Agetale The locket (Yet another undertale fanfic)

Jamie

I sat on the stairs at the back of the orphanage. My back arched as I fiddled with the locket in my hands. It was shaped like a heart, but it was upside down. I opened it. My mother had worn this locket a lot, but had never opened it before. At least, not when I was around. 

In the locket, was a faded picture of a young woman in a striped sweater, wrapped in the arms of a stranger. I could just make out the woman as my mother, but I didn't recognize the other person. The other was more faded, like the print had been rubbed off. The picture was in black and white, which made it harder still to figure it out. The other was most likely a good friend of my mother, who lived far away, like many she told me of.

At the thought of my mother my eyes felt hot and dry, then wet with threatening tears. My throat tightened. I took a deep breath. Even though I had gotten my power under control, I was still worried that my eyes would glow, and then someone would see, and people would know I was a freak and kill me like they killed my mother. No don't think about it. Don't think about her. Push it down, keep it in. 

I took a few more breaths, and willed my soul to relax. I was still looking at the locket. No. my eyes were facing the locket, but they were blurry, and unfocused. Calming my heaving chest, I closed the locket. I used the shiny smooth face to look at my distorted reflection. I sighed. My eyes weren't glowing. If only I'd been at home. If only I'd been sick that day, or didn't stop the get ice cream. Maybe I could have hid in the closet and jumped out to attack a guy and send the rest away in fear, then we could have moved to another state and been safe. If only... if only... if only... 

Thoughts like these swarmed my head. I continued to stare at the locket, unfocused. I heard foot steps tromp the grass to my right. Looking up, sudden terror gripped my soul. It was Jamie, my one remaining friend, but I was still terrified. He gave me a strange look. My eyes are glowing, my eyes are glowing, my eyes are glowing! 

I used to have a lot of friends, but they all found adoption homes. It was just Jamie and me now. He continued to give me that strange look. I tried with all my might to force what ever of my magic down as far as I could. "Are you okay? you were crying and now you look really tense." Jamie sounded concerned. "anything else?" I asked hoarsely. Jamie cocked an eyebrow. "No? But I'm worried now. Is there something else?" relief washed over me like a open flood gate. "No, nothing. Just, uh, bad memories." "Okay. Just wanted to tell you there's a new kid." He furrowed his brows. "You sure you're okay?" "Yea, I am now." I replied. 

I rose to my feet. Oops, to fast. I felt light headed for a moment, and my legs stembled as if they were lifting some foreign weight. I put one hand on the wall to brace myself, and the other I came to my head. The world looked fuzzy for a moment, then I regained focus. "Let's go meet this new kid." 

We walked around to the front of the orphanage. Jamie was telling me about the new comer we were about to meet. Or rather, what he had found from spying on them. "He's a little boy with black hair. Didn't get a good look at his face, but I think he has brown eyes. He looked to be a little shy, so we gotta keep that in mind when we..." Jamie kept talking until we got to the doors where we would risk being overheard. 

There weren't a lot of people there, just a few kids here and there, standing by the old stone walls of the hallway in groups. Our shoes pattered softly on the dark wood floors, occasionally hitting a squeaky board. The old lights flickered overhead as they cast a warm golden light down the hall. It always felt comforting to be here. It wasn't scary like in the stories my mom and I had read when I was little, it felt safe here. Like home. A tear formed in my eye, but didn't fall. I wasn't sad exactly, but I missed Mom. I missed that home.

Before I knew it, we were standing in front of the door that led to Mr. Wilson's office. Mr. Wilson was the head of the orphanage. He was tall and slim with short straw yellow hair, and pale blue eyes. I was scared of him when I first arrived at the orphanage, but soon found that he was very warm and welcoming. I knocked at the door, and was answered quickly with a "come in!" we walked into the room, and Jamie asked where the new kid was. Mr. Wilson told us that he was staying in room 303, but to be careful, because he was getting over the shock of being here. He trusted that we could handle him though, because I understood what that was like. 

We clomped up the two flights of stairs excitedly to the third floor, and found 303 without trouble. I took a breath to compose myself, and Jamie struggled with his excitement. The place was nice and all, but nothing very far out of the ordinary happened, and it could even be agonizing sometimes. I rapped on the door gently. There came no reply. after about five minutes that felt like an hour, I knocked again. I heard a muffled rustle of cloth from the other side, and a soft voice came through. "hello?" the voice cracked mid word. "Can we come in?" Jamie asked, some how managing to keep the energy out of his voice. "Um... y-yes and... no. Who are you?" The small voice quivered a little as it spoke. "I'm Emily, and this is my friend Jamie." I said calmly. "Hello!" said Jamie, really struggling to not shout and giggle excitedly. "um. uh... yea. you can come in... I think." 

I waited a moment to see if he would open the door, and when he didn't, I tested it. It wasn't locked, so I slowly opened the door. A little boy was sitting cross legged on a bed in the opposite corner of the room. He was just like Jamie had described. "Hello,..." I said. "Hi!" Jamie said energetically. The boy in the corner waved Cautiously. He studied his lap rather than look at us. "what's your name?" I asked. "J-Jacob Ma'am." He said. "Ma'am?" I asked, curious. He shifted uncomfortably. "Uh-Never mind. You don't have to call me Ma'am, were like, the same age." I said keeping a gentle tone. "O-okay. My name is Jacob then." He repeated. "eeeeyyy! part of the 'J' team!" Jamie said. His excitement soothed the mood a little. 

"So, what you in for?" Jamie asked. Jacob fidgeted with his hands. "you don't have to answer that." I reassured him. My mind replayed sour memories of my own.

I took a deep breath. walking over, I placed a hand gently on his back. He flinched away from My touch, but I was expecting he would. I placed my hand on his back again. I rubbed it in a circular motion and he didn't flinch away this time. His breathing steadied after a moment. I was sitting next to him on the bed. Jacob still didn't look at either of us. I took my hand off of his back. "I...I can tell you. Why I'm here." He said. "you don't have to." I replied. "I know."