We have a returning character! It's our favorite bully of a character from Life of an Orphan.
Warnings for this chapter include self-loathing, bullying, blood (just a little bit), and some light cursing.
Chapter 3: Sad Resolution
She finally did it! She finally made friends! Overjoyed, Six happily held their hands. They were walking towards a bright light. She didn't know what the light was or where it lead to, but she was smiling, glad to have friends to go together with. However, they suddenly pulled their hands away from her. The young child frowned. Why would they...
Turning around, she could see their faces. To her horror, they were glaring at her with disgust in their eyes. Why? Why would they suddenly-
"Did you actually think we would be your friends? How stupid are you?!" they mocked.
'B-But we were fine before!' Six reasoned. 'What went wron-'
"You happened, that's what went wrong," they viciously remarked. "It's because you're different. Everything about you is different. That's why no one wants to be with you!"
The void around them started to shake. Six felt her head spinning. She grew nauseous. The air was growing thick. She couldn't breathe. They were snickering, they were taunting. She wanted it to stop. They were leaving her. No! They couldn't! She didn't want to be left behind!
'W-Wait...!' she reached out to grabbed them.
However, they jerked their hand away from her, looking at her like she was something disgusting. Their eyes... they were rejecting her. Seeing their expression caused the girl to flinch. Those judgmental eyes were condemning her for a fault that she doesn't even know or was aware of. All those scowling faces made her feel small. Tears started to form. A sudden urge within her was telling her to run and hide.
They were approaching her. Why? What were they going to do? A hand was raised into the air. Immediately, Six shut her eyes, her body trembled as it froze into place. She couldn't move. What was going to happen next? She didn't know what to expect. Was she going to get slapped? Or... or worse?! Instead, she felt warm fingers brush across her cheek, lifting her head up. Daring herself, Six reluctantly opened her eyes to see the warm, happy faces again. She became confused now. Earlier... did that not happen? Was she just imagining those harsh words and cruel expressions?
When had she become so doubtful and distrusting? They were her friends! She shouldn't think so negatively of them.
All of a sudden, Six found herself knocked back, falling onto the ground. It took her a second to understand that she had been shoved. Looking up, the girl felt her heart sank at the sneering faces in front of her. "Look at her! Hahaha! You still thought that we were your friends?"
"Stuuupppiiddd!"
"You're sooo diffeerrrenntt! Why on earth would we want you to be our friend? Look around, no one wants to be your friend! Hahaha!" they cackled madly. "Differrrennnt! Should you even count yourself as one of us when you're so diffeerrreennntt?"
'Stop it...' Six began to cover her ears, attempting to block out the taunts in vain. She closed her eyes again, not wanting to see them. 'Stop it!'
Her cries were unanswered as the taunts kept going and going. In her head, she was screaming. She didn't want this! She didn't! Why was this happening? Why was everyone changing so suddenly? She didn't understand! Why? Why? Why? WHY?! She wanted it to stop! It was a lie! It was a lie that she was different! It was a lie that she was the problem! It was a lie that she couldn't have friends! It was a lie that she couldn't be happy!
"Liar." A new voice rang in her head. Despite she was covering her ears, Six could hear the voice clearly. A very cold, pessimistic voice. "Those weren't lies. The biggest lie is you, yourself. You hate people lying to you, yet you hide yourself. Isn't that the same as lying to them? You hate lies, yet you reject this truth. You're lying to yourself. What a hypocrite."
Tears were streaming down her face.
BOOM!
A gasp left her lips as she jolted awake. Her lips trembled as she looked around her room. Her heart started to race, picking up speed as it beat painfully in her chest. Registering that it was nothing more than a scary dream, tears welled in her eyes. Letting out a shaky breath, Six curled up into a ball. She flinched when thunder roared, booming very loudly.
She hated it. She hated the thunder. It was loud, intimidating, and... scary. It was the only bad thing early spring had to offer. She tried in vain to block out another boom from reaching her ears. Her body jumped despite she had anticipated for the noise to come. Grabbing her blanket, she wrapped herself in it as she laid back down, trying to bury herself underneath it as if it could provide some kind of protection from the cracking boom. It didn't work. The explosive noise kept booming, lighting would light the shadows momentarily before the darkness returned.
