Inferno

Chapter 2

          The man's place wasn't far. As River and the man arrived, he pushed the trash bins away from the door and motioned for River to walk in. Inside, it wasn't pretty. Spacious but ugly concrete structure, as they go forward River notices more children sitting against the walls, on the stairs, or just walking around. "Who are they?" River asks. "They are your new siblings". The man says. River being four didn't question it. " What's your name?" River asks that man. "Zeiden," The man replies. Zeiden continues to show River the place, when River asks. "What's the date today?" River asks. "February 23," Zeiden answers. As River hears the date, he realizes the importance of today. It's his birthday. River may not have had a good life with his parents, but one thing he knew was his birthday. River had an older sister, she was the best thing to River, his best friend, while his parents were dead beat, River's sister would've taken him out on his birthday to give him the best day ever. That ended though. Before River turned 4 he lost his sister. His sister was 17 when she passed away. She was out with her friends when they got into an accident. The other car hit them on the passenger side, where she was sitting. River and his sister had a 14 year age gap since River's parents had his sister when they were young.

          "This is where you are going to be staying," Zeiden says while walking out of the 'room'. River was disgusted by the place, looking around he saw broken concrete walls, and a 'bed' that was just a thin mattress on the floor. For River, this was the best thing ever. He upgraded from empty alleyways with garbage bins to a room that has a thin mattress for him to sleep on.

          He was tired, as much as River wanted to go and explore the place to know his surroundings, he also just wanted to lay down and rest for a bit. He decided to lay down since he doesn't know when this opportunity may appear again or for how long he is gonna be here.

          River was only able to rest for a total of 30 minutes before he heard banging. As the noise got closer, River's door was also hit. He gets up and opens the door to see what's happening. Looking around, he sees the other children walking out of their rooms and heading down. River decides to do the same and when he reaches the bottom he sees everyone lining up. "Get Ready," Zeiden says. "Today you're going out in groups and you need to raise money for help," Zeiden says. River is confused. He knows no one around and is scared to know what is gonna happen when they're back on the streets. "Seth, Luke, and Carson..." Zeiden says as he slowly starts naming the children that are gonna be together. After naming all the children, he finally reaches River's name. "Valerio, Milan, and Derek, will have the newbie, River. Teach him everything that is required of you children," Zeiden says. After knowing their groups, everyone leaves to get started on the task given to them. Since River had no clue who those people were, he stands still, waiting for someone to come up to him or to tell him who they are. A couple minutes pass and three kids walk up to him. "Hey, I'm Milan." Milan says to River. "This is Derek and that's Val," Milan says, introducing the other two. "Let's get started otherwise Zeiden won't be happy." Valerio says. Walking out of the dirty, broken, 'house', River isn't going to trust Milan, Valerio, or Derek that quickly. He doesn't feel safe at Zeiden's house, even though it's his first day and no one trusts anyone that quickly, River has a different feeling, something worse, something that may just change his entire life for the worse. Part of River feels that he should ask the three questions to get to know them better, but part of him feels that if he were to ask they might not like what has been asked. River has been taught multiple things from his parents, and one of them is to not ask unnecessary questions, but for River, only being five, he doesn't know what to ask, which leaves him in a tough situation.

Ask For Punishment or Don't Ask, Be Clueless.