The king of nightmares.

Chapter 2

Natellie cringed as a hand was gently placed on her shoulder, saving her from her horrifying memories.
She looked up to see her mothers dark green eyes, studying her with concern.
Natellie had always wondered at the contrast of features in her and her mom. while her mom had beautiful green eyes, hers was a shade of blue a, her hair was just a plain brown while her mom's was golden with streeks of caramel brown....and...just about everything from the curve of her eyebrows to the tip of her nose seemed different . Of course she often heard from people that she had her dad's features, but still....it was just wierd and sometimes sad how she hadn't gotten a single trait from her mom.

Natellie sighed wishing that she could convey all of her overwhelming feelings just through that simple exhaling of breath.
" mom...I don't think this a very good idea...plus it'll just remind me more of...." Natellie hesitated "...of Eric"

Mom winced at the sound of the name but immediately hid it with a small smile.
" No Nats....trust me, you need someone....I mean look at you.."

Natellie tried to pout..."I find nothing,
whatsoever wrong with me..mom..I'm perfectly fine."

" No your not....your not talking much, eating much, in fact you seem to have absolutely zero interest in anything...I mean your not even playing basketball anymore"
Her mom hit the jackpot. Natellie was crazy when it came to basketball...until...

Suddenly the big wooden doors to her left was thrown open, as a boy of about her age, who looked like he'd just gotten out of bed ran out.
He wore baggy clothes that hid his lean frame. His brown hair was shabby. But his lack of importance to being trim and tidy was easily eclipsed by his perfect features .
Natellie almost gasped ....he seemed so very familiur.....

The boy slowed down to a jog as he saw the crowd before him, who by now had paused amidst their work to stare at him.
Behind him ran a very plump man in security clothing , his pace clearly
out matched by the boy's.

The boy stopped, resting his long arms on his knees, as he caught his breath.
The guard finally reached the boy, his plump face red with strained effort...and anger.
"well..." the boy turned around with careless ease and faced him.
"that was a nice morning jog wasn't it" he said stretching slightly.
" ....good thing you've got a lot of spare fat stocked in there" the boy playfully patted the plump man's big belly.
The security's face turned bright red, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish...as if the words he thought of were caught at the back of his throat.
The boy's put-on serious face seemed so in contrast with the man's that suddenly, much to Natellie's surprise a laugh escapes her throat ....it was short and not that loud yet it seemed to echo through the quiet lobby.
The boy turned, his shoking blue eyes scanned the crowd until it fell on her.
It shone with humour and mischief , the way Eric's would have.
The security, now in a lose of words grabbed him by the elbow.
But the boy's eyes didn't leave hers.
He gave her a small wink as he let himself be tugged along through the great wooden doors towards the
'orphan boys quaters'.

Soon the normal buzz of chatter filled the lobby as people resumed their work but Natellie sat glued to her chair.
She felt different, like as if a weight, she hadn't thought she had been carrying, had been slightly lifted off her shoulder.

She pulled her mom onto the seat beside her...
" mom I think this is the best idea you've had in a while.... about this adoption thing " she said, her eyes shining with enthusiasm that hadn't been there a while ago.
while her mom on the other hand looked slightly pale, showing out her bloodshot eyes all the more.

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"Honey.....I'm glad you've caught up with the idea of adoption but I strongly think a sister would do much better."
" No....mom..I'm 14 now...or at least I will be in...like two weeks time...I'm pretty sure I'm matured enough to make decisions."
Her mother groaned " you don't even know if he is an orphan..for all we know he could be the physical education trainer for the security here."
Natellie raised an eyebrow "mom..seriously??"
she had to fight to hide a smile as she tried to picture her mom's prediction.
"fine" Her mom said suddenly, taking Natellie by surprise.
she raised her hands halfway as if in surrender "I give in."

The adoption procedure was quite simple and soon they were being led through the boy's quarters by the fat security they'd seen earlier this morning. He was quite grumpy.
Natellie had a feeling he didn't like her anymore than he liked being fat, after having laughed at him and all.
A bunch of keys clinked at his side.
Natellie suddenly had a horrible thought.

"you don't lock them up...do you?"
The man smirked but said nothing.
Natellie was about to repeat her question when he answered.

"Not all of them...only the ones that are.... he paused..."too precious to lose" he said, the note of sarcasm ringing plain in his voice. He snorted again as Natellie clenched her fists.

They rounded a corner and the man slowed down as they approached a room numbered - 375.
He plugged the key into the hole and turned the lock.
Natellie suddenly felt nervous.
She hadn't thought of what she would say or anything at all.
The door opened and a boy of about ten with a missing cannine and jet black hair smiled at them as he casually leaned against the door frame.
" Hey kevin" he greeted the man next to her who by now was figgeting with the keys, squirming under the hatred that rang plain in the boy's greeing .

After a pause with all of them staring at him, he hesitantly stepped into the room and motioned for them to follow.
" I'm glad your adopting him....by the way" he muttered to Natellie as they stepped into the room as well.

Natellie ignored him as her eyes adjusted to the dim light and the......mess.

It looked like a humungous pair of hands had mistaken the room for a pair of dice and had given it a spin or two before tossing it in there.

Her mom let out a low whistle as she voiced Natellie's thoughts "wow.... it looks like Ran dumped her net in here"

"who's Ran?" someone asked from behind her shoulder.

Natellie turned to face the owner of the voice, her mini backpack suddenly felt like a small person clinging to her.

The boy who was supposedly going to soon be her brother extended his arm in greeting.
"I'm Nathen by the way..." he nodded at her mom before turning to fix his intent gaze on her, the corners of his mouth curved into a both amused and slightly mischievous grin

" ......and by what I'm told....you must be my little sister...Natellie"