Notes

The lady I fondly call Mom... Is not my mom.
The children I live with... Are not my siblings.
This is Grace Field House, An Orphanage.
And I'm one of those Orphans...

...Or so I thought.

—-------------------------

-Lily's POV-

At 6 O'Clock sharp, the house begins its day with the ringing of a bell.

"EVERYONE, WAKE UP! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR BREAKFAST!" Emma yelled at the top of her lungs. I sat up in bed and cut her the dirtiest glare. She always did this, no matter what day it was. It was honestly so frustrating.

I've been living here for ten years already.

"COME BACK HERE, LANNION!" Thoma shouted to Lannion, who was running away, laughing. "NO WAY!" The blonde haired boy shouted back.

Gilda looked up and scoffed at the nonsense. "HEY, STOP MESSING AROUND AND GET READY!" She scolded the two. I laughed at them as I turned around to a tapping on my leg.

"I can't tie my shoe laces!" Yvette cried.

I smiled, "It's okay! Don't cry. Come here, I'll tie them for you." I said as she came towards me. I helped her put them on first and then tied the laces. "Okay, all done!" I said and smiled.

She gave me a quick hug before running back off to Don and Conny. I walked out of the bedroom and followed the kids racing each other to the dining room.

I'm one of the 4 eldest kids here...

"Morning Lils!" Don yelled out as he saw me walk past.

"Morning! And morning to you, Conny!" I said and waved at them both before walking off towards the hall again.

...Out of the 39 kids that currently live here.

I walked into the hall and saw all the kids playing and that's when a loud smash was heard. I turned around and saw that Mark had accidentally dropped a plate whilst setting them out. I walked over calmly.

"I'm sorry!" He spoke.

I smiled. "It's okay kiddo, just get Mom to check you out, you could hurt yourself." I told him.

He nodded and limped off. I quickly cleaned up the mess and threw it in the bin. That's when I was met with Ray. "You good?" He asked me.

I laughed, "I'm good, Mark just dropped a plate. Yourself?" I explained.

He nodded, "I'm good, thanks." He nodded and that's when Norman came over.

"Morning, Lily!" Norman said, with his innocent smile.

I smiled back, "Morning!" I said as I put the dustpan away. Emma soon runs in and as she's about to continue walking with Phil, Thoma and Lannion push her. "TAG YOU'RE IT!" They both say in a singy voice at the same time. Emma runs after them with Phil and I looked at Gilda, she looked so fed up. I laughed at her.

Our personalities, our ages and the colours of our skin all differ. No one here is related by blood, But I love them all.

Emma then runs back in with Phil on her back and his fingers in her mouth, making her speech sound muffled. "MOWNIN', RAY, LILY AND NORWAN!" She spoke.

I laughed, "Morning, Emma!" I smiled at her as I picked up the kettle from the tray.

"'Mownin' Emma." Ray mocked the ginger. I elbowed him and gave him a look.

"Don't be mean." I said.

"Good morning, Emma!" Norman said, with his usual smile.

I placed the kettle down onto the counter and walked back out to the dining hall. "Why are you so energetic? You haven't even had breakfast yet!" Norman spoke.

"Yeah, how old are you again? Five?" Ray said.

"Ray!" I said, and cut him a look again. He looked at me with his bored expression.

"I'M ELEVEN, THE SAME AS YOU GUYS!" Emma shouted. "GOD, RAY YOU'RE SO MEAN!"

I smiled and then Emma's face turned into one of shock. I wondered why and then realised Mom was laughing. "Emma, can you give me a hand here?" Mom spoke. I scoffed and walked away. My disgust for that woman is huge. Ever since I found out the secret of the house that I live in, I've never looked at her the same, and I never will.

I was washing the knives and forks for us to use so that we could eat when Ray popped his hands on my shoulders. I turned around and smacked him softly on the arm. "Not funny! You know I get scared easy!" I said.

He smirked, "My apologies." He continued. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I saw the way you looked at Mom."

