A Distant Dream (Eyrie's POV) Pt. 1

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"!@#$@&!!!" A man with snow-white hair at the roots cursed, with beads of sweat dripping down his pale and wrinkly face.

He turned and looked me in the eye. "Take Carlos and Carol and leave."

What?

I felt myself trembling uncontrollably, and I couldn't move my legs. "F-Father… W-What about you? A-Aren't you coming with us?"

Father clenched his teeth. I could tell that he was very annoyed. "You know the answer."

Upon hearing his reply, the little strength I had left me, and I crumpled down onto the floor.

It was childish of me to do so. But I couldn't help but act that way.

I couldn't imagine how I would live without him. How my siblings would live without him.

Without realizing it, I had grown so attached to the father I once hated.

I felt a soft touch on my head and looked up in bewilderment.

Father looked down at me with a deep sadness.

For the first time, I saw the concern that he had for me in his eyes, beyond the cold exterior that he had always used.

I widened my eyes, and a tear slipped down my cheek. This was the first time I had ever been so intimate with my father.

Before I could do anything else, Father crouched down and kissed my forehead. "Eyrie, it will be fine. You are a wonderful sister; you are capable of taking care of them."

I bit lip, knowing that these were lies made up to make me feel better. But despite that, a gentle warmness rose up in my chest.

I wished this moment could last forever. Or at least for another few minutes.

But my wish didn't come true.

Suddenly, Father seemed startled at something and glanced at his watch. He seemed to have frozen in shock.

Confused, I arched my head to see what made him this way, but before I could see, Father stood up abruptly and quickly supported me to my feet.

Then, he pushed me away to the door. "Find your siblings. Go, Eyrie!" He shouted in a hushed voice.

"But—"

"GO, NOW!" His eyes were abnormally calm, despite his shouting.

I stepped back, and after one last look at my father, I turned and ran.

Tears slid down my face, but I quickly wiped them away with my sleeve, uncaring about the dirtiness.

Arriving at the next room, I banged the door open, and grabbed the two figures in the single bed.

The room smelled like rotten wood. I wrinkled my nose, and without explaining the situation, I pulled my siblings away.

As we stepped out the door, I told them, "We need to run."

With those words, the two immediately understood. They didn't ask anything else and obediently followed behind me.

I silently breathed a sigh of relief.

I knew the reason why we were running like this, and I hated it. Because it wasn't even our fault.

And honestly, I'd rather die here than run like a criminal like how I am doing now, but for the sake of my family, I can't.

I arrived at a particular area of the floor and activated some hidden mechanisms. With a clunk, the floor opened up, and I shoved Carol and Carlos down before getting down myself.

The hidden door would automatically close after five seconds, so I wasn't worried whether we would be followed.

In the total darkness, a strong stench of feces that was about a hundred times worse than the rotten wood crept up my nose, and I could hardly breathe.

Gritting my teeth, I waded forward in the cold, stinky fluid that had soaked my lower body.

Feeling around the moist walls around me, I instructed my siblings to grab onto me and do the same while walking. I could feel their irritation, but there was nothing I could do to comfort them.

These sewers led to someplace outside of the city and based on my father's estimations, we could get there after walking straight for around three hours.

I bet by then, we would all be used to the smell of feces and have caught a cold… I smiled bitterly.

Suddenly, a low male voice sounded to my left. "Sis Eyrie… we are leaving by ourselves?"

It wasn't a question, more like a confirmation.

I understood what he was trying to convey, and my hands subconsciously trembled. At this time, I was glad that it was so dark here; my tears that had stopped had started flowing again at the mention of this.

"Yes." My voice was hushed, and I hope it didn't sound too weird.

"But! But how can we survive on our own?!" I could tell Carlos was about to break down. His voice had become a shriek almost.

But before I could think of anything to comfort him, Carol spoke first. "Shush! Father did this so we could all escape. If we can't even survive after all he has sacrificed, then we aren't worthy of the Rochester name!"

The young man fell silent. I, too, had nothing to say, and so a deadly silence prevailed.

Maybe it would've been better to have Carlos become more independent, but Father hadn't been able to watch his only son suffer in poverty. As a result, the man had prioritized the boy and gave him all that he could afford.

I was jealous, but it only solidified my thoughts to work harder.

My family thought I was well suited for work in the slums – I don't know if this is a compliment or what, but I knew they felt that because I was not an academically intelligent person.

I always preferred things to be simple because I lacked the cognitive abilities to understand anything more complicated.

A saying would be that I "worked harder, not smarter."

But I got things done, so that's that!

As my thoughts flew, time also flew, and I grew increasingly fatigued with my body growing increasingly cold. But how could I fall when the rest of them were hanging on? I bit my tongue to distract myself from the tiredness creeping up my body.

When would we reach the end?