Closing her eyes shut, the girl tried to think of something else to distract herself and go back to sleep. However, as much as she tried, she couldn't go back to the land of dreams. Not with the thunder, not with the fear of experiencing another nightmare. She'll just have to endure it and wait for the storm to pass.
Sitting back up again, Six left her little nest to wander around, taking her blanket with her. Leaving her secret base, she wondered where her little friends would be. It was in the middle of the night, so she doubt she'd be able to find them. They could be anywhere. But... she wouldn't mind having some company right now. She needed it. Searching all over the upper floors, she couldn't find them. Were they somewhere else? Or did she miss a few areas?
Could we have passed by each other? she wondered.
She knew Nomes were easily afraid, and the sound of thunder was a very scary thing. Maybe they were hiding as well? Six flinched as another lighting strike, thunder roaring seconds after. It was probably best if she seek somewhere close to the lower levels for the night. Maybe if she went down, the thunder would sound less intimidating. Plus, the residents of the Nest must be asleep. Sneaking around in the dark would be easy then.
Climbing into a vent, Six ventured to the middle area of the mansion. It had only been a few minutes and her body had already become tired. Raising a hand to cover her mouth as she yawned, Six tried to shake that sleepiness from her mind. It wasn't working. Despite the storm and the thunder, her body demanded that she go to sleep. But she couldn't. She had just reached the middle level of the Nest. She couldn't fall asleep in the hallway, completely vulnerable for anyone to see. However, the corner of her vision was started to blur and she could feel her eyelids droop.
Ah... it's no good...
Sleep overwhelmed her mind and she fell to the ground.
~oOo~
A soft crackle could be heard. Warmth was spreading to her. Fluttering her eyelids open, it took a while until Six realized she was staring at a tiny fire. The light was bright and her eyes hadn't adjusted to it yet so she turned over to face the wall. She was still tired. She had no idea how long she slept, but she could tell it was still too early to wake up. A tiny rattle reached her ears and Six glanced over her shoulders to see a recognizable friend. It was the littlest Nome.
Sitting up, Six found herself in an unfamiliar little space. It was smaller than her secret base, but it was still large enough to be considered spacious. The walls were drawn with colorful chalk. There were many balloons that filled the ceiling, some were deflated but still remained in the air. Was this where her tiny friend lived? All by itself? Or were the others out right now?
Turning to face the Nome, she mouthed, 'Did you find me and took me here?'
It nodded its head enthusiastically. Before she could mouth any words of gratitude, her body jolted when thunder cracked. Seeing the distressed child trembling, the Nome patted her hand. It wasn't at all afraid of such an intimidating roar. What a brave little Nome this one was. Slightly assured, Six relaxed a little.
The Nome gestured with its hand that it would be right back. It exited the space through the crack on the wall, returning a few minutes later with something in its hand. It was too big for the Nome to hold, nearly being twice its size as the Nome nearly tip over from the weight. It was a pretty box with a ballerina figurine on top. On the side, there was a little wind-up key. Despite it looking different, Six could tell that it was a music box. Placing the trinket down, the Nome turned the key, making a weird clink-clink sound. Releasing the key, the ballerina figurine started to spin and dance. A soft tune started to play. Listening to the melody put Six at ease as she closed her eyes and hum the song in her head. When the song ended, she opened her eyes and smiled at the Nome.
'Thank you, little one.'
The Nome gave a chirp as if to tell her 'You're welcome! I'm happy to help!'.
Smiling even more, Six spread her arms as the Nome happily jumped into them. It was still raining outside and the rumble of the thunder was still there, but it didn't sound too scary anymore. Cranking the music box, the girl closed her eyes as she laid down on the floor, still hugging the Nome. Soothed, she went right back to sleep again. This time, her sleep was peaceful and undisturbed.
It had been a few weeks since her creation. The Songstress was singing. She was singing many lovely melodies. She was like a diva performing on the stage. The lush green grass silently crunch beneath her slippers, the beautiful flowering trees were like curtains that opened up to reveal the lead actress of the story. As she sang, she moved around as if she was a character playing her role, expressing everything through the lyrics in her song. In the end, however, there was no audience to give her applause. No one had heard her yet. Admittedly, she was feeling a little sad. But she won't give up! She'll keep singing and singing until someone could hear her.
