Chapter 01

It's finally done. We're finally here. It's over.

Shadawn chanted in his head attempting to calm down.

Having been his very first flight, the ride on the plane had gripped him by the end of his nerves throughout the entire journey. When Chelsea had informed him of their means of transportation he was indeed reluctant to go with the flight,

"Why can't we travel by train?"

He had asked.

"I have another case to attend to, so I need to get back home by the next flight"

Another case. He was also just another case.

As petty as it may sound he considered Chelsea to be his closest form of interaction unless he counted the kind bakery owner down his old neighborhood.. With anyone else he wouldn't and couldn't speak full sentences. But with her, he felt safe, he felt obliged. After all, she had saved him.

Most would consider being sent to the orphanage as their fate taking a turn for the worst, or that God had abandoned them. But for him being sent to the jail-like orphanage, was symbolic of God answering his prayers.

As if to appease him for his clear reluctance and known Claustrophobia she promised him that she would book them a flight at off-peak hours, and sure enough, she stuck to her promise and guided him in paths that stayed clear from the majority.

Even with all her consideration, he still could not feel unaffected at the increased number of people within his proximity.

Deep breaths.

He told himself.

It'll be over soon.

His inner voice soothed him.

As the flight finally came to a halt, he reached over to get his hand luggage. Which happened to be his only luggage, as he did not bring along with him anything other than 3 sets of daily attire, 2 sets of night wear, under wear, his worn-out sketch books, a couple of novels and the set of highly pigmented colored pencils he got last Christmas from the orphanage. His stay may have been temporary, yet he liked it. Liked the sense of ease he felt within its constricting walls. Being within those walls constricted interaction and opportunities, but being within walls meant none of the unwanted external forces he feared stood a chance at getting to him.

But now his life was going to change. He was stripped out of those walls that held the world beyond his reach. The world was a scary place. Once upon a time, he hoped to go out there to explore and embrace the world. If there's one thing the world taught him it was that the world had so much to offer. So many things a single person could not fathom to understand. And unfortunately not many have the opportunity to come to that realization. People are so busy chasing single things like money, sex , love, and stability, that the lens of make belief success they see through, that was constructed by society, drives them to build that specific monotonous life what they call 'success'. He used to see people like that a lot at his father's and brother's business parties organized back at his old house. Always the one observing from a far and never to engage. He wanted to be better than them. To be able to go beyond what he's being limited to. Beyond his house, then beyond the education he's being limited to, to learn new things and new languages, to understand new cultures by going beyond transnational boundaries. He craved for so much. So much that books had taught him.

But with each passing year, his enthusiasm faded with the increasing fear.

"Miss De Vries?"

A distant deep voice cut through his running thoughts.

"Shadawn that must be your brother"

Chelsea murmured with a polite smile as she nudged Shadawn forward towards his said 'brother'.

Confused by the new individual he slightly frowned, partially hiding behind Chelsea.

When she said that his brother would be waiting to collect him at the airport Shadawn had expected to be facing Hyacinth who was older than him by a year. The last time he had seen Hyacinth was when he was five which made him slightly excited to see him. But the boy in front of him, who looked slightly older than him clearly could not be an older Hyacinth since his physical features indicated that he was asian.

"Mr Fernando? Is it?"

Chelsea held out her hand for him to shake.

"Yes. Just call me Nikolai"

"Right Nikolai. I hope we didn't make you wait that long"

Chelsea apologized.

"Not at all"

He smiled.

He then looked at Shadawn, and his smile brightened.

"You must be Shadawn"

He questioned more than stated.

Shadawn nodded yes.

"Hope you had a great flight. We're all so excited to meet you."

said Nikolai.

Shadawn did not reply. He highly doubted that any of them were actually looking forward to his arrival. And he did not look forward to meeting any of them himself.

"Okay guys, I really got to run. My flight back needs to be boarded within the next hour."

Chelsea turned to Shadawn, embracing him in a warm hug, which made him instinctively flinch, she continued.

"Hopefully I won't have to see you again"

Shadawn felt a tug at the stings of his heart, did she really mean it?

As if reading his depressing thoughts she replied.

"I'm joking of course. I'd definitely come to visit you when ever I'm down. And next time not as your social worker. Oh, and do expect calls from me. I'll always check up on you. And I'll try sending Artemis as soon as possible, the moment I manage to find someone coming this way by train."

He slightly smiled at that.

Saying good bye to her was surprisingly hard, maybe it was because he always felt warm around her.

After she had left, Nikolai approached him, Shadawn unconsciously took a step back.

"So...."

Nikolai messed the hair at the back of his head awkwardly. Shadawn took in his appearance, Nikolai had olive skin, dark hair and dark deep brown eyes that reminded him of an antique drawer made of mahogany he used to have in his basement.

They were now walking toward the exit when Nikolai stopped in his tracks as if realizing something Important.

"Hold up! We almost forgot to collect your Luggage."

Shadawn shook his head no.

"What do you mean no?"

Nikolai wore a confused expression, which prompted Shadawn to speak for the very first time.

"This is all I have."

He quietly mumbled looking away.

"Will miss Devries be sending it over later?"

The younger boy should his head no again.

The older man still looked confused. A few seconds passed by, and the words seemed to work its way through his cognitive capabilities and he finally seemed to understand what the younger meant.

"Oh...."

There was a long stretch of silence, filled with awkwardness. Nikolai clearly wanted to appease his curiosity, but thinking better he withheld himself, which Shadawn was grateful for.

Shadawn wrung his wrists around trying to ease his joints. His luggage did not weigh much, yet his sensitive joints did not spare him the pain due to the strain put on them.

"Do you want me to take your suitcase?"

Shadawn looked up at him, trying to assess his intentions. Surely he did not offer help without having any ulterior motives. What other reason does he have to offer to take up someone else's problem?

He shook his head no.

"Are you sure? it's no problem at all, you must be really tired after the long flight."

Shadawn shook his head no, yet again.

Nikolai sighed in frustration. He was trying so hard to interact with the kid but to no avail.

They were on the road for the next half an hour, Nikolai trying to make shallow conversations, to which he received silence in return.

Their car came to a gradual halt in front of an average white house.

With a single glance, Shadawn realized it wasn't as big as his old house, yet somehow it held more life and personality. The neatly trimmed Cyprus that bordered the left side of the house reminded him of trees he had once seen on a television program about a village built using Christmas trees. On to the right of the house stood a block of cement that had a basketball ring attached to the closest wall, below it were half a dozen of orange basketballs decorating the dark concrete, a messy sight yet it made his lips twitch slightly. He was far from sporty, but he had always found bouncing basketballs to be really therapeutic.

"Ready?"

Nikolai smiled kindly, yet there was something else behind that smile that Shadawn couldn't quite decipher.

He nodded yes even though he was far from being ready.

Grabbing his suitcase from the boot before Nikolai could, he followed him towards the front door.

Nikolai took in a deep breath.

And then he opened the door.

"Guys I'm back. And He's Here!"

He yelled, which made Shadawn's heart beat increase by a ten fold at its loudness. He took in a shaky breath trying to calm his breathing. He couldn't afford to look weak or make a fool of himself.

He stepped through the door and was greeted by three pairs of curious eyes.