The younger children always ran from thunder, but Kai moved closer to the window whenever it growled.
He stood on the second-floor landing of Sacred Virtue's Orphanage, his forehead nearly touching the cold glass as rain swept across the grounds in silver sheets. The storm blurred the rusted front gate and the narrow road beyond it, while water poured from the roof and spilled over the gutters Miss Agatha had promised to repair before the rainy season began.
A flash of lightning turned the afternoon white. For a brief moment, Kai saw the two security guards standing beneath the small shelter beside the gate. One leaned against the wall with his arms folded, while the other watched the road, his raincoat snapping in the wind. When darkness returned, the men became little more than shadows.
Kai kept his eyes on the place where they stood. He had always liked storms. He liked the way they drowned out the noise of the world and made everything beyond the orphanage feel distant. When the rain was loud enough, he could almost believe there were no monsters, no portals, no Guilds fighting over territory, and no people capable of killing with a glance or a touch.
There was only the rain, and there was home.
"Kai?"
He turned and found Minny standing several steps behind him. She clutched the faded cloth rabbit she carried almost everywhere, holding it against her chest as though it could protect her from the thunder. At eight years old, she was small for her age, with brown hair divided into two uneven braids. One of them had already started coming loose.
"Miss Agatha said everyone should come downstairs," Minny told him. "Dinner is ready."
Kai glanced back at the storm. "You go ahead. I'll be there in a minute."
Minny remained where she was, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. When another rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, she tightened her arms around the rabbit and looked toward the staircase.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I don't want to go downstairs alone," she admitted.
Her voice was barely louder than the rain. Kai smiled, stepped away from the window, and held out his hand.
"You could have started with that."
Minny hurried to his side and slipped her fingers into his. Her hand was cold, and she held on more tightly than usual as they descended the narrow staircase.
Sacred Virtue's Orphanage had once been a private school, though very little remained of its former elegance. The wallpaper peeled away from the walls in several places, and nearly every floorboard complained when someone stepped on it. Paintings of saints and biblical scenes lined the corridors, watching over mismatched furniture donated by churches, charities, and families who no longer needed it.
The building was not beautiful, and it was certainly not rich, but it was home.
The smell of vegetable stew and freshly baked bread filled the ground floor. Children moved between the dining room and the kitchen, carrying cups, plates, and spoons under the nervous supervision of the older residents. Somewhere nearby, a toddler was laughing. In another corner, two boys argued over who would sit closest to the television.
As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Minny released Kai's hand and ran toward the dining room.
"Last one to the table washes the dishes!" she shouted.
"That is not a real rule," Kai called after her.
"It is now!"
Her laughter disappeared into the dining room. Kai shook his head, still smiling, and followed her into the common room.
A group of teenagers had gathered around the television. Brad sat on the arm of an old sofa, despite Miss Agatha's repeated warnings that it would break, while Jeremy stood close to the screen and pushed his glasses higher on his nose as he tried to read the words scrolling along the bottom.
None of them were laughing.
A red banner stretched across the television screen.
BREAKING NEWS: NORTH VALLEY PRISON ESCAPE
Kai stopped.
The news presenter spoke with the calm, measured voice people used when describing something terrible. "Authorities have confirmed that convicted serial killer Richard Norman escaped from North Valley Penitentiary earlier today. Three prison guards were killed during the breakout, and at least five other inmates remain unaccounted for."
A prison photograph appeared beside her. The man in the image was tall and thin, with hollow cheeks and untidy hair hanging around his face. He was smiling, though there was nothing friendly in the expression. His eyes appeared black in the photograph, but a red warning symbol beside his name displayed the classification authorities had assigned him.
POSSIBLE CURSED AWAKENED
"Residents within North Valley and the surrounding districts are advised to remain indoors," the presenter continued. "Richard Norman is considered extremely dangerous. Do not approach him. Anyone who sees him should contact the authorities immediately."
Jeremy turned away from the screen. His face had gone pale.
"Isn't North Valley close to here?"
"Close does not mean he is coming here," Brad said, although he was no longer sitting casually. "He will be trying to reach the border. That is what criminals do."
Another boy looked at him. "How do you know what criminals do?"
"I watch documentaries."
"You watch prison dramas."
"They are educational."
Normally, that would have started an argument, but no one laughed. Jeremy pointed at the warning symbol beside Richard's photograph.
"What does 'possible Cursed Awakened' mean? They do not know?"
"They know," Kai said.
Several faces turned toward him. He had read about Richard Norman before. Articles about the man appeared every few months, usually whenever another body was connected to him or a surviving witness agreed to speak.
"They just have not proved it officially," Kai continued. "Norman never registered his ability, and no Guild captured him while he was using it. Witnesses said his eyes turned red when he attacked them."
Jeremy swallowed. "Blood red?"
Kai nodded.
The room became quiet enough for them to hear the rain striking the windows. Every child learned about the Awakened before learning long division. Years ago, portals had opened across the world and released creatures that ordinary weapons could barely harm. Humanity survived only because some people developed abilities of their own.
Those whose eyes shone blue when they used their powers became known as the Gifted. They joined Guilds, fought monsters, sealed portals, and appeared on television as heroes.
