Part 7: Pride
How do you grieve?
Do you cry? Scream?
Even if you find the strength to fight the emptiness...how do you win?
I've rarely seen a human break free of those shackles. Each time I come to collect, there is always a struggle.
Something left undone, words left unsaid, but time waits for no one. When your time is up, that's it. You're whisked to the land of grieving gods and dismal demons, the same as everyone else, for you see death does not discriminate.
"These are the new reports, sir. Greed is doing well. Envy is catching up to them. Lust seems to have hit a little bump in the road but Asmodeus assured us they had a plan."
A deep rumbling voice from behind me settled in my bones. "And the others?"
I shuddered. "Gluttony has just lost another employee and there was another massacre in Wrath but everything is still running smoothly. Sloth has just finished their comb-through of the section of Limbo you assigned them. Everything seems to have gone well there too."
"Good," his voice resounded, each syllable bouncing off the intricate pillars of the room.
Gathering my courage, I turned to place the department reports on his desk. From the corner of my eyes, I could see his feathers flutter against the bright gold ring of eyes on his head.
"Vincent." The sound of my name sunk into my stomach.
I often wondered how he even spoke without a mouth but I wasn't brave enough to stare for too long to find out.
"Yes sir?"
"I have a new task for you."
I straightened up, waiting for him to continue.
"There are a handful of our partners that haven't been paying their monthly dues. I need you to go and collect."
I nodded. If there was one thing Lucifer hated more than rejection, it was people who didn't keep their word. Sometimes his business partners wouldn't be able to meet the demands of his contracts and sooner or later begin to try and pull the wool over his eyes to hide their failings. But nobody was ever able to fool him.
Nobody ever won against him.
Without another word, he sent me on my way and I did as I always had. Donning my black robes I made my way down to the ferry. Some folks from Gluttony were busy loading their newly deceased onto the boat by the time I arrived. You see while we handled the souls of newly deceased humans, there wasn't anywhere that was equipped to deal with the withered souls of our own people. So we sent them down the river to Hades and he would take care of them.
It just so happened that my first stop of the day was down the river as well.
"No other souls to ferry today?"
"None so far," I replied, handing the ferryman my fee.
His long boney fingers examined the coin before slipping into his robe and allowing me onto the boat.
The ride was always silent, the waters always still. It was dark but not in a dirty way. The only way to tell it was even water was when the boat drifted by and left fading ripples in its wake. Otherwise, the water was so still that it reflected everything like the surface of a mirror.
As we approached Hades' domain, a looming mountain came into view. The lanterns lighting the path upwards glistened beautifully against the water. It was so serene that I almost forgot just how poisonous the river was. Sometimes souls driven mad in Limbo would be taken to the river to be disposed of. It was impossible to save them once they were driven mad by the fog so there was nothing else we could do but round them up and lead them into the river. The poisonous waters would destroy whatever was left of their empty souls.
The ferryman pointed to the base of the mountain, his rotting skin and rigid movements reminding me of exactly what would happen should one fall for the allure of the river's beauty. He dropped me off and continued down the river to deposit the withered souls he collected from us, leaving me to make the trek up the mountain myself.
Tall skyscrapers lined by the dim glow of blue lanterns awaited me atop the mountain. I followed them through the winding streets until I arrived at the entrance to the tallest building on the mountain. The glass building looked as though it was clad in the same ethereal waters as the river.
"It's been a while, Vince. Your presence has yet again managed to ruin my day."
I smiled. "Good to see you too Hecate. You've been expecting me I imagine."
She nodded. "Of course. So who is it this time?" She asked as she led me up to Hades' office.
"Our good pal Thanatos made a deal with Lucifer. I don't know all the details but Thanatos was to give Lucifer a portion of the ambrosia he received each month in exchange for something. Unfortunately, he hasn't been delivering as of late."
Hecate didn't reply. She moved in front of me, opening the door to Hades' office. "Sir, Vincent has arrived."
His presence was overwhelming, but not quite in the same way as Lucifer's. His dark hair appeared deep blue when the light hit it. The sight of his hands clasped together as he waited for us to enter pulled a distant memory to the forefront of my mind. The longer I stared at the man in front of me, the clearer the memory became. From his pristine suit to his curly hair neatly being swept out of his face.
Then it hit me.
