[Volume 1:The Awakening]
｢Chapter 1: New Beginnings」
Warning: this chapter some depiction of abuse.
...
The rain poured heavily outside as the already dark building exuded an ominous aura.
Inside the building, the light emitted by the flashlights barely pierced through the darkness. Lightning erupted greatly, revealing the environment clearly, albeit for a second.
Bodies. There were bodies scattered everywhere on the floor, both children and adults, the fear still evident in their glassy eyes.
The sound of silent droplets falling from the ceiling enhanced the nature of the already eerie environment.
The police team in charge of evacuating the children in the building were already cut off. The previous human trafficking group base was now an endless horror maze for the unfortunate team of officers.
As they made their way through the now horror themed building, the distinct sound of muffled crying rang out from one of the many pathways.
"You all hear that too right" one of the officers, a woman in her early twenties, the only one brave enough to point it out.
Sure, they all heard it, but who was willing to 'check it out' . Well, it wouldn't matter much, as a disheveled shriek came from the other end of the hallway.
"Come on Captain, I don't think anyone in their right mind will continue on this way, besides, there might be someone there" the same officer said, urging them more to go through that corner.
It was true, they had already been separated from the rest of their team.After a brief sigh, the leading officer, Kade signalled for them to turn.
Walking down, the eerie feeling of the place only seemed to grow as they flashed their lights to scan their environment.
The place they had walked into turned out to be more of a cell room. The entire place excluded a horrible smell, it was faint at first, but it only grew stronger as they trekked down.
They pointed their lights in cell, in hopes of finding someone or something.
Getting to the end of the room, the smell got so bad, they practically heaved at every breath, it was a mixture of blood, rot and another vile smell.
Turning their lights to the last cell, it was obvious what made that smell as well as the source of those muffled cries.
At the very end of the cell was a small boy, around the age of four, huddled at a corner, crying. He was completely naked with scars, cuts and bruised all over his body and judging from the white liquids on the floor, it was obvious what had conspired there.
Feeling pity for the boy, 'Patty ', the female officer from before, stepped into the cell, only to nearly vomit from the smell.
The other officers followed her until she stopped suddenly, covering her mouth before stepping back.
Something was definitely wrong, peeking out from behind her, they knew why.
How cruel. That was what she wanted to say, but nothing came out. At least now they knew why those cries sounded muffled from up close.
His month was sewed shut, as well as his eyes and palms, although the poor stitches made it possible for the low sounds to come out. Blood also found it's way out, mixing with the tear pouring from his eyes.
Truly how cruel, the poor officers had no idea what they had just stepped into. With a loud bang the door of the cell slammed shut, followed by the shattering sound of their flashlights breaking.
Now, they were truly alone in the dark.
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Somewhere else, in a quiet hospital room, a little girl around the age of four sat on a bed, gazing out the window. Her royal blue eyes were distant, her silky black hair shifting slightly in the breeze from the slightly open window.
"Rei, it's time to go," her mother, Rose, said as she entered the room.
Looking at the two of them, anyone would say they looked nearly identical—same hair, same face, same delicate features. The only real difference was their eye color. While Rei's eyes were a deep royal blue, Rose's were a lighter, unnaturally icy shade. That and the little bright pink highlights Rei had.
Hopping off the bed, Rei adjusted her pastel pink hoodie and black joggers, then ran up to her mother, quietly slipping her small hand into hers as they left together.
...
Outside of Brook High Military school, students rushed out to the dorms as soon as the bell rang.
Standing aside from the crowd of students, a boy with black hair and red eyes leaned on the walls of the school staring at his phone occasionally, he looked around the age of fourteen.
￣￣￣ Fast Fetch ￣￣￣
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[Keitarō-ni]
{Keitarō-ni: Hey Oscar
{Keitarō-ni: Rei's coming today, (just a reminder).
{Keitarō-ni: Mom said she's about to arrive now so hurry out.
{Keitarō-ni: And I mean it, don't be late
Sure I'm heading out now anyway: You}
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
"Obviously he told me to come out early, so why is he late" Oscar mumble in annoyance.
Just then he felt a tap on his shoulder, turning he saw it was another boy around the age of sixteen, he had blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Hey Oscar, sorry I'm late, it's hard to get around in the crowd." The boy said scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"It's alright Jason, don't sweat it" Oscar replied nonchalantly.
Just then a black SUV pulled into the driveway of the school, catching the attention of some students who stayed back to watch.
Stepping out of the car Rose flipped up her shades with Rei following right behind her with her shades already up.
After getting down from the car, Rei immediately latched unto Rose, her hand gripping her clothes.
Smiling, Rose picked Rei into her arms and walked towards Oscar and Jason who were now looking at them.
"Hi mum" Oscar and Jason said quietly while avoiding eye contact.
"Hi boys" Rose said calmly patting Oscar on the head "come follow me to register Rei in"
Rei peeked out at Jason and Oscar, her eyes scanning them thorough.
