Orphanage (4)

Young Ashton's expression darkened as he lowered his face, and at that moment, the innocence of a child was gone, replaced by one that was of anger. His eyes stopped glowing, returning back to their normal bright blue. He still stared at where he saw the bright red figure even though he could not see anything there now. "They dared to conceal you from me…"

There was a strong presence among the ghosts, and this being managed to hide Juin from a human's naked eye. But Ashton was clearly unafraid of this being as he raised his right index finger and pointed it at the group of ghosts.

When the ghosts noticed that someone else was there, as if they were afraid that they would lose their prey, they moved faster around the red figure, bumping and attacking the red figure, causing the red figure to sway slightly from right to left. It seemed that they were planning to do something with the red figure.

One of these beings, a female ghost with a bloody gash at the back of her head where her brain could be seen pulsing, had her hand positioned over the chest of the red figure. An eerie smile appeared on her bloodied face. Her eye sockets were completely black, and half her face was completely rotten.

The red figure seemed to be shivering.

A bright light suddenly appeared and struck the female ghost in the back, dispelling some of the other weaker ghosts around her at the same time.

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

The female ghost did not even know what hit her, but she immediately screamed in pain before disappearing, as if engulfed by the bright light. From a distance away, the human adults heard her piercing scream, and it was so bad that even though they covered their ears, some of them started to bleed from the ears.

Meanwhile, when the other ghosts finally turned and saw Ashton, who was standing between two trees and semi-cloaked in darkness, they felt scared, as if a second death was looming upon them and that this death was the absolute end, and they tried to run away in different directions.

But before they could run far away, Ashton, with right index finger up and pointing at the ghosts, murmured, "Exterminate!"

A light that was invisible to the naked eyes shot out from Ashton's eyes before spreading out in a fan-like shape. It covered 50 meters from where he was standing, and every ghost that was in the vicinity screamed in horror and pain as the light engulfed them.

And when the light finally dispersed, Ashton heard footsteps from behind him, but he did not bother to turn around since he recognized the footsteps.

"J-Juin?" a female voice called out.

Ashton ignored Director Wu and walked toward Juin, who was crying, as he hugged a gray bunny close to his chest. "Hey, Juin…" Ashton said as he stood in front of the shivering Juin. He bent down slightly to look at Juin's face as he took his hand. "I'm here…"

"I'm scared…" Juin cried as he looked at Ashton. "They are so scary…"

"Shh…" Ashton warned him not to say anything. "You're just seeing things…"

Juin wanted to protest, but Ashton shook his head with a solemn expression as he placed a finger against his lips.

Director Wu walked to them, and she knelt down on one knee in front of Juin as she tried to take a good look at him and make sure that he was alright. "Oh, Juin… What happened to you?" she said with a worried tone when she looked at Juin's face. Even though it was dark, she could see the blood on Juin's cheeks, like someone scratched his cheeks with their nails.

She did not understand. One moment, she could only see Ashton, but the next, Juin was there, standing right in front of Ashton. But right now, that was not her main concern. Her main concern was to get the kids out of this place as soon as possible.

Furthermore, young Juin was shivering, and it was obvious that he was absolutely terrified.

Director Wu wiped the tears away from Juin's cheeks and tried to take the bunny away from Juin's arms, but the boy refused to let go.

"No!!!" Juin slapped Director Wu's hand away as he tried to protect the bunny.

Instead of being offended, Director Wu explained patiently, "Juin, let the bunny go… He has to go back to his mummy… He's better living here."

Juin looked at Director Wu with teary eyes before looking down at the gray bunny. He patted it sadly before placing the bunny on the ground.

After giving Juin some first-aid for the cuts and scratches on his body, Director Wu drove both Juin and Ashton home. On the way, Ashton kept scolding Juin.

"I told you not to leave the adults!"

"But I heard voices from the woods… Someone was asking for help…" Juin sniffed as he tried to make himself smaller. Whenever Ashton got mad at him, he could be a little scary.

"I don't care!" Ashton said as he reached over and slapped Juin on the head.

"Ouch! Director Wu!" Juin called out loudly to protest.

"Ashton, don't hit Juin. He's been through a lot…" Director Wu warned as she looked at Ashton through the rearview mirror.

Ashton folded his arms and sat back quietly in his seat. "Juin, what did I always tell you?"

"To be quiet and not be seen…" Juin mumbled the answer. He never understood why, but every time he tried to do something even slightly dangerous, Ashton would scold him and repeat the phrase.

Ashton nodded in approval; his action made him appear more like an old man than a 5-year-old kid. "Yes. Don't ever try to be a brave warrior. Stay low. You have to keep yourself safe. I can't always be there to protect you. Remember, there's nothing wrong with being a coward."

"But I don't want to be a coward. I want to be like you," Juin said with a smile.

Ashton reached over and slapped Juin on the head again. "Don't be like me. Don't be a superhero. Just stay alive…"

"Ouch…" Juin whimpered as he pouted. "But you will always be there to protect me. You promised, remember?"

As Director Wu listened to their conversation, she found it to be somewhat weird, but she did not think too much about it.

…

Back in present,

After Director Wu told the story, she ended it with a sigh, "I really can't think of any explanation as to why you would suddenly appear in my view that day. I thought maybe it was because of the light, that was why I didn't see you at first…"

She suddenly chuckled and leaned against the wall with her arms folded. Looking at Juin, she said, "Or perhaps like what the old folks always said, that there are creatures living in the woods that are capable of cloaking people so that even if you are right in front of them, you wouldn't be able to see them… Either way, that's the weirdest memory I have of you and Ashton…"