The moment Hecate shut the door behind me and he lifted his head, the stray strands of hair that fell into his face shifted, clearly revealing the deep cracks in his skin. The pulsed in a golden hue and travelled down his face and beneath his suit. His cracked smile forced the memory I had been struggling to recall to suddenly become crystal clear.
That's right...
His wounds...
90 Years ago
"Don't run in the halls!"
Miss Clara yelled after us as we dashed through the halls of the orphanage. Eden Orphanage was the most reputable orphanage on this side of the city. It was a huge building lined with beautifully sculpted pillars. With gorgeous gardens and intricate decor, it felt more like a castle to the children that lived there. Of course, I was no exception.
The other kids ran ahead of me while I slipped underneath a table. I heard the sound of light footsteps getting closer with each breath I took until finally, I could see her feet from beneath the table cloth. I held my hand over my mouth to repress a giggle but it was to no avail. The table cloth was pulled aside and she poked her head beneath the table.
"Found you!"
Désirée smiled at me, pulling me out from beneath the table. I laughed as she did, dusting myself off.
"I win!"
"What? No, you don't! You haven't even found everyone else yet!"
She shook her head. "Nope. They ran into me before I found you."
I groaned. "Fine. A deal's a deal. You can have my strawberries for dessert."
She squealed excitedly and grabbed my hand once more. We walked hand in hand to the dining room where the other kids were waiting. I got along well with everyone in the orphanage but Désirée was the person I was closest to. She was the only other kid there around my age. At the time, we were about 13 or 14. The other kids were significantly younger.
Just as we had done many nights before, we finished our supper and waited until everyone was asleep. As soon as the coast was clear we snuck out into the gardens and navigated through the tall hedges to our secret little garden fort. Crawling under the blankets we had hidden there, I pulled out my flashlight and shone it onto the wall while Désirée made various shadows with her hands.
I laughed along with each of her shadowy tales, resting my head on her shoulder as she told them. "You know, I think you would be a really good storyteller. Maybe you should become a writer."
Désirée put her hands down. I didn't need to see her face to know that a melancholy look had once again filled her otherwise bright eyes. "I have to get out of here first...but nobody wants a kid our age."
I frowned along with her. She was right. We were "too old" for most families but too young to do anything for ourselves. It was a strange kind of limbo that trapped us in the orphanage. Although, I suppose there were worst places to be.
"Well let's make a deal then. Miss Clara said she would talk to the headmaster about letting me go and work as an errand boy for the post office down the street. Once I save up enough money, I can marry you and we can get out of here!"
Désirée's smile returned. "What if I get adopted before then?"
"Well, then you can marry me and whisk me away from this place!"
She laughed, returning to making her shadows. "It's a promise then."
Call it childhood naivete but our big plans for the future were harder to achieve than we first thought. Tired and hungry, I returned to the orphanage after a long day at work. The kids were whispering and laughing amongst themselves the way they would whenever they heard of a particularly juicy secret.
"What's going on?" I asked. "Why are we whispering?"
Some of the kids pointed towards the common room. We crept up to the door and cracked it open just enough for us to peek inside. Désirée and the headmaster were speaking with a couple. They looked to be rather wealthy, dressed in fine coats and decorated with jewels. The woman leaned down, her big emerald earrings catching the light as she did so. She took Désirée's face in her hand and tilted her head from side to side as if she was examining her.
"She's perfect. We'll take her."
The other kids and I shuffled away as they made their way to the door. Once Désirée was alone I ran up to her, excitedly taking her hands into mine.
"Did you hear that? You're getting adopted!"
She smiled, nervously chuckling. I rose an eyebrow.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah! Of course! I'm just nervous."
She fidgeted with the cheap handmade pendant that hung from the string around her neck, something she always did whenever she was lying, but I relented anyway.
"...when are you leaving?" I asked.
"Tonight."
"So soon? I would think they'd at least pick you up tomorrow morning!"
Désirée shook her head. "I heard them talking before they brought me into the room. Apparently, their daughter is sick and it doesn't look like she'll get better. Her twin sister already passed from a similar illness but I look a lot like them so they chose me...the sooner they bring me home the better I suppose."
"Désirée! Everything's ready. Come say goodbye!"
The headmaster's voice drifted into the room. Désirée and I looked at each other. None of us had much when it came to personal possessions, so Miss Clara and the headmaster were able to gather her things rather quickly. The only thing worth any kind of value to her was probably her necklace. Imagine my surprise when she pulled it over her head and handed it to me.
