Kaiden Rai

I was six years old the last time I saw my father. I walked through the hallways of that floor with the man in the suit and saw everyone frozen solid like statues. I remember so vividly seeing the looks of fear and confusion in their eyes despite some of their faces still carrying looks of sadness, and others happiness.Yet I went with the man anyway.

After we left the hospital we rode in the car for what felt like hours. I cried quietly in the backseat as I started to fear that I would never see my mother or father again.

We rode in a black SUV, the windows were blacked out so I couldn't see anything outside. The two armed men sat in the front of the car. The man in the suit sat with me in the back of the SUV. We drove for a while before I stopped crying before we just sat in silence together.

“You made the right choice coming with us." The man suddenly spoke.

I didn't respond, I just closed my eyes and fell asleep.

When we finally came to a stop, I had no idea where we were. We had arrived somewhere in the countryside, surrounded by fields and forest, with a clear view of mountains behind the house. The night sky was perfectly clear, free of light pollution. The building itself was large but barely visible in the darkness, except for the light spilling from inside. Outside, a small sign illuminated by the light read “Green House.” Despite the name, the house wasn’t green. It was painted dark gray on the lower half and a lighter blue-white on the upper half, with the only green being the front door.

“Come on.” The man who had been sitting with me in the back seat instructed. I got out of the car and waited for him. He walked around the car and placed his hand on my back to guide me to the front door before knocking.

We stood in silence for a while, only the chirping of crickets breaking the stillness of the night. After a moment, the man began knocking again, but the door was opened before he could finish. He looked down, his eyes heavy as if he were ready for sleep, and motioned for me to enter. I stared at him until I noticed who had opened the door. It was a woman, probably in her thirties, with short, rustic hair and dark brown skin. She wore a brown sweater and tan jeans, and she was notably pretty.

“Hi there, you must be Kaiden." She introduced herself while coming to a bit of a squat, supporting herself by placing her hands on her knees so that we were eye level. I wordlessly just watched her eyes as she seemed to study me the same way. “I'm Erica. I'm so happy to have you here. I know a lot has happened, and this is all different, but I promise you're going to feel better in no time.”

She reached out and gave me a pat on my shoulder. Nothing she was saying was making me feel better. I just felt. Hopeless. It felt like at the time I was a monster and everything had fallen apart because of me.

“Go inside, and I’ll be with you in a moment,” Erica said. “I just need to talk to Ian about something.” I learned that the man’s name was Ian. He hadn’t said a word since we left the hospital. I nodded and went inside.

Strangely greenhouse seemed a bit bigger inside than it seemed outside, The mudroom branched off in three different directions. A Closet immediately to the left of the door and an open doorway which lead to the kitchen. Although it was empty I could see a light on over the sink which helped illuminate space. An island sat in the middle made of marble.

Straight ahead from the mudroom entrance, was a hallway on the left side, and a set of stairs to the right. The hallway lead through to the back of the house where a large set of doors lead outside to a deck.

As I entered, I noticed a girl about my age standing at the top of the stairs, staring at me. She was a Korean-American with dark brown hair and eyes. The moment she saw me, she turned and disappeared from view.

The last doorway to the right opened up to a study of sorts, it had a large bookshelf, a computer, and some more doors including tell what they led to at the time.

“Poor kid,” Ian’s voice came from behind me. “I made sure to take care of the files the local cops had on him. My team was able to redact or get rid of everything.” I found a spot on the stairs where I could sit comfortably and listen to their conversation.

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“How in the world did these parents keep their kids unregistered for so long?” Erica asked, leaning against the doorframe as she spoke.

“No clue, but it works out for us. We’ve managed to pick up three kids in the past month. It won’t be long until our job here is done,” Ian replied with a sigh.

“Ian, you’re too optimistic. Once we’re done here, they’ll just send us to another crazy assignment,” Erica shot back with a chuckle.

Ian chuckled too. “Wherever they send me, I hope it’s somewhere warm.” He glanced past Erica at me, gave a wry smile, and waved before lowering his voice. “Like most his age hes got an impressive ability to comprehend what’s going on. He’s also pretty quiet so… take care of him.”

“You know I will, Ian,” Erica said, laughing as she gently pushed him away from the door. “Have a good night. Tell James and Cooper I said goodnight too!” she called out as Ian walked back to the car.

Erica then turned to me as the door closed behind her. “Let’s get you settled for the night. We’ll talk more in the morning when you’re well-rested, okay?”

I nodded, feeling past my limit and ready to sleep. Admittedly I had stopped paying attention about half way through their conversation and was picking at my cast. Erica led me to the living room and then to the first door on the left down the hallway. The room had two beds although one of them was already taken. A small black haired boy slept peacefully as the woman quietly directed me into the room.

