Chapter Zero[-]: Morning Plan

Xenos Waters wakes up in a cold sweat, eyes snapping wide open as he sucks in a sharp breath, nearly choking on it. A violent shudder wracks through his body, and not just from the coldness of his room. His teeth chatter loudly, and only now does Xenos realize that his blanket was thrown onto the floor at some point during his restless sleep.

He shivers again, wrapping his bare arms around his torso in a lame attempt to keep what warmth he has left from leaving him. Blowing out a large, heavy sigh that is accompanied by a cloud of condensation, Xenos forces himself off of his hard mattress and into a standing position. Swiftly snatching the discarded blanket off of the floor and wrapping it around his body.

With a quiet sigh, Xenos lays back down, clutching the blanket as tightly as he could around his body. He doesn't want to get up and go to school, he never wants to face the mornings, but he knows he has to. He needs to get up and get a hold of himself, his declining grades sure aren't going to get better if he continues to sulk.

However, just as he's about to get up, the voices in his head start up again. Xenos winces harshly at the sheer volume, grabbing his head with both hands. The words they spoke were disturbing and confusing, but Xenos has long learned to ignore that part of these attacks. There are sixteen voices in total, one added for each birthday.

One, though, stands out from the rest, one that says something that scares Xenos more than the constant chants. This is the voice he recognizes to be the one he gained on his first birthday when the voices were quieter and less intrusive in his daily life, it's masculine and gruff. It says four words that raise so many questions, many to do with his sanity, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯!

And then all is silent. That silence, although it allows a chance for Xenos to breathe, does not soothe the pure unease steadily growing all throughout his body. Something feels very wrong all of a sudden, and Xenos swallows thickly as his gut churns unpleasantly. He tries to shake off whatever just happened but can't seem to completely, even as he stands up to get ready for school. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰, he shakes his head to get rid of the thought.

Walking over to a chair with clothes piled onto it, Xenos can't help the shivers that travel up his spine as he walks on the cold, rough, wooden floor he has gotten many splinters on over the past few months he's been here at the orphanage, Novus. The cold picks at the skin of his legs, his blanket not long enough to reach all the way down his legs, stopping a little below the end of his boxers.

Placing the fabric of the blanket in his mouth so he doesn't have to drop the blanket, he grabs his warmest pants ( loose-fitting navy blue jeans that have a small hole on the right knee ) and pulls it on quickly. Letting out a small groan, Xenos realizes that he would need to drop his blanket if he wants to put on a shirt.

Sucking in a reluctant breath, Xenos drops the blanket and quickly snatches up a black long-sleeve, sighing in relief as the piece of clothing hugs his decently fit figure. The only reason he's even fit is because he's one of the few children in Novus who are old enough to take care of the other children, this includes cooking on occasions, going to the stores to buy food, chopping wood for the fireplace, among other things.

Xenos picks the blanket he previously let go of off the ground, walking over to his mattress moments later to make his bed. He glances at the old door leading out of his bedroom and into the chaos that is sure to be outside before looking back at his bed, debating whether or not it is really and truly worth it to go to school. Huffing to himself quietly, he glares at the door like the blistered wood will somehow burn to ash. Oh, how he hates mornings.

Slinking over to the door, Xenos grabs his sweater off of the coat hanger. He pulls it over his head and flicks off his hood, the designs having long flaked off with only the base colour remaining, albeit severely dulled from its original rich shamrock green. Hesitantly, Xenos places his hand on the doorknob, the ice-cold metal biting into his skin harshly. He twists it open and pulls his door in, the old, rusted hinges whining softly.

Immediately, Xenos hears the faint clinks and clanks of the kitchen below on the ground floor. He may be in the attic ( which is five floors above the ground floor ) but the walls are very thin and the whole house seems to echo. It is a very old piece of land, over a hundred years old if he remembers correctly, so that isn't very surprising.

He mentally prepares himself as he walks down the old, wooden steps. Many of the children are probably awake by now, either getting ready for school or helping around the house in various ways. One of the small perks of living in the attic is that it's very cozy and quiet most of the time, it allows him space to think clearly without interruptions. Sometimes, however, it's a curse, the silence in the air. Just like this morning.

Xenos almost shudders from the thought, the uneasy feeling in his gut ( which he has been trying to ignore ) making its presence known again. Most of the time, he is able to ignore the voices, but there are times when they are so loud, so unforgivingly loud, that he has to stay curled up in his room until they go away. Which can take seconds, minutes, or hours.

When his parents had first walked in on him whimpering from the noise, he managed to say that it was only a migraine and his parents immediately closed his blinds and kept as quiet as possible until he stumbled out. It's one of the few lies Xenos ever told his parents, and now Ms. Wilson, the head of Novus, but he doesn't exactly like the thought of ending up in a psych ward if he tells the truth.