"Keep it."
"Bu—"
She pushed it into my hands. "You can give it back to me when I come to whisk you away," she said with a smile. "It's a promise, right?"
"...right."
She let go of my hands, her warmth lingering as she walked away. I watched from the window as her new parents took her into their carriage and it disappeared over the hill in the distance. I wondered if they would treat her right or if she was really just a replacement.
No.
They have so much money. Why would they need to do such things if they were so prosperous? They probably just wanted to bring the dying girl some comfort so they brought in someone who looked like her sister.
That night, Miss Clara was instructed to remove whatever remained in the bedrooms. By the next morning, it was as if Désirée never existed at all.
5 years later
Ever since Désirée left, I began spending more time at work. I loved the other kids at the orphanage but there wasn't anyone I was as close to, so whenever I was there, it was like I was all alone, but I trusted Désirée. I trusted she would come back and marry me, just as we promised all those years ago.
One evening on my route back from the post office I happened to catch sight of a familiar-looking carriage. There's no way I would have forgotten that delicately painted seal on the doors. Against my better judgment, I walked a little closer, trying to peer through the windows. The thought that Désirée would be inside made my heart flutter with excitement.
To my dismay, it wasn't her sitting inside the carriage but someone else. They looked quite similar but I could tell it wasn't her. She laughed and chatted with the coachman standing at the door. It looked as though they were waiting for something.
Glancing around, I gagged the little voice in my head telling me not to go and quietly approached them.
"Hello! Are you the young lady of the Laurent family?"
They turned to look at me. They seemed a little apprehensive at first but we're polite nonetheless.
"Yes, that would be me."
"Ah! I thought so! My friend Désirée was adopted by your family about 5 years ago from Eden orphanage! We haven't been in contact since though, how is she?"
The girl's smile faded into a look of pity. She turned away, not answering. Before I could ask her what was wrong I was pulled back and thrown to the ground.
"What filth! How dare you harass my daughter!"
I recognized that voice. It was the man who had come to adopt Désirée. Scrambling to my feet, I clutched my now dirtied hat to my chest.
"You're mistaken, sir! I only wanted to ask if Désirée was doing well! We haven't spoken since you adopted her I just—"
The man drew his hand back and before I could so much as blink, he slapped me hard across the face.
"What nonsense! We don't know anybody like that! Keep your sick fantasies to yourself and leave my daughter out of it!"
I opened my mouth to protest, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. The man's wife pulled him into the carriage with her.
"I told you we shouldn't spend too much time in these parts. These people are mad. Let's go before we catch something."
The carriage drove off leaving me in the dust with my swollen face. It was only when they were gone did I notice the crowd that had formed due to the scene they caused. They all looked at me like I was some kind of scoundrel. Of course, I couldn't really blame them. Who would believe a poor errand boy approached such a prestigious family with good intentions? In my shame, I walked the rest of the way home with my head down, not daring to meet the eyes of anyone who looked at me.
At dinner, everyone gathered at the table as usual excitedly telling Miss Clara and the headmaster about their days. The headmaster must have noticed how distracted I was. I just couldn't stop thinking about what happened. What did they mean they didn't know Désirée? Could I have mistaken someone else for the people who took her? No, the girl said she was from the Laurent family. So then where was Désirée?
"Vincent? Something wrong? You've been rather quiet tonight."
"No sir...it's just...I ran into the folks that adopted Désirée today. I asked how she was doing but they said that they didn't know anybody by that name so I was just—"
The headmaster's haughty laugh cut me off. "Oh dear, it seems the work is getting to you son. Who is this Désirée? You're a bit too old for imaginary friends now don't you think?"
My head snapped up. Miss Clara and the headmaster were laughing. So were the other kids. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was unfortunate but quite a bit of children passed through the orphanage. Still, I didn't think it was enough for them to forget her. She and I were the ones that were here the longest.
A sudden thought came to mind and I hurriedly pulled the necklace I was wearing out of my shirt. It was the same one Désirée had given me before she left. Until then, there wasn't a single day she went without wearing it. There's no way they wouldn't recognize it!
"It was the girl who always wore this! Désirée! Do you remember now?"
The headmaster slammed his fist down on the table. "Silence! Your little joke has gone on for long enough Vincent. Since you'd rather spout nonsense than eat your supper, you may spend the rest of the night in your room."
