Bang, bang, bang.
"Open the door, you idiot! How dare you disobey me."
A man shouted loudly.
He kicked the door hard and pounded on it fiercely, but it was no use.
"You bastards, stay in there. You'll starve to death anyway."
The man shouted one last time, then left.
Inside the room, a boy who looked to be about fourteen sat trembling violently.
He put his hands on his head and curled up like a baby in its mother's womb.
Blood dripped from his nose and mouth, and his face was covered in bruises, the smell of his sweat mingled with the smell of urine.
He had wet himself out of sheer fear.
"Hmph, ha, ha…" the boy cried and sobbed uncontrollably.
"Ersh, don't cry. Everything will be okay." in a soft, sweet, yet steady voice.
A girl spoke, her face was unclear, covered in bruises, turned blue from the severity of the beating and swollen.
But somehow she spoke with steadiness, without fear, as if she were standing against the world and refusing to back down.
She wasn't just a girl, when Ersh looked at her, he felt a sense of relief.
She was sitting in a wheelchair, her knees touching, unable to move her lower body.
"Lotus, are you really okay?" Ersh asked in a choked voice, he was worried about her.
Lotus showed absolutely no weakness.
She had been beaten, she had been tortured, and despite her condition, she stood her ground.
What kind of person is she?
Ersh thought about her a lot.
He had never seen Lotus cry, she was always cheerful and instilled hope in the hearts of all the children with her charming smile and remarkable resilience.
"Yes, I'm fine. So don't worry, everything will be okay." said Lotus.
"How can you say everything will be okay? Don't you know our situation? We're going to die here." Ersh stopped crying and began firing questions at Lotus.
"..." Lotus didn't answer, she just looked at him calmly.
"Lotus, speak up. Do you even know what we've done? All the children are out there now, everyone escaped successfully, and only we're left. Why aren't you answering? Aren't you afraid? Don't you have a problem with dying?" anger began to overwhelm Ersh's mind.
"Ersh, death isn't a big deal, it's just a moment." in a calm voice, indifferent to life and pain, Lotus didn't hide her thoughts.
Ersh looked at her with indignation, anger, and blame…
"How can you say that so indifferently? What do you even know about death? It's terrifying. What if everyone dies? What if he catches them again? What if he opens that door? He'll definitely kill us."
Veins bulged on Ersh's forehead as he shouted, saliva flew from his mouth, and tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes.
"Everyone will escape. My plan was successful, and we took our time implementing it. We gave all the children extra time to flee." Lotus spoke confidently.
"If he opens the door, you can blame me and say it was all my idea. Just flatter him. When he starts beating me, run away as fast as you can. I'll hold him back as much as I can. I've studied his habits, when he beats me, he enjoys it, and that's my chance."
"Helping you escape will be my last act of strength, so don't worry, Ersh."
Lotus continued speaking calmly, as if what she was saying wasn't a big deal, as if her death were natural.
Tears began streaming down Ersh's face, he couldn't hold himself back and pounded the ground with his fists.
Thud, thud.
"How can you be so hard on yourself? We aren't even close." Ersh's voice, tears, and sobs mingled once more.
"Even if we aren't related by blood, we've lived together. When I tell you, open the door." Lotus tried to smile, but to no avail, she couldn't move the corners of her lips properly.
Her smile looked like a crack in the ground.
Somehow, Ersh saw that she was trying, and his heart sank even deeper.
Lotus, a twenty three year old girl, is paralyzed from the waist down.
No one knows her story, not even the monster outside.
She had been in the orphanage for over three years, holding onto hope, and beaten severely, more than anyone else.
She was beaten in front of the other children, sometimes until she lost consciousness.
All of this for no reason, they didn't understand why they were being beaten.
But the children were happy because they weren't beaten directly.
Lotus lightened their burden, they felt at ease with her, they felt respect for her.
Paralyzed? So what?
No one knew what hope looked like, no one knew how hope worked.
What if hope itself were paralyzed, disabled, dead?
Yet hope still affected life.
Over the course of three years, Lotus planned carefully to help everyone escape, she encouraged them and instilled the strength and courage to face their fears.
She studied the savage man's habits: how does he think? What does he enjoy? What does he hate? How does he move? How does he waste his time?…
Lotus saw everything and planned, planned, planned, planned, planned.
Until she succeeded in executing the best plan, she gathered the children at night and explained to them what they would do tomorrow.
Everyone obeyed her orders, but she needed someone with her.
