Years ago, Behind the Holy Cross Orphanage, Deep in a Cave...
Fana carefully parted the thick branches and tangled weeds that had been strategically placed to obscure the entrance to the cave. With practiced movements, she slipped into the hidden entrance, leaving the chaotic world of the orphanage behind and entering a place of deep, unsettling stillness. The darkness enveloped her immediately, a cold, silent void that seemed to swallow all light and sound.
Clutched in her hand was a small flashlight. She flicked it on, and the narrow beam of light pierced through the suffocating darkness like a sword, but the deeper she ventured, the more the light seemed to fade, as if the shadows were devouring it.
As the light swept across the cave's rough, uneven floor, it finally settled on a small figure huddled in a corner; her body curled up with her head buried in her knees. It was Raya Hatta, her slight frame almost lost in the vast emptiness of the cave.
Raya slowly lifted her head, her movements sluggish and weary. She winced as the beam of the flashlight hit her eyes, raising a hand to shield herself from the harsh glare.
"Eat," Fana's voice cut through the silence, soft but commanding.
Raya remained motionless, her eyes downcast as she shook her head stubbornly. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, a silent refusal to comply.
Seeing her friend's defiance, Fana turned off the flashlight, plunging the cave back into complete darkness. The abrupt loss of light made the space feel even more oppressive, the air thick with an unspoken tension. Fana moved closer and sat down beside Raya, the cold, damp ground chilling her through her clothes.
For a long time, the two girls sat side by side in the darkness, saying nothing. The silence between them was heavy, almost tangible, as if the weight of their unspoken thoughts was too much to bear.
Finally, Raya broke the silence, her voice low and filled with a mix of anger and despair.
"I don't want to go back," she whispered, her words barely audible. "I hate that place. I hate everyone there."
Fana didn't respond. Instead, she reached out and gently placed a hand on Raya's head, her fingers threading through her friend's tangled hair in a comforting gesture. The touch was soft, almost sisterly, and it seemed to ease some of the tension in Raya's body.
"I like it here," Raya continued after a moment, her voice softening. "It's quiet. There aren't any people here to bother us. It's just… peaceful."
This cave was their sanctuary, a secret refuge from the harsh realities of the orphanage. It was a place only they knew, a hidden world far removed from the prying eyes and cruel words of others. They had discovered it together, and they had gone to great lengths to keep it hidden, camouflaging the entrance with twigs, leaves, and debris so that no one else could find it.
But even without the camouflage, the chances of anyone discovering the cave were slim. The orphanage was filled with children, but most of them were too physically or mentally impaired to explore the grounds, and those who could were rarely inclined to venture far from the safety of the buildings. In truth, Fana and Raya were among the few who ever dared to leave the confines of the orphanage.
In the darkness, Raya turned her head slightly to look at Fana, though she could barely make out her friend's features.
"We'll always be friends, right?" Raya asked, her voice laced with a vulnerability that she rarely showed.
Fana hesitated for a brief moment before replying, her voice gentle and reassuring.
"Yes," she said, her words carrying a quiet certainty. "Always."
Fana's hand continued to stroke Raya's hair, the gesture calming and protective, as if she were cradling something fragile and precious.
Present moment...
"I thought you'd forgotten about this place long ago," Raya's voice echoed through the cave, cold and distant. "I guess that accident at the coffee shop brought back memories, didn't it? When I realized you were there, I knew you'd come looking for me eventually. But how did you connect me to the Ferbs?"
"Neighbor," Fana replied softly, her tone measured. "Someone saw you."
"A neighbor?" Raya scoffed, her lips curling into a bitter smile. "It must have been Linda, that nosy old hag. I was only at the Ferbs' for a few days, and I tried my best to stay out of sight. But I guess even that wasn't enough…"
Earlier that day, investigators from the Central Intelligence Agency had been canvassing the area near the Ferbs' home, questioning neighbors and gathering information. One of the neighbors, a talkative older woman named Linda, mentioned seeing a little girl entering and leaving the house just days before the couple disappeared. The woman knew the Ferbs well enough to be certain they didn't have any children.
