"An evil force has risen. In order to defeat it, you must find and gather the seven Bearers."
Kaelith was jolted awake, her forehead hitting the bottom of the top bunk in the process. She rubbed her forehead in pain and sighed. She has been having the same dream every night for the past few months, and it itself was a mystery to her. It was always exactly the same, a hooded girl muttering those words, then she would see a flash of purple, which would cause her to wake up.
"Had that dream again?"
She turned around and saw Mirelle bending from her bed, her long brown hair nearly flowing down to the floor. Kaelith stared at Mirelle's hair in jealousy and felt her rough, shoulder-length silver hair.
Yes. Silver. She was born with silver hair, resulting in the other kids of the orphanage calling her an elderly child or freak. However, Mirelle didn't think so. She was Kaelith's one and only friend in the orphanage.
"How did you know?" Kaelith still kept rubbing her forehead to ease the pain. She then took her alarm clock and saw that she had woken up thirty minutes earlier than her usual time. She shrugged.
"I could tell by how your head collided with my bed." Mirelle said sarcastically before jumping off the bed and sitting next to Kaelith. She frowned when she saw Kaelith's swelling forehead. "Damn, was the dream that bad?"
"It just surprised me, that's it." Kaelith was about to rub her forehead again when Mirelle held her hand to stop her.
"Don't." she gently placed Kaelith's hand back on her lap. "It will hurt you more if you touch it. Let me get you some ice."
Kaelith smiled as she watched Mirelle walk away and disappear into the kitchen.
She remembered the first time she met Mirelle. After she was just brought to the orphanage, both of them were really shy and wouldn't say anything to each other. Even though they were roommates, each day would be spent in silence. Now, after living together for nearly ten years, the two were closer than two halves of an apple and were now called the noisiest duo in the orphanage.
One of the rules of the orphanage stated was that any child has the freedom to leave and live on their own after turning eighteen. Kaelith was seventeen, turning eighteen in a few months, and in all honesty, she didn't want to leave for two reasons.
One, Mirelle was a year younger than her, which meant that she was going to leave her alone. This was a big no-no for her, especially because of the bullies who tend to pick on them both when no superiors were around.
Two, where would Kaelith go? She had no family outside since her orphanage was her home, so leaving would just make her basically homeless... and alone.
Weirdly and strangely enough, Kaelith had no memory of her childhood before she was sent to the orphanage. She had no idea who her parents were, and there was no information of who she really was.
According to Mirelle, Kaelith was easily frightened when she was little, and the doctors said it was because of something she experienced before she met Mirelle. Since the trauma caused her to often keep herself away from everyone. The head nun named her Kaelith as in "Known", "Understood" or "Valued" which she thinks se never was. Her complicated background and unusual appearance was one of the many reasons why nobody tried to befriend her when she arrived.
Besides the fact that she had natural silver hair, her hair had a mysterious past, which just frightened everyone.
"Here."
Kaelith flinched when she felt something cold get slapped on her forehead, and then she realized that Mirelle was standing in front of her.
"What are you thinking about? Were you Daydreaming?"
"...It's nothing." She blinked when she noticed that Mirelle's pajamas were drenched as if she took a dip in the pool with her pants on.
"What happened to you? Did you step inside the toilet or something?"
Mirelle huffed at Kaelith's statement and wriggled her pants off, right in front of Kaelith. This didn't bother Kaelith since the two of them were like sisters, and seeing each other naked was a normal thing.
"I spilled some water on me while I was getting some ice from the fridge."
"Clumsy." Kaelith said with a laugh, while Mirelle slipped on a pair of neon pink shorts.
If there was one sentence that could describe Mirelle, it was that she was a pink-loving goddess of clumsiness. Even though Kaelith wasn't really a good cook and Mirelle was more experienced than her, she rarely let her touch the stove since the last time she cooked something resulted in a fire. Kaelith couldn't really understand how it happened since she was just boiling an egg. Because of that, the two of them were forced to do community services for half a year.
"Hey, Kaelith, I've got... something to tell you."
Kaelith felt Mirelle sit next to her, and she couldn't see Mirelle's expression because she was currently tying her hair into a ponytail. However, she knew that Mirelle sounded serious.
"Go ahead."
When Kaelith was done, she looked up and saw Mirelle staring down at her feet. Kaelith stared at her and saw what seemed like a guilty look in her eyes. She also noticed that Mirelle had completely changed her get-up and was now wearing her favorite leather jacket. This confused Kaelith since Mirelle only wore that whenever she was going out.
"Mirelle... what's wrong?"
"Kaelith, do you remember the day when you went out to find out more about yourself?"
