• • •

By the time Aaron and Jo reached home, they were soaked. For some reason the rain always seemed to let out only when Aaron was outside. Luckily though he was mostly always indoors, seeing as the school and home were the only two places he ever went but today he and Jo wandered and before they knew it, it was already six o'clock.

The home was the orphanage where Aaron and Jo grew up. It was an old greying building and was run by an even more so man, Abe, but every one called him Grey.

Aaron ran swiftly into the building, his arms over his head as a makeshift, and inefficient, shield from the rain while Jo lazily strolled behind him, literally soaking up all the rain had to offer.

They walked into the building and were immediately greeted by a heavenly scent. Before they knew it they'd found their way into the dining hall where the others were sat. Grey was still in the kitchen.

There weren't many people in the orphanage anymore. Grey was an old man and knew that he was going to die soon so he made it his mission to get as many  of the children in the orphanage adopted. He'd made really good progress and there were only seven kids left. Bonnie the hyperactive  five year old, Max and Jax the twins, Cory the moody twelfth grader, Emmy the ghost and of course, Jo and Aaron.

Everyone was sat around the table doing their own thing. Bonnie was picking at Emmy's hair attempting to braid her very unruly locks. Max and Jax were coming up with ways to make their grade school teacher, Ms Ritz, 'pay' and Cory had his headphones over his ears, listening to some music while he wore a sulky expression. Aaron took a seat beside Jax and Jo sat in the middle of him and Cory.

Aaron didn't miss they way Jo's face slightly reddened  when her hand accidentally grazed that of Cory. He shot her an annoyed look, one which seemed to make her blush deepen.

" It's ready! The magnificence that is my cooking is done! " Aaron turned his head towards the kitchen door,  which was the direction that the loud bellow came from.

A tall grey haired man came out rubbing his hands on the apron wrapped around him and a dish towel on his shoulder. 

"Cory, Aaron, Emmy, come give me a hand with the food." Aaron stood up almost immediately while Emmy still struggled with trying to pry Bonnie away from her.  Cory didn't even bother to get up.

A swift wooden spoon whizzed past Jo's ear,  thwacking Cory in the head.  His hand automatically shut up to inspect the damage, the usual scowl on his face. 

Jo was very clearly trying to contain her laughter but she was the only one.

Max and Jax were already on the floor, hands above their bellies and eyes closed shut,  laughing worse than any pack of hyenas could.  Bonnie had actually stopped fiddling with Emmy's hair just to let her delight be known and Emmy let out and extremely rare laugh. 

Aaron chuckled to himself before turning on his heel and heading into the kitchen. The aroma of the chicken hit him full force as he walked through the threshold. 

Grey pointed at a general area his concentration glued on the chicken he was garnishing.

"Help me take that to the table, would ya? "

Aaron nodded and headed straight for the mashed potatoes.

In a few minutes,  everything was settled down and everyone sat at the table, Grey perched at the edge.

"Whose turn Is it? " Grey asked.

Immediately Bonnie jumped up rattling the table. 

Aaron reached for his cup of wine -Grape Juice- before it was the table getting a taste and not him. Grey really went all out the dinner.

"Mine! Mine! It's mine!" she stated as she frantically waved her hand as if they couldn't all tell that it was her turn to say grace.

The way they said grace at the home was sorta weird.  Whoever's turn it was,  basically got to just wish for what they wanted and most times it happened.  The younger ones like Jax,  Max and Bonnie thought it was magic but the others knew better. It was Grey.  Just last week Max had magically  received a new bike after his old one got stolen.

Everyone joined hands around the table and shut their eyes but Aaron didn't miss the pink in Jo's cheeks as she and Cory's hands connected.

"Hi whoever is up there and listening to me-" this was always how it started "I'm Bonnie and the only thing I want right now is for Grey not to leave us... And a new Barbie doll" the last part was an after thought. 

"Let's eat! " they all chorused as this was their replacement for an amen.

All through out the dinner Aaron couldn't keep his eyes of Grey and neither could he help but think that he looked down and...  Guilty. Although Aaron had more sense than to question him about it.

