[Jim]
It's all a blur.
This place... It's- *Hic*
... Am I crying? Don't tell me...
I took a step forward, worried. However, a slimy noise stopped me dead in my tracks, as if I were walking in the rain. A putrid smell reached me before I could react to the unpleasant texture sticking to my heels.
*Hic*
My eyes instinctively darted to the ground, as if I'd been there before. And yet, I seemed to refuse reality, unable to accept that nothing would ever be the same again. Is this what's going to sink me? Why can't I just forget?
*Hic*
The tears kept coming as my legs lost their strength. Making me inevitably fall into the red immensity spreading before me. Please leave me alone...
My breathing quickened to the frantic rhythm of my heartbeat, which could be heard in the abysmal silence of my home.
I want to go home. Back to my soothing daily life at my parents' side. The crackling of the wood fire coupled with the smell of my mother's cooking. What have I done to deserve this? "Ji-?"
My eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, revealing the object of my torment. Lying in a pool of blood...
*Mom... ?*
« JIM?! » — I awake with a start —
« W- what?! » I saw a little girl crush my torso, as I had just woken up on the sofa I had inadvertently fallen asleep on. « Elsa? Why did you wake me up? » I asked, still a little stunned by this sudden awakening.
Another, slightly older girl came towards me with a disillusioned air. « You shouldn't have fallen asleep, you slacker. » No doubt about it, this is Lisa and her haughtiness. « We've made up our minds, and to cheer Father up, we want to surprise him. We want to make dinner before he gets home, but we don't know the first thing about cooking. Can you help us? »
Of course it had to be this. I may be the oldest in the orphanage, but I'm only 11 years old. How could I have even a tenth of Father's cooking skills? « I wonder what you'd do without me. » I said in an ironic tone accompanied by a slight sneer.
« Don't take the piss! We're just a little... afraid... of fire... » she stammered, embarrassed. I got up from the sofa and let out a few snatches of laughter.
It's true that here, everyone has a story similar to mine, I really feel at home, so I have no reason to feel sad. After all, everyone here understands and helps each other, Father teaches and educates us, and the other kids and I help out with the household chores. I really feel like I've found a real family again.
At least, if you don't count Taren and Nora. We were raised under the same roof, adopted by the same father; we ate the same bread, slept in the same beds, and played the same childhood games. And yet they never feel involved in the concerns of their home. They may have superhuman abilities far superior to ours, but that's no reason to ignore the only people who care about them.
For my part, I'm neither hot nor cold about it, but I refuse to let them put my family through the same thing I went through.
They remind me of my father. Playing the hero, pretending to do it for the good of others, but unable to protect their own family. One day they'll die, and there'll be no one left to mourn them. I don't care if they're not interested in this place, because I love this decrepit little house.
Maybe one day this family I've made will disperse and we'll never see each other again. But in the meantime, I'm happy to have found a place I can call home.
Suddenly, the front door shattered with a thunderous crash. We all fell to the ground, taken aback by such a relentless attack on a door that no longer worked in any case. Just then, three grown men entered the house, over-equipped with various weapons.
« Where are those two kids?! » he ordered aggressively to anyone in a position to reply.
Still bewildered by what had just happened, I couldn't think straight - I'd barely heard the question. Panic seemed to grip me as one of the men grabbed one of the children by the collar to threaten him. « We asked you where they are! » I then regained consciousness in a fit of despair and, struggling to get to my feet, interposed myself in front of the man.
« We don't know who you're talking about! » I bellowed at the men, praying they'd gone to the wrong place and turned back.
« Ho~? Are you trying to be clever? We know very well that these two little bastards live here so tell us right away and maybe you'll suffer less! » BAM! A fist slammed into my face, knocking me back several meters.
« Argh! » It hurts! What just happened? Did he hit me? My head is spinning... Blood?! I'm bleeding!
The man approached me, pulling a pocketknife from his belt. I was far too panicked to see him coming, and all I could do was cry out in fright.
Why is this happening?! They said "two kids". Are they talking about Taren and Nora? Are they looking for them? But why? What could they have done?
Just as the man was about to slash at me, another hoarse voice intruded on the action, echoing even over the din of the scene.
« Stop right there. » Said the fourth man entering the room.
Imposing. A giant of a man. Next to his stature, we looked like insects he could sweep away with a single breath. How was it possible to see such a monster in a poor orphanage? Faced with him, all questions were trivial. The only thing that crossed my mind when I saw him was our inevitable death.
« Wolf! What are you doing here? It's just a little business. There's no reason for you to bother about kids. » Said one of the henchmen.
« Idiot! By insulting my clan they've insulted me too, so it concerns me too. »
Liar. Even half-conscious, I could clearly detect that the bastard's expression exhibited only one emotion : an undeniable desire to kill.