Opening her eyes, Six raised her hand to her mouth as she yawned. Rubbing her eyes awake, the girl stared dazedly at the wall. She couldn't recall what dream she had, however, she slept well and that ache in her chest wasn't there. So... it might have been a good dream she had, even if she couldn't remember. Once the sleepiness had worn off, Six realized that she was alone. Her little Nome friend must have gone out to play with the others. Looking at the silent music box, she thought back to her muteness.
I wonder... how long will I stay like this? I really want to talk...
It was very inconvenient being mute like this. Sure, it would come in handy with surviving and it helped a great deal if less noise was made as possible, but in a normal situation, it was just difficult to communicate. It made her different from the rest. It had her really wonder if the reason behind her inability to speak was because someone in her past didn't like her voice or didn't want to hear her. She didn't understand why she reached that conclusion, but it sounded so right. Maybe because the children here didn't seem to understand her, it made her feel that way? Then, did that mean if someone listened to her, she might get her voice back?
A voiceless sigh was released.
Since it was early spring, it had been three months since she stayed here at the Nest. She could leave now if she wanted to. After all, she did told herself that she'd give herself a few months to stay. However, she didn't want to... not yet anyway. She wasn't mentally prepared yet. She'll leave once she was sure that she wanted to. So she'll stay until that time. But what should she do?
She could try again. Try finding children to befriend. However, that nightmare she had earlier that night felt too real. Perhaps she should try taking a break from any attempts at the moment. She couldn't easily shake their facial expressions from her head, whether it was a dream or not. Clearly, those kinds of expressions said that they didn't want to be with her. It was saddening to see those glaring faces meeting her eyes, but there was nothing she could do about it. Briefly, her thoughts turned to the Nomes. While she was grateful towards her seven little friends, their comfort wasn't enough to fix the hurt her heart was feeling. She needed the affection of another child, someone to talk to and interact with more. While she enjoyed her little friends' company, Six considered them different kinds of friends. She has yet made her first human friend.
Crawling out of the space through the crack, Six considered repaying the Nomes. They have always been helping her, so she should do something nice for them in return. Out into a room with a marble floor, the girl ran to the door. Jumping to reach the handle, the door creaked open. Letting go, she pushed it wider before slipping through.
~oOo~
Oh, I forgot to take my blanket with me...
It was left behind in the little Nome's place. She could go back to get it but ultimately decided against it. Since she wasn't going to befriend anyone, there was no need to carry her blanket around. Besides, that room she left was already far behind. Furthermore, it was a little inconvenient bringing it with her despite it had provided her with some form of security. She'll just have to get it back at a later time. Needing to find something to eat, the girl in white explored the hallways.
She was careful to avoid the Butler. Even with his arms locked behind his back, he was a threat to be wary about, especially when it would appear that he was moving things around with his mind. She still didn't understand how he does it though. Was it like simply thinking about it? Or was it like picturing what he wanted to do and it just happened? While the Butler was dangerous, he was a mystery. Little did the girl know as she sneaked around to find food were the five pairs of eyes looking in her direction from above the pipelines.
"Is that her?"
"Yeah. She's the one. Apparently, she cannot talk or anything."
"Really? Well then, let's see how mute she really is."
A victim that could not make any noise would make a perfect target.
Entering the dining room, Six noted that all of the furniture was her size. The tables had teacups and utensils she could use. Even the food was prepared in small sizes. With adults like the Craftsman and the Butler, it had the girl wondering as she took a cloth napkin: who were they serving? Obviously, they would serve their masters and mistresses, but where were they? What did they look like? Ignoring her pondering questions for now, Six went to grab some food, her hand reaching for the plate of sandwiches. Though she was sure the Nomes found her company and hugs to be enough, the girl wanted to thank them and food was really the only way she thought would repay them. Just when she was about to reach for the eighth sandwich, a voice called out. The girl's arm froze, hovering above the nearly empty plate.
Turning her head towards the direction of the voice, Six could see a teenage boy with four other boys alongside him. They looked intimidating, especially the one whom Six perceived as the leader with his gray eyes. They were wearing dark clothes that were scattered around the Nest. While Six could use some new clothes, she didn't want to wear something associated with the mansion.
"Hey, mute girl," the leader spoke again, his tone very rude. "Hand over the food."
Retracting her arm away from the plate and clutching onto her cloth napkin that contained the other sandwiches, Six shook her head. She could comply, but she wouldn't. If they were hungry, there was plenty of other food laying on the table for them to take. They didn't need to take from her. Besides, she wouldn't give up easily on some older, mean boys. She shook her head again, more defiantly this time. The leader sighed irritably before jerking his head at her when his friends were looking at him. As the other four boys started to approach her menacingly, Six turned on her heels to flee. They chased after her.
