Chapter Text
the sky was dark and overcast as niki looked out the window. he could hear the horses’ hooves splashing in puddles as they pulled the carriage along. his stomach was rumbling, it had been couple days since he had eaten. or maybe a week. he wasn’t quite sure anymore. he allowed his head to rest against the glass of the window, he knew it should be cold, but it felt warm to him. it didn’t make sense but nothing in his life did anymore.
niki allowed himself to doze off, having gotten little sleep recently and before he knew it, the carriage was jolting to a stop. he startled awake and sat up straight as the police officer who had been driving the carriage opened his door. niki collected his coat and stepped out of the carriage onto the wet dirt. his shoes were already caked with mud. recently, there had been a lot of rain and niki had been running through the forest often. he probably could do with a nice bath and a clean set of clothes, both of which he hoped he would get soon, as he had now arrived at his new home.
the gore orphanage was a large, looming building that looked more like a luxurious mansion than a home for troubled or abandoned children. it sat atop a tall hill, a thick forest of dead trees surrounding it. there were no other buildings in sight, not even any other people. only him, his police escort, and the orphanage nurse who was waiting for him on the other side of the ornate cast iron gate, separating the orphanage’s property from the main road.
the officer pushed him along towards the gate where the nurse reached up to unlock it to allow him entry. after he stepped inside, she quickly relocked it and thanked the officer for bringing him, he gave the man a nod as well, not feeling up to talking. once the carriage had pulled away, the nurse began to lead him up the winding path towards the orphanage.
“i am nurse etta, one of many nurses who serve at the gore orphanage.” the nurse started. “you would do well to remember to treat all of the staff here with respect. now, as we walk, i will tell you a bit about the orphanage and its grounds…” niki began tuning her out, getting lost in his own thoughts instead.
it was strange, how quickly life could change in such a short time. just 3 months ago, niki was living a happy life with his parents. his parents who, likely, were still doing fine, better than fine maybe, now that they no longer had to deal with him.
yes, although he was about to move into an orphanage, his parents were alive and well. his reason for ending up here was much more complicated than the ways people normally end up an orphan. it all started one night when he was gathering firewood for his family’s stove. he wasn’t supposed to be out so late but he did not want to be scolded for slacking off and not completing his chores the next day when his mother came looking for wood to start their stove so she could prepare breakfast and find their woodshed empty. so, he snuck out after his parents headed off to the forest behind their house. he had already made two trips home and back when he heard it. a twig snapping to his left, then some leaves rustling. at first, niki thought nothing of it. deer were common in this area, it likely wouldn’t approach him and would run away if he came near. however, when he looked up, the shadow niki saw was not that of a a deer but something larger, it appeared to be a human wearing a cloak. the most startling thing, though, was that the figure appeared to have two bright, glowing red eyes.
niki began to back away, gripping the axe he had taken from home tighter, hoping he was seeing things. then, suddenly, the figure charged at him. niki barely had time to think as he began running, knowing if he stopped, this thing was going to kill him. niki didn’t know how long he had been run just that his lungs burned and his legs were straining to keep up with the pace he needed to go at to avoid getting caught. he ran and ran, the thing after him never slowing down. the chase was put to a stop when niki’s panicked mind failed to recognize the fallen tree in front of him causing him to trip over it, falling flat on his face on the forest floor. not having time to pick himself back up, niki reached for the axe he had dropped in his fall. his pursuer was on top of him now, pinning him, their long, claw-like nails digging into his arms. niki’s struggle to reach his axe was paused when he felt a piercing pain in the back of his neck, he realized the thing must have bitten into his neck.
time was running out. if niki didn’t do something soon, he was going to die. using every last ounce of strength in his body, niki stretched his arm, desperately reaching for his lost axe until finally, he manages to grasp it. holding the axe as tightly as he can, he swings his weapon towards his attacker, slicing them in the shoulder. the pain shocks the figure, giving niki time to shove them off and begin to run away.
niki runs as quickly as he can, this time keeping an eye out for obstacles, only slowing when he can see his house through the trees. he realizes that his assailant was no longer chasing after him. finding it strange but too tired to question it, niki quickly and quietly snuck back into his house, leaving the bloodied axe behind a tree so he could return to clean it in the morning. before heading to his room, niki stopped in the bathroom, looking at his reflection in the mirror and seeing a large splatter of blood across his cheek, reaching all the way to his lips. he wet his sleeve and rubbed at the stains on his face, not caring to grab a washcloth to clean his face properly. he then inspected himself for wounds, only finding two small, circular holes on his neck where he felt his attacked bite. he finished cleaning himself up and went to bed, allowing himself to fall into a fitful sleep.
the next week is strange. nothing of note happens the first couple of days after the attack, though niki makes sure he does not set a foot out of the house after dark. after that though, niki began to notice strange things happening to him. going outside in the sun made his skin itch and his eye burn, something that had never happened before. anytime he touched someone, they would comment that his skin was freezing. his gums were aching and he was always thirsty, no matter how much water he drank. his parents didn’t notice these changes, despite him voicing his concerns about them, until a new, more unnerving change came about. every now and then, seemingly at random, niki’s eyes would flash a bright red.
his mother, a devout catholic, begged his father to bring niki to the church, thinking the changes to her son to be witchcraft or the work of demons. his father however, wanted to try a more practical route first. he brought niki to a local doctor, unfortunately, the man could offer no answers. so they tried another doctor. and another. and another. and another.
they tried going to every doctor in their village and the neighboring villages. not one had any answers for them. so niki’s father finally decided to listen to his wife, taking him to the church. there, the priests examined him and listened to his symptoms, coming to the conclusion that niki was experiencing the effects of demonic possession. his parents were horrified and begged the priests to help their son. they agreed and proceeded to perform an exorcism on him. after seeing no improvement, they tried again and then again. and again. in total niki underwent seven exorcisms and not one succeeded in relieving niki of these strange symptoms. his parents were at their wits’ end. by now, in had been months of seeking treatment for this strange mystery illness niki had contracted. word had got out, and rumors were beginning to form in the town. unable to handle the stress, fear, and shame of it all, niki’s parents did the only thing they thought they could. they disowned him.
niki was allowed to gather his belongings and he left after nightfall, his parents planned to tell the town niki had died to his illness in the night. his father was even planning to dig a false grave for him in their garden. niki was no longer afraid of the dark, another strange change being increased vision at night. he wandered through the forest for days. he stumbled upon a couple villages but didn’t settle anywhere for too long, he needed to get farther away from home if he wanted to avoid being seen by anyone who might potentially recognize him. by the start of his second week on the run, niki began to feel ill. he had not eaten since leaving home and had only had a few drinks of water here and there when he found a stream or pond.
his last two days on the run were hazy. he remembers trekking through the forest, the ground slippery with mud from the torrential rain. he found another town, lights shining through windows of houses blurring in his vision. he was hit by a wave of dizziness before everything went black. when he came to, a police officer was standing over him, trying to wake him. he had apparently passed out in an elderly couple’s vegetable garden and they called for the police when they had found him. the officer took him to a doctor who examined him. the doctor looked at niki suspiciously but said nothing other than it was a simple cold from being out in the rain and he should be taken to the gore orphanage if he had no home to go to.
which led him to where he was now. he gazed up at the large doors made of dark wood. whatever lay behind them was going to be his new life.