Raincoat

The Child

Chapter two

It hasn't been that long since my arrival-only about a month. Due to the fact that I was in need of a job and something to occupy myself, I was able to test negative first. I lost a lot of the weight I had gained. Not all of it, but most.

Today was going to be my first day checking up on the children downstairs. As a bonus, I get to move out of this hotel room, meaning I won't be surrounded by a large number of people.

"Maybe I can finally get in a good smoke without being interrupted..." I muttered under my breath, continuing to pack my clothes and supplies. Ever since she caught me the first time, Vanity has been keeping a close eye on me for the entire month. She follows me all over the place, the dining room, the kitchen, my hotel room, even when using the bathroom. She still lingers by the door in case the smell of smoke makes it through the horrible stench of shit and piss that we guests leave behind. It's honestly quite annoying, the only time I got a good break from her was when she went to take care of the children for the day, now I'm going to be around children twenty four-seven, so it's not like I'm going to get that much of a break now.

I close my suitcase and sigh, this was going to be a nightmare. I still don't know why I agreed to something as stupid as watching children when she wasn't around. I was required to be in the nursery while she was upstairs, and working/taking a break while she was around to watch the children herself. Normally, this would be annoying enough on it's own, but now the old woman has lost another position to someone much younger than her.

The old woman has acted cold and distant for as long as we've been here. She was already in a bad mood about Vanity taking her position as governess, but now I'm going to be watching and taking care of the children while Vanity was gone. The woman gives me this cold and violent stare whenever I enter the room, which is not what I signed up for. At least I'll get some time away from all the other guests who haven't gone anywhere near recovering.

I hear a knock on the door, knowing instinctively that it was Vanity coming to get me. I turn around and see that she's acting much more formal than usual, her smile looking fake as ever. Something must've happened. She leads me towards the elevator, and presses the bottom button. The floor buttons are all in the shape of an eye, and the door had an eye shape molded into it. I turned towards Vanity to find that her smile had quickly faded away, leaving a sorrowful gaze towards the ground. I sighed and turned back towards the door. There was no way I was dealing with this, not right now.

"What's wrong?" I asked, breaking the thick silence in the slowly falling elevator. She quickly turned her head up and chuckled awkwardly, pulling her hair back behind her ear.

"Oh, my grandmother was just a little bit hard on me, that's all." she explained. I nodded in response.

"I assume the old woman who introduced you is your grandmother?" she nodded and smiled slightly.

"Me and my sisters were raised by her, she taught us everything she knew. Our parents died when I was seven, so like many of these children I know what it's like to lose a mother and be taken care of by a woman you barely know..." she sighed. "She wasn't exactly the...loving type. She was always so stern and strict, but now that I've finally achieved everything she's trained me to do..." she paused for a moment, and stared back at the ground. "She's just upset she isn't in control of my life anymore..." that explains a lot actually. For some reason, the mention of her sisters reminded me of that rumor, the one about the girl who drowned. Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to ask her about it. "So...you know the girl who...erm...The Pretender, killed?" I asked. Her shoulders tensed, and she stared at the ground, silent.

"Can..." she began. "Can we not speak of this..." ah, difficult subject. It may not have given me any real answers, but I knew pressing any further wouldn't do any good, so I nodded and stared off into space. After that, we stayed silent for a long period of time.

The elevator finally came to a stop, and my room was just across the hall. Before the door shut, I decided to give her one piece of advice in case I didn't see her for a while.

"You know," I started. "I don't know what it's like to have a strict guardian like that, but I do know that you're an adult, and you shouldn't care what she thinks anymore." I'm...not the best at social cues if it wasn't obvious. She seemed surprised, but after a few seconds to take in what I said, she smiled. She bowed and thanked me for listening, a light blush of embarrassment covering her facial features, as the elevator door closed and separated us.

I walked over to my room to see that it was much more comfortable than the room upstairs. It had a couch, a nightstand, a bed and even some windows showing the ocean. I think I could get used to this, I can only imagine how many fish swim by that window a day, great for research. As I unpacked all of my things, I noticed a note laying on the nightstand.

Dear Dr. Norman, I hope you find this room to your liking, though it is not the best it is quite roomy and has a great view. There is a specific child we want you to pay close attention to. As you know all too well, Veronica Norman almost killed a child who managed to escape from the prison that had become the Nest, which is now closed. I know this isn't what you signed up for, but the little girl who managed to escape needs some serious medical attention. She has witnessed so many other children die before her very eyes, and we want to make sure she knows she's safe here. She doesn't seem to remember her name before she arrived at the Nest, however Veronica labeled them all by number. We do not like the idea of calling this poor child by a number, but she refuses to respond to anything else. Her name is Six, she's an eight year old girl who will be turning 9 on xx,xx,xxxx, she is four feet tall with short black hair. She has become...strangely attached to the raincoat that belonged to my sister the little girl who was murdered. I believe it would be a good idea to keep it away from her. I know you don't believe in magic Doctor but...please...for me? She doesn't talk...at all...I don't think it's that she's incapable of speech, I think she's just too afraid. Doctor, please...promise me you'll do your best to help this girl...it hurts my heart thinking about how scared she must've been to be in that situation. Just promise me you'll help her.

-Vanity Nefrite.

Just great...more reminders of what Veronica had done...I let out a small 'jesus christ' before flopping onto the bed.

I was tired..

And I'm ninety nine percent sure Vanity only opened up to me like that so she could take away my cigarette pack without me noticing.