Chapter 8

Micah looked up, finding himself looking at the bright moon.

It almost seemed as bright as the sun, or so it seemed.

Weakly, he got up, staring at Peter's immobile body.

Then, suddenly—his eyesight started to blur. He started seeing a big boat, like a cruise ship, in a ghost-like opacity.

Out of the blue, he felt someone shaking him fiercely, shaking him out of delirium.

"Micah!" Peter shouted.

He was quite confused due to the sudden tears descending from his face.

Out of the moment, he tightly hugged Peter shouting with joy.

"We escaped!" he shouted.

Peter, confused and surprised, responded, "Yay…?"

Finally releasing, Micah stammered.

"We can start new lives!"

"Yes, I got the memo."

Peter looked around wondrously.

"But where do we go next?"

"To an orphanage."

"Oh, yeah," Peter said, sighing.

Micah sympathetically scooted over to Peter, understanding his place.

"I know we have some scary things in that orphanage. But now, this is the actual world so they might treat us well."

"Yeah—probably." Micah patted him hardly on the back, then got up energetically.

"Okay, let's get out of here," he said, pulling up his trousers.

Peter followed, looking at the orange sun shining on him.

It gave a feeling of relief, hope, faith, and redemption.

It was a new day.

It was another chance to try again.

They traveled themselves deep into the city. Cars honked, and people strolled along the sidewalks.

"Wow, this is phenomenal," Peter said, looking at the big buildings towering above him.

Micah scoffed happily.

"You can say that again."

"What do you think will happen when he finds a different orphanage?"

"I don't know—but I hope it's good," Micah responded. "I'm wondering where to find it."

Looking to the side, they stared at an alleyway, going through it.

Suddenly, it seemed much —quiet than usual.

The sounds started to echo, as if it was a completely different building.

"Well—this is strange," Micah said, staring at a garbage can.

"I feel the same too."

Then—Vrip*

Men in black outfits jumped the building, sliding down on their poles till they reached their level.

They were surrounded.

"Uh, what's happening?" Peter asked, shuddering in fear.

Micah doing the same stuttered, "I don't know, are we getting robbed?"

Closing in on them, one of them declared, "No—but you are coming with us."

"Why?"

"You're someone who escaped from that orphanage a few days ago."

"How do you know?"

"Well, we got a call from our client, saying we may get a good reward."

In a sudden pause in the air, Peter whispered, "Mrs. Jist."

Quickly, Micah returned, "Or Kirk."

Disturbing their conversation, one of them, possibly the leader, said, "You will now come with us, and if you make any noise, you can always return without a limb."

Immediately, the men grabbed their arms, handcuffing them with rope.

They were suddenly forced on their neck to walk through the alleyway.

"How did we come to this?" Micah said, gulping the emotion that was conquering him.

"It's like nowhere is safe," Peter sighed. "It's like that orphanage is a part of us."

"And even if we try to escape, it just chases us."

Peter sighed.

Soon, they came across a van that had very tinted windows. It was accompanied by guys, who seemed to be awaiting their arrival.

One of them rushed to open the door, giving a pathway into the car.

Micah was the first to go, getting blindfolded and tossed into the car.

Peter was second, getting fiercely blindfolded and then thrown into the car.

He could feel the banging on his leg on the side, crying out a shrill of pain.

"Quiet!" one voice yelled, as the door slammed shut.

Another one opened, but it was hard to tell.

Peter predicted it was the front door, due to the van's roaring engine.

"Hah, and just like that, five hundred million dollars is ours."

"What do you mean?"

"These kids are King Homer's sons; Ikes would pay a fortune for these munchkins."

"So, why not give them back to the Ike orphanage?"

"It's an orphanage, they got nothing. Let's make an auction for them."

"Yeah!" a bunch started to shout.

Peter was now in tears, trying to shut the sniffling from his nose.

So, being in the orphanage was planned?

They were sent?

All those things were lies!

And, now they are about to be sold into some Ike orphanage.

Peter was almost about to bawl in tears, but he was too scared to even breathe.

To even think.

To even blink.

The van was rocking back and forth unbearably, making Micah gag.

In alarm, one of them shouted, "Who did that?"

"I don't know," one of them with a grumbly voice said. "Seems like both of them are."

"Funny."

"So, what are you gonna do with the money?"

Enthusiastically, one of them squealed, "I'm going to use it—to start a military business for the Ikes."

Everyone quickly laughed.

"That's actually quite a good idea. We'd charge millions for each vehicle."

"But, don't the Ikes already have vehicles."

"Nonsense, they have to make them—which costs thousands of resources."

"But with the money we have, we can ask the top Earth-lings to make us vehicles."

"Wow, thank goodness for these top Earth-lings."

"You can say that again!"

They all went into a laugh which scared Peter to his bones.

Where has he come to?