Chapter Text
Gary stepped into the seemingly empty gate first, and a weird stench hit him as he noticed a big van. The air was humid and cold, so the two children walked closely beside one another.
Smart little Miela had already gotten the creeps from this place; why would anyone pick up their foster child here? Everything about this place screamed danger!
Having fully entered, the two children decided this was the point of no return. With Minnie's drawing in hand, Miela went to explore on her own.
Gary was not far behind, but not exactly beside her either.
Suddenly, the two heard some deep voices coming from the big doors on the walls surrounding them, accompanied by loud footsteps.
Someone... something, was on its way to them!
In a flash, Miela ran back to Gary, grabbing his hand and dragging him under the van. She had already looked inside it and only then began looking around more.
A small door in the stone walls on the left side opened, and Minnie and Emma stepped out of a yellowish-lit room. Mom had on her usual smile, leading Minnie more to the center of the big space. Then, the big doors on the left and right of the stone walls opened as well.
Gary’s hand shot up to cover Miela's mouth.
Miela shot Gary a look; his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull, and his jaw was so tight she thought it would break.
Miela then looked up and slightly sideways to see what had Gary so scared and protective... out of the doors stepped at least three tall, big creatures dressed in black robes!
Claws like Miela only imagined from scary books she might've read one time! Teeth probably sharper than the knives Mom used to cut the toddlers' pork into pieces... and a hunger for flesh and blood... murder and who knows what else...
Miela's eyes slid over to her Mama and Minnie, who was clinging to her mother's waist while shaking in terrible fear. Mom didn't even flinch; she grabbed Minnie by her arm and tossed her to the monsters...
Miela let out a gasp against Gary's warm hand as he pressed even harder.
She couldn't stop watching... nor could Gary.
One of the big monsters grabbed Minnie and lifted her tiny body into the air, staring at her with its deformed eyes. That slid Mielas attention to the monsters again.
Miela teared up; she couldn't do anything to help her little sister.
In what felt like slow motion, a currently white flower was stabbed directly through Minnie's adoption uniform and thus also through her skin and flesh, painfully ending her short life by stabbing through her heart.
Minnie let out a blood-curdling scream before the flower practically bloomed halfway inside her.
It was... sucking out her blood! Miela stared and cried while the white flower slowly turned red with Minnie's blood...
Gary had been staring at Mom, and he now wanted Miela to see what he couldn't believe. He forcefully turned Miela's head to watch Mom, who was standing in front of another demon that had come out the door; maybe he was the second one they had seen?
"Eight-year-old. High quality nonetheless... protocol demands that you ship out the premium ones next; the Tifari doesn't wait." said the demon to Mom, his voice was so... distorted and scary.
"I understand," Mom replied.
What the heck...! Mom was in on this? How could she... what—
Before Miela could get lost in thought, Gary grabbed her hand and dragged her up from under the van. The monsters had their backs to the exit, and Mom was looking at a clipboard one of those things must have been holding. The two kids quietly made their way to the cold and wet stone wall outside the gate that was connected to the fence they weren't allowed to pass.
From there, they slowly peeked their heads over the edge of the wall, watching.
Minnie was stripped of her clothes while another monster set down a strange metal container with odd blue liquid in it on the ground. Then, Minnie was put into the container.
"Human flesh is just the best; I wouldn't dare touch an animal if—" a demon spoke before the one by Mom turned to the van.
"What is that?"
Shoot! The drawing!
Miela shook her head; she just couldn't move. Gary gripped her hand and sprinted off, dragging her behind him to a tiny little hill on the grounds of their beloved orphanage.
Then, both children dropped to the ground. "Miela!" Gary cried out, crawling over to her.
"This... what?! Our Mommy would never... I mean..." She began stuttering.
"M-Miela... this is... a farm!" he blurted out. Miela's eyes teared up, her hands digging into the soft wet ground. The snow didn't stay for too long... that meant no footprints.
"So... we are all just... food? Flesh to be harvested and given to those demons?! All our siblings... Minnie, everyone!"
Gary sighed; he couldn't lie to her, not after that, so he gave a calm nod.
Miela lowered her head, then opened her mouth, pressing her face into the cold grass to muffle the scream that escaped her mouth. She was grieving.
Not even three minutes later, when Miela was sobbing and uncomfortably thinking of all the siblings that never wrote back after being sent to their foster parents, Gary and she took off running back to the house where Odette was nowhere to be seen.
Walking up the stairs and into the bedroom of children around nine to eleven, some even a bit younger, Miela sat down on her bed with Gary, who was gently rubbing her back.
"I don't want my siblings to die..." she sobbed, and Gary nodded. "We will escape from here, okay?" He asked, Miela gave a slight nod.
"Nobody else will die." He said, adrenaline pumping trough both of the kid's' veins.