[Kaya POV]
I ran through the dirty slums of Alverton, ignoring the people who I’d knocked into in my rampage. Tears stread down my cheeks, hot and endless, blurring everything around as I ran. The once-familiar streets that I used to roam seed like an endless maze, and I couldn’t find the exit. Though, one thing remained constant…
Towering people who looked down on with faces of indifference and annoyance.
They all edged away from whenever I got close like I was a plague or a cockroach. No, so even spat in my direction, asking to scurry back into the ditch where I belonged. My chest hurt, not just from running but from the lump in my throat that wouldn’t go away. I kept bumping into legs and bags, muttering apologies that got swallowed by the chaos.
It was all so suffocating.
Was I not a human, too? Why am I treated so unfairly?
My parents ca to Alverton in the hope of an economic miracle. But they were scamd of all their money, forcing us to beco holess, living day-by-day on the streets. My mom was the first to leave after she found a new man, leaving our family behind in extre poverty. Embarrassed and out of hope, my father took his own life, unable to handle the pressure of his mistakes.
Although barely old enough to walk, we were forced to fend for ourselves. We scavenged for scraps, rummaged through trash, and even stole food to survive. It was a hard life when we didn’t know if we could see the next.
That was until… we t her.
The Warden. The owner of Alverton’s orphanage.
She found us when we were caught stealing bread and intervened for us when the police intervened. The Warden looked like a kind mother; her smile could calm our nervous hearts and bring a mont of peace into our chaotic lives. She gave us warm clothes and food, resolving our hunger that had been building up since our parents left us.
The Warden told us… she would take us back to the orphanage where we can live in peace and harmony.
The promise of warm clothes, a bath, and food was too good for us to turn down.
So, we followed her.
The first thing my sister and I saw was a massive building, unlike anything we had seen before. Compared to the cold streets of the slums, the orphanage was like heaven! Its grand entrances allowed plenty of warm sunlight in. It had luxuries I’d only heard about in stories, like crystal lights hanging from the ceiling or soft furniture that anyone could sit on!
Food was served to us three tis a day, and all of them were served hot! So of the food I tasted here was among the best in my life, even better than my mother’s cooking before we ca to Alverton! Our rooms and beds were even better! Everything was dry and warm! Read new adventures at .Côm
It was the best place for us to be! Compared to the cold streets where we were forced to steal food just to survive, it was perfection!
Also, the Warden promised that all the orphans here would be adopted within a year! So, we will have a new ho in no ti!
It was a perfect choice, and for a ti, it was an ideal life…
We had fun in the orphanage, made good friends, and lived in perfect harmony. There wasn’t anything to worry about, and we sisters lived together happily.
Until my sister… it was her turn to get adopted.
At first, it was a happy thing! She would be accepted into a loving family that would help her grow old and happy. She could live a life of abundance and never worry about food again! I was a little sad that we would be separated, but my sister promised to look for after a week, just to inform that she was okay. And even if she couldn’t visit, she promised to leave a ssage where we used to live, so that I would know she was doing fine.
And so, with teary eyes, I sent her off with a smile as we parted, hoping to hear the good news about her new life. A week passed, and I didn’t get any letter. At first, I thought that she was still settling down in her new ho and hadn’t gotten the opportunity to write anything.
Two weeks passed, and I still hadn’t heard anything. I suspected the post office may have misplaced her letter and that he would soon send another one.
Three weeks passed, and that’s when I started to worry. I complained to the caretakers, who said that it was common for orphans to forget their friends in the orphanage after leaving for their new lives. But they were talking about my sister. She wouldn’t forget about when we stood by each other all this ti.
And after a month, that’s when I had enough.
Finding an opportunity to sneak out, I went to our old slum ho. Our promise, my sister’s promise… even if she couldn’t write a letter due to her family circumstances, surely she would be able to leave a ssage at the place we once called ho, yet…
When I returned, the slum ho showed no signs of life. No ssage had been left, and only rats and roaches remained. And so, I began to question it.
Where was she?
Where was my sister?
Indeed, she was taken away. I saw her leave with my own eyes. But was she adopted? I can’t be sure anymore.
I returned to the orphanage, hoping to find so clues. I asked the caretakers, the children, the chefs, and everyone else, but they all told the sa thing…
My sister forgot about .
THERE’S NO WAY THAT’S TRUE!!!
I searched for the Warden, hoping to get so answers. If I could find the nas of the people who adopted my sister, I could find her myself! But before I could face the Warden, I overheard her talking to soone else.
Sothing about sending children away and needing more security as outsiders were getting suspicious.
I didn’t understand many words, but I could understand one thing.
My sister wasn’t adopted.
She was taken away, and she was in danger.
I ran away from the orphanage and went back to the slums. There, I was lucky to find a new family. Mirka took care of as if I were her actual child. She convinced I wasn’t crazy and introduced to the other resistance mbers.
