Distorted Lands | Book 1 of the Telepath Cycle

{4} The Orphanage

Author's Note: chapters 4-7 are a bit long, but the details within are important to the story. Because of this, I intend to combine them somewhat and find a way to rearrange the details introduced so it'll be less of a drag to slog through the chapters. Feel free to read on anyways, but note they're very slow paced and are going to be cut down on later! ^-^

The room was completely silent.

Even outside, if Caspar thought anything of her slamming the door shut behind him and throwing the bar in place over the door, he didn't say anything. Instead, after a long moment of silence, she heard the faint crunch of his footsteps in the snow as he marched away.

Finally, she closed her eyes, lip quivering as she gently placed her forehead against the door. What in Rholvny's name was that!? she had to wonder. Could that really have been Caspar?

A small part of her couldn't believe it. Caspar doing something like that? Caspar, the boy she'd grown up with? Caspar, the timid boy who'd always bent over backwards to help other people, who knew what it was like to be treated horribly for being disabled?

How could he do that? It had to be something else, some sort of bolyui impersonating him. But why would some random spirit want to hurt Gene, a slaznen, a child who didn't even have magic!?

No... as much as she hated to believe it, the only answer was that it had to truly be Caspar.

Caspar wanted to throw Gene out just because he was slaznen. To throw him out into the streets, in the middle of the winter, when the khonitva were at large, growing in numbers and becoming more daring by the day. The cold, dark streets haunted by bolyui that could steal away a grown adult, never to be seen again.

Finally, Damaris slowly steeled herself, taking a half step back, squaring her shoulders, and leveling the door with a glare that could scare off a raging bear.

I'm going to tell Indah, she decided. Indah, who Caspar deeply respected and who managed Rholvny's church in town. Indah, who they'd been close friends with for years and who wouldn't stand for something like this.

Indah, who Caspar had been dating for a year now.

Indah can take Gene in while we sort this out, Damaris decided, turning her eyes to the ceiling as she gathered her hair and pulled it behind her head. Indah had taken people in before—Rholvny's church had a section built away for those in need for refuge. She can keep him there while we work this out with Caspar. Caspar won't pull our funding if she knows and she won't let him throw Gene out.

Damaris turned, starting to pace as she ran her thoughts through everything she could to stop this, to keep Caspar from sending Gene to his death, when her eyes landed on Gene.

He hadn't moved from the wall. With the whole mess that'd just happened, Damaris hadn't been able to get a good look at him, but—wasn't he curled up when I came out? I had accidentally hit the wall... and raised my voice, Damaris realized guiltily.

A lump formed in her throat as she finally took in how Gene looked. He might not have been crying anymore, but the signs were all there. His face was still flushed, hair was a mess, and his shirt's long sleeves were still stained dark from the tears and snot he'd wiped off on it.

The lump in her throat grew larger. All the emotions that she'd bottled up in order to figure out what to do finally came rushing back to her. Tears threatened her eyes, but, swallowing them back, she took a step toward Gene.

And he tensed.

Though Gene had managed to recollect himself before, simply sitting on his legs, hands curled into tight balls as they sat on his knees, and a rather neutral expression on his face, that pretense fell as she approached him. Suddenly, his shoulders went high, his eyes went wide, and he shrunk backwards. As though he was trying to get away from her. As though he was afraid of her.