Year 1853
Thea looked around. Her mouth opened slightly. Her eyes stared in astonishment without stopping at one point. A small two-story building with classic architecture stands firmly and majestically in front of her.
The dried trees with scattered brown leaves decorated the front yard of the place. The girl took a hesitant step. Her white dress fluttered in the autumn breeze.
She shivered. Her whole body trembled. Her heart was beating fast. She is alone.
Where is this?
Where is she?
What is this place?
Various questions popped up in her mind. Strange. Although she had never even set foot in this place, she felt the familiarity. This place so familiar, in her memory.
"Thea!"
The little girl turned her head, looking for the source of the voice that had called her earlier. She found two figure she was loving so much.
Father and mother.
They stood side by side facing her. Her father, always have a calm face with his glasses neatly attached, and her mother, with a characteristic warm smile, waved at her.
Thea ran to them, "Father! Mother!" she shouted happily.
Her father stretched out his arms, met Thea in his arms, then lifted his little daughter's body and twirled, before hugged her.
The little girl chuckled, happy in her father's arms.
The mother stroked the girl's long hair. The arms of the father and mother's hand that caressed her were warm and comfortable. Thea smiled as she felt the warmth spread throughout her body.
"Come on in," said her mother, "The night will be getting colder out here."
Her father followed her mother, while continuing to carry their daughter in his arms.
When they got to the door, her father put her down and opened the door for them. With a big smile on her face, Thea stepped into their house. The sound echoed as she walked. Until then, she heard the sound of the door closing and everything went dark.
Thea turned to look for her parents, expecting her father and mother to come over to her and then hug her.
"Father? Mother?" she called.
Fear crept over her. Her voice echoed back in the darkness of the building. But let alone hugs, there was no reply.
"Father! Mother!" This time, Thea yelled louder.
It was so quiet.
No one answered her.
Thea tried to move in the dark. Her hand stretched forward. Her feet began to stumble on the small steps she was passing. She saw a streak of light creeping out through the door.
There!
In his father's study!
Thea jogged. Her fears began to loosen up. The girl pushed the door little by little until it opened wide.
"Father!" she exclaimed, relieved.
Thea narrowed her eyes. She was unable to see clearly.
Too bright.
Too dazzling… and hot!
Thea covered her face. She coughed. Her breath was getting short.
Thea ran away.
The surroundings, which had been pitch black at first, suddenly turned so bright.
"Fa-father ..." the girl pressed her nose firmly, "Mo-mother..."
What happened?
Her vision began to blur. Her eyes were watery. Her clothes were soaked in sweat. Thea could no longer take another steps. Her body was bent over from coughing. It felt as if she had swallowed a lot of wisps of smoke.
Hot!
Father ... Mother ... why is it so hot in here?
Too hot!
"HEYY, YOU!"
Thea gasped.
That rebuke shattered pieces of her memory. Thea felt her body pushed forward. She almost got into the furnace.
"Ugly girl! Don't just daydream! Here do it completely." The boy in knee-length jeans threw a bag of food waste on her body. The contents scattered on her already dirty clothes. They laughed in unison.
Thea didn't move.
"Wow, her clothes are getting dirty, Ben!"
The slightly fat boy pointed at himself without forgetting to show off his yellow teeth.
"Then do I have to wash it?" asked the knee-length jeans's boy.
"You want to?" this time it was the turn of the tall boy behind him to ask.
The knee-length jeans boy shook his head vigorously, "Of course not! Ha ha ha!"
The little crowd almost choked on their laughter the moment someone appeared there.
"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed, angry.
The boy looked at Thea from head to toe. He pushed the knee-length jeans boy. "Go away from here!"
"What do you want, Xander? Want to pretend to be a hero? " the boy pushed him back.
"Then you? Aren't you ashamed to bother girls, loser?"
The tall one clenched his fists. Prepare to silence the distruber.
The boy who had just arrived raised his chin, defiantly. "What do you want? Want to hit me? You want me to report this to Miss Yerez?"
"Tck! The late hero appeared. Let's go!" the knee-length jeans boy pulled the tall kid away. "Just watch out, you fuck us up, Xander! You know what the payoff is!"
The boy didn't care about the threat from the knee-length jeans boy. His chin remains lifted until they are completely gone. Then he turned back to Thea.
"Geez. You're really dirty. " The boy took the remaining lettuce in her hair. He also tried to clean up the remaining trash stuck to her clothes.
"They are so mean!" His face frowned when Thea looked at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Thea looked away. The kid, Xander, just shrugged his shoulders. He took the long iron in Thea's hand.
"Clean yourself. Let me continue it. "
Thea stayed still in her place.
"Why? You don't want to?" asked Xander. "Come on… go there. Take a bath!" he ordered.
Thea took a slow step.
"Oh yes ... wait a minute," he called.
Thea stopped without turning around.
"My name is Alexander. You can call me Xander," he said with a smile at Thea.
Yes. Thea already knew earlier. Then?
"What is your name?" he continued.
Thea didn't answer. She didn't need to.
Who wants to know the name of a girl with a burn like her?
