stiffness. He is right about that.
"Am I wrong?" Ray closed the book looking over.
I shook my head. Soon after Norman comes back with Emma. It seemed as Don got all worked up again so he declared a rematch only one of us has to tag Norman. And so, everyone went off into the forest.
"Going near there can be very dangerous."
Both Ray and I sneak up behind both of them.
"She says that but it's not even true." I cross my arms looking down at the dance.
Norman looks over, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well look at it. What part of this do you find dangerous? The fence is low and I don't see anything remotely threatening." Ray said all calm and laid back.
I glared over at him crossing my arms. I gave him that knowing look we both share. He glared back and shook his head.
"Well, we should do what mom told us." Emma says.
"Hey! What are you guys doing way back here?" Don and some of the other kids walk over.
"We should call it a day," Norman calls off the game of tag.
"Someday we will have to leave here. Won't we?" Don looked up into the forest.
"This is an orphanage, of course, we will leave one day. By the time we turn 12." Norman says.
I look over to Ray again. He shakes his head at me. Gilda then announced how odd it was for us to not get any letters from the other children who have left. That's because they're dead. All of them. And now, followed by Conny. My eyes trail over to the little girl. I could feel Ray's eyes on me. He was frowning at me making sure I wasn't stupid enough to announce anything.
"Quit looking so pale," Ray murmured in my ear.
Gilda growled in frustration, "I want to go outside soon too!"
"No, you don't." I crossed my arms whispering to myself.
"Quit it." Ray gave off a more demanding vibe. He seemed to be getting angry at me. I couldn't help myself.
"Isn't it obvious? Try on new close!" She said.
"I want to eat all of the yummy food!" Another one followed.
"I want to find a cute girl to date," Don smirked. Of course, he would be the only one thinking that since he is the oldest one here.
I couldn't help but snort.
"What? What's so wrong with wanting to date a girl? What about you, Leia?" Don inquired pointing at me. "Since you're quiet why don't you tell us what you would do."
I froze as everyone's eyes laid upon me. Of course, I dreamed of the human world and going there. I read all about it in books. There are plenty of things I would want to do. "Well first off I would like to go to Paris. In books, I heard it's the most romantic county in the world! I would want to visit the Eiffel tower there. Also, all of the advanced technology was missing out on."
"So you do have a place in mind. That's sweet." Don chuckled.
"I wanna see a train!" Phill raised his hand catching our attention.
"That's a good one!"
"And what about you, Norman?" Emma asked.
"Oh, I want to travel. To go different places I have never seen before!"
"How about you Ray?" I asked looking over.
Now he gave me that glare. I gave him that really look crossing my arms. This whole time he was upset I was making it obvious. Now he's acting along with we're all going to die.
"Once outside, I would have to learn how to survive first."
Are you kidding me? After all this time of getting mad at me, you go ahead and say all of that. My eye twitched as I let out a chuckle.
"You're such a downer," Don says and looks over to Emma.
Soon we all went back to the house. Nightfall by that time. Ray and I went to the library to discuss everything. I closed the door behind us as he walked over to the table. He leaned himself against a bookshelf. I took in a deep breath and took straps over to him. "Why on earth did you say that?" I exclaim.
"First you were getting all upset that I was giving off a pale face then you go on and say, oh I would have to survive first." I mimic him in his voice the best I could. In response all Ray did was chuckle. Sometimes he talks about how I nearly blow off our cover when he goes around and stabs me in the back.
"What do you want me to say? We have no future." He asked putting his hands in his pockets.
I shake my head, "Obviously, not. You read so many books. Haven't you read some that interested you in the human world?" I asked.
"I mean, you do have a point. They were all just talking about the outside world and it honestly depressed me. Guess I had nothing come to mind." Ray shrugged, "Look. Now we got to go and say our goodbye's to Conny."
Instantly I felt like my heart stopped. I let out a soft gasp my body froze. That's right. Conny. I lower my head and shake it. "I don't think I can say goodbye, Ray. Every time it gets more painful." I hold my arms. My lips feel so chapped and dry. There was a draft coming in from the open window keeping the room cool enough. This morning my stomach was so unsettled. Seeing her eat her last meal, play tag with us for the last time. Every time a new kid leaves I become sicker.
"Leia, I know it's hard but we have to go out there and watch her leave. You know what mom would think." He walked over to confront me.
Again I shake my head looking up at Ray. My eyes soon became watery, "I feel sick, Ray. I can't." I let out a hiccup and hold my mouth.
He lets out a heavy sigh as he then drapes his arms. Ray's warmth feels nice and comforting. It's more comforting than Mom's hug ever would be. It makes me feel safe and at home. Slowly I wrap my arms around him and tug on his fabric. Moments like these make me wish they could last forever. Only this certain hug felt different than usual. Looking around as my eyes were glossy the world seemed colorful for once. It was so scary it frightened me causing me to nudge my neck into his shoulder.
"Hey, everything will be okay. Once Emma and Norman find out we will escape. I promise, Leia."