Tw: mentions and depictions of violence,as well as child abuse
The three had led him hand in hand through seemingly unending halls. As they kept moving through the ivory-white halls of the of the orphanage,more and more stained-glass imagery passed by them. Imagery that was unlike the one he had seen in halls; Imagery of beings who were too skeletal to be alive; Beings whose monstrous mouths stretched down to the breasts; Beings who bore a complexion akin to a pearl; Beings whose hair began their origin from the back of their neck and stretched down to their hip as it embedded itself into their skin. Grotesque. Abhorrent. Vile.
They were all being done away with a blade that was ripping through their flesh.
Adonis found himself sticking more to his group,before crashing against Suri's back as the other three came to an abrupt stop.
"And we're here!",Amare said cheerfully.
"The teacher will probably come in a few minutes. You should probably sit here till then",Perse remarked in a casual manner as he scratched some of the peeling paint away from the wall.
Adonis glanced hesitantly at the room. There was no other person in it,only a single seat,black walls enclosed the room,contrasting badly with the floor that had the same colour. The only object for "contrast" was a pink larkspur in a potted plant that was settled on top of a shelf that was painted the same colour as the walls!
"Do I have to?", Adonis questioned. The disgust present in his voice was evident. "It looks so ugly." And I don't want to be left alone in this place was left unspoken.
Perse just looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
Adonis felt his cheeks warm up with embarrassment.
"Sorry", He said in a quiet tone to Perse.
The three turned around and left.
Adonis slowly went into the room and sat down on the single chair,gazing around at the room as he scratched at the skin of his arm,the fear growing with every second.
It wasn't long before a woman entered,wearing the same clothes as all the adults in the orphanage. The colour of her black robe blended in with the walls,making her look like a head in a porcelain mask that was floating without it's body.
"You're the new child here, aren't you?",the lady remarked,her voice dignified and dull.
Adonis just looked up at the porcelain mask staring at him. He felt his hands trembling. He merely nodded his head slightly,hoping she would leave it at that.
She then moved to the board at the center of the wall.
"Your first lesson will be about how the sunflower organization works", She stated,grabbing a chalk and drawing the figure of a sun,with an eye in the middle. "This is the symbol of the organization."
As time passed by,she told him all about the existence of different beings called "monsters",how the organization works to hunt monsters,the vile parasites who steal crops from villages,the worms who steal village children to eat them,the rats who keep on breeding and growing their population in order to our number the humans one day.
These monsters are unlike us,she said,we make sure to hunt them down to lessen their population,and then capture and breed out the correct ones to harvest their blood.
He nodded slowly along with each sentence.
As the class ended,she told him to get the notes for the other classes from other students,as he will be made to start in the middle of the session.
He slowly shuffled to his feet,his mind filled with questions he was not brave enough to ask. As he looked towards the board,he could only see the note the teacher had written in front of him
"Their blood is the only good thing about them"
After attending grammar and science classes,in which many other kids along with those three were present,he was back in his room for the night.
He looked at himself in front of the mirror,noticing a slight honey-yellow tint to his usually black eyes. He moved his hand up to look more clearly before freezing.
His wrist had that same symbol.
The sun that bore an eye in it's middle.
"When the hell did that get the-"
"I did not think of you as someone who would talk to himself."
Adonis looked behind him to see the source of the voice. It was Perse.
"Anyways,i came here to bring you the notes of the classes that you have to complete", Perse said casually.
"Oh- thank you", Adonis replied,still embarrassed.
An awkward silence followed.
Adonis sighed before he spoke, "I've just been feeling so lost and confused,i mean, I can't remember anything from before this place,i found out monsters exist, it's just-", a pause, "...terrifying".
The vulnerability in his voice scared even him. From his previous conversations,Perse had seemed like the type to be judgemental,yet Adonis felt that he could be so open with him,for reasons even he didn't know.
Perse didn't say a word. He turned around to leave,reaching for something in his slingbag,when a notepad fell out of it.