Year 1863Thea supported her chin, glanced at Kay, who had been silent from earlier. Silence was not Kay's character at all. Thea saw him like that if only there was something bothering him."Kay, are you sick?" Thea asked lightly."No," he replied simply."Anything on your mind?"Kay didn't answer right away. His gaze shifted out of the window.The morning was sunny.A sunny morning on a hot summer Sunday.Kay sighed."Shall we ride the horse?" asked him.Thea immediately stood up, excited."Come on! What's the stakes this time?" Thea loved riding, and she never lost a race."Nothing. Just stay with me," said Kay.Even though she was confused, Thea complied. She followed Kay towards the horse stable.Kay took out his dark horse when he arrived.That's strange, Thea thought.Kay always greeted and chatted with June - his black horse. But this time, Kay ju
Year 1853Xander looked at the girl who walking away. As far as he could remember, the girl had just arrived in this orphanage this week. She was escorted by a man with a mustache who claimed to be a policeman.She was so quiet, well ... it was natural that she's so quiet. Everyone who was sent to the orphanage will naturally be quiet, no matter how cheerful that person was before.This place wasn't a very pleasant place to live, but at the very least, staying here was better than wandering on the streets.Xander picked up one by one the trash that was scattered near the furnace, and then threw them all into it. He watched as the garbage was being engulfed in flames.Parents.Xander himself never once knew his parents. Miss Yerez said, Xander was found by a drunk near the garbage dump.Yes, garbage disposal.Everything that is useless and unwanted thrown in the trash. Including him.Xander grimaced then sighed.
Year 1863 Thea took off her mask. Her breath was short. She looked at Kay who was smiling triumphantly. "Are you that happy to win over me?" Thea put down her foil, annoyed. When she finished learning in the etiquette class, Kay immediately took her to play fencing. "Yes, that is so." Kay did the same. "I thought you were still stressed about the matchmaking." This time they both took off their jackets at the same time. Thea took a drink then sat by the window first. The jacket shirt earlier made her sweat so much. Thea pushed open the window door slightly. The summer twilight winds squeezed in against her face. Another summer day is almost over again. "Earlier… I guess I thought too much about it. So I thought why should it be? If there's no one I like there then there won't be a problem. There will be no matchmaking." Kay smiled with satisfaction, as if that was the perfect solution. "Are you sure?" Thea doub
Year 1853Xander moved his fishing rod a little, checking to see if the bait had caught the interest of something, but it turned out that it didn't. It wasn't even approached by the fish.It has been more than 2 hours since he was here, but not once has the bait been eaten by the fish. Even he spent lunch here despite threats of being scolded by Miss Yerez for not eating together and if he get caught, of course he would starve until dinner time arrived.Xander put down the rod again, maybe he would get something if he waited a little bit.Pluk!A tremor in the pool caught Xander's attention. The boy narrowed his eyes, staring straight at the surface of the pond, it seemed like something was there.Pluk!Xander stared at it again, it seemed like it was the sound of a rock being thrown into the water. He looked for the origin of the stone throwing, maybe it was the prankster of one of the residents who tried to disturb him but
Year 1863Knock ... knock, knock ...Thea turned around. Without even opening the door, she knew who was standing behind it. The beat was Kay's signature beat. Thea ignored him. She did not move an inch from her place.Knock... knock, knock ...One… two… three… four… five… he counted to himself and a third beat was heard.Knock ... knock, knock ...This time Thea counted to ten and the door opened.***Kay couldn't sleep. He was restless from earlier. He finally got up from his bed and left the room.He hated fighting with Thea.He had to see her and solved this uncomfortable feeling.If the fight dragged on, Kay would not be able to concentrate in the hospital tomorrow as usual. He went to Thea's room and stood in front of her door for a long time.Kay didn't know what to say. He had no intention of apologizing. He
Year 1853Xander immediately pushed her out of the kitchen. He grabbed Thea's small hand and ran as far as possible before returning everything to its original place.They returned to the pond.Thea regretted eating well. Now, all of her guts seemed to be coming out after being dragged away by Xander. Her expression was getting worse.Xander, oblivious to that, picked up his fishing rod and turned around."You have to come back soon. Miss Yerez will inspect anyone who is not present at the dinner table." With that, Xander said goodbye.After Xander was out of sight, Thea ran towards the bushes. Everything she had swallowed earlier came out, she couldn't endure it anymore.'Puke...Puke...'Her body trembled after vomiting all of her guts. She washed her mouth and hands with the water from the pond and fell down on her knees.She stared at her reflection on the surface of the water. She had never felt this miserab
Year 1863The servant opened the door for Thea.She saw her uncle and Kay already sitting in the dining room first."Good morning, Uncle," she greeted him and took her place across from Kay. The Uncle, Blake, just nodded slightly. He did not even glance at her.Thea immediately took the spoon. She was used to Blake's attitude."Don't forget to go home early today. Do you understand, Kyle?"Thea stared at Kay. Blake never called his son 'Kay'. That's just what Thea way to called him."Yes, father. I think Thea also wants to come," he said.Thea glared. For almost two days, Kay didn't come home and met her, which made Thea think Kay would never bring that up again.Before Thea opened her mouth, Blake suddenly opened his mouth and agreed."Well, I don't think that's a bad idea. You too, Thea. Go out tonight with Kyle.""But, uncle ..."Blake looked at her. Thea didn't like being stared at by hi
Year 1853Thea chose to spend the rest of the afternoon sitting by the pond. Throughout collecting the second piece of trash, she avoided the other kids as much as possible, let alone the bunch of knee-length jeans boy and his genk.Thea had no intention of getting along well if they themselves didn't want to befriend with her.She sighed.Thea had nothing else to do, other than what Miss Yerez had told her. Her hands had been moving to throw small pebbles into the pond after her task completed. Without aware of the surrounding where she was not alone.Xander smiled. He found the girl on the same spot like yesterday. Fortunately he didn't go fishing so the pebbles she threw wouldn't make a trouble for him. Xander approched her.Thea stared at the far away scenery. Her parents used to take her on picnics in the summer. Typical hardworking father. During the workday, he would really concentrate and ignore Thea and her mother. Even so,