Gentle orange rays infiltrated the tattered curtains — lighting up the little room.

Dawn had come at last, and it was the start of a new day, a new chapter. Lisa’s eyes burst open before jumping out of bed, — intent on waking the others — she got to work. Though, she could not understand how her friends could oversleep every single time, it must be sweet.

After climbing down, she took careful steps in her pink slippers until she was looming over another set of beds. They had bunk beds at the orphanage but only the youngest could sleep on top less they risk the bed collapsing. They were old furniture, and the staff didn’t care to replace them.

She still remembered when poor Tommy fell, hurting his butt in the process. That was funny! Though, it was fortunate that he didn’t fell on his head, then it wouldn’t be so funny…

She was close to her destination now.

She silently leaned over to the peacefully sleeping playmate. She could already imagine the priceless expression her dear big sister would make. She couldn’t wait anymore. She swiftly hopped on the bed, waking and frightening Sara in the process.

“What th-! Lisa?!” Sara screamed, while Lisa only smiled innocently, sitting on the edge of the bed. ‘It never gets old.’ She thought smugly before jumping up and proceeding to nag her sister. It was time to get up. Soon there would be a staff member bursting through the door, and they would get scolded if they stayed in bed any longer. That never ended well…

“Come on, you know you have to wake up! Hurry! Hurry! We have to wake the others as well!” Lisa nagged her while pulling on her sleeve.

She found it impossible to refuse the request.

Sara sluggishly left her castle of pillows, though not much was left of it after Lisa’s earlier stunt.

They proceeded to wake everyone, Billy, Ray, Lucas, Scarlet, Freya, and Tommy. When they reached their next target, they found nothing but an empty bed. Normally it would be a good sign, however the owner of this bed was notoriously known for oversleeping.

One identical question occupied their minds, but Tommy was the one to voice it.

“Where is Allen?” He asked innocently.

…

The children were all having breakfast together inside the canteen of the orphanage.

There were over twenty kids joined by 2 staff members.

Usually, the staff would dine separately, but what caught their attention wasn’t that.

One of them was missing.

Allen, one of the oldest kids was nowhere to be found. They thought that he might be playing a joke on them and hid himself inside the house. But he hasn’t shown up for breakfast either.

It could only mean one thing. He left the orphanage. But why? Why would he leave without ever telling them? He was adopted — it was the only way one could leave the house, but then why didn’t he say goodbye? Didn’t he care about them? These thoughts swirled inside of many children minds; but the older ones had a hardened expression on their faces as they stared at the empty plate.

Juliet rose from the table and all murmur ceased. The children looked up to her expectantly. They were sure she would answer their worries.

“You may already know that Allen has left the orphanage and he will not return. He was… adopted. I am sure you are all sad to see him go without saying goodbyes but that’s how life is…”

There were some children whose eyes watered, but the oldest just stared at the nanny with unblinking eyes. ‘Liar.’

“Now, that you know this… you should strive to better yourselves so that you catch the eyes of loving parents! Follow in Allen’s footsteps, and you all may find a loving family one day!”

Juliet finished with her speech left the children to their own devices.

Soon after a cheerful banter followed.

“I’ll be picked up by a loving family first!” Declared one of the younger children.

“No, it will be me!” Protested Lisa as she pouted.

“Haha, you? Don’t make me laugh, even little Tommy here has a cuter face!” Sara said as she proceeded to pull on poor Tommy’s face.

“That was mean!”

“Oh, come on!”

…

In an enclosed space far removed from the children’s quarters the staff members were meeting the supervisor.

Juliet reported with a grave voice. “One of the children is missing.”

“Which one?” Asked her superior dismissively.

“Allen.”

“Huh, the little fighter boy... How much was his worth again?” She asked, while playing with her collar.

“A lot actually. He made a deal with us, so long as he could provide a greater profit than the selling off children, we would honor this deal.”

“Hmm, so he cares about the children.”

“Yes, definitely or else he wouldn’t have fought in the underground matches.”

“The question remains, why did he leave behind the kids and escape? Did he change his mind? Maybe we shouldn’t have given him the privilege to go outside on his own, hah.”

“I do not think so, no.”

“Hmm, let us see if he returns. It would be a shame to lose such a money-making machine… we will give him a month. He had always delivered thrice the amount we could get by selling off the brats. If he doesn’t return by then we will restart our primary operation.”

“Understood. Matriarch.” Juliet bowed. A cold chill ran down her spine as she saw the woman’s unnatural smile creeping across her visage. Juliet was glad that they were on the same side.