When she had reached the round table, Six could feel one of the boys grab her by the back of her shirt before she was thrown to the floor in a matter of seconds. Trying to get up, the girl gasped and whimpered when she felt a hand gripping tightly onto her hair, yanking her backward. She couldn't help a shudder, she didn't like being grabbed by her hair. Because after that...! The next thing that would happen was...! Six's tiny hands went to the boy's wrist, trying to get him to let go. The teen give an irritated tsk before he forcefully slammed her head onto the floor. Gritting her teeth, she tried to move, but it was impossible with the older boy's weight on top of her.
"This could all be avoided if you just cooperate, you know?" the leader's voice spoke up again, sounding annoyed. "So you really are mute, unable to make any noises too? That's just perfect."
"Quint," one of the boys had given the leader the cloth napkin filled with sandwiches.
The teenager, Quint, opened the cloth napkin before smirking. Retying it and giving it to his friend, the sixteen-year-old approached her, crouching to look down on her. "Let's see, if I recall, you're Six, right? Heh, what sort of name is that?"
"A very stupid one," the boy on top of her responded.
Six felt personally attacked. Yes, her name might be a literal number and not really her true name, but she liked it. Names were important and give identity to a person. It also created a connection between the person being named and the person who was doing the naming. Despite she couldn't remember, the name 'Six' held important meaning to her. For these teenagers to disgraced her name made it feel like a great insult. Besides, the name 'Quint' was also based on a number! Sure, it may not be 'Five', but it was still based on the number. The girl narrowed her eyes, those brown orbs were demanding the question of why. It wasn't the question of why were they making fun of her name, more like why were they targeting her. She was of no threat to them.
"You reminded me of someone different. A weakling," Quint answered. "Your eyes certainly show a strong, unwavering feel of individuality. Same as him."
Different? Individuality? Well, she couldn't really argue with that. Her missing memories, her awakening at the Nest, her inability to speak... all those things would make her... different and stand out... from the other children. But... who was this 'him' he was referring to? A kid like her? Someone like her? She didn't understand, but that was the least of her concern right now. Suddenly, Six felt her world being flipped over as she lay sprawled on her back. The boy who had been on top of her was gone. She tried to get up but too soon, she was grabbed by other hands, forced to the floor again. Feeling a pair of hands wrapping around her neck, looking up, she could see Quint straddled on top of her with bloodlust in his eyes.
"And I want to destroy people with those kinds of eyes!"
Her chest started to tighten but she tried to keep herself calm. She attempted to push the teenager off of her without seeming desperate but he was too heavy. She tried to pull his hands away from her throat but he had a tight grip. Moving her sight away from the boy, she could see the round table not too far from her. With her leg, she kicked the table until it tipped over, spilling all its contents. All the teacups shattered to the floor with a smashing noise and all the boys froze at the sound, their eyes turned to look at the doorway. That allowed Six a few seconds from the distraction. The boys waited to see if the Butler would arrive, but he didn't. Realizing that the monster wouldn't come, Quint laughed as he looked down to sneer at the girl who pretended to look concerned.
"I suppose you thought you were clever, trying to alert the Butler. Well, you're not clever enough." He started to add pressure onto her neck. It was not his intention to kill the girl, just scare her a bit. After all, back at his first home, the weakling used to fear him. He wanted to get the same reaction from her.
That's what you think. Six made sure her fingers were holding onto the handle firmly.
Since the teens weren't watching when their eyes were turned towards the doorway, Six had seen a broken teacup nearby and had reached out her arm to grip onto the handle. Quint clearly didn't see it, too focused on her, and the other boys didn't notice, watching their leader trying to strangle the girl. It brought them back when they would bully the little lonely weakling... before they were sent to this place.
With as much force as she could muster, Six hit the teen's face with the sharp edges of the broken cup. A terrible, agonized scream filled the air moments after. Released from his grasp, the girl gasped as she rolled over, crawling away from her attacker and the other boys as quickly as she could. With her back hitting the wall in her hasty attempt to escape, Six panted from that struggle, her heart pounding violently in her chest.
The other boys crouched next to their leader as he groaned, placing a hand on his bleeding wound as he glared murderously at the girl. "You damned little wench! How dare you injure my face!"