I sighed, "I'm perfectly fine. I just- I'll never look at that woman the same way I did before. She's just not the same caring, loving person I knew."

Ray rubbed my shoulder. "I understand. I'm here if you need to talk." He said and gave me a quick hug, which I gladly returned.

"Thank you, also I'm sorry about my wet hands." I said and laughed.

For the first time in a while, He laughed too. "It's all good, no worries." He said and smiled as he walked away to sit down.

I soon finished washing the knives and forks and dried them. I then laid them out for everyone on the table and sat down.

Even if we are not related by blood...

We clasped our hands together and started saying the prayer that Mom made us do every morning.

...They were my family, This Orphanage was my home. WAS.

Ray smirked at me as he picked up his fork.

Everything here was normal to us. No kids doubted that for over god knows how many years, this was our normal everyday life.

We all started chatting while eating and I heard Thoma groan in annoyance after Lannion said we had tests after breakfast, which made the whole table laugh. Even Ray.

A warm bed, delicious food, An all white uniform that got dirty incredibly easy, I.D numbers on our necks. All ending in '94', and last but not least...

We all took our seats in the testing rooms and placed our headphones on our ears, ready to start our tests.

...Daily Tests. "It's for the future. For yourselves."

Mom always said these tests took the place of schools. We were in such a secluded area that we couldn't go to school. That's what she used to say, it was all BS though.

"Age 11, Type 1. Answer each question within 10 seconds. We will now begin." The monitor thing spoke through my headphones. "Question 1, choose the diagram that is incorrect as three-dimensional Shape A."

—------------------

Pants and sighs were heard throughout the room as the test was soon over. "It's done."

"Phew, I'm so tired."

"I think I got at least half!" Thoma said as he stood up out of his chair.

"That much!? Wow!"

"I'm jealous, I didn't get most of it, like always." Conny said as she face planted the testing table.

Mom stood at the front, holding a piece of paper. "I have the results, everybody!" She shouted throughout the room, shutting the chatter up.

She quickly skimmed through the paper, "Ray, Norman, Hailey and Emma, You all did an amazing job! 300 points again! Perfect scores!"

I rolled my eyes as Emma ran up to Mom. She loved getting praised by her, It gave her a sense of security, I guess.

I quite simply hated the tests. But the best thing about it was, once we're done, we could go outside to play.

"Shoot, Norman is it?" Don said, holding his hand up in annoyance.

Emma stretched as she spoke to me and Ray who were currently sitting under the tree. "Ray, Lils, are you joining us?" She said, doing her arm stretches.

"Nope." Ray said coldly.

"I'm good, thank you." I said to her, with a smile.

Emma rolled her eyes, "Boring, I wish you guys would join once in a while."

Norman put his hand up, "Okay, I'm going to start counting!" He yelled.

He started counting from 1-10 as everyone ran into the forest. Me and Ray laughed as he ran off after them.

About 5 minutes later, Norman got pretty much everyone, there was only one person...

"Emma." Both me and Ray said at the same time.

"WHAT THE HECK!? HE GOT PRACTICALLY EVERYONE!" Don shouted, upon seeing the large crowd ahead of us.

"Heh, this is what happens when Norman's it." Nat said

Everyone was talking about how Emma was still surviving but I payed no attention, I was in my own little world.

"Lily??" Ray called, waving his hand in my face.

"Oh, sorry," I said as I listened to Emma talk.

"HE CAUGHT ME AGAIN!!!" She whined.

Ray looked down at his pocket watch, "But you survived alone for 10 minutes. A new record." He said.

"Why is it!? Why is Norman so good at tag!? I've never lost in a race against him, yet I just can't win in tag!" She complained.

"Em, I have a question." I said, which grabbed her attention. "What does Norman have that you don't?"

"There's too much..." She said, looking overwhelmed.

"Strategy." Ray said, pointing to his head. "If it's about simply physical ability, you have that over him. But Norman has brains like no other, And you're playing tag. It's a game where you compete with strategy." He said, looking at me to continue.

