Chapter 4 - The New home

cont. 10 years ago

Rose POV

I sat on one of the beds in a room, and on the other one sat the nice lady who had carried me upstairs after the boy had come into the kitchen shouting. The lady was holding the other girl that I had seen in the kitchen earlier, and she was stroking her back. It felt strange that she was holding her. I thought about Alberta who would sometimes hug me, but other than that we didn't really do that at home.

I heard muffled sounds downstairs and it seemed like the boy and the old lady from the forest were talking to someone outside. Something was wrong and the feeling of guilt grew in my stomach, or maybe it was all of the food. I tried to listen more carefully with my eyes closed as Alberta had taught me. I rose from the bed and put my ear against the locked door. The shift from hearing them talk to hearing thudding sounds happened so quickly. I glanced back towards the two on the bed, seeing the lady's face pinch with every sound. She looked at me with concern and gestured for me to come to her. Maybe she wanted to hold me like she was holding the other girl.

I wanted that, but before I knew what my hands were doing I unlocked the door and rushed down the stairs. The front door was open and through it I saw that old lady on her knees with a man leaning over her. I pushed my legs further and ran outside shouting at them to stop. I didn't understand what was happening but I couldn't let this nice family get hurt because of me.

One of the bad men approached me and I was determined not to show how terrified I was. I could sense that the boy was about to start fighting again so I looked at him, pleading to him. I didn't want the bad men to hurt his family or him, and I knew that they wanted me even if I didn't know why. I couldn't let them hurt anyone else. His brown eyes looked sad and angry. I hope he wasn't angry at me. He had made me feel safe.

I was still looking into those deep brown eyes as the bad man gripped my arm and yanked me towards the car. It hurt and I blinked away the tears. The car looked the same as the last one so this time I knew how to get in without tripping. I watched as the others came to the car and saw that the boy was still on his knees. I hope he wasn't hurt. He looked so small in comparison to how he had seemed in the forest.

This time I sat in the middle seat in the back with one of them on either side of me, which meant that I wouldn't be able to run as Alberta had told me to do. At least I got away once, even if they caught up to me, maybe I´ll be able to do it again later on. It was like my body realized how tired it was because the thought of Alberta made me sad. I felt tears flowing down my face and it became hard to breathe. I really just wanted to go home. Or back to that boy and his family.

"Stop crying silly girl, it won't help you now".

I tried to do as the man driving told me to. Remembering what Alberta always told me of how important it is to not draw attention to myself. That it could be dangerous. I wiped away my tears that kept on coming. I tried to hide my face behind my hair while I focused on breathing.

I closed my eyes and pictured the nice people I now had left. Even if they all had nice brown eyes it was something special with that boy's eyes. What was his name again, he only told me once. Di-mi-tri. I've never heard such a name before. I liked it. I liked how they all spoke differently. I especially liked how the boy had spoken to me.

I abruptly woke up as one of the men grabbed my arm again, pulling me out of the car so that I fell to the ground. It had been dark back at the nice family's house but now the sun was already rising, casting strange shadows on the building in front of me.

It was made of gray stone and was a lot smaller than my home. But that didn't mean it was a small house. One. Two. Three. Three stories. I looked around and saw several other smaller buildings around the gray one.

The bad man grabbed me again and lifted me to my feet. He didn't let go of his grip as we walked inside. I was really trying not to fall because he walked so fast. It was unfair because his legs were a lot longer than mine, and I got angry.

"You better wipe that scowl off your face before we'll make you," he said.

I had to look down on the floor in order not to trip as we made our way inside the house, and I only looked up when we stopped at a closed door. The man knocked on it and someone opened it from the other side. We entered the room and my anger was replaced by fear. There were two men in the room, they looked like the guardians at home. I also saw another boy who was my age. It looked like he tried to hide his tears as I had done in the car. Thinking about the car ride and why I was crying then made me want to do it again. I could feel my chest tighten and my lips tremble but I had already been told off because of my tears and I didn't want to draw that attention to me again so I tried to stay strong.

