3 Where She Came From - 1.3

Daisuke Eito.

That was her benefactor's name. The name of the man who seemingly gave her a chance to grasp at a better life.

Bidding her a good night after informing her where she could find the things she might need, he left her to her own devices.

Still barely able to believe her luck, Ai started exploring the room where the man left her. She couldn't help but marvel at everything around her. All the furnishings in the room had exquisite details.

She ran her fingers through the smooth grain of the polished wood, admiring the detailed carvings on the dresser and couldn't help but be amazed at the breathtakingly exquisite detailings on the bed's frame.

The carvings all showed the mythical beasts of several dragons and phoenixes in various poses. Some were lying down as if relaxing while others as though it was in the midst of flight.

Ai couldn't help but feel curious on who exactly Daisuke Eito really is.

At first Ai thought that he was just some sort of monk or caretaker since he lived outside the city and in a temple that was practically hidden in the forest and unknown to most people.

Looking at the decorations in her room alone, she can't help but feel as if the man who took her in wasn't as simple as she thought.

After all, even the curtains covering her windows were gossamer-thin silks that had exquisite embroideries of the same dragons and phoenixes!

It just wasn't normal by any person's standards!

It made Ai worry that she may have made a mistake by agreeing to stay her.

What if she judged the character of Daisuke Eito wrongly? Wouldn't she have just put herself in an even worst situation? It was like jumping of a burning pan and straight into the roaring flames.

The thought made Ai shiver and cold sweat run down her back.

Ai knew that what people choose to let others see isn't always what they really are. Sometimes these are just a disguise to hide who the truly are inside.

That was a lesson that she has learned a long time back.

She didn't originally live on the strees. She used to live in an orphanage where other orphaned children like her were but she ran away.

She ran away because she saw what happened to her Sayaka. The orphanage were they lived in was known to be very charitable and virtous. They were known to accept all the children left on their doorstep and care for them like their own. That was the image that the public saw, even most kids that lived there thought that. None of them knew that there was another side to this place they called home.

Sayaka was the one who discovered the sinister acts that were being commited by the orphanage and she was the one who warned Ai to be careful. Sayaka always kept her by her side.

Ai was only three years old back then and Sayaka was already nine years of age. Sayaka took on the role of being her older sister and she hardly went anywhere without her.

One night, Sayaka was called by one of their caretakers and she had to leave our shared room even though it was already nearing curfew. She had told her to go ahead and sleep, that she would be right back but she never came back that night. She waited and waited until the sun peaked in the horizon, signalling dawn but there was no sign of her.

During breakfast, she searched for her but Sayaka was still nowhere to be found. The rest of the day she wandered around their orphanage until it was time for dinner and still she couldn't find her. Swiping some bread, she stuffed it in her pockets and excused herself as soon as she could to go to their room and that was when she finally found her.

Sayaka was sitting on her bed, huddled in her blankets with blank eyes as tears streamed down her pale cheeks. The sight was enough to scare any three year old as she dashed to her and hugged her while asking what's wrong.

It was her who broke Sayaka from her daze. That was the time that her eyes opened. Sayaka didn't tell her what happened but the same thing happened as the night before. Sayaka was summoned again but this time, she decided to follow after a few minutes to find out what's going on but what she found made her sick to her stomach and made her feel furious for the very first time.

She witnessed the head caretaker, the man they all thought of as a father-figure abuse the girl she considered her sister. She saw Sayaka cry and beg for him to stop but he just slapped her unconscious and had his way with her.

There was nothing she could do no matter how much she wanted to help. All she could do was hide in a dark corner and muffle her crying as she waited for the monster to finish.

Finally he got a call and he left the room which gave her the chance to sneak into the room and get close to Sayaka. The sight of Sayaka's beaten and bloodied body made her almost retch but still she crawled over to her and hugged her in her small arms.

Crying, her tears fell down and dripped onto Sayaka's cheeks, making Sayaka regain her consciousness and as soon as Sayaka saw her, she saw fear and concern for her which made her cry even more.

"Little sister you have to go." she murmured quietly as her own tears fell down her pale bruised cheeks.

Shaking her head, Ai closed her eyes and resolutely gathered Sayaka closer as she sobbed.

Ai heard Sayaka whisper words of love and worry in her ears as she pleaded for Ai to leave but the little girl just stubbornly held on to her.

The two of them were both in their own worlds as they cried and held onto each other that when the door suddenly swung open, they both let out a shriek of fright.

Upon seeing the Ai embracing Sayaka in her small arms, the head caretaker was filled with alarm which slowly turned to anger.

He knew that if anyone found out what he did with Sayaka that he would get into a whole lot of trouble and if any of the authorities find out, he may not only face criminal charges, he may possibly end up in jail!

Or worse, dead!

Storming over to the two little girls, he swiftly kicked the two of them eliciting cries of pain.

He beat the two of them until they were both black and blue and all throughout, Sayaka kept doing her best to shield Ai as much as she can until she was on the verge of passing out.

Finally the man stopped and after scanning them briefly, he quickly made his way out, muttering to himself and planning on how to cover his mess.

Both Sayaka and Ai had stayed limp and pretended to be unconscious as he left and as soon as they couldn't hear his foot steps anymore, they opened their eyes and looked at each other.

Sayaka then lifted a shaky hand to tuck Ai's hair that was stuck on her face due to blood that seeped out from a cut on her forehead behind her ear.

Then she gave Ai a kiss and a pain-filled smile.

"Go."

Falling limp, Sayaka's whole body fell down on Ai after she said that one last word as she closed her eyes.

Ai tried shaking her after she rolled Sayaka to her side but got no response. Putting her ear on top of Sayaka's chest, she struggled to hear a heartbeat.

Yet there was nothing but silence.

With a choked cry, she struggled to get out of the room, practically crawling as she tried to get away quietly with no one the wiser.

Soon she made her way to the orphanage's backdoor and managed to slip out undetected and into the cold, dark night.

That was the night where she learned how not all people were humans.

Some were just monsters.