"Children" Grey's voice suddenly rang.
"I have an announcement. "

Everyone looked up at that,  Cory was caught Mid-bite, frozen in his spot. 

Grey let out a deep sigh and used his fingers to rub his temples. 

"I'm-" he looked around,  whatever he had to say was visibly weighing down on him.

"I'm not going-" and then his eyes caught sight of Bonnie who looked up at him with her big brown eyes, anticipation and worry in them.

"-to the beach this Saturday" He then let out a very nervous and unconvincing laugh.

"When were you going to the beach? " Cory asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion,  by this time he'd let his piece of chicken that he was viciously gobbling a while before.

" Uh...  You know,  on Saturday."

"You never said anything abou-"

"Well, You know time for bed " Grey briskly stood up, hands on the table.

"But were not even done wit-" Cory's complaint was cut of by Grey's words.

"You know it's late enough." he said as he checked the time piece on his wrist, the hour hand a bit past seven.

"Early start and all. " he then started stacking the plates together, scraping all the leftovers onto Emmy's.

No one moved from their seats. Aaron bad his arms crossed an indignant look on his face.  He wasn't dumb,  he knew Grey was very obviously trying to hide something from them. 

"Well? Go on then. Hop to it. "

The scraping of a chair was heard as Cory got up from his seat.  He stuffed his phone in his hoodie pocket and sulked his way upstairs. 

Consequently, Max and Jax stood up, following in Cory's lead up the stairs. Bonnie dragged Emmy along with her, leaving Aaron and Jo behind.  Jo let out a big sigh and got up to help Grey pack the dishes away. 

Aaron didn't move from his seat.  He just sat there, eyes glued on Grey's every move. He was slow, not unusual for an old man, but his was sorta strange.  Like there was a physical weight on him.  Aaron noticed the slight limp in his left leg and the odd way his neck bent when his head was down.  There was no doubt that there were several things wrong with Grey but Aaron couldn't quite put his finger on the main one. The one that was probably causing old Grey his life. 

Yes, Aaron was perceptive. One of the perks of being a wallflower. He'd obviously noticed that there was something killing their beloved caretaker and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Well,  Aren't you going with the rest? "
Grey looked up at him,  his pale blue eyes weary.  Aaron gave a nod and stood up from his seat. 

"Take care of yourself" Aaron muttered before trailing up the stairs, a feeble 'I'll try' making its way up to his ears. 

He walked through the hallway,  rapping his hands on the doors of the empty rooms as he walked by.

When all the other kids had moved out,  the remaining boys, excluding Cory of course, had decided it would be better and a lot more fun if they all slept in the same room together.

Aaron peered in through the red wood door of his room, taking in the sight before him. Jax was sprawled atop Max,  a vice like grip on his neck. Max' face was turning an alarming shade of purple.  Cory was for some reason in the room,  laughing at the entire endeavour instead of doing the generally accepted thing of prying Jax away from his brothers neck. 

Aaron made his way out without getting noticed. He knew that Cory wouldn't let them kill each other...  Maybe.  He couldn't be bothered right now anyways.

He carried himself up the stairs, into the familiar space of the attic. No one ever came here. Ever. 

Everyone in the home believed it was haunted because of the eerie noises the heard there at night,  but really,  it was just Aaron. 

The attic was where he practiced.

He moved to the corner where he had set up a bunch of equipment.  A stack of chairs lay near a tattered book which was settled beside a table with a statuette of a bird placed on it.

He looked at the items and began to concentrate.

In his mind, he envisioned the statuette slowly rising from the table.  His eyes were closed so tight, he had a headache. 

His hand slowly started to rise and he felt a link between himself and the object before him.

Curiosity over took him and a lone eye popped open. Immediately his concentration was lost and he heard the crash of porcelain shattering on the ground.

                                     • • •

Sorry for how boring and sucky this chapter was, I swear it's gonna get better soon. 

I'm open to all constructive criticism. I need all the help I can get.

And just in case anyone of my readers (who am kidding, it's singular) is wondering I don't actually have an updating schedule or something like that. Whenever I'm done with a chapter I update, the concept is simple. Really.

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Stay Royal

                     ~Feyi