2 A Comforting Presence

You were walking down a narrow road with Mr. Yong, well, you were being dragged, but that doesn't matter now. The path was in a small forest. You could hear some animals and the trees made rustling noices as the wind blew quite hard. Mr. Yong was fastening his pace even more, and it was starting to get hard for you to keep up the same pace. Of course he noticed your slowdown.

"Am I perhaps walking too fast for your little feet to keep up wit me?" He asked with a smile that seemed as fake as your own. You looked down and didn't answer anything, you just nodded your head and you think he got the message. He chuckled and picked you up on his shoulders. You were frozen still, because you didn't expect him to do anything like that. He rested his hands on your little feet as he continued walking through the windy forest.

For the first time in a while, it felt like you were alive. You could see the surrounding area much more clearer from Mr. Yong's shoulders and it gave you a feeling of freedom. You were bouncing up and down as his shoulders moved as he walked. You held your giggle, trying to give a cool impression for Mr. Yong.

You walked for a good 15 minutes, until you stopped bouncing and looked at the surrounding area again. This time, it was a yard. You could see a huge mansion up ahead. To you, it looked like a prison. It was made of white concrete and there were only a small amount of round windows covering the bland walls of the huge structure.

"That's where you'll be living from now on," Mr. Yong declared. You were shocked at his statement. You were going to live there for the rest of your life? Why? Why was he making you do all these things? Why was he being so... nice.. torwards you?

"Here...?" You managed to finally blurt out something, after keeping all your questions inside your head all this time. Mr. Yong only laughed and nodded his head. You tilted your head, simce this was the first time he didn't answer to you with words. There was definitely something suspicious aboyt Mr. Yong, but you didn't know what.

You saw someone approaching you from the mansion. It was a man with a black suit. He looked like he would be ready to blow your face into tiny pieces if he had to. It scared you and made you nervous. All these new and suspicious people aresuddenly surrounding you like they have always known you. Straight from the start, Mr. Yong has been suspiciously kind and nice to you. Well, except his creepy smiles that he has given you.

The black suited man greeted Mr. Yong with a bow and Mr. Yong nodded his head a little. The guard looking man looked at you with an expressionless face, which made you shiver to your very core. His expression was cold and mysterious. He didn't show any emotion through that thick, expressionless mask of his.

Mr. Yong patted my shoulder and took my hand in his. He showed the way to the mansion, since it was quite hard to figure on my own. Even though you could see the mansion fron far away, the yard was full of trees and vague wooden structures. There were a lot of different bushes, shaped to look like completely something else than normal bushes. The rest of the yard that was almost in front of the mansion was full of big flower beds with all kinds of flowers.

We reached what looked like the front door. Mr. Yong said something to the guard, who immediately left to do something else. After their little converstation Mr. Yong took the keys out of his pockets and opened the big, wooden front door. It creaked loudly when it opened and moments later, revealed a huge room with beautiful staircases on both sides, leading upstairs.

A huge chandelier was hanging from the high-ceiling. It was reflecting the sunrays beautifully to the wallpaper. The floor was covered with a wall-to-wall golden-brown carpet. It felt amazing under your little bare feet. In the middle of the hall was a table that had a glass container placed nicely in the middle. Inside the container, was a golden rose. It was pretty, but it looked like it was withering away.

Like you,

It was crumbling in the small container, holding onto it's life with everything it's got.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Mr. Yong suddenly spoke, making you flinch in surprise. He pointed at the golden rose.

"Unfortunately, it's n-"

"Crumbling away," You disturbed his words, which surprised even you.

"Sure, but I was going to say that it's unfortunate it's not made from real gold," Mr. Yong cringed at you. You looked at him with a weirded look and tried to forget about his comment.

"I have a room prepared for you. I won't be able to accompany you to your room, so you have to find a way there by yourself," He said and pattet your head with satisfaction on his face. Then he left you at the foot of the stairs.

You looked at the big and round staris that were welcoming you upstairs with a welcoming feel. You stepped on the first step, the another, and another one until you were only one step away. Once you took the last step, you weirdly felt like you had accomplished something. Which you had not done. You only took the stairs, nothing more, nothing less.

It was as simple as that.

You looked around and saw at least four door on each side from you. You decided to take the first one, but when you were reaching for the handle, you heard a voice calling for you. It was a childs voice. You turned around to see a small boy, maybe the same age as you. He stared at you with wide eyes, as if he had never seen another child for ages.

"You- Are you new here?" The boy asked you with a confident voice, as if he was suspicious of you.

You were scared to answer him. Memories of your little brother filled your mind at that second and it felt like all the bad memories were devouring you. You kneeled and rested your head against your shaking knees. The boy gasped and ran beside you. He tilted his head a little and patted your head.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked with a calming voice.

His voice sounded like honey. It was sweet and smooth, like honey. It wasn't screaming or yelling or commanding in any way. It was kind and calming and caring. You raised your head from your knees to look at the boy next to you. To your surprise, he was closer than you thought, so you accidentally bumped your head against his forehead. The both of you collapsed on the ground with a small thud. There was silence for a moment, but the boy broke it with his little laugh. You started to laugh with him and soon the whole mansion was filled with little giggles from the two of you.

He seemed trustworthy. Maybe you could trust him, just this once. You sat up with the boy and you both stared at each other in silence.

"Do you have a name?" The boy asked you with a warm smile.

"Y/N," You answered honestly, not knowing why you revealed your name to him. Maybe he was giving you a trusting impression so you could trust him. Well, it was working.

"What a pretty name!" The boy commented, which made you give him a smile.

A real, genuine smile.

You never though you would smile again after your little brothers incident, but you did, you were smiling, right in front of him.

"Then, what's your name?" You asked with a curious tone. The boy's smile faded a little and he looked sad.

"I... I don't have a name...," the boy said with a quiet voice, as if he was avoiding the subject. You understood and nodded your head in sympathy. The boy gave you another smile and stood up. You stood up with him.

"Do you want to explore the mansion with me?" The boy asked with an excited voice, and of course you said yes. Why wouldn't you?

You already saw him as a friend.