Just incase there might be any confusion for those that haven't read the prologue, I really recommend that you do since things will make more sense if you do.
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《Y/n L/n pov》
After a long walk through the woods, we were now at the front gates of the orphanage.
It's just as big I remember.
What was past these gates was thirty acres of land. The orphanage itself took up about five acres of land. The remaining twenty-five was just land we never really got to use. If we were allowed outside then we had to stay inside the fence that was around thirty feet from the orphanage.
Despite that, some of the kids didn't listen and would sneak off to the gates. Some even left the whole place to go explore the woods. Oddly enough, it was always those kids that got adopted soon after. Them and the older ones.
There was also a time when someone from outside snuck in. She was the same age as I was back then, I think.
"This place has a lot of space." Nico comments, walking past the front gate.
"O-Oh, yeah. Though we never got to use much of it." I replied.
"Why's that?" He questioned with a raised brow.
"I don't know. I never asked."
I had the others, so I didn't really need much else.
"I see. Anything I should know about the inside? Before it was burned down."
Anything about the inside?
"Well, just the usual, I believe. We had our bedrooms, cafeteria, classrooms, counseling, playroom, library-"
"You guys had a lot. Noted." Nico cut me off.
"Y-Yeah, I guess."
We talked more as we walked. Though it was about normal stuff this time. Things like my favorite color, favorite food, where I would want to visit if I could travel the world. Things I didn't really give much thought to, but I still tried to answer as best I could.
Favorite color? First thing that came to mind was orange, since that's Amber's hair color.
Favorite food? Anything Amber made.
Places I would want to visit? Amber always talked about going to Paris with me in the future.
"...I'll make you the best dish I can after we finish up here." Nico stated.
"O-Oh, you don't-"
"I want to." Nico interrupted.
"...Okay."
Nico has been acting weird today. Did something happen?
"Here we are." Nico stated.
There were some walls still standing, but everything else was destroyed.
This... this was all that's left of the place that I grew up in for majority of my life.
"Looks like we'll have to search through the remains." Nico said.
"Yeah..."
We began our search of the burned down orphanage.
At the entrance, we came across charred wood and more charred wood.
In the library, just a few books survived, but they were in terrible condition.
In the cafeteria, there was a cooler with definitely spoiled food inside of it.
In the search through the bedrooms, I found one picture of me and the others. I took it out of the frame, folded it, and pocketed it.
Coming up empty with the search so far, Nico was getting annoyed. Hopefully the playroom will have something.
Upon reaching the playroom, Nico began rummaging through everything.
I planned to follow suit, but something about this room gave me an odd feeling. My stomach turned and my hair stood on end.
This doesn't feel right.
"What are you doing?" Nico asked me. "Help me out with this." He spoke, trying to lift a heavy piece of wood.
"I-I think we should leave." I hurriedly suggested.
"What? This is the last place to check. We can leave after." He replied.
"No, we really need to leave. I-I don't know why, but we have to!" I pleaded.
"Hold on a sec." Nico said, finally moving the wood out of the way. Underneath it was a hatch. "Yes! Finally found something."
As he reached for the hatches handle, a flood of memories overtake me.
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"Sir! Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't known that brat was the one you were keeping and eye on!" A man within the burning building cried.
His body was on fire, but quickly recovering.
"You think that matters? You've given him quite an unfavorable impression of us. What would you do if the poor thing is traumatized because of this?" A man with black hair and crimson red eyes spoke.
"I-I... I deeply apologize for my blunder!"
The burning man was desperate. However, the other man wore an unamused expression, even rolling his eyes at the sight.
The other man grabbed the burning one by the throat, lifting him up. He then pierced throught his stomach with his hand.
"I'll drain you dry and throw you in the basement with the labs guard dogs. They should keep you company for a while." The man smirked.
The memory then skipped ahead, like it was cut off.
The man from before kneeled in front of me.
