August 29, 1975
It was already late afternoon but the sun still beamed, warming everything that was hidden in shadows.
Theo had climbed on his favorite branch up the oak tree, swinging his legs as Ethan watched him.
The leaves were already showing first signs of autumn's approach, yet they weren't as vibrant as they will be in the next months when the colors will turn yellow and eventually brown. And then they fall and everything turns cold. Ethan and Theo won't get to talk under the tree's shadow because there won't be any leaves to shade anymore.
That's one of the reasons why they both hated winter; they weren't allowed to be outside while this space under the tree—and the tree itself, was the only place that brought them comfort in this orphanage's land.
Theo was sitting on the branch, scared to fall down and hang just on his legs.
"Theo, just do it. You've done it a million times," Ethan, picking on the flowers that grew in the soft grass called out.
"Yeah but from the lower branches."
"Do you want me to hold your hand or what?" Ethan said, not lifting his eyes away from the flowers. He plucked their petals one by one, which made Theo wonder if he was asking questions doing that.
Theo shifted his thoughts and after a long silence he answered. "Well yeah."
"Let me see if it's a 'yes' or 'no'." Ethan continued to pluck the petals slowly, so he wouldn't miss any.
"What did you ask?"
"If I am going to die in the next twenty four hours," he plucked the last petal. "It's a no," he stood up and could see Theo roll his eyes. "Shame."
"Do I have to hold your hand? It's not like you're gonna fall," Ethan paused, realizing his words. "I-I mean I don't mind holding your hand but like it's not gonna help," he quickly reassured.
"It's for confidence. And apart from that, your hands are soft."
"Are they?" Ethan asked himself as he touched his palms.
"Yes. And reach for my hand."
Theo hesitated, a flicker of doubt crossing his face as he prepared to fall back. Ethan's hand outstretched and seemed to hover in the air, just out of Theo's reach. Ethan couldn't reach him so Theo lifted himself up again and then with new-gained confidence he fell back without the reassurement.
"You're short," Theo teased, a playful grin spreading across his face as he dangled upside down from the branch.
Ethan rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
Theo smirked and somehow gained confidence. He swung back from the branch, his hair cascading down his back. As he reached the peak of his swing, Ethan, with a mischievous glint in his eye, slapped him playfully on the cheek.
"That's for the smirk," Ethan said, his laughter echoing through the air.
Theo rubbed his cheek, a mock frown playing on his lips. "Shit, that hurts."
Ethan burst into laughter. "You deserved it."
Theo smiled, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
Their gazes locked, their eyes boring into each other's souls.
All of a sudden, their moment got interrupted by the defeating thud of the main gate scraping loudly against the ground.
Theo tilted his head to the direction of the sound. "We should check what's happening."
Theo jumped down and walked away from the little forest that grew near the orphanage's walls, Ethan trailing behind him. The path was trampled by the children's footsteps, trees lining it. Almost no sunlight could get through the trees, yet, near the oak tree, it had just enough space to warm the grass there.
Theo and Ethan reached a distance close enough to the main gate from where they could see what's going on. The reason why they were so concentrating about it is the fact that the main gate wasn't used as much because the staff uses a much smaller gate when leaving. The enormous gate was only used in times when someone was getting adopted—or sent to the special facility and, as now, arriving at the orphanage. But there was one more occasion when this gate was used. As the children reach fifteen, they apparently get sent to a different orphanage for older children mostly days, weeks—even months after their birthday. Though just apparently. The staff uses a much smaller gate when leaving.
In the entrance stood two kids, a boy and a girl—about their age. They both shared the same blond hair color and appeared like they came from a rich household just because of the way their hair was done or even the way they stood.
Later, Theo and Ethan learned that their names were Victor and Velvette. But soon after their arrival, rumors about them started spreading through the orphanage's corridor. Some children claimed to overhear the grown-ups talking about how they came from a family of serial killers, but their parents were recently catched and have to rot in jail now.
—
Mrs. Agnes down in her underground laboratory watched the children she captivated down there being experimented on with amazement in her eyes. It was the children that had already reached fifteen and didn't prove their worth by that time.
She—of course along with the help of her employees, would try various experiments on each one of them.
Some of them made more sense, like injecting dark matter into the children's veins to see what would happen. Some of them were perverted, like creating sorts of drugs and later testing them on the children. And some of them were just for pure fun, like putting the children in the same room as a creature, even though it was obvious how it would end up just to watch how the creatures destroy their bodies.
Mrs. Agnes would listen to their desperate screams, not feeling any guilt. No one could say anything, everyone had to listen to what she ordered, otherwise they would end up the same as the children.
One day, as Mrs. Agnes intently watched her ongoing experiment, Dr. Sallow approached her. "We've currently got a lot of children above the age of ten, we shall make the files for all of them by the end of the month."
"Is there time for it this week?" Mrs. Agnes asked but her voice was interrupted by a loud scream coming from the testing rooms. The laboratory itself was soundproof, though some separate rooms still weren't.
"What did you say?" Dr Sallow questioned as the scream eased.
"If we have time this week," she repeated, her eyes not quite meeting Sallow's. Her gaze was directed at the hurting child right behind the glass wall in front of her.
"You can get Felice to do it," Dr. Sallow suggested, his eyes meeting the same sight. They both were so calm that it almost appeared scary.
"Felice hates any experiments I do. Even if they're harmless."
It took Dr. Sallow a moment to answer, "Well, we could do it this morning."
An unexplainable smile tinged Agnes' face. She enjoyed the activity they were about to do again. She loved thinking about if this child will gain the potential to live in the next years. But for her personally, it was better if not.
After preparing everything, Mrs. Agnes would call the listed children to her office and first take a picture of them—and their brain. Though to do that, she had to narcotize them and observe their brain while they were unconscious. The children would wake up in their bed hours later, not evening, recalling a fact that someone took a picture of them in the first place.
The equipment she used could exactly show their IQ and even their mental illnesses, which would later be added to one's files.
—
Stars had already filled the sky when Theo and then woke up after the narcotizing.Theo woke up first, a throbbing pain in his head. He looked around the room but he couldn't see much because it was darkened by the night. Even though only a small portion of the moon was visible that night, the moon still showed itself clearly in the sky. When Theo got tired of the moon, he looked over at Ethan.
As if feeling Theo's eyes on him, Ethan woke up.
"My head hurts," Ethan spoke softly.
"You can sleep with me. Maybe it will help."
"Theo, I always sleep with you," Ethan said as he moved from his bed to Theo's. He crawled under the same blanket as Theo, and without any more words they both ultimately drifted off to sleep, holding onto each other the entire night.
They slept together like this more than often. But just because they were afraid of sleeping in their own bed, alone, since this whole place carried an eerie atmosphere.
Though they never thought of it as something romantic. They only saw love as kissing because no one has ever shown them that love's not just kissing.