Erlosun
"This will be your stay for the next few months. Please wait here."
That was the last thing Brenric heard before he sat down on the chair.
They said 'tragedies' were awful when they happened to children, but it was nothing of importance to Brenric.
He had lost his family at age five, lost his foster parents at age ten, and his orphanage had burned down by age fourteen-and he had been the only survivor.
He could have given up at least three times, yet some overarching power had let him survive every single disaster. He hadn't wanted to survive.
He had nothing to live for anymore, and before he had done the unspeakable to himself at age fifteen... he had met a certain man. The man had not given him his name or explained what he wanted; he had simply taken his knife and forcibly put him in his car-not that Brenric had resisted.
And that was how he had ended up in this situation. Now, he was sitting on a chair waiting for... something-or at least that's what the man had told him.
One would expect a place with seemingly hundreds, maybe thousands of people to be loud and crowded-but not here. Everybody seemed... in their own world, in some way.
They also wore very uncomfortable looks on their faces, staring into the distance and minding nothing but their own business-not that Brenric had cared.
It would have been wrong to say it gave him 'peace.' It was more like it... put him at ease.
After a long time, that same man returned. Some of the other children were barely interested, while others didn't even raise their heads. Brenric had been one of the latter.
"Alright, goody morning, kids! Or is it afternoon now?" the man said, perhaps trying to make a joke, but no one laughed.
"Anyway, I'm sure you're all interested in why you're here! If you are, please let me explain!
You are part of a secret organization called Erlosun! I can't tell you what you're here for, yet, but I can tell you why YOU were chosen. All of you. Erlosun only targeted children from eleven to sixteen-not just any kids of these ages... we only chose the ones who had seemingly lost their way in life. Yup, all of you were probably traumatized, depressed, or simply not capable of showing emotion anymore, and that is perfect for us! We hope you have a great time with us, and just so you know, you are monitored 24/7, so any act of self-harm is prohibited! Now, go to your assigned rooms, where you will two other roommates!"
A weird flashing light emerged on everyone's arms. Each displayed a number. Brenric's arm showed "912."
He didn't want to stand up and go, since he saw no reason to. But by the look of it, the company's base appeared impressive, which meant they had money. That also meant they were actually monitoring everyone 24/7, so he would probably be forced to go anyway.
Reluctantly, he stood and began searching for his room.
Some others, however, weren't as smart. One would have expected staff to gently coax them toward their rooms, but then...
A horrifying scream echoed from the room he had been in before. That was probably the greatest surge of curiosity Brenric had felt in years, and he immediately went back to see what had happened. Everybody else hadn't even batted an eye. It was almost as if he alone had heard the screams. He ran toward the large room again, but what he saw left him pale...
...
Cut-off limbs. Faces burned. Amputated arms. Screaming children. Eyes plucked out. All in a matter of seconds, just for those who had refused to go to their rooms. The smell wasn't merely "unpleasant"; it was revolting. It almost made Brenric puke.
"Oh, why, hello~" The same man who had tried to crack a joke a moment ago-and also the man who had brought him here-seemed completely stoic about what had just occurred. "What do you feel for them? Disgust? Pity?"
The man gripped Brenric's arm with both hands.
"And let me ask you, 'Brenric,' was it not?"
With a maniacal gleam in his eyes, the man said, "Why aren't you... in your room?"
Then he broke Brenric's arm.
...
Brenric screamed his life out. He had endured multiple tragedies and had lost many people he had considered friends... but none of it had pained him as much as this.
"Oh, how I love the scream of children, haha~" the man said with a smug look. "Now, now, Brenric, let's be grateful here... You know I could have done more. You're smart, aren't you?"
Brenric lay stunned. Nothing made sense, and he slowly began to lose consciousness from his broken arm, feeling as if his soul were drifting out of his body... Maybe that was the time he would finally rest in peace?
"Oh, nuh-uh, Brenric! You don't die without my permission!" the man said, forcing a pill down his throat.
"Remember my name, Brenric. Dain Evander. For the rest of your life, you're going to be here with me~"
Those were the last words Brenric heard before he slipped into a deep sleep-and then woke up... in his room, his broken arm completely healed.
He awoke in a gray bed. It didn't look luxurious, but it wasn't a prison cell. He guessed it was his dormitory.
Indeed, it was. To his left lay a paper marked "912," the same number he had seen on his forearm earlier. But that wasn't the most notable feature of the room. He saw two other children-presumably his roommates.
This wasn't the first time Brenric had shared a room; his previous roommates had been eight- and nine-year-olds who merely wanted to play. This felt far more ominous. They stared at him.
The boy looked older, probably around sixteen. He wore a serious expression, accentuated by thick eyebrows and intense eyes that gave off a frightening impression. His hair was short, nearly buzzed.