I suddenly realized someone was speaking to me.

"Are you deaf or just plain stupid?" one of the guardians said. I didn't dare to answer or look at him. "Change into these" he said as he shoved something into my arms. Clothes. I glanced to the side, the boy had been given a similar set. Neither of us were sure what to do so we just stood there, looking around us.

"Didn't you hear what he said? Change into the clothes before we'll do it for you." the bad man that had brought me here said.

I couldn't hold back my tears any longer so with shaking hands I started to remove my jacket. The whole process was scary, and the men kept looking at us while we did as we were told. I felt sick to my stomach and my cheeks were flaming red, drenched with tears.

The new clothes I now wore looked similar to the boy's, only he had pants instead of a skirt. The collar on the shirt was scratching against my neck and the arms were too long. I tried to shorten them by folding them but couldn't manage. The boy must have seen my problem since he turned to help me. He seemed nice. Our old clothes were taken from us and put in a plastic bag.

"You can sit down now while we're waiting."

The bad man gestured to the two chairs in front of a desk and the boy and I sat down on them. We didn't have to wait for long until I heard someone enter, but I was too scared to turn around.

I heard the steps approaching and suddenly saw a tall man make his way behind the desk. He sat down and I saw that he was Moroi. Maybe he could help the boy and I. He looked at us, smiling.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I can see that you already have your uniforms, very good. On behalf of myself and my staff I'd like to welcome you to the Lakeside Institution. You may refer to me as the Headmaster. I'm sure you both are hungry so I won't take too much of your time. Due to administrative reasons you both have been transferred here from your Academies. This is your home now. The others will explain more, you will attend your classes just as…"

Ad-min-i-stra-ti-ve. I didn't know what the word meant. I didn't understand anything he was saying. I already had a home. I wanted to go home. Not this home. It was all wrong. Everything was wrong. I hadn't heard what was going on until the boy stood up from his seat, and I started to do the same.

"Rose, I'd like you to stay for a moment. Moore, make sure Edison gets some food. I'd like a moment of privacy, I'll send her out when we're done."

I felt a prickle of fear. I didn't want to be alone with him, or with anyone for that matter. I wanted to stay with the other boy, Edison. The bad man escorted Edison out of the room, and the two others followed them. I met a pair of cold blue eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear that your trip here was not entirely a success. This is for your best and I truly hope you will like it here." he said with a nice and reassuring voice. I didn't trust him at all. He was nothing like the boy with the strange R's and brown eyes.

"So tell me Rose, how are you feeling?"

Why did he ask that? Did he know? Alberta told me that I couldn't let anyone know when I was sick. She said it wasn't safe. I didn't like lying but it felt safer than telling him the truth.

"I'm fine." I replied, hoping he wouldn't press further on the matter. Only he didn't drop it.

He studied me intently, his earlier smile now a bit colder. "When was the last time you were sick, my dear?"

"I haven't been sick" I lied again, my voice breaking a bit. I looked down at my hands.

"Rose, dear, look at me"

I looked up and his eyes caught me. It felt like I was captivated, unable to look away. Before my unease increased I started to feel more relaxed.

"Now tell me, when was the last time you were sick?" he said with a silky voice.

The words just came out of me. "Last week I think. I'm not sure."

"Good girl. The next time you feel sick, I want you to tell us. If I'm here, you can come to me. You can also tell a guardian or anyone else from the personnel, any grown-up that is" he said.

It felt like what he was asking me was the only right thing to do. I couldn't understand why I would hide it in the first place. Of course I would tell them.

"We only want what's best for you, my dear. Can you please tell me what you should do the next time you feel sick?"

"I will tell you or someone else when I'm sick the next time" I said without hesitating. My words sounded a bit slurred.

"Good girl" he said and finally released me from his gaze. He smiled again as he said "why don't we get you some breakfast now?"