He sighs, deep in thought. So deep, in fact, that he almost misses a step. The unexpected and sudden feeling of falling snaps him out of his thoughts, quickly grabbing onto the railing in the process to keep himself from tumbling down. Xenos lets out the breath he didn't even realize he was holding, that would have hurt. He releases the railing and looks down at his hand, frowning a little when he sees that some of his skin was scratched off due to the rough texture of the wood.

Ignoring that, Xenos continues to walk down the stairs, using his thumbs to rub at his slightly sore palms. The sounds from the kitchen only get louder as he descends, the winding stairs creaking with every movement. It was annoying at first, but he eventually got used to the groans and moans of the house as he traverses its grounds.

When he reaches the ground floor, he looks to his left, where the kitchen is, and notes that it's very busy. He scurries through to get to the living room, not daring to stay for long. The cooks don't enjoy his company unless he is helping with a meal, and from what he gauged from the commotion inside, he can tell that new supplies are coming in. New supplies mean new food that needs to be sorted and stored in their proper places.

The very moment Xenos squeezes out of the kitchen he gets glomped by three different children, letting out a small 𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘩 in surprise, even though it shouldn't be at this point. The three children promptly begin to chat up a storm, making it near impossible for him to make out what they are saying even if he attempts to.

Xenos ruffles their hair and smiles down at them. There are two boys and one girl, triplets left at the entrance of Novus when they were only a few days old, it's still a little heartbreaking to think about. They're six now, their birthdays passing around two months ago. They have bright blonde hair, with slightly brown skin, and adorable brown doe eyes.

He manages to pry them off expertly, used to their group hugs by now. Crossing his arms, he looks at them with a quirked eyebrow, which they respond to by simply staring up at him with twinkling eyes. Trixie stands in the middle of the two boys, Travis on her right and Trevor on her left.

"Good morning, Xeny!" Trixie, Trevor, and Travis greet in unison, seeming very excited to see him again, even though Xenos saw them last night before curfew.

Xenos smiles at the nickname and crouches down to their level, his dark blue eyes sparkling a little with fondness. "Good morning to you, too, Little Terrors." They giggle a little, and Xenos is proud that he had been the one to come up with that specific nickname. The three of them are very mischievous and often get into trouble, but hey, at least they are a happy bunch.

Trevor grins happily, revealing a gap between his top teeth. Now he knows why they are so excited. "I lost a tooth!" Trevor exclaims, seemingly unable to hold himself back any longer.

He gives the three a lopsided smile. "Did you put the tooth under your pillow?" He receives three nods. "Was it gone by the morning?" They nod once more. "What did you get?"

"One dollar!" Trixie says first, making the other two pout a little.

Xenos boops them on the nose, making them scrunch up their faces as he leans in close. "Do you want to know a secret?" Their brown eyes go wide and they bob their heads quickly. He looks around as if he was inspecting if someone else is listening, so, when the coast is "clear", he says to them, "I know the Tooth Fairy."

Their eyes widen further, and Xenos fears that they'll up and pop out of their skulls. "You know the Tooth Fairy?" Travis shouts, far too excited to keep his voice down, the other two also bubbling with it.

He shushes him and winks. "It's a secret, remember?" Travis covers his mouth before nodding. "Do you three want to know something else?" They lean in close, nearly bouncing. "I heard that you can get two extra dollars if you can draw a mustache on Poppy." They gasp in shock, and Xenos can confidently say they are the cutest little devils. "And how much is two plus one?"

Trixie holds out her hand and puts up one finger. "One," she puts up two more fingers, "plus two is," she counts the fingers raised on her hand and beams, "three!"

"Three who dollars," Trevor gushes.

"That means we can each have one!" Travis proclaims.

It's Xenos' turn to grin at them as he ruffles their hair one last time before standing up. "That's right, but hush, it's a secret." Satisfied with the amount of misfortune that is to come to Poppy, he asks, "Now, don't you three need to get ready for school?" They scamper away, giggling quietly amongst themselves.

His smile drops when they aren't in view anymore, a hand running through his unruly dark hair which he can never seem to tame. He had gotten it dyed a couple of months ago to a dark blue that matches his eyes, now only the tips remain that royal blue colour. He thinks it looks better like that, actually.

Xenos walks through the living room and into the main hall where all of the shoes were, giving a few friends greetings to the rest of the children or staff that walk by him. Once in the hall, Xenos heads to the pair of worn-out black runners with white lines on the sides. Xenos lazily pulls on his runners and stands up to his full height, a hand going into the large pocket of his hoodie to fish out his old iPod ( it's a miracle it still works ) with earphones plugged into it.

Placing the earphones in his ears and pressing shuffle, Xenos pulls up his hood and makes his way to the wooden door after tossing his iPod back into his hoodie. Exiting Novus, the cold winter wind harshly stirs up, blowing about snowflakes and making Xenos shiver. The closer he gets to his school, the more unease he can feel stirring in his gut much to Xenos' discomfort. Sure, he's usually anxious for school, but this is a whole new level. He remembers the feeling well, it's what he felt when his parents got arrested.

Dread.