Chapter 2: Chapter 2 The Demon

It was a tall, lanky man with sallow skin and a large hooked nose. His shoulder-length, black hair hung around his face like a curtain, wearing a dark blue 3-piece suit with a high collar shirt, looking like an uptight man. A chill went down Nathan's spine when his cold, blue eyes looked over. He had unknowingly lowered the centre of his gravity, but when Ethan clutched his arm, he was reminded of the situation and forced himself to calm down. But despite his best efforts, his muscles were still stretched taut.

 

Fortunately, their insignificant movements weren't noticed by the adults.

 

"Ah, very good morning Mr Norand. "

 

"Very good morning to you too, Ms Nora."

 

Nora smiled like a flower at his greeting.

 

"And who do we have here?"Mr Norand shifted his attention to the twins, glancing at Nathan and then fixing his gaze on Ethan. Nathan moved so Ethan was behind him, shielding him from Mr Norand's sight.

 

Mr Norand raised an eyebrow at that but didn't comment.

 

"Ah, this here is Nathan Winterberg, and behind him is his younger brother, Ethan Winterberg. They are the new children I was talking about the other night."

 

"Hmm, yes. Very glad to meet you. Welcome to the North Star orphanage. I am Norand Robert, one of the caretakers here. If you have any problems here, you could always come to me. Please wait a moment here."Mr Norand spoke carelessly as he turned around and entered the director's office.

 

While they waited, the man who was with them, came back with 2 small suitcases in his hands.

 

"Please come this way. I'll show you to your beds." Mr Norand spoke, as he exited the office and led them through a hallway, down the stairs, to the 5th door on the left.

 

"The dining hall, laundry, and water closet are downstairs. You shouldn’t go to the third floor unless you are called and don't be loud because the nursery is just at the end of the hall. The infirmary is beside the nursery," Mr Norand stated.”The library and classroom are at the other end. You get up at 6 and go to bed at 9. No exceptions. Breakfast is at 8, Morning service at 8:30, Evening service at 5:30, and dinner at 7. The classes are from 9 to 11. From 11 to 12 is your spare time. Every day you are assigned a work quota and as long as you complete it, you are free to do whatever you want. "

 

Creak

 

"You can choose any unoccupied bed. Don't fight with the other children. "

 

The beds were aligned to the walls with a small drawer between every bed.

 

After a few words of farewell, the three adults walked out. Leaving the twins on their own.

 

Now...this is our life...

 

Nathan stared out the window.

 

Useless orphans. Great. Just great.

 

A sigh escaped his lips as he looked around. He looked at Ethan and Ethan turned to look at the bed on the right end. As they started to arrange their luggage, the door opened and a bunch of children walked in.

 

"Yo, the new kids are here."

 

"More like new punching bags."

 

"Do you think they can hold on for a week?"

 

"A week, puff- more like a day."

 

"puff-I bet they can't even last a single blow. Too bad. The demon doesn't have any mercy."

 

"Hussh- Don't be like that or they'll cry." One of the boys put a finger to his lips to make a shushing gesture.

 

Just like cannon fodder in those shitty novels.

 

Their words weren't pleasant and their hostility was unwarranted. Although Nathan was an adult at heart, he still felt very annoyed.

 

Demon. Hmm.

 

But Nathan paid more attention to their words. Swiftly, under the cover of the bed, he waved his hand and several objects disappeared simultaneously.

 

Standing up, he and Ethan walked to exit the room, but how could that be so simple?

 

"Hey hey hey, and where do you think you are going?"

 

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One of the older boys grabbed Nathan's arm.

 

"Let go."

 

The boy let go, shrinking his shoulder like a quail.

 

"Hmph. Pathetic"

 

Ding.Dong.

 

As they walked out, the sound of the bells ringing could be heard. Nathan's attention was distracted by the bells. They had arrived around 5 and it was already 7. Time passed by so quickly. He just hoped that the dinner would be decent and not any unidentifiable, mushy, and foul-smelling food described in those crappy novels. Thinking of this, the image of stale bread, watery soup, and some gooey thing came to mind.

 

They might just have to go hungry. Or he could just sneak into the forest to forage...if there was anything to forge, that is.

 

A sigh escaped his lips.

 

It was really hard to survive in this dog-eat-dog world, especially with a harmless, cute cinnamon bun with him. The best course of action for him would be to slowly distance himself from Ethan, let Ethan be adopted by a good foreign family, and let him have a peaceful life. From what he knew of future events, wars were just around the corner. And this nonexistent peace is about to be blown away.

 

Slowly and gently, he reached his hand to caress Ethan's face. Ethan too nuzzled up in his hand, acting spoiled. Pulling his sleeves to gesture to him to go to dinner. A warm hue shone on Ethan as the rays of the setting sun fell on him.

 

He softly chuckled, honey dripping from his gaze.

 

But Nathan was unwilling to leave this harmless, cute cinnamon bun behind. Even if it caused both of their deaths. And how could he?

 

This was his family.

 

His blood-related twin brother.

 

His other half.

 

His light.

 

His hope.

 

His only reason to continue, when he had almost given up.

 

His...Iain...

 

He would not allow anyone to separate them.

 

No matter who it was.

 

A dark light flashed in his eyes.

 

Even if it was god himself.

 

Going downstairs, and entering the dining hall by following the crowd of children along, they came face to face with a black-haired, red-eyed boy. His eyes, resembling blood, glanced over at them and a word unintentionally escaped Nathan's lips.

 

"Asian"

 

Instantly, those eyes widened. Promptly, the owner of those eyes grabbed Nathan by his collar, dragging him somewhere.

 

"BROTHER!!!!!" Ethan was obviously alarmed.

 

It had been a while since he had heard Ethan speak so loudly.

 

Unintentionally, Nathan's mind wandered while being choked.

 

And what great timing! Just when I thought of crushing anyone who caused Ethan to worry. What a bummer 

 

He could hear the sound of anxious footsteps behind them and felt very distressed. Suddenly, they turned a corner and he was pushed against the wall.

 

"Repeat what you just said."

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