« But why did you stop me? » wondered the armed man who'd been about to cut me down in cold blood a few seconds earlier.
« Let's see... don't you think killing them one by one in front of the other two brats would be much more entertaining? » He advanced, clearly displaying his true motivation. « Where are they anyway? »
« These kids won't tell us. And no matter how hard we search the house, we can't find them. »
« Really? » he pronounced with an appalling sneer.
The man he called 'Wolf' then moved towards the sofa before gently lying down on it, as if he wanted to start a nap. This benign act, placed in this particular context, made the scene indescribably unbearable.
« In that case, kill one every minute until they reveal their whereabouts. » He ordered, lying back on the sofa with his eyes closed, as if to say he was safe. How could a man be so serene while uttering such atrocious words?
« No problem. » Affirmed the henchman as he stepped towards the children, clustered in the corner of the room, trembling with fright.
I've got to do something, anything. Taren and Nora aren't here. Did they run away? Why does everything always have to end badly?
I didn't have time to think before the man grabbed Lisa by the wrist and ordered her to reveal Taren and Nora's hiding place. Nevertheless, it was impossible for her to utter a single word, which had the effect of enraging the threatening man even more.
« If you don't want my blade to pierce your eye sockets, you'd better start talking, girl. » He announced, slowly cupping her cheek with his penknife.
« Aagh! » Lisa's moans reached me, but no matter how much I wanted to help her, fear paralyzed me. Stop it. I couldn't take it anymore. It was going to happen again. I was going to lose my family again. Don't...
My mother died during a robbery gone wrong, while my father was too busy pretending to defend humanity to protect us, his own family. And just afterwards, I learned of my father's death on the battlefield. I was in despair, having lost everything to a man who had chosen his priorities poorly, and to my own weakness. But Father took me in, gave me a home, brothers and sisters, and a reason to protect them.
And yet, here I am, on the ground, unable to protect anything, and watching helplessly as my beloved new family is slaughtered. Am I destined to lose everything over and over again? To struggle vainly in a world that seeks to bury me? I'm fed up, I'd rather die than live like this...
« Let her go!!! » Brailled a high-pitched voice, like salvation in this perpetual anguish.
Phil? It was a 6-year-old boy who had stepped in to protect Lisa. But why, Phil? You've no chance of changing the situation, so why?
« What does that kid want? Let go of me, damn it! »
« Let her go! You naughty people! »
... What the hell am I doing? ... I'm the oldest, I'm the one who's supposed to step in. So what the hell am I doing feeling sorry for myself when my family's in danger? No one's coming to help us and maybe I don't stand a chance, but giving up so easily is out of the question. It doesn't matter if I die, but no one will touch my family!!
« Very well, if you don't let go of me you'll be the first! » alerted the henchman, ready to skewer Phil with a flick of his blade. Nevertheless, he suddenly received a blow to the head obviously from a spoon thrown approximately at him. « Huh? »
A figure appeared, speeding towards the man's abdomen. The latter had no time to react other than with a brief thought: "He's going to stab me!". The shock had little impact, but it was enough to destabilize the man to the point where he let go of Lisa, even as he imagined himself bleeding to death. Nevertheless...
« ... I'm... okay? » exclaimed the man, himself surprised to find no wounds. He then looked down, realizing that the person who had charged him simply didn't have a weapon.
In reality, I had absolutely no idea how to defeat this man, and had only acted on pure instinct, trying to block the man by tackling him. But my lack of strength prevented me from even jostling him.
« What do you think you're doing? You think we're playing?! » he yelled at me, pulling my hair, nevertheless, I refused to let go. Maybe I couldn't defeat him, but I wouldn't let him kill anyone!
The enraged man began slapping me on the back, threatening to kill me. But I didn't listen any more, all I could think about was protecting them, my family, from these monsters. I didn't care if I had to die!
« I told you to let go of me! » The man hit me hard in the stomach, making me instantly let go and fall to the ground. « You, I'm saving you last. » He said, coming dangerously close to the other children.
"No! I won't let you!!!" I thought, drawing on all my strength not to faint. I grabbed the man's ankle with my right hand, desperate to save them.
« Bahaha! You're being disrespected by a kid, loser! » Said another henchman watching the scene from a few yards away.
« Are you really looking to die first?! » Bellowed the man, enraged by my determination, as he prepared to slash at me.
I won't let go! I won't let go! I won't let go!
Please, anyone, come to our rescue! I never want to see my family die before my eyes again! I can't save them myself. So if heroes exist... please... anyone... just one person... just one.
A creak echoed through the room. Accompanied by a delicate footstep on the hall floor. Who's that... ? With the door wide open, the light dazzled me. A slight figure holding a bottle in his right hand. All noises stopped and everyone in the room turned towards the mysterious figure. My eyes widened as I adjusted to the blinding light, gradually revealing the identity of this saving figure... Nora?
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