Orphan

Free at Last?

Ran’s POV:

I woke up in a lot of pain. Where am I? I’m not dead. I know that because I’m in pain. I opened my eyes. I was in a dark room. I sat up. I was on a bed. This place seems… familiar. Wait. This is… my room. So, he didn’t kill me? But why?

“Ran?” A quiet voice whispered from nearby.

No… she didn’t get out…

“Ako.”

“Are you okay? It’s been a while.” Ako asked, “I think it’s been about a week.”

“What?” My eyes widened and I jolted into a sitting position.

“Yeah…” Ako frowned.

“Are you alright?” I asked her.

“Yeah. I don’t know why, but he hasn’t hurt me.” Ako said.

I shakily got off the bed. I walked over to where Ako was sitting. She’s not restrained or anything. Guess the door is locked then.

“You didn’t make it out…”

“I… I couldn’t leave you… I was scared.” Ako mumbled.

“It’s okay. We’ll get out. I promise. I know a secret way out.” I said.

Let’s hope it’s still there. But, I think we should wait. I need to know why he’s doing all of this. I still don’t get it.

The door opened. We both jumped. It was dad. He was back.

“I see you’ve woken up.” He didn’t seem to care, “I brought food.”

“Why are you feeding us? Before-“

“You don’t need to know.” Dad cut me off.

“Why can’t I know anything!” I yelled at him.

“Alright then, what do you want to know?” Dad took it as a challenge.

“Why do you care? Why do you want me?” I asked, “You’ve never really seemed to care about me, so why make me stay?”

“Haven’t you figured it out. This is almost like a gang. And, we have a rule. Once you’re in, you’re in. You can’t leave.” Dad replied, “I could show you our cemetery for those who didn’t listen.”

“Um… no thanks…” I quickly shook my head, “Why don’t you just lock me away then? Why make me come back on my own?”

“That’s another rule in this gang. We can’t force someone to stay, but we do have to threaten them to come back and we can bring you here as many times as we need to. You’re a kid. That’s the issue. We aren’t allowed to hurt children in extreme ways. I can’t kill you until you’re an adult, but… if someone else did it for me, I could just claim it was an accident.” Dad said.

“That makes no sense…” Ako whispered.

“I agree, but it’s our rule.” Dad said, “Anything else you must know?”

“Why was I abandoned?” I asked. I never got my answer to that question.

“An ex-member of this house stole you and ran away. I do not know what exactly their intentions were.”

“Why didn’t you come get me from the orphanage?”

“No one here has the requirements to adopt. A background check would find that. So, we had to wait.” Dad said.

“Can’t you change the rules?” I asked, “You’re in charge. Change them.”

“It would cause an uproar. I can’t. And, I don’t want to. Maybe you’ll understand it one day.” Dad said, “You’re going to be my successor.”