Ralph, the other adult in charge at Cloudhouse, took control of the situation as soon as they arrived at the residence, causing everyone, including Tan who was seething with outrage and doubt, to sit quietly in the library as he gave a lengthy explanation of the emergence of the organization they called The House, as it was initially made up of Elite soldiers who secretly supported several corrupt leaders doing dirty work such as murder and kidnapping without leaving any trace, as they instructed their children and the organization grew, spanning generation after generation, training high-end criminals and enriching itself, holding positions of power around the world, in secret, for decades.
"The student residences were created as another method of training for the youngest within The House, this was the first, this was only attended by the descendants of the original families, their great-great-grandparents were those soldiers, their grandparents came here, as well as her parents," Ralph concluded.
Several pairs of eyes were fixed on Tan and his reaction, but he continued impassively. Of all the explanations that he imagined a secret organization type mafia was the most far-fetched, but there it was, everything made sense, the immeasurable fortune of his family, the strict military training regimen that he had received since he was a child, the mysterious trips and various business partners of his parents, although what did not make sense is that they, his parents always overprotective and affectionate, sent him there, so he understood that they never wanted him to out and that Kimi's sudden school transfer was due to that.
"And then?" Candace asked, "Do you think to say something Tanou?"
The boy shook his head and left the library with slow steps, finding it difficult to process that his parents, in his youth, surely chased another teenager through that same forest and shot him as his new delinquent companions had done with him, that his loving mother was a ruthless hunter, that his correct father strengthened the power of the corrupt by staining his hands with blood and that this was the fate that he had in store for himself. He never had a choice, whatever profession he chose would only be a decoy to explain where the dirty money that would fill his pockets came from.
Tan went up in the elevator to the floor where his room was, the suitcases were there again, he threw himself on the bed without much care and let all his frustration come out, screaming, crying, and kicking, he didn't leave that place with clean hands, and if he escaped he wouldn't get out alive, he couldn't leave Kim there alone, once his anger was drained he lay on his stomach letting his tears wet the pillow and sleep began to cloud his mind, he wanted to sleep again, sleep until everything is over, sleep and never wake up again if necessary, a soft knock on the door interrupted his hopeless thoughts, he didn't give him permission to pass, however, the black-haired girl with bangs entered the room limping. She was Nivi, whose ankle he had kicked out. Seeing the girl's tiny gestures of pain as she walked, he felt slightly guilty for having been so rude, then he remembered that the girl could have killed him if he insisted on escaping and his heart grew cold as did the icy look he gave her.
Nivi sits on Kim's empty bed and begins to talk, about her experience, about how, although she knew about The House and what her mission would be when she reached Cloudhouse she was terrified and tried, like Tan, to run away through the forest, she even jokes about how they caught her faster than him, she mentioned superficially what she had to do, and in her face it was intuited that he had seen many things that someone her age shouldn't have seen, she sighed, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled sadly.
"Before you there was a boy who knew what he faced when coming to this place, he was even excited by the idea of belonging to the elite," she said calmly, her gaze was lost in a fixed point of her own memories " He was very happy in this place, he wanted to be everyone's friend, his charisma kept us awake during the year he accompanied us, he managed to cheer me up when I felt he would give up "
Nivi lifted the sleeve of her sweatshirt to reveal the cut scars on her arms and gently ran her thumb over them. Tanou wondered how strong her emotional pain must have been for her to use physical pain to soothe it. A tear fell on the scars and Tan felt uneasy, he quickly asked.
"What happened to that boy?"
"That idiot ..." said Nivi wiping her face with her sleeve "Anyway, the procedure for withdrawal of a member and admission of another is very long and exhausting, you only had to fill out a form to come, but you can't imagine the paperwork that your uncle had to do or the interrogations and meetings that we went through, so the only thing I ask of you, for me and for my colleagues is that you do not escape or commit suicide, resist as much as you can, this place can be a little nice if you try to see the bright side."
She took one of his hands in her, which were soft and cold, the temperature had dropped several degrees since our conversation began.
"Tell me something positive about being here"
"Sure you are a rich, spoiled and lonely child like some of us because, in this place you're not alone, we aren't very close, but we are always a couple of doors away and believe it or not it is good to have someone to talk to when things get difficult, especially considering that we are all in similar circumstances, we're brothers of traumas "she answered convinced, Tanou smiled for the first time that day. The girl continued speaking. "Don't look at that mark that still burns on your skin as a symbol of defeat, think of it as the scar from a wound in battle, a very bloody battle in which you left parts of yourself, but from which you came out alive. We are not trained to escape unscathed Tanou, they train us to survive. "
Tanou nodded silently. Escape? He would do it when it was convenient and take Kimi with him. Kill himself? Never. He would survive whatever he waited for him in that residence. Nivi responded with a smile and a pat on his shoulder.
The door opens once more revealing Evangeline.
"Are you finished? Do you want me to take you to the room?" the girl asked referring to Nivi, who nodded and stretched her arms towards her to help her stand up.
When she opened the door once more to come out after her there were Candace, Ralph, and the rest of the boys, even Kimi who looked worried.
"See? I told you that sending Nivi would be enough" Candace said putting her arm around Nivi's shoulders, the girl shifted uncomfortably at the contact. "Ryan, please leave the weapons in the basement, we won't use them today right Tanou?"
The tone that the woman used was irritating, he even perceived evil and mockery in her, none of the boys had seemed evil, not even Ryan who shot him, but Candace at that moment made his hair stand on end
"Take this. I knew he would come back alive." She said Nivi to Ryan pulling a small dagger through the bottom edge of her shorts. "Malik owes me thirty dollars."
☁️
"I will go," Kim replied after the explanation of her parents about Cloudhouse, how there was only one place that year and the Darawans did not want to send her son. "Tanou can stay here and have a normal life, I'll be better for this job."
Her parents nodded satisfied by the strength and determination of Kimi, who remained impassive hiding the reasons for him honorable sacrifice.
He had always thought that her absence would not be a big problem for Tan, that was a good chance to confirm it.
A year after arriving, having fully adapted to his new lifestyle, she received breathtaking news: Tan would move to Cloudhouse. It was not a big surprise that they would soon have an initiation since they had been only eleven active members in the residence for a month, so Kim had been begging the heavens for days not to select his best friend, but the heavens tend to ignore the murderers.
A host of feelings swirled in the boy's chest, as he was very happy to see Tan Darawan again, to see his light brown hair, his dark eyes, and his beautiful childish face, at the same time that he was terrified to think about everything that the boy would he have to live.
It didn't take long for the tears to pool in his eyes as he smiled because at least he could see it again.