I looked around the table to see everyone looking at me with concern. How could they not remember? Unwilling to hear any more of my protests, he had Miss Clara take my plate away while the other teachers pulled me away from the table. They tossed me into my room, slamming the door shut as I stumbled inside. I heard the lock click from the outside and cursed to myself.
Without much else to do, I slumped onto my bed and ruminated on today's events until my head ached. I was so lost in thought that I hadn't even noticed that the sun had finally gone down. A quiet knocking at the balcony door halted my spiral of self-pity and confusion. I pulled the curtains to the side to see one of the kids crouched on the balcony outside my room. Most of the children younger than Désirée and I had been adopted since her adoption but Edgar was one of the few that hadn't been.
I cracked the door open and was immediately pulled down with him." I have to tell you something," he whispered with urgency.
"What is it?"
"Something's not right Vince. While you were at work another family came to adopt one of the younger kids. I heard them talking to the headmaster about a hefty donation in exchange for a boy that looked like their deceased son."
I suddenly remembered what Désirée had told me before she left. "So what though? They're still getting to live comfortably, so what if they had to pretend to be someone else? I would."
"That's not all. Just last week someone else came to adopt a kid, but it was a single man. He didn't look like the other nobles but he definitely had a ton of money. I noticed him come in every month or so. At first, I thought maybe he was a messenger for some family but then I heard him talking to the headmaster. He said he was looking for another fresh offering."
"...what the hell does that mean?" I asked, trying my best to push the worst speculations out of my mind.
"You know who left with him? You remember one of the new boys? The pretty blond hair, blue-eyed one all the adults were fawning over? Well, the man took one look at him and started going on about how perfect he was and how he looked exactly like an angel. The other kids are too young to realize it, but something really shady is going on. Every time a kid gets adopted the adults get rid of their stuff and pretend like they don't exist."
"T-That's ridiculous! Why woul—"
"Look at what happened today! I once asked why Désirée never sent us any letters and I got locked in my room for days! They just told you all I was being punished for something else! But every night the headmaster would come in and tell me that I should leave the past in the past and whenever I asked questions or resisted he'd burn me."
He pulled his sleeves up to reveal deep scars along his hands.
"That's the game they're playing. They break your will to resist so you never ask any questions. I have a feeling the headmaster is going to do the same to you once dinner is over."
My breath was shaky, it felt like I was going to pass out. "You should have told me sooner!"
"I couldn't! Nobody else ever asked anything. As far as I knew the headmaster had shut everyone up and no one would talk. It wasn't until you asked him in front of everyone that I realized there was still someone who cared!"
"S-So what do we do..."
"You have to get out before the headmaster gets here. I'll stall him. I heard that the adults were talking some kids to the slums downtown after they were done with them. Maybe that's where they took Désirée too."
The sound of footsteps approaching made us panic. "Shit! What if that's him?"
Edgar stood up and crawled over the balcony railings and onto his balcony next door. "I'll distract him. Get out!" He rushed into his room and not a second later his booming voice could be heard outside my room spouting whatever idle chatter he could to keep the headmaster busy.
My route in the post office often took me near the place he had mentioned so I knew exactly where to go. I wasted no time in hopping over the balcony and climbing down the thick vines that crawled across the building. I ran as fast as my legs would take me down to the slums, partially hoping that Edgar was wrong.
It had begun to rain not long after I left. Nobody paid me any mind. I was exhausted and dirty, having run all the way here on the muddy roads. As far as they were concerned, I was just another boy that lived in the slums. There weren't many places where someone would leave a girl in the slums. So I marched straight up to the one place that made the most sense.
"Pleasures of Dusk" was craved haphazardly across a rotting wooden sign, though I'm sure most of the folks here couldn't read it, the dim lanterns and fragrant scent that overtook your senses whenever you got close to the women beckoning at you made it clear what kind of place this was.
I scanned the faces of all the women standing outside to see if any of them looked familiar, but none of them did. I thought of asking one of them but a loud scream stopped me.
"STUPID BITCH!"
A man stumbled out of the alley next to the brothel, angrily zipping his pants up. A woman followed shortly after him. She leaned against the side of the building, wiping the blood from her nose. The woman next to her helped clean her up.
"Did you bite him again?" I heard her ask.
"Just like I said I would."
