“When do you think she’ll wake up?” asks a squeaky voice of a young boy.

A young girl replies by shrugging her shoulders.

Emma’s eyelashes tremble. She opens her eyes to see a wooden ceiling above her.

The last thing she remembers is the middle aged man in the uniform. He killed the hooligans and called himself an officer. Then she must have blacked out.

“Oh you’re finally awake.” The soft voice of a young girl sounds from beside Emma. Emma turns her head, only to be an inch away from the face of a young girl. Emma could see the girl’s black eyelashes move as the young girl blinks.

Emma’s mind is blank as she stares into the eyes of the young girl. The girl’s eyes are the same soft hazel as the ‘officer’ that saved her. Could this be that man’s daughter? He has such a pretty looking daughter. Her skin is slightly tan, but it’s soft and gives a healthy glow.

The young girl gives Emma a smile, showing the dimples on her round cheeks. Emma’s hand reaches out and softly pinches one of the cheeks of the young girl. “So cute.” Emma mutters while looking wide eyed at the girl.

The young girl freezes as Emma’s hand continues to pinch her cheek. She opens her mouth and asks, “Are you okay?”

Emma returns to her senses and retracts her hand. “Yeah,” replies Emma, and she continues to say, “You’re so cute. Be my little sister okay.”

“HAHA.” Loud laughter sounds from a young boy. “She wants you to be her little sister. She even pinched your cheek. Allis, that’s so funny.”

“Shut up, Eric.” Allis says while giving Emma a soft smile. “My name is Allis. My father brought you to our home. I think he wants to talk to you in a bit, but you should rest for now.”

“Hey. What’s your name. Why did the corporal bring you here?” asks the young boy. Emma looks towards him and sees him walking towards the bed that she’s laying in.

His eyes are a dark red. Looking at them makes Emma curious. Do people have red eyes? Emma has never heard or seen this before. She only remembers that vampires’ eyes are red, but they are a urban legend.

“Corporal? Like those in the army?” Asks Emma.

“Yea. I’m kind of surprised that you know what a corporal is. You don’t look like you’ve had an education. You forgot to tell me your name,” says the young boy named Eric. He gives a once over at her tattered and old clothes.

Emma looks down at her clothes. They are tattered and old. She would have never worn this on her own body. But she woke up in a child’s body wearing this and she had nothing else to change into.

Allis frowns and gives the boy a hand chop on his head.

“Ow!” Eric gives a glare at Allis. “What’s that for?”

“It was rude to say that,” says Allis. She looks towards Emma and says, “Don’t mind him. He just says what’s on his mind.”

Emma looks up and see’s Allis giving her an apologetic smile. “It’s okay. I don’t mind,” says Emma. She really doesn’t mind. Emma doesn’t take the word of the young boy to heart, mostly because she sees him as a little boy. The boy named Eric looks to be about 7 years old. That’s about the same age as her older cousin’s children.

“My name is Emma. It’s nice to meet you.” Just as Emma introduces herself, she hears a knock on the wooden door.

“Come in,” says Allis.

The door squeaks open and the middle aged man walks in. He glances at Emma before turning to Allis and Eric. “Taking good care of her?” He asks the both of them.

Allis and Eric quickly straighten their backs and lift their chin. “Yes.” They answer in unison.

“Good.” The middle aged man gives them a small smile. “I have some things I want to talk to this young lady about. You guys go cook some food for her while I’m talking to her.”

“Okay,” says Allis. Allis and Eric leave the room.

Emma wishes that they could’ve stayed. The presence of this man is intimidating and it’s only worst when they’re alone.

“What’s your name?” The man asks.

Emma looks at the man and replies, “Emma.”

“Are you scared of me?” he asks.

Emma pauses for a moment before saying, “No.” It would be normal to be scared of a man that killed people right in front of you. When she saw the scene, Emma was completely terrified. Having rested and talked to Allis and Eric, Emma feels calmer and her mind is clearer.

She doesn’t feel terrified of the man in front of her. She knows that he’s not a bad person. He only killed because the two people were bad people. She still thinks that he should’ve arrested them instead of killing them.

Emma is able to think properly now that she got some rest. It seems like this place is different from her own place. Even if this really is a dream, the place in this dream has a different culture than her own. She has read in history about how people would be killed instead of jailed when crimes are committed. Maybe this place is the same.

“You seem to have calmed down. That’s good. I can still see the strong heart you have.” The man says.

“Strong heart?” questions Emma. That’s weird to say.

“Yes. Like the incident with the two men from before. You might have been scared, but you were still brave to act. Even now, you saw me kill them, but you aren’t scared of me. Wouldn’t you say that you have a strong heart,” says the man.

He pauses for a moment before continuing to say, “I did have a moment when I thought I made the wrong judgement of you. It was when your emotions seemed to be jumbled after I killed them. But seeing you know, I think that I made the right judgement.”

Emma nods her head. She looks at the man and asks, “Why did you help me?” Ever since she woke up in this place, the man in front of her was the first to help her while no one else did.

“Like I said. I made the judgement that you have a strong heart. That’s why I helped you. You now know Eric. He used to be like you. A street child. I saw potential in him, so I too helped him. Now he lives with me.”

Emma nods her head. So the only reason he helped her was because he thinks that she has potential. Emma’s mind freezes on a thought. Does that mean he’ll let her live here too?

Emma looks at the man in front of her. “Can I live here too?”