"Rei, why don't you say hello to your brothers" Rose's word snapped Rei back to reality. Slowly, Rei shyly waved at them only to snuggle back into Rose's arms.
"Someone's shy~" Rose teased, tickling Rei's cheek, making her to giggle softly as her already pink cheeks flushed red.
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Sitting outside of the office Rei was crying into Jason shirt, staining it with her tears.
"Don't cry princess, momma's gonna be out soon" Oscar said to comfort her as Jason gently rubbed her back in order to calm her.
The door to the office opened, and Rose stepped out, smiling.
"Everything go well, Mum?" Jason asked, looking up.
Rose nodded. "Yup. She's officially registered." She handed a silver ring with faint inscriptions to Oscar. "All her stuff is sealed in this. No need to worry about uniforms."
Rose crouched to Rei's level, arms open. Rei immediately reached out to be picked up.
"Rei," Rose whispered softly as she lifted her, "Momma has to go now, okay? You'll stay here with your brothers for a little while."
Rei's face twisted in protest. She shook her head furiously, her grip tightening around Rose's neck.
"I know, baby," Rose murmured, "Shhh… We'll still call, and you can visit on weekends."
Even as she spoke, Rei clung harder, tears beginning to fall again.
"Rei," Rose said gently, brushing the hair out of her daughter's face, "Give me a goodbye kiss?"
After a long pause, Rei leaned forward and pressed her lips to her mother's cheek. Rose kissed her back, lingering a second longer.
"Alright," Rose said, clearing her throat, "Group hug, you two." She gave Jason a look before he could dodge it.
Jason stepped in with a sigh, Oscar was quietly following
"Bye Rei, bye Jay, bye Os," Rose said with a bright smile. She turned quickly, walking away without glancing back whilst holding the tears from falling.
The second she disappeared from view, Rei broke down into sobs again, her cries muffled against Jason's chest.
Sighing softly, the two comforted Rei on their way to their dorm. At the time of their arrival, Rei had already stopped crying.
Sitting down on the couch, Jason sat Rei down on him only to see she had a strange expression on her face.
Her lower lip tuckered out, her face paled as her hand held unto her pants.
"What's wrong dumpling, you wanna pee" Jason said recognizing that face. Rei nodded repeatedly to his question causing Jason to hurry in their bathroom.
"Should I help" Jason finally asked after letting Rei down in the toilet. After Rei shook her head, Jason left the bathroom, sitting on the bed where Oscar just happened to be laying down on.
A few moments later he heard the bathroom door slide open as Rei walked out and towards him before making grabby hands at him.
"Are you hungry, dumpling? Do you wanna eat now" Jason asked picking her up into his arms. Rei nodded sheepishly and began touching Jasons face, or rather his cheeks.
"You should stay and put her stuff well while I make us dinner" Oscar said gently as he got out of bed, already in fresh clothes.
"Why don't we take a quick shower before eating, huh dumpling" Jason said after Oscar had left the room. After thinking for a while, Rei nodded her head again.
"Okay let's take off your clothes" Jason said and tried to take off Rei sweater only to be brutally rejected as Rei shoved his hand away and pulled her sweater down.
She shook her head gently and looked down with tears in her eyes.
"Don't worry, I won't ever hurt you" Jason said and patted Rei's cheek lifting her chin to look at him "Just trust me okay"
Again Rei thought for a while and nodded, letting Jason undress her, after that Jason got her into the bathroom, adjusting the water to the right temperature before letting it run.
Looking at Rei, her body was covered in scars, bruises and injuries including knife marks, whip marks and cigarette burns. Not only that but she was so lean, you could clearly see the outline of her ribs through her skin.
Taking in the sight Jason sighed loudly, this however seemed to cause Rei distress as she began crying and falling into the bathtub.
"Oops, stop crying , I'm here" Jason tried calming her but she just kept wailing and flapping her arms.
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After a long time spent, both Rei and Jason were ready and in new clothes.
Just then Oscar's voice sounded from the kitchen about their dinner which he had just finished making.
Walking to the dinning table Rei stuck close to Jason, taking in the surrounding while looking around with her curious big doe eyes.
"I made your favorite; onigiri and gyoza" Oscar said with a proud smile on his face, smelling the aroma of the food Rei tugged at Jason's trousers while pointing at the table.
"Yeah it smells yummy right"Jason said, picking Rei up, he sat at the table fixing Rei on his lap"that's because your older brother Oscar is a very good cook"
Hearing the compliments, Oscar's face turned bright red as he practically dashed to the bedroom, leaving a laughing Jason and confused Rei sitting.
After they'd finished their dinner, Jason tucked Rei in the middle of their bed while reading her a bed time story.
Finishing the story, he turned to see both of his siblings peacefully asleep.
Turning off the bedside lamp, Jason kissed the forehead of both Rei and Oscar who were asleep before falling asleep himself with them by his side.