MY CRUEL ALPHA BROTHER

DECEIVED

(CECILIA’S POV)

Just an outlander in this alien town, I make my way toward the thriving market on the street. Everyone seems to be bustling with joy in the bright hour to sell their produce. I, on the other hand, walk aimlessly with an empty stomach. I was threatened to leave the Moon’s armour pack last night. Before the sun’s rays hit the ground, I moved out without any luggage. Now I am roaming the streets with not even a penny in my hand.

The alienness of the place bothered me more whenever I take a notice of people observing my wretched clothes with a critical gaze. The rich surrounding contradicted my poor appearance, making me even more afraid of approaching anyone for help.

Like a pigeon, I move my neck around to see if there was an orphanage around. During the approaching death of my mother, she had told me to enrol myself in one in case my father fails to show up.

“My dear father did come to pick me up, but it was my own crooked fate that brought me back to the streets. The least I can do to protect myself is to get admitted to an orphanage,” I am certain that an orphanage can help me lead a somewhat respectful life.

The search for a place to cover my head leads me to a kind-looking old man. I greet him with a bow and then ask him in a visibly respectful stance, “Sir, where can I find the orphanage of Nottinghamshire?”

The man’s furrowed brows express that the orphanage isn’t anywhere near. Nonetheless, he tries to explain the way to mein a simple manner. It didn’t work for me though. Anyways I thank him for the attempt.

I begin dragging my feet to look for another person to explain the way to the orphanage a bit better. In desperation to flee the depressing surroundings, I approach a young girl who appears to be about my age. The vibrant look on her face makes her appear friendly which gives me the confidence that she might help.

“Excuse me, could you help me with the way to the orphanage?” I speak meekly with a smile.

She smiles back at me, “I’m headed there as well. Why don’t you join me instead?”

My joys knew no bound to know that I finally find someone who can help me change the dismal course of my life. I readily agree to follow her on her route.

“My name is Voss. What’s your name?” Her eyes examine me from top to the bottom. “Are you from here?”

Ashamed to even think about the place of my origin, I try to avoid mentioning anything about both my mother and the brothel, “I am Cecilia. I grew up on the periphery of the town.”

“Why do you wish to enrol yourself in an orphanage?” Her golden eyes develop a sheen when she begins enquiring about me.

Fabricating a befitting lie, I tell her, “My foster parents were farmers. Since they no longer need me, they ask me to head to somewhere else for sustenance.”

“That’s harsh,” her countenance changed suddenly. She seems upset with my invented foster parents. “Back at the orphanage, there are serval children who suffer from the same situation as yourself.”

I feel bad for lying, but I don’t want to reveal the truth about my birthplace. I didn’t want to forfeit this seemingly second chance at life by telling the new companion about me being a harlot’s daughter.

Even though the pain of the past mistreatment due to an ugly origin forced me to forge a lie, I still felt jitters of guilt evoking in my body. That must’ve been the reason why I never looked Voss in the eye while discussing my made-up life.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Voss’s inquisitive eyes are fixated on my face as if she’s preparing herself for cross-examination of my tale.

Swallowing my anxiety, I answered, “I didn’t have much social interaction when I stayed in the foster care. That’s why I struggle with communicating.”

“We all were like this in the beginning,” she says while linking her arm with mine.

Suddenly, we take a different route. Voss suggests that we travel through the woods to save our time and energy to reach the orphanage as fast as possible. I hadn’t slept a wink since the last night, so her plan seems ideal to me.

With a nod, I accompany my very first friend in Nottinghamshire to my new destination. Initially, I had thought that my unattractive clothes and shabby appearance will make it hard for her to accept me, but Voss doesn’t seem to mind it. In fact, she keeps smiling to assure me that she accepted me. That feeling alone is the first greatest for someone who got thrown away from my father’s pack.

The wooded area seems harder to navigate. Around me, there is just huge vegetation which could very well confuse us about finding our path. In reaction to the arduous surroundings, I ask Voss, “Will we get somewhere? I just don’t see anything besides these huge chunks of bushes.”

“I might not look like a reliable guide, but trust me I can get you through this,” her twinkling eyes and puffed up chest assure me that she knew where she was taking me. “We could’ve gone through the main road, but it would’ve taken us half an hour extra to reach the orphanage.”

Taking her word for it, I keep walking with her to get to our desired location. We manage to reach somewhere but the building seems too odd to resemble an orphanage. It is ruined with moss and has signs of stagnation in every corner. In all honesty, I doubt if the building can even sustain human beings.

“This is our new home,” Voss’s smile widened. “How do you like the place?”

I was a homeless young girl who had nowhere to go, so I had no choice but to lie about my feelings for the building, “This building seems to have been here for a long time.”

“Yeah, the place hasn’t been renovated for long,” she tries to explain the reasons for the seeming ancientness of the building.

I am not able to entrain the idea that it is a place fit for habitation, for the building was in shambles. But, I realise that I don’t have a choice.

“Let’s go inside,” I force a smile on my face, trying to hide the disappointment.

Voss was good at reading even the most repressed of the emotions. She understood from my frown that slips through my bogus smile and suggests, “I didn’t like it when I came here for the first. After when I learned the ghastliness of the outer world, I fell in love with this place.”

“I think this place will grow on me,” I feel ashamed of being caught as I fear that she must think I’m not grateful to get to the orphanage.

My doubt soon ends when Voss swears, “I hated this place when I arrived. I know how you feel.”

To get this understood for the first time in my life, I feel as if I am inside a movie. I didn’t know that people were capable of feeling this way I’m real life. If anything, I feel that I might be able to turn my life around after every assurance that I received from Voss.

With every step that I take toward the building’s entrance, my belief in changing my circumstances only begins to grow stronger. Sometimes our desperations to get out of a sticky situation leads to another. That’s what happened to me after entering the odd-looking building.

There are no students in the crowd present inside the building, just some sick appearing young women. I hated to see it but the whole place could be compared to a brothel that I had escaped.

“This doesn’t look like an orphanage,” I just could no longer keep my thoughts to myself.

In response, I expected a reason regarding the mismanagement by the administration. Instead, Voss tells me, “That’s because it isn’t one.”

I am Shocked I feel cheated when I hear her confess about taking me to a place which could be anything but an institution for the unfortunate ones. Puzzled by my surroundings, I ask Voss, “If not orphanage, then where are we?”

“Curiosity killed the cat “ she speaks with confidence and then gestures something to the people around us.

Two men approach me. Unable to think what they’re after, I greet them and request for being taken to an orphanage. They both share a laugh and then take told of my arms.

Now the adrenaline rush is worse than ever as strange things started unravelling before me. From the unanticipated scowls, I came to the understanding that they have no intentions of taking me to the orphanage.