The red-eyed Awakened were spoken about differently. Teachers called them unstable. News reporters called them corrupted. Churches warned that their abilities fed upon the darkest parts of the human soul.
They were called the Cursed.
Children were taught a simple rule. Blue eyes meant help was coming. Red eyes meant run.
Jeremy stared at the prisoner's smiling photograph. "What kind of ability do you think he has?"
"The kind I hope we never see," Kai replied.
A floorboard creaked behind him, and several children jumped.
Miss Agatha stood in the doorway with a basket of bread beneath one arm. She was only in her thirties, but nearly every child in the orphanage regarded her as a mother. Her golden hair was pinned behind her head, though several loose strands framed her face. A flour mark crossed one cheek, and the sleeves of her blue dress had been rolled above her elbows.
She looked from the frightened children to the television. "So this is why no one has set the table."
"Richard Norman escaped," Jeremy said. "North Valley is close."
"I know."
Miss Agatha placed the bread on a side table and switched off the television. Richard's face vanished, leaving the children staring at their dim reflections in the black screen.
Brad frowned. "You knew?"
"The police contacted every school, church, and children's home in the district this afternoon," Miss Agatha said. "The doors are locked, the windows have been checked, and there are two additional guards outside."
Kai glanced toward the corridor leading to the main entrance. He had seen the guards from upstairs. That should have reassured him, but it did not.
Miss Agatha crossed the room and rested a hand on Jeremy's head. "You do not need to carry this fear. The police are searching for him, and I will not allow any harm to come to this family."
Jeremy looked up at her. "But what if he comes here?"
"Then he will discover that interrupting dinner at Sacred Virtue's is a very serious offence."
A few of the younger children giggled. Miss Agatha pinched Jeremy's nose gently.
"Especially on bread night."
This time, even Brad laughed. The tension in the room loosened, and the children resumed carrying plates to the long dining table. Chairs scraped across the floor. Someone complained about receiving a smaller piece of bread, while another child began singing until three different voices demanded that he stop.
Miss Agatha had that effect on people. She did not simply tell them everything would be fine. Somehow, she made them believe it.
Kai watched her move between the children, straightening a collar here and settling an argument there. He had arrived at Sacred Virtue's seven years earlier with one bag of clothes and no family left to collect him. He remembered little about that first night except the rain and the certainty that nothing would ever feel safe again.
Miss Agatha had sat beside him until morning. She had not asked him to stop crying, and she had not told him that losing his parents was part of God's plan. She had simply remained beside him, holding his hand whenever the nightmares woke him.
Years later, Kai learned that she had been born into one of the wealthiest families in North Valley. She could have lived in comfort for the rest of her life, but she had used most of her inheritance to purchase the abandoned school and turn it into a home for children no one else wanted.
Sacred Virtue had leaking gutters, unreliable electricity, and more residents than bedrooms, yet no child went to sleep believing they were unwanted.
"Kai?"
Miss Agatha was watching him. He realised that most of the children had already taken their seats.
"Are you planning to join us," she asked, "or have you decided you can survive on rainwater?"
Kai approached the table. "I was thinking."
"That is a dangerous habit."
"You tell us to think before we act."
"I also tell you to arrive on time for dinner."
Minny had saved him a seat beside her. Kai sat down, and she immediately placed half her bread on his plate.
He pushed it back toward her. "You will be hungry later."
"I am sharing."
"You cried for twenty minutes the last time someone ate your bread."
"I was seven then."
"That was last month."
Minny frowned and reclaimed her half.
At the head of the table, Miss Agatha remained standing. The dining room glowed beneath several warm ceiling lamps, and although rain rattled against the windows, bowls of stew steamed between rows of children. The old table was crowded, loud, and scarred by years of spilled food and careless carving.
Kai looked around at the faces gathered there. This was his family.
A sudden gust struck the building, and one of the lights flickered. The children fell quiet for a moment as a dull sound came from somewhere near the entrance.
It might have been a door shifting in the wind.
Kai turned toward the hallway, but nothing moved in the darkness beyond the dining-room doorway.
"Probably the storm," Brad said.
Miss Agatha looked toward the hallway as well. Her smile remained, but one hand tightened around the back of her chair. When the light steadied, conversation slowly returned.
Miss Agatha looked at Kai. "Would you lead the prayer tonight?"
Kai nodded, and everyone joined hands. Minny slipped her small fingers into his right hand while Jeremy took his left. Around the table, heads bowed and eyes closed.
Kai lowered his gaze. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."
The rain intensified against the windows.
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
A cold draught moved across the back of Kai's neck. He hesitated, and Minny squeezed his hand, perhaps thinking he had forgotten the words.
Kai continued. "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Something dripped onto the wooden floor behind him.
Once, then again.
Kai opened his eyes. No one else had moved, and every head remained bowed.
"And lead us not into temptation."
Miss Agatha raised her face. Her gentle brown eyes were no longer fixed on Kai. She was staring beyond him, and all the warmth had drained from her expression.
"But deliver us from evil."
The room became completely still. A man's voice answered from the darkness behind them, cold and amused, close enough for Kai to hear him breathing.
"And all of God's children," Richard Norman said, "said amen."