I'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was her.
"Désirée!"
Her eyes widened and she froze the second we made eye contact. I must have looked insane to her, covered in mud and breathing heavily.
The girl next to her nudged her. "Do you know him? Should I call the others to chase him off?"
Désirée scrunched her nose up. "No, I got this." She walked up to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the alley she had come out of not too long ago.
She leaned back against the wall, pulling her shawl over her thin dress. "What are you doing here?" She asked coldly.
"I came to find you! Edgar said he overheard the headmaster mention the slums so we thought you might be here."
"Well, you've found me. You can go back now."
It felt like I couldn't breathe. This was no longer the sweet girl I promised to marry. She looked worn out and guarded with dark bruises scattered along her legs. The light in her eyes was nowhere to be found. I pulled her necklace off of my neck and handed it to her.
"...I promised to give this back when I saw you again...do you remember."
For a second, her expression softened, but she didn't take it. Instead, she turned away from me, glancing back at the front of the alley.
"Why did you come to find me?"
I explained everything that happened but her expression didn't change. She just nodded, like she was confirming something.
"Let's get out of here Désirée. You don't belong here."
I reached out to hold her hand but she yanked it away. "So where do I belong then? Huh, Vince?"
"With me! Like we promised! I have enough money we can—"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THOSE STUPID PROMISES ANYMORE! Do you know how I ended up here? The girl everyone thought wouldn't make it, got better. They kept her illness a secret and used me as a stand-in to make everyone in their little circle think that their family was as perfect and pristine as ever, but as soon as she got better, there was no longer any use for me. They paid the headmaster a handsome amount of money for me though so to make up for it, they sold me to this brothel. Now I'll be here working to pay off that debt for the rest of my life."
Everything I thought I wanted to say to her died in my throat. I could do nothing but listen in silence.
"It wasn't just me either," she continued. "You remember Amelie? The youngest of us? Well while I was living with that family I heard that a friend of my darling father had bought her from the headmaster to use in one of his monthly gatherings." Désirée leaned in. "Do you know what they did to her?"
I wanted to beg her not to tell me, but the words still refused to leave my lips.
"One night he took the family to this gathering. His friend was quite religious, but he took it too far and his friends supported his delusions so they could all indulge in their sick pleasures. Amelie was brought out and tied to an altar where she was violated and sacrificed to whatever blasted demon that disgusting man wanted to summon! I wanted so badly to escape but father said that if I so much as spoke of what he bought me for, then he would make me the next offering at their little gathering."
Désirée's voice cracked as she spoke. She gasped, choking back tears. Lowering her head, she began to speak again. "Haven't you ever wondered why the orphanage looks so rich? I didn't until I realized that the headmaster receives large donations from these people and in exchange, they get to do whatever they please with us. When they don't need us any more they sell us to places like this to make up for the money lost when buying us or they kill us and wash their hands of the situation."
I dropped to my knees. I didn't know what to do. There wasn't anything I could say. I felt so helpless.
"Do you see now Vince? They just want to keep up appearances and we're the ones that have to pay the price. We're disposable. Nobody cares if we go missing or end up dead. We're just here to feed their egos.
It was quiet for a moment before she knelt next to me and picked up the necklace. "It's too late for me but if you have the money to leave like you said you did then I suggest you get out before they sell you next."
The rain seemed to pour even harder as she left the alley. I stayed there for what felt like forever. It wasn't until a thought dawned on me that I felt the dread begin to pool in my stomach again. Before I knew it, I was racing back to the orphanage.
I returned just in time to see the headmaster barging through the front gates. He was followed by the other teachers carrying a big black sack.
"Hurry up! I don't want him stinking up my orphanage. What will the guests think?"
They walked into the woods where they had dug out a hole. I carefully followed them only to see them unceremoniously dump Edgar's body into the hole and begin to bury him. I was certain they had killed him but when his empty gaze fell on me behind the trees, he began to thrash around. The headmaster struck him with the end of his cane.
"SHUT UP BOY! I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me again didn't I? Yet you still chose to let Vincent escape. You should know, that his death will be on your hands."
Edgar's limbs had been bound and he was gagged but he fought to scream. I didn't need to see his lips to know what he was saying.
Run.
RUN.
