There was a shadow standing behind the woman.
Aoki-sensei. Hitori called her.
She was tall and slender-looking. Her arms and legs were in perfect harmony with her body, as if her presence solely existed to make a point, to prove that she was above all. Her eyes reminded him of his father's. Hard and cold, devoid of mercy, their scarlet more vivid than any blood Noah has ever seen. The woman caught him staring at him, for she shifted her gaze to his, and for a split second, he thought she mouthed something to him, moving her lips only slightly to form a single word.
Murderer.
She looked back at Hitori, and whatever had passed between them was gone.
Was he imagining it?
The shadow shifted behind the woman, revealing a thin-looking girl with short chocolate-colored hair and a huge grimace on her face. Her body language said a lot about her. Eyes as wide as the sky, but as black as darkness, glared at Hitori like her life depended on it, like if she didn't, she would be ashamed of herself forever after that. She kept her arms at her side and her palms balled into fists. Her shoulders were tight, unrelaxed, and she seemed like she was about to cry.
Which meant one thing.
This girl hated Hitori, which makes her a number one suspect in the Honoka incident.
Aoki gestured for them to come inside. "It's late, and you children must be tired. Care to have a nice hot bath and a warm delicious dinner?"
They were approaching the end of that afternoon, it wasn't late, but Noah didn't want to argue with her.
Next to him, Hitori was unfazed. She just stared past Aoki , at the girl, her face pretty much as messed up as her.
The boy tugged at her elbow. "Come on, don't you dare show them your weakness" , he whispered.
She gulped, and nodded, ever so slightly, to let him know she was okay.
With unsure steps, they entered the Orphanage. The shadow-girl didn't move from her spot, just muttered something to Aoki, who waved her off with a hand. "Silence, Maya. We don't want our guests to feel unwanted. Where are your manners?"
They followed her inside an empty hall with windows made of rainbow-colored glass, flying humans and naked babies drawn on it. Noah was pretty sure he saw it somewhere in one of the books his Mother made him read about people's culture...
A church.
The Orphanage looked like a church from the inside.
They went up the spiraling stairs that stood in the farthest point from the door, and when Noah stepped on them, they made creaking sounds, as if the wood was making fun of him for coming here.
On the first floor, there were rows and rows of doors, lined on both sides, like in a hotel chamber. Each door had the name of the Owner written on it.
Asahi... Botan... Hinata...Akira.. Hitori...
Noah wondered what could be left in her room, but before he could ask himself why he had the thought in the first place, something caught his eye.
On the last door on the left, there was a name crossed with two bold red lines, in the shape of an X.
Haru.
Why was it crossed? Where was the Owner?
He felt Hitori's stare, so he turned to her, a questioning look on his face.
YOU ARE READING
The Voodoo Doll
Fantasy[COMPLETED] Noah is a boy who was raised by demons all his life. He has the ability to commit perfect crimes by using voodoo dolls and killing with them. He was taught ever since he was young to show no mercy to his enemies. Yet, because of his unu...