"Oh yeah, he thinks about everything. Like how will the target run away? What are the moves the person who's it will make?" I continued, "You need to observe and analyse the situation carefully. Reading your enemy's moves and using that against them is necessary. It's kind of like chess, except you're using your entire body."

Emma looked dumbfounded, "But we're playing tag." She said, so innocently it was actually painful.

I facepalmed for a second before deciding to speak, "It's how Norman plays it." I said.

"That's what makes playing tag fun." He said, smiling.

I laughed, "And that's why he's so good at it, he enjoys it and thinks of everything for it." I said, looking back at Emma.

"Ray and Lily also have it too, this thing called 'strategy', Not only that but they're also way better tacticians than me." Norman said, with his smile.

"Hey, don't give us too much credit." Ray said, in which I laughed at.

—------------

-Gilda's POV-

"Those four are out of this world." Nat said, as we all looked at the four best friends talking by the tree.

"They say the house has never had four kids at this level together before." I told Nat, as Phil looked up at Nat.

"Ahh, no wonder Mom is so happy with them. She's so proud." He replied, scratching his head in frustration. "They're all extremely skilled in both academics and athletics."

"Yeah, Norman is a genius who has by far, the best brains out of all of us. Ray is just as smart and is resourceful as well as very knowledgeable." I continued. "Lily is basically a mix between Norman and Ray, she has the brains and is incredibly resourceful with all the information she has, she'll use it for anything and be grateful for it, she also is very good at being able to figure things out, and last but not least, Emma has outstanding motor skills, and her astounding learning ability allows her to follow the other three very closely."

Nat put his hand on his head in defeat, "What could they be eating to be so great!?" He said, in clear annoyance.

"We all eat the same thing, maybe their central nervous systems are made differently." I said, laughing.

Don grabbed Nat by the neck from behind, "Basically they're just monsters. Monsters that this house created!" He yelled. "But ordinary people have ways to fight too! Just watch and learn, kiddo."

I crossed my arms, "Don, you've rematched Norman what like three times? You've lost each time." I said, as he ran off to Norman.

"NORMAN! I WANT A REMATCH! LET'S PLAY AGAIN! THIS TIME, EVERYONE ELSE IS IT, EXCEPT FOR YOU!" He yelled at the albino.

My eyes widened, "DON, THAT'S SO UNFAIR!" I yelled at him, but he payed no attention.

"HOW ABOUT THAT?" He said, pointing at him.

Me and Ray had bored expressions on our faces as Emma and Norman seemed quite interested. "Sure, but I won't get caught." Norman replied to Don's demand.

"IS THAT SO? YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET IT!" He said and turned to Conny, who was holding little bunny beside him. "We're going to catch him, Conny, This is your last game after all."

—-------------

-Lily's POV-

I looked down after hearing what Don said, I felt bad, knowing what was going to happen but being able to do absolutely nothing about it. "It's Conny's last day here today?" Emma asked Norman.

"Yep, another one gets to leave before us." Norman said, beginning to walk away.

Our lives here would never last forever, we get 'assigned' foster homes and leave before we turn twelve, at least that's what everyone thinks.

Me and Ray were cleaning up in the dining room while Conny was getting ready. Our plan was to take little Bunny from her and make Emma and Norman see it and then take it to the gate for Conny and then obviously discover what this house actually is, a farm.

—--------------

"I'm slow, I wasn't as good at the tests as everyone else. But when I'm an adult, I want to be a mother just like Mom!" Conny spoke, holding tightly onto Little Bunny. "And I will never abandon my child!"

Conny was just about to leave before Ray took little Bunny off of her without anyone noticing. I teared up a bit as she walked out of the door with Mom. Conny was a lovely little girl and she did not deserve to die. I was thankfully able to pull myself together before Mom came back.

Nobody knows their real parents or where they were born. But to others, getting a new family and departing from here is exciting. But it's hard knowing what's actually going to happen to them. Saying goodbye is heart-breaking. It could be one of us four that go next, and that's what scares me.