Fana had been briefed on the investigation and, upon hearing the description of the child, immediately thought of Raya. The connection was undeniable, and it led her back to this place, the cave where she and Raya had shared so many secrets.
"Look at you now," Raya said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Pretty face, fancy clothes… You're practically a princess now, aren't you? I bet it wasn't easy for you to come back to a dump like this just to visit a rat like me."
"That's not—" Fana began, but Raya cut her off with a sharp, bitter laugh.
"And that old man Deacon—he must treat you like royalty now, right?" Raya's voice was laced with venom. "I bet he'd get down on his knees and kiss your shoes if you asked him to."
Raya wasn't interested in hearing Fana's response. She continued her tirade, her words fueled by years of pent-up anger and resentment.
"Because now you look like a human being, like a proper white swan. Of course, you can't be seen with us ugly ducklings anymore. Do you know what I saw? I saw you out there, in the city."
Raya's tone darkened, her voice filled with bitterness.
"You live in a fancy apartment, wear beautiful clothes, and have a driver to take you wherever you want to go. The same old man who used to look at us like we were nothing but dirt under his shoes now worships the ground you walk on. I bet you feel pretty good about yourself now, don't you?"
Fana remained silent, her expression unreadable.
"Ha! If you're going to tell me you've been donating money to make yourself feel better, don't bother. I've heard it all before," Raya sneered. "Deacon might promise a bright future for this place, but we both know it's all just a facade."
Raya's gaze locked onto Fana's, cold and unyielding.
"I know it, and deep down, you know it too. We're rejects, right from the moment we're born."
Her words cut through the air like a knife, sharp and unforgiving.
"Our lives are just a straight line, with no detours or happy endings. Even if we meet someone along the way, they'll just abandon us again. It's who we are—cursed, destined to be incomplete."
Fana, who had been listening in silence, suddenly spoke up.
"You were adopted," she said softly. "Why…"
"Oh, so you want to talk about that?" Raya's smile was cold, her tone mocking. "Yeah, I was adopted. For a while, I actually believed things might get better, that the emptiness inside could be filled. But I was wrong."
Raya's voice took on a darker, more cynical tone as she continued.
"They thought I owed them something for adopting me, and no matter what I did, I could never live up to their expectations. They probably adopted me on a whim and lost interest soon after. I overheard them talking about sending me back here, to this miserable place. That's when I realized that no matter how much we wish otherwise, some things are just a part of us, like a curse. We can't escape them, no matter how hard we try."
Raya paused, her expression shifting from bitterness to something more sinister.
"But that's when I learned something even more important," she continued, her smile growing twisted. "God might take things away from us when we're born, but that just means we have to learn to take them back ourselves."
Fana noticed movement in the shadows cast by the flickering flames.
Two figures slowly emerged from the darkness, their bodies twisted and bloated, with bones protruding unnaturally and bloodshot eyes bulging from their sockets.
"Meet my parents, the Jordans," Raya said with a bright, unsettling smile. "Look at them now—they love me with all their hearts."
Fana's gaze shifted to the grotesque figures.
"What have you done?" she asked quietly.
Raya didn't answer directly.
"Do you remember how I used to ask you why there was so much love in the world, why everyone else seemed to have it, but not us?"
Fana remained silent, watching Raya intently.
"But that doesn't matter anymore," Raya said, her voice taking on an eerie, almost joyful tone.
The smile on her face widened, becoming more twisted and unsettling in the dim light.
Fana then noticed more pairs of eyes lighting up in the shadows, glowing faintly in the darkness.
Men and women with similarly distorted bodies began to emerge from the darkness, some walking, others crawling. They moved slowly into the circle of firelight, their grotesque forms casting long, nightmarish shadows on the cave walls. The flickering flames created a network of dark shadows, weaving a sinister net around Raya, protecting her at the center.
"Look at them," Raya said, her smile bright and terrifying. "Those that love me...
...are countless."
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