Life has become a living hell.
In fact, Esme would rather be living in the real hell right now, than in this world it has now come to be. He had just turned thirteen years old, about two days ago, and that was the WORST birthday ever. Everything was fine in the morning on that day, but Esme could sense something was wrong in the air. It's true he didn't have superb hearing like the other kids or a sharp nose for smelling, but that doesn't mean he couldn't feel that something was amidst (it was a sort of instinct). He called once, then twice for his mother when she didn't respond.
Still nothing.
Slowly, Esme had crept out of his bed as he inched closer to his bedroom door, the cold, polished wooden floor under his feet chilling him to the bone. He called again, this time his voice trembling.
"M-mother? Where are y-you? It's my –,"
Suddenly, he stopped. He had heard some soft speaking from the kitchen. It was awfully quiet, and if Esme didn't strain his ears to listen, he wouldn't have heard it. He tip-toed closer to the apartment's small kitchen which was usually lit with a warm, amber light – even in the morning. But this morning, it wasn't lit. And the utensils, pots and cutlery were all thrown onto the floor, or placed upside down as if someone had rummaged through them in a hurry, and didn't bother to tidy them up.
The small kitchen also had a glass sliding door as its entrance and thankfully, it wasn't closed all the way so Esme could still eavesdrop on the voice speaking. Hiding underneath the dining table, Esme peeped through the glass door and saw his mother's chocolate-brown hooves clacking on the floor, and instantly, he felt a wave of relief rush over him. But when he was about to get out from under the table, he heard his mother speak his name. "Huh? Oh, Esme? What about him?"
Esme tensed, hoping it wasn't one of the neighbors criticizing about his behavior again, who was on the phone. But this time, he briefly heard the speaker on the phone say "money", and Esme immediately knew that his mother wasn't speaking to their neighbor. Their neighbors wouldn't say something like that.
There was pause in the talking. Then, "What? What are you saying?! Why would I do that?" his mother cried, voice cracking, "I know that, sir, but still… Huh? Yes, I do know about the… war, but this isn't necessary!"
His mother ran a hand through her messy bun as she bit her lip, ears twitching. She looked like she was about to say something back when her eyes went as wide as moons and she froze in place, legs shaking. The phone in her hand slipped through her fingers and clattered to the ground with a loud THUD!
And later, Esme's mother also dropped to the floor on her knees and Esme had heard quiet sniffling in the kitchen. His heart ached hearing his mother cry but he couldn't blow his hiding place. Not yet. He needed to hear what his mother had to say first, and what the unknown person on the phone was talking about. A war is coming? Esme thought agitatedly, keeping his stomach close to the tiled floor despite its coldness. He was afraid if he didn't keep low enough he would bang his head on the underside of the table since he was quite tall. When did that happen? …And "money"? Well, mother does have a low pay job and is struggling to put food on the table for both of us… Could it be someone who's offering her a job on the phone? But then… why is she crying? Tears of happiness?
All kinds of thought whirled around in Esme's mind like angry leaves in a storm. He didn't like his mother crying, even if it's because of happiness. Crying is weak, pathetic, sickening, disgusting and won't—
Esme stopped. And won't what? Won't solve your problems? Is that what he was saying?
…That's… too harsh. He didn't know where he had gotten that thought from but he knew that sometimes, you just need to cry. To let it all out… so you can restart fresh again. But still, the harsh thought about crying still remained in the back of his mind, unable to be silenced out.
CLACK! CLACK!
Esme's mother had gotten up from the floor and picked up her phone. Her mascara had been smudged across her face, leaving dark marks that looked like she had been crying black tears. She inhaled a deep sigh and spoke to her phone firmly:
"Fine. I'll… do it."
And then there was a click! and the kitchen was silent. Esme didn't dare to breathe. But from under the table, he saw tears drip onto the floor and knew that his mother was crying again. But… this means she got the job, right? That's a good thing! He silently got out from under the table and re-arranged the chairs again, so it looked like no one moved them. Esme's mother stared at the floor the whole time, her eyes glassy and she didn't even look up when her son slid the glass door fully open.
"Mother?"
The woman snapped back into reality, her tail perked up when she saw her sweet child. But a thought crossed her mind and her tail drooped, but she forced a smile on her face. "Esme, sweetie, you're up! Good morning," she chirped, ruffling Esme's peanut-brown hair affectionately.
"Mother, stop that!" Esme yelped, but a grin escaped his lips while he tried to gently push his mother's hands away, "and morning."
And suddenly he was in his mother's arms, embraced by her warmness while he breathed in her sugary, honey scent that trailed from her hair. She started stroking Esme's back, murmuring things and Esme felt hot tears soaking into his shirt. Crying for the third time? …Mother really must have gotten a good job for her to cry so much times!
"Mother, no need to cry, I know you have gotten a great job! We should celebrate instead. And look, it's also on my birthday too!"
Esme's mother tensed at the word "job". What did her son mean? But she decided to play along.
"Oh, h-haha, yes, indeed! Happy Birthday, Esme! Mother will cook a feast for you."
"Don't stress yourself out, though! Thanks, mother!"
The two stayed in each other's arms for a few more minutes before Esme's mother gave him a kiss on the forehead and sent him to deliver the berry buns for their bakery. But as soon as Esme went out the house, the woman dropped her joyful act and smile. She knew she didn't have a choice.
"I am so so so sorry, Esme. But I needed this. A life… for a better life."