Ersch volunteered, and so they provoked the man and entered this room after Lotus and Ersch were beaten.
The man still didn't know that all the children had left hours ago.
He would have no way of finding them.
After all, what Lotus had observed was that the man had gathered these children under the guise of an orphanage, but in reality, he had gathered them to vent his cruelty.
He was weak, so he needed someone weaker than himself to make himself seem stronger.
And so he instilled fear in the children's hearts through beatings, whippings, starvation, and torture.
He reveled in these emotions, nothing more than a monster in human skin.
Lotus looked at Ersh, who was trying to compose himself and stay calm.
"Just do what I tell you and don't worry about me." Lotus reassured him.
"Well, I don't know why you're sacrificing yourself for us, but none of us will ever forget your kindness. I'll get revenge for you, I swear." Ersh spoke confidently, gathering his composure.
"What a big statement from a little kid, hehehe." Lotus laughed with difficulty, her joke clashed with her situation.
"I can't believe you're able to joke in a situation like this." Ersh couldn't bring himself to smile.
He clenched his fists tightly, he knew Lotus was doing this to help him relax.
Boom, boom.
Crash.
Ersh turned his gaze toward the door, many sounds were coming from outside.
It sounded like a fight.
"What's going on?" Ersh asked himself aloud.
"I don't know, but he's not coming this way."
Erich looked at Lotus in amazement, he knew she had keen senses, but she always managed to surprise him with them.
They just waited in silence as the loud noises continued.
For five minutes, the noise didn't stop even once, then suddenly, silence fell.
"Someone's approaching. Ersh, step back beside me." Lotus said calmly.
Bam.
The door burst open, and a man with black hair and brown eyes stepped into the room.
He had an average build and stood about 190 centimeters tall.
The man looked at Lotus and Ersh naturally, he showed no signs of hostility.
"Who are you?" Lotus asked immediately.
"My name is Bia. I've eliminated the monster that brought you all here." the man explained calmly.
"Why did you do that?" Lotus asked again.
"One of the children alerted the police, and since it was a serious matter, I came on my own. That child is really smart, he remembered the way exactly." Bia looked at Lotus curiously.
'It must be Esti.' Lotus thought quietly, she hadn't expected this turn of events.
She knew Esti had a strong memory, but not to this extent.
What Lotus noticed was that the orphanage was surrounded only by dense, tall trees, and in one way or another, it was an area close to the mountains.
It was true that Lotus hadn't seen any mountains, but she was certain because of the falling snow.
"What happened to the man?" Lotus asked another question.
"I killed him, and the credit goes to you, Lotus. That child told me what you did for them, and what you did for them today, so much so that even the savage man hated hearing your name when I asked him about you."
"You caused the chaos, and all the dolls he'd collected ran away. That's what he told me before he died. Just so you know, this man was a wanted criminal, he'd been missing for over 27 years. Thanks to you, we found him, and thanks to you, we killed him. Thank you, Lotus."
The man bowed slightly in respect.
True, the girl before him was paralyzed, but he respected her.
Strong, exceptional, calm, steadfast, that's how Lotus appeared to him.
"What will become of them?" Lotus asked the most important question.
"The children will be fine. The central government will take care of them and raise them, and it will also provide for their housing, food, drink, and education, so don't worry." Bia explained, then moved a little closer.
"Okay, thank you. But who are you really?" Lotus asked calmly, gesturing to Ersh toward the door so he could escape.
Ersh didn't ask, he just did as he was told.
"Oh, he ran away? No problem, but girl, what do you mean?" asked Bia.
"You have no heart, no pulse, and you don't even breathe normally. So what are you? Did a child really bring you here? Do you think I'll believe you're here alone without any other police officers?" Lotus gestured to him and asked further.
"I like smart kids. Well, I came on my own as I told you, but that child's request for help was genuine, he told me the way because he was worried about you. I didn't do anything to him; I just let him run away. As for that monster, I killed it because I want you, Lotus."
Lotus couldn't help but be shocked by what this man said to her.
"What do you mean?"
"I see that you have an ordinary talent among humans, but your spirit is strong. I liked that even more when I saw you. What the boy told me earlier piqued my curiosity, and what the monster I killed said ignited my curiosity. But when I saw you, I liked you even more, so come with me. I'll leave the children and send someone to take care of them."
"How can I trust you?" Lotus asked.
"I'll show you the results, so just come with me. I'll train you."
"Alright." Lotus agreed.
Bia smiled, then lifted Lotus from her chair, carried her in his arms, and vanished.