The girl, though equally serious, was far prettier. She wore broken earrings and red glasses, with dark bags under her eyes indicating she hadn't slept in days.
Any normal person would have tried asking for help or striking up a conversation-but Brenric wasn't normal. The room held two bunk beds-one for the girl, one for the boy, and one for him...
So why was there a fourth?
THUD
"HELLO, LADS!" a little girl screamed.
"...Eh?" Brenric and the others looked up at her, eyebrows raised.
The little girl arrived with an older man.
It wasn't Dain.
He looked relaxed, but appearances were deceiving. He was the living example.
"I'm sorry, but it seems we miscalculated the number of rooms-so you'll need to have Elowen here with you. Please take care of her," the man said with a broad smile.
It seemed Elowen would sleep in the lower bunk, beneath Brenric-
"Eh?! I'm sleeping in the lower bed?!" Elowen cried. "Who's in the upper one? Let me see... Brenric... who's Brenric here?"
The other two children didn't even consider it; it was almost as if they would have ignored her if their name was called instead. He also had planned to ignore her and sleep in his own bunk, but...
"I-if the other two lads already slept... that- that would mean you're in the upper bed, right?" she said as Brenric nodded. "CAN I HAVE THE UPPER BED? PLEASE??"
"Okay," he replied.
...
Well, that was odd. He would normally ignore such a request, yet he found himself agreeing. Did she wield some enchantment?
"Oh my god, oh my god, THANK YOU!" Elowen squealed like a child. "I owe you my life."
A faint chuckle escaped Brenric's lips-and with it, dread. A bead of sweat rolled down his face.
"Is she actually a witch?" he wondered.
But it didn't matter. Nothing did. He feared Dain, yet there was nothing he could do. He had no reason to confide in his new "roommates" about what had happened.
So he lay down in the lower bunk... until his upstairs neighbor decided to surprise him.
"Boo!" Elowen yelled. Brenric didn't flinch, but his sleep was broken.
"You're a little child. You need energy. Please sleep," he whispered.
He had once cared for children at the orphanage-before they all perished-so he knew how to handle them-
"Little child? How rude, I'm fifteen!"
Elowen protested. Brenric was taken aback. She looked ten at first glance, but when he looked closer, it's more so that she's just very short. And weirdly malnourished.
Elowen pouted and went back to sleep. Brenric managed a small smile. She truly was uncanny.
Hours passed, and Brenric slept soundly-and dreamlessly.
He awoke hours later, turned onto his right side. The adjacent bunks were empty, indicating the others had gone somewhere, likely for food.
He felt odd pressure on his stomach.
He glanced forward instead of to the empty bunks-
"WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING ON TOP OF ME?!" Brenric yelled.
"W-what...?" Elowen mumbled, still half-asleep. Brenric sat up and gently pushed her aside.
"Oh, I saw the other two had left, so I woke you... but I guess I fell asleep again..." she explained.
"DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY HUMAN DECENCY?!"
This was perhaps the angriest Brenric had ever been-for good reason. It felt profoundly wrong.
"What? I don't see anything wrong... I used to wake my sister like that all the time..." Elowen said, her smile faltering.
"...Oh." Brenric murmured. He realized she must never have learned basic manners-or moral boundaries. Words like 'decency' or 'modesty' were foreign to her. Does her frail body have anything to do with it?
He decided to let it go, but he needed an excuse for his outburst...
"Hm..."
"W-well, my hand is injured, so if you knocked me, It'd hurt more! You wouldn't want that, right?" he said. She weighed almost nothing, so she posed no real threat. He hated to admit it, but he felt a faint blush. This was the most significant interaction he had had with anyone older than nine-including this peculiar witch of a girl.
"Oh, so that's why you're angry! I won't do it again!" Elowen said earnestly, her expression softening. Brenric relaxed.
He suggested they go find the others. He had never expected a friendly bond, but maybe he had been mistaken. She was gullible, perhaps, but better company than endless boredom-especially now that suicide was out of his own hands.
"Hey, Brenric, I found the cafeteria! It looks really big!" Elowen called. Brenric nodded and followed her inside. The atmosphere remained calm and unsettling, but it had eased slightly.
Perhaps everyone had grown acquainted.
Each dorm room had its own table.
It took them a while to find table 912, but they eventually did. The boy and girl-whose names remained unknown-sat at opposite ends, eating slowly... far too slowly. They were probably the quietest diners around, which was impressive given the overall silence.
"Oh, I was SOOOO hungry!! I couldn't wait to see what we'd eat here!" Elowen squealed again, drawing a few stares from the people nearby. It wasn't common for anyone to shout in this organization-how had she even been admitted?
Who cared? She made the place better, if anything.
The lunch lady eventually appeared with trays of food-and with her, some of Brenric's slowly dawning trust.