It had only been two days since he remembered his mother packing his bag with all his clothes and towels. His mother had spoken hurriedly, urging Esme to get up and get ready for whatever event was happening that day. But when he had asked why, his mother had simply said, "You're going to boarding school for a very long time. Now, hurry up and put on your jacket, sweetheart."
A tall, bearded man in a black suit later appeared at the front door of their apartment, and Esme had an uneasy feeling that the man screamed DANGER. But he didn't want to argue with his mother, who had put in so much effort in signing him up for this 'boarding school', so he obediently left with the mean-looking man. Hung around his neck was a jade crescent moon pendant, which Esme's mother had told him it would open at the right moment when he was ready to see its secrets, and that it was a gift for him since he was going to be away for a very long time.
Esme had never seen the pendant before. It seemed familiar to him and also strange at the same time as he held it in his hands, the jewels rough against his skin.
Right now he was in the back of a WHITE (dun, DUN, DUNN!!!) van in total darkness with only the creaking noises of several locks closing the back door of the van as company. Esme sighed, leaning back onto the van's walls and crossed his legs. Unexpectedly, someone tapped him on his shoulder. Stifling a yelp, he whisked around in the direction of the extended arm and squinted in the darkness. He could vaguely make out the outline of a person's head, and their permed short hair as it bobbed up and down, like it was nodding.
Oops. It was nodding.
"Hello!" exclaimed the person who tapped him on the shoulder, "yes, yes, you're looking in the right direction! I'm here, in the flesh."
They laughed, their voice cheery and filled with sunshine but when Esme didn't laugh back, it turned into an awkward cough. "Ahem! Anyway, what brings you here?" They asked, and Esme could hear them shift their position to sit closer to him.
He backed away a little, hoping the unknown person could see that he was uncomfortable with them being too close. "My mother signed me up for boarding school. Isn't that why you're here too?"
Esme had completely forgotten there were other people in the van with him. For some reason, they were all completely silent and didn't talk for the whole time, expect sometimes murmuring when they were sleeping. Well, someone broke that silence… He thought, staring at his hands.
"Hey, stop staring at your hands! It's rude to not look at someone when they talk," protested the other person, and they made a little hmph! sound, "and what did you say? Boarding school? Haha, that's a good one!"
Esme frowned at the person's humorous personality. It made him remember that he also once was cheerful too, but that was in the past. He was different now.
"I don't know what animal you are but I don't have night vision like you do. We're in the dark right now so it doesn't matter if I'm not looking at you because it won't make a difference," Esme muttered irritated, and wished that they would just stop talking to him, "and I'm not trying to be funny. You're here for the boarding school too, aren't you?"
He saw the person shake their head, giggling. "Where we headed is no boarding school! It's a magic school! We will learn magic and spell books and eat toasted mouse tails there! And by the way, I'm a snake specimen."
And to prove that, the unknown person whacked Esme in the face with something scaly and cold, sending Esme falling to his side. "Hey! That was uncalled for!" Esme roared, rubbing his sore cheek, and glared at where he thought the person would be, "you could have just… you know, tapped me again, not whack me! Owww…"
Esme groaned while his "attacker" tried to hold back their laughter, their tail smacking softly on the floor. Even though his cheek still hurt, Esme couldn't help but smile to himself. Maybe this person wasn't so bad after all… It's the first time someone had laughed at him not in a haughty way or had any bullying intent. And besides, this person reminded him so much of his childhood self… maybe he can still go back.
"Oh my gosh, I saw you smile! LET ME SEE MORE CLOSELY!" cried the half-snake person, trying to take a closer look at Esme's face.
But Esme covered his face with his hands and his smile disappeared as quickly as it came. "What do you mean, I didn't smile!! And you said we're going to a magic school, right? That's basically like boarding school except it has magic! I was right."
"No, you're both wrong."
A cold, metallic voice snarled, and their words echoed across the van as Esme and the snake person turned quiet. "So it's not a boarding school or magic school?" another voice piped up from somewhere in the far corner of the van.
More voices arouse as if all the kids in the van had woken up from the dead and were starting to become alive. The van was now filled with whispers. "Silence!" the metallic voice snarled again and everybody stopped talking.
The voice seemed to come from everywhere, like there was no exact place of where the person who spoke it sat in the van. But that was the least of the worries Esme had right now. His mother had clearly told him it was just a boarding school (or magic school), so if it's not, what was it?
"Where this van is headed is not somewhere you should all be happy about," the voice continued, and Esme could practically feel its burning eyes staring at the snake person beside him, "no. It's somewhere terrible. Somewhere far away from home and shrouded in so much darkness you may never see the light again."
It paused, letting the words settle in everyone's mind. Esme's heart thumped in his chest while his palms turned sweaty. What could possibly be worse than a boarding/magic school? It can't be jail since they didn't do anything wrong… right?
As soon as Esme looked up, his eyes stared into two glowing ambers that seemed to have a fire within them, burning ever so brilliantly. He flinched back, but the ambers stayed there, peering at him closely. "Indeed," the voice seemed to come from the ambers, but this time it was soft and it sounded like it was only speaking to him, "it's a place for us… failures. Our very existence is wrong! "— the ambers stopped staring at Esme and scanned around the room, it's voice rising into a growl — "So now we must spend the REST OF OUR LIVES ENSLAVED BY THEM IN A PRISON. A PRSION BUILT ONLY FOR US! ISN'T THAT JUST A MIRACLE?! Hahaha… ha…
There is no escape."