"CONNY!!" Me and Ray heard a loud shriek, we looked at each other knowingly before walking back into the dining room where the shrieks came from. "SERIOUSLY, AFTER THAT BIG SPEECH, SHE FORGOT HIM!? I GUESS IT'S POSSIBLE SINCE SHE'S SO ABSENT MINDED!"

"Emma, jeesh, stop screaming, we can get it back to her." I said.

"How!? Conny's already gone!" She said.

Ray leant on my shoulder. "Maybe not, I saw from the bathroom that the lights at the gate are still on, and Mom, who saw Conny off, isn't back yet. So I don't think she's actually left yet." He said.

"Let's deliver it to her!" Norman said.

Emma looked at the boy, shocked, "Norman, we can't do that!" She said.

"I know the correct thing to do is have Mom deliver it later, but Conny would be much happier if we did something sooner rather than later, right?" He said.

Emma agreed as Norman picked the lock on the back door and they both went on their merry way.

—-----------------

"I feel bad, sending them to see their sibling dead." I said to Ray.

He looked at me, "They'll be okay. It's part of the process and once they're back, I'll tell them everything, like I did you, okay?" He told me.

"You need to tell them that you're working for Mom too, that's the only way this'll all make sense to them." I said.

"Lils, I told you everything, did I not?" He said, putting his hands on my shoulder. I nodded in response to his question. "Then unless something goes wrong, then I'll tell them everything."

I sighed and nodded, he pulled me in a hug, which shocked me a bit, But I still returned it.

"Hey Ray?" I said, in a kind of question tone.

"Mm?" He said, still hugging me.

I probably shouldn't have asked this but I needed answers. "Why are you so, like I don't know, soft to me?" I asked.

"You mean, Kind? Not cold like I am to other people?" He said, calmly.

I nodded, "Yeah." I said.

He smiled slightly. "You're different. I-... You... You understand me, I feel like I can tell you anything and with other people, I don't feel that." He replied.

I blushed a bit, "Oh." I said, which made us laugh a bit.

Emma and Norman then came back before me or Ray could say anything else. "Hey, how'd it go?" I asked.

They made their way upstairs. "We didn't make it." Norman said.

Me and Ray looked at each other, realising they were empty handed, there was no way they could've ACTUALLY given Little Bunny, "They 'Didn't Make It', So where's little Bunny? Clearly they didn't get caught!" I whisper yelled to Ray.

"I'll deal with it." Ray said, walking off. I was in disbelief, 'They left him there, Mom knows.' I thought to myself.

—------------------

-Ray's POV-

After sending Lily up to bed, I knew we were going to be in deep trouble, Norman and Emma made a mistake and I didn't know how I was going to cover for them, at all. And I needed to think of something before Mom did. I just didn't know how.

Mom soon came back and sat me down, "So someone was at the gate tonight." She told me.

"Norman and Emma wanted to give Little Bunny back to Conny and obviously found out the secret, I'll keep them under control." I told her, partly the truth.

"Do not help them, Ray. That goes for Lily too. No one else is to find out about this, I want you to keep tabs on all three of your friends and report back to me every night. I don't want to resort to shipping them yet." Mom told me. "You're dismissed now."

I nodded and walked out of the room. I wanted to keep them all safe but I didn't know how. I didn't know whether to tell them everything or leave it until later on. I sighed as I walked up the stairs and was met with Lily.

"Hey." I said.

"You okay? You look flustered." She said.

I nodded, "I'm fine," I said.

"What did Mom say?" She asked.

I sighed, "Um, she said quite a lot... I had to tell her that Norman and Emma found out but I assured her I'd keep them under control but she threatened to ship one of you three off. I have to report to her every night now on everything one of you three find out." I told her. "I'm sorry."

She sighed, "Hey, please don't apologise, you did what you could, come here." she said and pulled me into a hug.

I hugged her back, she was definitely my safe place. I just wanted her to be okay.