Vekka gave a sense of duty, as I was vindicated of my worries. Hearing that there were more victims and not only orphans were missing made believe that sothing was wrong with the system and I needed to do sothing to change it.
Jacek and the others gave a ho, and the resistance beca my life.
I searched high and low to gain clues of where my sister went, even going against the law if I had to. None in the orphanage cared that I disappeared, and the Warden continued her evil ways in kidnapping children. Even after months without news about my sister, I never gave up.
I kept investigating, stealing and going against the police to find my sister.
And when I finally got a lead…
The law ca after .
I was chased when the person they had to bring to justice wasn’t . It was the Warden, the orphanage and everyone involved in kidnapping my sister. I was nothing more than a child who wanted her sister back.
My actions led to more people getting kidnapped and more vanishings. The number of people disappearing increased, and the police didn’t care! As if our lives ant nothing to them!
At this point, there was no one in the town that we could count on. Jacek said a hero was visiting Alverton, so I thought maybe I could find him, and it would finally free from this nightmare.
If the law wasn’t going to help us… help . Maybe a hero would?
I cried and cried as I stumbled through the crowd. Eventually, I hit a familiar face.
A man dressed in a purple uniform with the signature constable badge that I’d always avoided. And this man was the sa one who chased through the slums the day I stole from the Warden.
"Hmmm, wait! You are!!!"
"N-No!"
I imdiately ran the other way. I saw that the officer was in fast pursuit and had even called so friends to join. I ran hard, ducking in the crowd and rushing from street to street. My small stature could dodge most of it, but eventually, even the people who once stood by were now cheering for the police.
"Soone stop her!"
"Tch, an undesirable? Serve her right; she must have stolen sothing."
"Learning to steal at such a young age? How despicable."
I didn’t do anything!
I just want to find my sister! Why are they saying such evil things about ? Why am I the one being punished? Why am I always the one… who suffers?
I’m tired… I just want soone… anyone to help .
"Give up, girl! Return what you took for the Warden! Because of your actions, we’ve been given a good beating!"
"So this is the girl responsible for the Warden’s wrath? We really should kill her."
"Just focus on catching her! We’ll leave her to the Warden; that will be her ultimate punishnt!"
One beca two. Two beca four. Eventually, eight police officers were chasing . There was no way my tiny little legs could outrun eight grown n. Ultimately, I reached the end of the road onto the path that headed into the mountains. I knew I couldn’t go there but couldn’t go back because the police were blocking .
I gave up and tried the last thing I could.
I ran to the nearest person and begged.
"Please help !"
I hugged the legs of the nearest person. I could not see his face, but I didn’t care. I poured out my feelings to the man, praying for a miracle.
"Please help ! I’m not a bad person! I just… want to find my sister! They took her! They took her! Please help !"
I pointed at the officers, crying my heart out to the man who I couldn’t even see. I couldn’t even explain anything; I was just crying. Tears and snot stained his pants as I cried, but I continued anyway. This was my final hope. And as the man pulled my hands away from his legs, I felt my heart drop.
Ah, as expected. There was no such thing as a miracle. The man was going to turn into the police. Like everyone else, he disdained and was about to throw to the wolves.
Is this… the end?
Will I never get to see my sister again?
As I was about to accept my fate, the man’s commanding voice woke up.
"Okay."
Okay? What does he an, okay?
When I opened my eyes, the mist still in them, I saw the man I had just hugged push behind him. He stood before the eight police officers without a shred of fear and stared right at them as they tried to intimidate him.
"Hey, move aside! We have official police work!"
"Yeah, pretty boy! If you don’t want to get hurt, step aside!"
The man didn’t look threatened and simply said: "Leave, or I will be forced to act."
"Huh? Are you in your right mind? Do you know who you’re protecting, a criminal that our…"
"Hah… How troubleso."
I watched as the man stopped pretending to cooperate, his calm deanour vanishing as he stepped forward. That was all it took. One by one, the officers dropped like puppets with their strings cut. So hit the ground convulsing, foam bubbling at their mouths, while others shook so violently it made my stomach turn.
The worst part was the sll—sharp and acrid—piss and shit staining their uniforms as they lay there, helpless. My heart pounded as I fought the urge to retch, every instinct screaming at to run, but I couldn’t move.
What had I just witnessed?
What did that man do?
I couldn’t breathe as I finally mustered up the courage to look up at his face, which was staring at indifferently.
I saw it.
His golden, lizard-looking eyes. They were opposites to his jet-black hair, which made him all the more scary.
Rather than an angel sent to protect , the man looked like the devil. His face didn’t look kind, and he seed to have no intention of saving anyone. Just his eyes alone were enough to terrify to sleep. But, as I gasped for air, I realised one crucial fact…
Were the police always good? No.
Were criminals always evil? Definitely not.
But even if they were…
I would shake hands with the devil if it ant saving my sister.
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