I didn't look back, I ran as far as my legs would take me until I was heaving and my knees were weak. I couldn't hold it any longer and vomited on the side of the street. As I crouched there on my hands and knees, everything seemed to come to a halt. The world was still. For how long? Well I couldn't say, but when everything began to move again, what I needed to do became crystal clear and it was the only thing on my mind.
For someone who felt like they were going mad for the whole day, I remember walking down the street rather calmly. I walked all the way down to the post office and snuck inside. Nobody would be in at this hour, so I made my way up the stairs where they kept their typewriters.
The rest of the night was a blur. I simply wrote and wrote until my eyes burned and my fingers were cramped so much they were practically begging me to stop. It wasn't until I saw the first rays of the morning sun that I stopped and slipped all the letters I wrote detailing Eden Orphanage's crimes into envelopes. It wasn't enough to spread through the city but what I was able to write was more than enough to distribute to most of the people I needed it to reach. Packaged and ready, I set off on my route before anyone could find out I was there.
By the end of the day, all of the common folk in our little town were aware of what the headmaster was doing. The whispers spread so far as to alert the police. I hid in the gardens in front of the orphanage and waited. The headmaster was going mad trying to find me. When the police showed up at his doorsteps he lost it.
"IT'S THAT BRAT VINCENT! HE'S MAD HE LOST HIS FRIEND SO HE'S SPOUTING NONSENSE!"
Oh so now he remembers her huh?
"Sir, the letters were anonymous. There's no mention of a Vincent but there is a list of nobles that frequent this place. We'd like to see a record of the children they adopted."
Désirée was right. Nobody would care if it was just a bunch of poor children going missing, but everyone's in a tizzy the second all the dirty little secrets the nobles keep are exposed. The headmaster went pale. Of course, he didn't have a record. Why would he keep a record of his own crimes? With the Orphanage's reputation, I bet he didn't even think to fabricate something since he never thought he'd be in this position.
"THIS IS RIDICULOUS. ASK ANY OF THE CHILDREN! THEY'LL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT VINCENT'S OUTBURST AT DINNER LAST NIGHT! I'M TELLING YOU HE'S THE ONE BEHIND THIS!"
The kids that had gathered behind him were silent. It looked like Edgar wasn't the only child that he had "silenced" over the years. They looked at him with eyes full of resentment.
"USELESS BRATS! CAN'T YOU SEE THESE PEOPLE WANT TO TAKE YOUR HOME AWAY? DO YOU WANT TO END UP ON THE STREETS AGAIN?"
"Who's Vincent?"
"Mr. Headmaster, aren't you a little old to have imaginary friends?"
"Maybe he's sick?"
"No, I'm sure he's just losing it in his old age."
The headmaster's face twisted with anger and shock, his face turning all kinds of colours as he choked on his rage. Lost in the absurdity of the situation, he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He looked like he was about to explode, but before he could, the police pulled him aside. His outburst was enough to sprout the seeds of doubt that my letters planted. He was taken into their carriage while the other men asked the teachers to give them the records.
The teachers were all too happy to throw all the blame onto the headmaster. All but Miss Clara. She stood at the door to the carriage pleading with the officers to release the headmaster.
"He hasn't done anything wrong! This must be a setup! He's been nothing but generous towards our children!"
It didn't take much at all for her to change her tune though. When the other officers returned with an unsurprising lack of proper documents from the headmaster's office, she knew that the jig was up.
"This place...this is just a place for children to die anyway," she spat through clenched teeth. "Those children were saved by him! If it wasn't for our headmaster then they would have simply rotted in here! He gave them a chance to live like nobility! Even if it was for a moment! YOU UNGRATEFUL RATS SHOULD BE THANKING HIM NOT SPOUTING THIS NONSENSE!"
As expected, the teachers were taken into custody as well. Miss Clara resigned to the fact that everything was over but asked them to go inside and gather her most recent paycheck since she had been sending the money back to her sickly parents. An officer went with her to get it. Over the next few minutes, I watched the headmaster burst into tears. He blubbered and cried desperately, but there was nobody left to take pity on him. Serves him right. Did he ever take pity on the children he sold? I didn't think so.
A few officers took the remaining children back with them while the other carriage rode off with everyone else inside. When it was passed the gates to the orphanage I emerged from my hiding spot to do the one thing I had been craving these last several hours. I grabbed a box of matches and several petrol cans from the utility shed in the garden and emptied them all over. Just before the carriages disappeared over the hill I lit the matches and watched as the orphanage was swallowed by the flames. I could see the headmaster's head poking through the small window, his squinty eyes landing on mine and the blazing remains of his legacy behind me. The look on his face was priceless. If only Désirée could see it.