"I'm sorry about all this." He apologized. "Though you shouldn't worry too much. I'll be erasing a lot of your memories, but considering what you are, I'm not sure how long that it will last." He said, staring into my eye's.
The only thing I knew about the man was his name... Nikolas Thead.
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Nico opened the hatch, an ominous air coming out from it.
"...And here I thought something was actually going to happen from how you were acting."
Nico's words didn't stand for long, as we heard the repeated tapping of feet rushing towards us from inside the room the hatch led to.
Nico jumped back away from the hatch as a blurred figure jumped out and flew high into the sky.
"Freedom!" The figure screamed out.
It then crashed down onto the ground in front of us.
"God, it's been so long since I've had a breath of fresh air!" The person spoke.
They were skin and bones, with crimson eyes.
"Fucking hell." Nico muttered.
"Hm?" The person finally took notice of us. "Some snacks right after my escape? Perfect!" He grined sickeningly. However, the grin soon left his face once he laid eyes on me. "I recognize that smell. You're the fucking brat that got me in trouble with my liege!"
He knows me? He does look familiar, but-
"Sir! Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't known that brat was one you were keeping and eye on!"
"Agh!" I clutched my head in pain, remembering the burning man who killed my friends.
"Hmmm... you've definitely grown up some, so I guess a few years have past." He said to himself.
"Listen. I'll ask about how he knows you later, but for now, we have to run." Nico whispered to me.
I didn't respond. Well, more like I couldn't.
It was hard to breathe and I felt like throwing up. The memories of what this thing did five years ago was like an immense pressure keeping me from moving, speaking, or even thinking properly.
"Hey! Did you hear me?! Get a move on!" Nico yelled out.
I once again, didn't respond in any way.
The vampire had lunged at, yet I still couldn't react. The only reason it didn't reach me was because Nico stood in the way, holding his katana.
"Listen to me dammit!" Nico yelled at me again.
The affect his yelling had on me this time was bringing up even more unpleasant memories.
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"Can't you listen and behave for once?!" An old man questioned, smacking me into a wall.
Another memory replayed itself in my mind.
"If you had listened, I wouldn't need to do this." Amber stated, grabbing her knife and marking my chest with her initials.
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Why?! Why am I remembering these now?!
"Get your head in the fucking game!" Nico said, slapping me.
I snapped out of my panick and looked at Nico.
He had cuts all over him and was panting.
"N-Nico?"
"Finally responding? About damn time." He complained.
"Move out of the fucking way!" The vampire hollered, making me flinch.
"Fuck you, you fucking mosquito." Nico said, reaching into his pouch.
He pulled out a gun and aimed it at the vampire.
"Huh? Puhahahaha! A gun won't do shit to me you stupid brat!" The vampire laughed, charging at us.
"Heh, that's what you think." Nico muttered, firing at the vampire.
The shot hit him in the head, stopping him in tracks and knocking his head back.
The vampire shot right back up and smiled tauntingly.
"What did I-" Before being able to finish his sentence, blood drips from his head as he soon turns to dust.
"W-What happened?" I asked.
"Mistilteinn bullets. The gift from my dad I mentioned..." Nico answered, but soon after slumped onto me.
"N-Nico?!" I exclaimed.
"I'm fine... just lost too much blood I guess..."
"W-What should I do?!" I asked in a panic.
"Is there... any blood from the vampire on the ground?" He suddenly asked.
I looked over to where the vampire was, seeing a few drops of its blood on the ground.
"Y-Yeah, but what does that-"
"Take me to it." He interrupted.
"Uh, o-okay!"
I carried him as best I could to the spilled blood. Once we stood over it, Nico got off me and bent down. He then touched the blood with his finger and licked off the blood from it.
"N-Nico?!" I questioned.
"Relax. It's unpleasant, I know; but the blood of a vampire is capable of healing a person's wounds if consumed. Even still, I also find it disgusting." He admitted. "After I recover, we're heading down into that underground room."
"O-Okay."
Despite agreeing, I honestly felt more scared than before now that I've remembered some unpleasant events.
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