Five Elements, One Psychic

Chapter 4: Water & Air

Oore and Victor:

11 years old -

"Vic?" Oore whispers, trying not to make too much noise for fear of waking up the others.

Victor stirs a little but doesn't wake up. Oore frowns and reaches over to poke his elder brother awake.

Victor's eyes snap open, startled.

"What is it, Oore?" Victor mumbles while rubbing his tired eyes. His brother made a face before whimpering, "I have to go pee".

The brothers were very close and rarely ever left each other's sides.

Victor quietly got out of bed and gestured for Oore to follow him.

While Oore relieved himself, Victor waited outside the bathroom for his brother.

He studied a photoframe hanging outside the bathroom door- and at the bottom was a carving that said "Happy Oak Orphanage for Boys".

Victor sighed as he spotted his face along with his brother's in the picture, both looking grim. Well, everyone in the photo looked grim. This orphanage wasn't a happy place at all, depite it's cheery name.

They were fed only one measly meal of bread, rotted cabbage and an apple a day, along with a small snack which meant everyone was given a small packet of plain crackers to last them the rest of the day.

Then they were made to work their butts off, cleaning the place, working in the garden, washing the dishes, doing the laundry, and all that other stuff.

Worst of all, the 2 caretakers in charge of the orphanage regularly demonstrated the definition of child abuse.

The only real breaks they got were bed time, and the 15 minutes of free time to spend at the small, barren field. High walls were built around the field to prevent any of the boys from escaping.

"Happy Oak Orphanage for Boys." Vic let out a short, humorless laugh. "Just a coverup for "prison for children like us", with no parents."

There were about nineteen other boys in the orphanage, and whoever went to bed with less than 5 fresh bruises was a lucky one.

Victor tries to protect Oore the best he could, but that meant Victor gets triple the amount of abuse for disobeying the caretakers while Oore still gets the usual.

"Vic? I'm done" Oore mumbled meekly. Victor studies his unidentical twin brother's face- Oore was sporting a black eye and a swollen cheek that day. Along with bruised ribs and many other injuries.

"We'll get out of here one day, baby bro. I promise you."

"Stop calling me baby bro" Oore mutters while rolling his eyes. "I'm only a few minutes younger than you".

Victor let out a small grin. Christmas was coming, and that's when they were both born.

Their own birthday was all they could remember from before they were ten.

________________________________

16 years old-

The sky was a dark, gloomy shade of gray and the powerful gusts of wind were slamming the rickety windows of the orphanage open and shut continuously.

"Well shit. Looks like we won't be able to go out to the field outside today." Jack muttered bitterly.

Oore smirked towards his brother while overhearing Jack.

Victor tossed back a dry one and snorted.

"That's what he gets for pissing on my bed just because I told on him when he took more food than permitted" Oore muttered under his breath.