With a deep sense of satisfaction, but strangely no relief at all, I began to make my way to the gates of the orphanage. Where would I go? What would I do? Maybe I could help Désirée to pay off her debt! Yes! That's it! I could buy her time so she wouldn't have to entertain anyone for a moment and we could talk and tell stories like we used to. If I came by every day then maybe she could pay off the debt a little quicker!
With a smile on my face and a renewed sense of purpose, I picked up my pace. Désirée and I still had a chance. We could still be happy! We could—
"YOU!"
The orphanage gates suddenly seemed so far away. Before I knew what was happening, my back slammed into the ground. Above me was the dishevelled form of Miss Clara. She was covered in blood and her eyes bulged unnaturally out of her head.
That's right...
How didn't I notice?
She never came out when she went inside with that officer. What happened to him? Did she kill him? She leaned down and grabbed my hair, smearing blood through it. The sickening stench of iron was enough to answer my question. She pulled me by my hair back towards the burning building.
"YOU AREN'T GETTING AWAY RAT!" She screamed.
I hadn't realized it until we were halfway up the burning steps that my body had relaxed so much when I thought it was over that I struggled to summon the strength to fight back. In a feeble attempt at breaking free, I clung to the opening of the door, my aching hands now in utter agony as my skin began to melt into the door frame. Miss Clara was gasping and coughing, no doubt suffocating on the smoke but her grip didn't weaken one bit. Me on the other hand, well the pain became too much to endure. I felt my fingers slip and Miss Clara yank me inside, falling onto my back to hold me in place.
"THIS...IS YOUR FAULT...this is your...punishment!" she said through gasps.
It wasn't until I felt the sharp stinging pain of the flames across my body did I realize that I was making the same pitiful sounds that the headmaster was as he cried his heart out just moments ago. I thought the pain would drive me insane, but it didn't last long. At some point, as I struggled to breathe, everything just...stopped.
I didn't feel anything anymore. Not the pain, not the heat. Nothing.
I thought I had lost it when I saw Désirée kneeling in front of me. She had her hand out as if she was waiting for me to take it. My stinging eyes settled on the necklace around her neck.
That's right...
We made a promise.
A promise to be together.
I reached for her hand and she smiled and then...silence. My cries and the sound of the building collapsing stopped so abruptly that I questioned if I had even experienced it. My vision faded into an incredibly lonely black where it was just me and my broken senses. The more I lay in the deafening silence, the more I felt myself slipping away until finally, there would be nothing left of me.
But the devil had other plans.
"Open your eyes boy."
The silence I had been sinking into was jarringly replaced by a deep, echoing voice. My eyes snapped open to see my hand resting in the palm of some kind of...creature. He didn't have a face...he didn't have a head! What was meant to be his head was not attached to his neck. Instead, unsettling rings of eyes and feathers revolved around a blinding light.
I gasped, realizing that my lungs were no longer plagued by the smoke. I hastily pushed myself up, running my fingers over my body. It was fine...I was...fine?
"W-Where..."
While I struggled to see the finer features of the creature before me, I could tell that he was smiling simply by the way he spoke.
"Welcome to Morningstar.Inc."
Present Day
The sound of the ferryman rowing was the only sound that passed between us. The retreating sight of the tall skyscrapers atop the looming mountain evoked a strange feeling the further away I got.
It didn't matter how you ended up here, maybe it was a mistake, maybe it was by your own doing, but one thing was certain. Nobody ever escaped. Everyone was bound by the same fate. Perhaps it was punishment for our sins or maybe it was a cruel reality that some of us rather enjoyed our jobs despite what we might say.
I suppose we were lucky.
Lucky to not be one of the thousands of souls forced to pass through the system as nothing more than a name on a page that would no doubt be buried among the many others just like them.
We were the lucky ones.
The select few who managed to survive sin.
So we toil away, working each day to unravel what lies beneath humanity's mask until the day comes when what remains of our sin finally crumbles and we too are put to rest.
Until then, we serve faithfully.
After all, here at Morningstar.Inc we strive to make all of your wildest dreams come true!
"I say no wealth is worth my life."
~Homer, The Iliad
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