"Chiaka, I think he's waking up!"
The old man opened his eyes, seeing a group of random strangers by his side. "Apologies for the scare, but my lungs aren't what they used to be."
Nurse Chiaka was a woman with short green hair, which she managed to dye herself. If anyone could be trusted with the children, she would be the best alternative to Ms. Melody.
"What would make you run so fast to this place?" Chiaka asked. "Judging by your age, I assume you're not here to adopt an orphan."
"Unfortunately, no. I was being chased."
"Chased by what exactly? The only animals I've seen around here are passive, unless you upset a deer somehow."
"It was no animal. I can't really explain it. I don't wish to scare the children, but something has made Melonia Falls it's hunting ground."
"Maybe you should continue resting." Ms. Melody commented.
"You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"Of course not. I'll contact the ranger, if anybody can find your monster, he will. I just don't want you hurting yourself more than you already have. Now, get some rest."
"I'll keep watch over him."
"I know you will, Chiaka. If you need anything, you know where to find me."
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"That was... really something." Winter exclaimed. "You mean the grown man crying monster?"
"Who else would I be talking about, Nera?"
"I don't know. I thought maybe something interesting happened on TV for once."
"Do you think he might've saw aliens or something? You had a dream about them, and there is no proof that they don't exist."
"That's silly, Winter."
"Is it though? I mean, we never traveled outside our planet before."
"Winter, it-" The sound of scratching startled the two girls. "That sounded like it came from outside." Once again the sound could be heard, but this time, it was much more clear and aggressive. "Do you think someone broke the rules and went outside?"
"Unlikely. Dud is a troublemaker, but I don't think he would go this far."
"I'll go check it out. It might just be a cat or something."
Nera listened as she slowly neared the window. The curtain swayed back and forth and she swore she noticed a pair of eyes looking at her. "Are you sure you can do this, Nera?"
Nera nodded. "I'll be alright." The curtain finally rested, and gripping the fabric tightly, she pulled. A breath of relief, as she noticed it was just the neighborhood cat, Noir. "It's noth-" Nera screamed as Noir was snatched right before her eyes. She stumbled backwards, knocking over the coffee table with her.
"Nera! Are you okay?" Winter shouted. "I-I'm alright. I might've bruised my waist though."
"What happened?"
"I saw Noir outside, then he was grabbed by something."
The other children gathered around, mildly horrified by the series of horrors happening in a single day. "Nera, you didn't see anything that could hurt us, right?" It was one of the two twins, Nova.
Nova and Sage, the sixth child of Melonia, was the same in appearance, but was the complete opposite of each other in personality. Even though the correct term would be 'children', they were considered as one. Where Nova was overly emotional and loving, Sage was overly emotionless and cold.
The creepy part about it is that they can feel each other's pain, physically. This only happens when they are far away from each other, and sometimes, they might even develop the other's personality for just a few seconds. This causes it to be much harder to tell them apart.
"No, we'll be okay, Nova. I might've just been seeing things."
"Why are you worried, sis? It's outside, not in the orphanage."
"Sage is right, Nova. Things will go back to normal shortly." Nova took a deep breath and puffed out her chest. "Don't worry, Winter. I'll protect everyone if it comes in."
"That's the spirit!"
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The storm kicked in, rain heavily pounded against the window. "It was supposed to be a nice day out." Nera commented. There was no further response, because she was alone, staring out the window. The swing and slide of their playground was drenched in water.
This was the strangest day she ever experienced. The sound of a ball bouncing against a wall caught her attention, but to her melancholic state, she only batted an eye. The fourth and final child of Melonia, Nester. He was an artist, a master of spotting important details and creating alluring color palettes. She had no idea where he sprout from, and she didn't care.
He always piqued her interests, but they never talked, not once. That's why it was a real surprise when he finally did. "I get the feeling, our lives are about to change. Don't you think so, Nera?"
"In what way?"
"I'm not sure whether it's for the better or the worse. I just know things are starting to make less and less sense. Did you notice the several changes in the last few days? Winter's sadness, your alien dreams, and we still never learned why that man was heading up here. It's quite a mystery."
"Yeah."
"Also Dud, I've noticed him just staring into space sometimes, not to mention he has become quite aggressive. He was annoying, always troubling others, but never did he break the rules like he did today."
He was right, Dud only exploited the rules, he never really broke them. Every argument he was ever involved in, always took place outside. How did nobody realize such an oddity in his behavior, and how did they pass it off as normal...
"You two should argue somewhere else, I don't want someone getting burned by accident." To nobody's surprise, they continued arguing. "Dud is immortal, I'm sure a burn won't do anything to him."
..."What is happening to the orphanage?" Nera thought. "We should hurry off to bed, it's getting late. If Ms. Melody or Nurse Chiaka catches us, we'll be in trouble."
"Hey Nester..."
"What is it?"
"Thanks for everything."
"I didn't do anything worthy of thanks, Nera."
He headed back to his room without another word.
"You're the problem." Nera heard it, and quickly turning around, she saw nothing but the window. "Is somebody there?"
"It was probably just the wind." she thought. No, the wind doesn't speak, that was as clear as could possibly be... a voice, something that could be only inches away.
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