North Falls Vol.1

One morning a cold, soft breeze blew through the cold city of North Falls, on this day a blue dodge challenger pulled into the parking lot of the city's opanage. A 5'7 tall woman exited the vehicle and took a deep breath of the mist the breeze left behind, She had swan-black hair that was held neatly in a bun that rested on the crown of her head, she had two blue obsidian earrings, a slim black dress with black leggings for her bottom. She wore standard inch heels and a black purse. Entering Lyrian Polenski

The woman opened the front doors to the orphanage and was met with the piercing blue eyes of the receptionist, who gave her a bright smile. "Welcome, welcome!" she said and Lyrian smiled back "Hi" she replied as she approached the desk. "My name is Janette, how can I help you today miss..?" she asked "Polenski, Lyrian Polenski. And I am here to adopt" she said cheerfully. Janette's eyes seemed to widen slightly in surprise "Oh? Well that's great, most people come in asking for directions but we have many kids ready for adoption. " she chuckled. "Are you looking for someone specifically?" she asked, handing her a sign-in sheet. "Well no, not really but I could use some cheer in the house. It's been rather lonely after my daughter went off overseas with my brother" she replied.

Janette smiled "Don't worry, most of the children here are full of life" she assured her "most?" Lyrian asked "well you see there's a kid here who's been here longer than the rest, who's probably the most traumatized" Janette replied. Janette led Lyrian over to the police desk located to the East of the building "Here, you are going to take a test to see if you're eligible for adoption. It's to see if you have any felonies or history of child and or substance abuse, sorry" she apologized but Lyrian put a hand up "It's quite alright, I think i'll pass" she teased.

Seemingly satisfied, the questioning officer led her and Janette to the room where the children were socializing with one another. They all turned to see Janette and the officer with another woman. Lyrian saw that the orphanage was made up of a variety of children of all different ages, there were 14 kids that ranged from the ages of eight to 17. The eldest kid was helping two younger ones with their art, a few 10 year olds were rough housing and there was a kid who looked around the same age as her daughter who had earbuds in as he read a book. He stood out the most because he had an unusual shade of silver hair.

"Kids, this is Mrs. Polenski and today she's decided to take one of you home today!" she announced.

"Ms. is fine" Lyrian told her, she looked around and met eyes with each of the kids that ran to her with excitement. All but the 17 year old and the kid with the book, the older one just watched in amusement as the different kids tried impressing Lyrian but the silver haired kid barely took his nose out of his book. After a few interviews Lyrian had to go into a room with the officer and Janette to discuss the children's background and behavior.

"Okay Ms. Polenski, it seems you have a few choices" she smiled and Lyrian chuckled "They all have amazing energy, but the oldest decided to not get adopted. He said his birthday is coming up soon so there'd be no point, but there is one that didn't talk to me at all" she said and both Janette and the officer sighed "yeah that's Tokata" Janette said.

"What's the matter with him?" Lyrian asked "Do you remember the child I mentioned when you first arrived? The one that's been here the longest?" Janette asked

"you mean the traumatized kid" Lyrian said and Janette nodded "wait that's him? He's so young! I thought you were talking about the older one" she told them. "The kid's eyes tell a different story" the officer said, taking his hat off and wiping his brow.

"His mother murdered his father and then committed suicide, leaving him in the house paralyzed probably by guilt. A neighbor called us a few days after the incident, He's been here ever since" the officer replied and she looked stunned. "Oh my god that's terrible! I wanted to talk to him but he was too focused on his book" Lyrian said painfully "It's his escape, and the earbuds he has. He's had them since he got here a decade ago, so he's really careful with his stuff" Janette told her "a decade!? How old is he now?" Lyrian asked "He's 15" both the officer and Janette said in unison.

---

Lyrian unlocked the front door to her house and looked into the dark abyss ahead. She walked in and turned on her hallway lights, illuminating the picture frames she had on a table lining up against the wall.

She had pictures of her ex husband, her daughter and her son. After a few hours of cleaning she decided to take a bath. A few months later an officer arrived at her house with Sichiro "Good evening ma'am" the officer said tilting his hat I've come to drop off young Tokata, do you mind if I inspect the house?" he asked and she shook her head "Not at all officer, come right in" she said opening the door for both of them to walk inside.

The officer walked around the house while Sichiro stayed in the door frame, Lyrian knelt in front of him and smiled. But her heart stung when she saw he didn't have the light in his eyes as kids usually do. It was like he was already broken and too far gone, after a moment the officer came from the kitchen

"Alright ma'am, it seems everything is in order. There's food, water, and electricity. If you have any questions, problems or concerns please feel free to give us a call" he told her walking down the stairs just under the porch "have a safe trip" she waved.

She closed the door and looked at Sichiro but he was over at her table looking at her pictures. She walked over to him, he was looking at a picture of her son when he was little and her ex husband "That's my son Keito. He was my ray of sunshine in my time of darkness" she said and he turned around and looked up at her

"Was?" he asked. His voice was like any other boy going through puberty, but it was soft when he spoke "Yea, he um. He passed two years ago. He was attacked by a grizzly on his way back home with my daughter, she survived but he-He never came home." she said, almost choking up.

Sichiro picked up the picture of the girl in the bright blue dress giving Lyrian a hug and she chuckled

"That's my little girl Rachael, she was so happy back then" she said sighing "is she okay?" he asked her and she smiled "Yeah she's fine she's just at my brother's across seas. She'll be back sometime aro-" but she got no further. A sudden knock interrupted her.

She opened the door and there in the doorway stood a girl in a red hoodie. "Rachael! Speak of the devil" she said jokingly but she would have never guessed just how literal that joke was.