CHAPTER FOUR

LORELEI CRIMSON

"Fucking bastard," I murmured as I glared at him, but I soften it as the time his eyes landed on me. A smirk curved on his cracked thin lips, he was smirking and looking not on me, but my body.

"Aidan, please clean up her vomit, it's disgusting." He commanded. Soon after, a boy stood up, the boy with blue eyes, who asked if I was the new girl. "She's so ungrateful and unbelievably disgusting."

He is the disgusting one. The way he looks at me, and at the other kids, the way he acted, everything about him is so much gross than my vomit. Tell me who is even more disgusting?!

"Yes, papa."

Papa? I look at Aidan, he stood up and walked upstairs. After a couple of minutes, he went back with a bucket full of water and a piece of white fabric. He walked over my direction and started wiping my vomit out of the table, he did what he was told to, and he is doing it without any disgust. That's my fucking vomit...

"Stop it, you're putting everyone in danger." He whispered as he wiped off the table.

Everyone's eyes are filled with fear, curiosity, and some kind of anger—towards me. Did I put them in danger? And why the hell on earth are they calling him Papa?

"Now, my children. I lose my appetite because of an ungrateful brat over there," he looked in my direction and somehow his stare made me feel stiff, frozen in fear. I look down and took a few deep breaths hoping it could help to calm me down but it didn't work, it became worse when I realized that Trevino wasn't sitting on my side anymore. "As you can see, my new girl, children who live under my roof has to learn good attitude and has to learn how to be grateful. You disobeyed papa, so papa made your boy vanish—viola." He was smiling widely, that smile never fades. "Do you want to see your boy? Yes, we want to see him, right my children?" he sounds like a mental.

"Yes papa." the kids—including Aidan responded and called him papa. They are losing their minds.

"Alright, because papa is quite happy today, I'll let you all see the new girl's boy." He stood up and walked over the cooking range. On the stove there is a saucepan, it was boiling and a crimson liquid is starting to flow. "He'll be so tasty."

What...what on earth... please tell me this isn't happening—

My mouth dropped when he opened the oven, a black smoke escapes from it as well as a newly baked meat, then soon after there here it is again—the red liquid streamed down from the oven. "Here he is!" he yelled out of excitement then took out a tray, in the tray, there was a head, a human head, Trevino's head. "Isn't he lovely?" His head was baked and toasted.

Please no... not Trevino.

"Fucking mental!" I grabbed the fork, ready to attack him with it but then I got stilled when the children blocked my way and use themselves as a shield. Why is this happening, what the **** did I do to deserve this? This fucking mental they call papa, fucking mental, fucking mental...

I lose my strength as the fork slipped down from my grip. A smile curves in my lips as they vanish in my vision...just a dream... just a nightmare, and I had to wake up, I needed to wake up.

"Is she new?"

"Isn't obvious, Trev? And can you please lock the door? Once Clifford finds out that there's a new girl, she'll be in trouble."

I frustratedly run my fingers on my curly hair as I try to open my eyes. I could feel myself laying on a hard and cold surface, I also could feel my head spinning as if I got drugged. I tried to stand up, my knees have a weak feeling reason for me to have a hard time standing up straight, but then a little girl with ginger hair offered her hand. "I think you need help." She smiled at me sweetly and warmly. "Come on, get up. I'll introduce you to them since you are the new girl, the extra one."

A warm liquid streamed down to my face as I look around. I am in a small room, with one bed that has dirty white sheets, and a shattered window. I trembled when my eyes landed on the boy who has the same appearance as the girl, he has ginger hair and was aged around probably six to seven. He was looking at me in a confused way. He...He is alive? Does it mean his death was only a dream—part of my nightmare, but everything, me being kidnapped by the old man, and mom sold me out to him, everything's real except from his death?

"What's wrong with her?" I heard him ask the girl.

"Maybe she is in shock." She replied with a small smile on her lips. "My name's Rossi, it was pronounced like 'rah-see', and this is my twin brother, Trevino." The moment she introduced herself and her twin brother, I could feel myself going insane. "There are more other kids, he's not going to come back until midnight so you don't have to be scared going outside. Come, we'll show you the way." Rossi grabs my hand and they lead me out of the room. I could feel myself getting weaker and so much weaker when I saw the narrow hallway, other five doors, and the wooden stairs way to upstairs and downstairs.

Trevino was still looking at me with a confused face. I just remembered what is inside the tray, it was Trevino's head, eyes were gone, the tongue was cut off and his skin was peeling, melting, and sort of roasted. "Have we met?" He asked which made me freeze.

In that nightmare, I let myself out of control, and that's the reason why papa took away my boy. Maybe if I...if I change a thing, if I don't do the same mistake that I have done from that nightmare no one's going to be in danger, no will get killed, and no one will eat his flesh and meat.

I shook my head no.

"You're weird. But anyways don't go on the attic, it's not good there." He warned. His twin, Rossi, came up in my direction with three other kids who seemed older than them.

"Just stay with us." She added. "What's your name, miss? You haven't introduced yourself to us."

I opened my mouth ready to speak up but then the image of papa, the image of the roasted burnt head of Trevino flashed into my mind. I closed my mouth and decided not to speak.

"By any chance are you deaf?" Trevino asks. But then her twin, Rossi, pinched his cheeks that made him seem irritated. "She won't be able to hear us if she's deaf. New miss, is mute, idiot."

I'm not mute...I just cannot find any strength to introduce myself, because how could I do that when someone died because of me? Even if it's just a dream or part of my fucking hallucination, it gives me creeps, it makes me feel guilty.

"Wait, she has a name tag!" The girl who is wearing a white dirty dress pointed to the clothing I am wearing. I'm still in my uniform, white sleeves, and black pleated skirt, matching with the blazer I am wearing. I just noticed that the girl in the red dress was pointing at the small name tag that is attached to the blazer I am wearing. "Lorelei Crimson," she read.

"Lorelei, meet our friends, this is Anna," Rossi pointed to the girl in the red dress, the one who noticed my name tag. She smiled at me and waved her hand. "And this is Tintin," the girl with shaved hair. "And this is Hera." The little kid who is about five feet away from us, and seems to have a distant attitude.

I nodded my head as a small forced smile curved on my lips. I couldn't give them a genuine smile—I wanted to give them that, I just couldn't.

"Let's—" Rossi stopped from talking, she suddenly froze and so are the others. They are looking at me—no, they are looking from my behind. And I just could feel someone's presence... could it be papa...

I turned around and the fear on my face went out when I saw the familiar boy with oceanic eyes. I thought it was papa...

"You are new." He spoke as he analyzes my features. "You're new, how come? Are you the thirty-first?"

Rossi was about to speak up, but if I let her do that and defend me the dream—the nightmare that has happened while I was in deep sleep might happen, and I cannot bear that.

I shook my head yes.

"I found her!" He yelled and seconds after he pulled a knife and smiled. "Five seconds to run, new girl."

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