“Have a goodnight Kaiden." She says gently before closing the door and turning the hallway light out, making it harder for me to find my way to the bed itself. Despite being hungry I had no desire to eat. Through the dark I shuffled and found my way to the bed. All I wanted to do was sleep, and so I did.

When I woke up the next morning, the bed on the other side of the room was empty. Light leaked through the central window of the room and I was able to get a better look at it. There was a desk right underneath the window with an assortment of pencils and a few figurines sat atop it. There were also clothes thrown about the room, making it look pretty messy. I groggily threw off my covers and followed the scent of breakfast downstairs. Erica had made a classic American breakfast: pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I was all for it.

As I entered the Kitchen I realized it all opened up into the kitchen, which then lead into the living room. I saw the girl from last night sitting at the table, tapping it impatiently and kicking her feet underneath. Another kid was also at the table—a boy with pale white skin, black hair and light blue eyes. He had a vacant look, as if he were already tired of life. It took me a moment to realize he was my roommate.

“Hey Erica, who is that?” he asked abrasively. Erica, still cooking, turned to see me and smiled.

“He’s your new brother. His name is Kaiden,” she said, returning to her cooking. “Kaiden, come and take a seat wherever you like.”

“Why does he have to sleep in my room, though?” he muttered bitterly. Though he probably didn’t mean for me to hear, I did. I often find that I can hear and see better than most. A strange, burning feeling of guilt bubbled up in my chest as I felt like I was intruding on someone else’s space.

I followed Erica’s instructions and sat at the table. The chairs were a bit high, which made me feel nice and tall, but I couldn’t help but put my feet up on the chair—a habit of mine. As I sat, the girl across the table stared at me, bouncing up and down. I could almost see her feet still kicking from beneath the table.

" Hi Kaiden, I'm Jae-yoon and that's Elijah. He's pretty mean so don't pay him any attention.” The girl would speak up and say first with a smile.

" Hey! I am not mean. You're just annoying.” Elijah barked back instantly in an attempt to defend himself.

" Are too!” Jae-yoon said back her tongue now sticking out as an insult to Elijah.

“AM NOT!" Elijah now yelled the house would give a slight groan and a couple objects would shake and slowly start to lift up from the surface.

“Elijah!" Erica yelled into the dining room, glaring at the boy. her voice instantly snapped him out of it, the objects that were floating a moment before clattering back down to their respective surfaces. He also sunk down into his chair while crossing his arms.

“Sorry…” He said out of frustration. "But Jae-yoon started it!"

“Did not!" She quickly started to defend herself.

“No! Enough! Both of you stop fighting or neither of you will get pancakes.” Erica said firmly while pointing the spatula at the two of them. "Now Jae-yoon apologized to Elijah.”

“Sorry Elijah." It was evident the apology wasn't very sincere.

“And now both of you apologize to Kaiden." Erica said her voice was still stern. “Looks like you've made your brother quite uncomfortable and he's just got here."

I hadn't even realized how tense I was. I sat back in my seat as much as I could, and my eyes were wide in confusion as I looked around at all the stuff that was floating just seconds ago.

After they apologized Erica bought plates over for each of us. She carried the three of them at once, One on her four arms and another in each hand. It was just like how waiters did it.

"Let me get some syrup." Erica said idly as if she were just reminding herself of what she needed to do. She brought it over a moment later and sat down at the table with us. "Kaiden, so you like pancakes?” She asked as she began cutting into hers.

I guess she asked because I just sat staring at the food in front of me for a bit. It was strange because I was rather hungry. "Yes ma'am…” I said, softly. I did love pancakes too. But for some reason my stomach was twisted in knots as I looked at the plate of food.

“You will like these then, Ms. Erica is a really good cook!" Jae-yoon spoke up with a cheerful voice.

“You can't trust what she says she says about food." Elijah leaned over and whispered “She still eats applesauce like a baby."

I couldn't help but chuckle, I thought it was silly that liking food meant you were a baby. “But I like applesauce." I whispered back.

Elijah laughed hard and then whispered back. “I do too, but I'll never let Jae-yoon know!" As he laughed I looked over to see Jae-yoon glaring back at the two of us and couldn't help but laugh with him.

“You really are a meanie." I told him through my laughing and it only made us laugh harder.

“Okay boys that's enough. Eat your food before it gets cold." Erica said with a smile as she picked up and bit into a strip of bacon, her hand sat just in front of her face to cover a smile of her one.

After that I ate my pancakes, they really were some of the best pancakes

I ever had. But nothing would ever compare to the ones my mother used to make.