Mirelle said slowly, knowing that she was touching a very sensitive topic. She was talking about the day two weeks ago when Kaelith headed to the police station, accompanied by some nuns, to hopefully find out her identity. They had assumed that Kaelith would, at least, be in the roster of missing people, but unfortunately, she wasn't. It was like she was never supposed to exist in the first place. This was done so that she'd have somewhere to go to after being released from the orphanage.
"Yeah... why?"
"Well, while you were out, this couple came to adopt a kid." Kaelith expected Mirelle to continue, but instead, Mirelle stopped and just stared right at her with the saddest expression that she had ever seen.
"What are you trying to say?" Kaelith already had an idea of what Mirelle was trying to tell her, but she didn't want to assume anything until she heard it from Mirelle herself.
"...They chose me."
Mirelle's words made Kaelith pause. She started playing with the hem of her shirt, an action she only did when she was nervous or scared.
"I'm getting adopted. They are due to pick me up in a few hours."
Kaelith blinked, taking a few minutes to absorb what she had just heard. She didn't know what exactly she was feeling since she was both happy and sad. Happy because Mirelle finally found a loving family, which she deserved after watching her parents die when she was younger and she will, at least spend the remaining years of her youth with parents by her side. It also meant that she wouldn't be left alone after Kaelith turned eighteen. Still, Kaelith couldn't help but feel sad... because she'll be left alone earlier than expected.
"I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, Kaelith." Mirelle said, her fingers digging into Kaelith's shoulder blades, tears welling up in her eyes. "I-I didn't know how I was supposed to tell you. I thought you were going to be mad, so I-"
"It's okay, Mirelle. I'm not mad. Just... don't cry, okay? You know that I hate seeing you cry." Kaelith said while holding Mirelle's arms. Even after she said that, she was still crying. "Don't be sad. You're finally going to have a family, just like you always wanted. You should be happy!"
"But... you'll be alone." she said with a sniff, and honestly, Kaelith wasn't sure of how she was going to reassure about that since it was true.
"I was bound to be alone, anyway." she said as she gave Mirelle a big hug and let her cry on her shoulder.
"I'll be fine, Mirelle."
She hoped so.
Knowing that the two of them would be separated soon, Kaelith and Mirelle spent the whole day together. Kaelith was glad that the nuns were considerate enough to let her do whatever she wanted with Mirelle since chances of meeting with her again were slim, especially because her new parents were moving to another country.
There were times when Mirelle would suddenly break down and cry, which would make Kaelith cry too. Both of them were going to miss each other so badly, and knowing that they couldn't do anything about it just saddened them even more.
...******...
Now, they stood at the orphanage gates.
The silence between them wasn’t awkward—it was heavy. Like it knew this was the last time it could exist between them.
Kaelith kicked at the gravel absently, dragging Mirelle’s oversized luggage behind her. The wheels scraped against the ground with a hollow clatter, echoing too loudly in the quiet. Mirelle stood beside her, hands fidgeting at the hem of her shirt, the tiny keychain on her belt jingling with each nervous shift.
“We’ll see each other again…right, Kaelith?” Mirelle asked without looking up.
Kaelith's throat tightened. She hated how hopeful Mirelle sounded—like she needed to believe it, even if it was a lie.
“We will, Mirelle...” she started, but her voice faltered as the orphanage gate groaned open behind them.
A silver Cadillac pulled in, gleaming like it belonged in a different world. One without creaky bunk beds and burned egg disasters.
Kaelith swallowed hard.
“I know we will.”
Mirelle turned to her and opened her arms wordlessly. Kaelith didn’t hesitate. She pulled her in and hugged her so tightly it hurt. She didn’t care. Let it hurt. Let it leave a bruise, a mark—something to prove this moment existed.
“Promise you’ll remember me?” Mirelle whispered against her shoulder.
“I could never forget you, Mirelle,” Kaelith replied, blinking fast, trying to smile through the sting behind her eyes. “You're... you’re my whole childhood.”
“I’ll write to you,” Mirelle said, pulling away with tears in her eyes and a smile that tried too hard to be brave.
Kaelith nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak anymore.
She watched as Mirelle walked away, each step pulling something out of her. Her best friend. Her sister. Her one constant.
...Then she was gone....
...And Kaelith was alone....
...Again....
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Comments
Anna_k
Okay but apart of dyslexic people, I don't think anyone else didn't understand this first chapter. it's pretty clear actually. Mia and Kaya are two best friends living in an orphanage. they had decided to move out of the orphanage together once they're both 18 but Mia got adopted and now she left. that's pretty much it,
2025-01-10
0
Isabella_smith
We're off to a good start! I really hope I won't be disappointed
2024-11-03
2
Clara
hmm...good starting best of luck to the future readers and Krystal
2024-07-28
2