Trying to not show any vulnerability despite what she was feeling internally, she glared defiantly at the teenager. From her peripheral vision, Six could see a faint, tall shadow of a man inching closer to the doorway. She had to keep them distracted as she continued to stare at them coldly.
"But Quint, look at where she's at!"
Seeing that his friend was correct after noticing where Six had placed herself, the sixteen-year-old smirked cockily, "Heh, you may look tough in trying to put up a brave face, but you're really afraid deep down. Instead of running for the door, you went for the windows. Not a smart move." He stood up and started to approach her slowly like a predator closing in on its prey. "I'll let you know, the last time a kid injured me, I made sure he suffered from lasting scars on his back. Perhaps I should do the same for you?"
"Didn't you say he was crying?"
"Indeed, he was," Quint answered, giving Six a dark look. "I must say, despite I hate the man I once respected, I did admire how he humiliated the weakling before sending me to this place. I look forward to putting you to shame as well. Prepare for it."
Six's eyes narrowed as if to challenge him. I won't be running. If you think you can, try it.
As if understanding the message her eyes were conveying, the teen chuckled, "You won't be thinking like that for long. Like with him, you'll quickly change your tune."
From the corner of her eye, she could see the shadow of the Butler getting closer. At that moment, the girl pulled the curtains and hid behind them just as a deep gasp could be heard. That was the reason why she ran for the windows instead of the door - so she could be shielded from the Butler's sight. Though she couldn't see what was going on as she kept still and quiet, she could hear the boys running around as furniture was being tossed in the air. One of them was even crying out for help in her direction before they were silenced. The tiniest ounce of sympathy within Six was crushed. They didn't deserve her sympathy. They didn't deserve any of it - not even a shred. The girl would not waste her sympathy on her attacker and his friends who believed it was okay to hurt others for their own amusement.
Eventually, silence returned to the room. No screaming, no objects being thrown, nothing. Hearing an irritated huff and a few groans, Six waited before taking a little peek from the curtains. The levitating adult was leaving along with the five boys who were floating in the air. After making sure the Butler wouldn't be returning, Six let out a breath before standing up and stepping out of her hiding place. Picking up the dropped clothed napkin and taking the last sandwich from the plate, the girl exited the messy room.
Another group of unpleasant children. They were older than her too. Only instead of words, they'd actually attacked her. For what? For her being different? For fun? She didn't really have a definite answer.
The way back to her base was a quiet one. Despite that Six didn't want to dwell on it, her mind went back to that recent scuffle. She couldn't trust adults. They were monsters. At least, the ones that Six had seen. Even if it was just the Craftsman and the Butler, she couldn't let her guard down. Other adults could be like that. She had never met a decent monster who didn't cave into their natural instinct of capturing children for their own plans. Though chances were slim, if she ever met an adult who didn't behave like a monster, then she will respect them. Perhaps she should use formalities to differentiate them from the rest. Until then, she wouldn't trust any of them.
Speaking of trust, after her little scuffle with those five teens, does that mean she couldn't even trust kids either? Whenever she tried to befriend someone, they rejected her, unable to understand her. Granted, she was being difficult - though it was unwilling on her part. She longed for human friends, but that longing would always be at conflict with her fears of getting hurt. Children had the choice of accepting or declining friendships. They had the choice of being patient or not. They weren't like Nomes who had the same pattern of behaviors. And what happened earlier only made her feel more withdrawn within herself. It had the girl wondering if she could ever befriend the children of the Nest... or any children in general.
There were really only two things Six prided herself in: surviving and understanding people. However, those types of things were also something she wasn't happy with either. Six would like to live, not survive. The want of a good life was also in conflict with her need for survival, however. And while the girl was pleased to read people's expressions and understand their motives, it wouldn't help her. It would come in handy for surviving if she detected danger, but it wouldn't help her if she was trying to find security and only meet with hostile faces directed at her.
Sighing a voiceless sigh, Six bit her lip as she considered a thought. Maybe I shouldn't get involved for a while.
A sad resolution, but still a resolution. The thought made her feel lost and confused. Despite it would go against what she wanted, for now, it was best if she avoided the other kids until she felt better to continue. Otherwise, she would get hurt again. Besides, it wasn't a permanent thing. It was only temporary. A temporary, yet sad resolution.