Adonis picked it up,his eyes widening.
1:00 PM- The new kid had made a fuss when he had to drink the water the priest had given him,I had to grab his face and make him drink it. A bit rebellious,but I'm sure he will listen to you all.
1:30 PM- Adonis seems more like the shy type,I think the previous rebellion was more out of fear
3:00 PM- He had returned from his first class. He seemed rather lost most of the time,kind of like I was...
"Are these... Reports of my behaviours?"
"Give those back to me!", Perse snatched the papers before moving to leave.
"Why in the world are you reporting my behaviour!?", Adonis replied. He felt betrayed,he felt like a fool for trusting someone this quickly.
"That's none of your concern!", as soon as Perse said this,he put his hand on the door knob to open it.
"You don't get to leave before telling me why the hell do you have those written!",Adonis sneered, grabbing Perse's wrist harshly.
He was met with a sudden bloom of pain to his left cheek,making him stumble back. Perse had made a run for it. He couldn't let him escape till he had his answers.
After recovering from the shock of being hit,Adonis ran after him,moving quickly through the halls wherever he thought Perse had went.
It wasn't long till he had gotten lost.
He slowed down,wandering through the imposing halls of the orphanage. It was already night time and his teacher had told him that the children were not allowed out of their room after this time. There was little to no light throughout the halls.
Feeling uneasy,he decided to turn back to try and search where he came from,when the sound of stained glass shattering overwhelmed his ears. He turned around to notice some teenagers older than him,a group of boys around four,they were chuckling among themselves and had flashlights in their hands.
Adonis just looked at them silently,he was sure they hadn't noticed him. He opened his mouth to speak when another loud noise rang through his ears.
"ADONIS!",The voice was thundering,the anger was more than clear. It was one of the adults in the orphanage. Five more of them came and grabbed the four boys by their wrists.
The one who has said his name approached him.
"What are you doing here at this time?",The obsidian eyes of the mask looked down at Adonis. The small sun patterns painted on the flat porcelain mask that seemed to mold in the man's face seemed more visible now.
"What are you doing here?", The man repeated. Anger clear in his voice as he reached down to grab Adonis.
It was Perse that had said this,his voice breathless.
"He was with me. We were going to my room so that he could finish his notes with me,but he had gotten lost along the way"
Upon hearing Perse's words,the man looked at Adonis again. Adonis was sure the tremble in his hands was visible now.
"... I'm gonna excuse you this time. Now leave", The man sneered before turning his attention to the four teenagers.
Perse led him back to his room.
"The higher ups had ordered me to take notes. It's what's done with every new member", Perse had spoken softly. "The new children of the orphanage are more easily replaceable... You should be more careful. I'd rather they not make you mute"
The last sentence had confused Adonis,though he did not speak of it. He did not want more trouble than he had already gotten into.
In the morning,Suri had guided him through the halls to the dining room. "I heard that some teenagers broke in last night",Suri remarked as he tied his hair into a ponytail while walking. "The adults who found them had let them go,but just this morning they were apparently found dead in the woods,half of their bodies were missing. Said to be the work of a tiger"
The casualness in Suri's tone made Adonis nauseous.
When he reached the dining hall for breakfast,he sat with the group. Amare had started chatting almost instantly. Soon,the food came; Simple vegetables with a fried egg.
His breakfast looked different.
It was a piece of meat,a type of meat he didn't recognise. It was barely seasoned,it looked raw.
"If you interact with a person that is not from the orphanage again,then you will have to eat this as punishment. Remember,the children wear sun shaped earrings,and the adults wear porcelain masks and black robes",The server said in a matter of fact tone.
Adonis nodded slowly,just looking at the meat placed in front of him. It's texture looked... Weird,to say the least.
He slowly put a bite into his mouth with his fork. The chattering of the children all around him seemed to vanish under the revulsion he felt.
It tasted a little like pork,but disgusting and different.
