I was an island before you came...

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I stood before a large gray building that read 'Eliza's Orphanage for the Lost, Abandoned, and Abused' with my dad on one side of me with one dude next to me, the other next to my dad. I had one suitcase next to my feet with my belongings, and a small teddy bear that I held onto tightly in my right arm that was named "Auggie" given to me by my mother and father when I was born.

Now I was none of these things that was stated on the sign, so you may be wondering how it why I ended up here? It's because the fucking Pai's decided my dad wasn't "qualified" enough to take care of me, which is complete bullshit. They took him away into custody just because the house was apparently not suitable for children, and his parenting skills needed to be "recalibrated".

The Pai's are the "Peacemakers" of the city of Tai. They are trash at their jobs though, as multiple kids a day are abused and literally nothing is done about it. Yet they think they have the right to take me away from the one person who actually cares about me.

Now I'll admit that he has done a lot of wrongs in his lifetime. Like not taking care of me when mom died due to an unknown disease when I was only six years old. But that taught me that the world is fucked up, and the only person who can take care of you is you. It was hard for my dad to even look at me for some years due to the resemblance between me and mom, so it became my job to get us some decent food on the table as he sulked in his bed all day. But he grew stronger by the day, and I made the decision to forgive and forget.

I am now twelve, and at the moment saying goodbye to my dad as he's sent off to prison. I can feel tears forming in my eyes as me and him hug, and I can't help but let some escape.

"You have to stay strong. Don't let anyone step over you." Dad says as we release. His black eyes are staring straight into my hazel ones. I nod, wrapping my black jacket closer to my freezing body, as well as pulling my hood above my head as it was pouring rain. He gets down on his knees, bringing his forehead to mine, his long hooked nose gently touching mine. This is a gesture made when you're saying goodbye to someone you love.

"Your time is up." One of the Pai's say, wrapping his arm around my dads. The second Pai started for the carriage in which they had taken us in. Before he leaves, I wrap my arms around his waist one last time, tears now streaming down my cheeks, my heart swelling up with grief as I knew I would most likely never see him again. Most people here don't make it out of prison alive.

I can feel someone pry me away from him, and I would be lying if I said I didn't want to punch them right then and there. I wanted to fight them. I wanted to scream until my voice gave out. I just... I just wanted my dad back... But I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Shh... It's going to be ok my child..." Says a soothing voice coming from behind me. I let out a sob and I feel the arms around my frail, skinny body tighten. "C'mon, let's get you inside. You must be freezing." I was, but I wasn't going to let this stranger know that. Right now I just wanted to die. They release from the behind hug, taking my hand and leading me towards the Orphanage.

Before we venture into the large Orphanage, I get my suitcase from the mud where I had dropped it. I sigh, mentally noting that I was going to somehow wash it. I then allow the lady to take my hand, leading me into the large Gray building.

"I'm sorry about the circumstances for us meeting," I nod, pulling my hood over my head again as it had fallen. My eyes were glued to the ground. My eyes are probably red... This lady probably thinks I'm a baby... Goddamnit I didn't even say my name... I didn't even ask for hers... What if she hates me-

"So what's your name?" She asks, stopping my never ending anxious thoughts. "Umm... V-Virgil..." I respond, mentally cursing my stutter. "That's a nice name Virgil! Mines Eliza." I nod. We start going up a staircase. I notice that there aren't any kids roaming the halls, which I guess makes sense as it's pretty late at night.

"You are sharing a room with someone named Roman. I think you'll really like him, he's really friendly,"

"W-what??" No no no... I can't share a room with someone... They'll judge me and hate me and-

"Oh sweetie, please don't worry. Roman is really sweet! But if you do really truly want a separate room, I'll see what I can do. But at least stay with him for a week at the least, and if you still don't feel comfortable, you can tell me." I let out the air I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

"O-okay..." I look up at her. She looks like she's in her late fifties. She has long, ember brown hair, her eyes are like a clear sky. She smiles down at me, and I immediately look away. She chuckles lightly, and I make a tiny smirk, pulling my hoodie up to hide it.

"Here we are!" She says, turning to a royal red painted door with a golden R right in the smack center, golden stars surrounding every inch of it. I grimaced slightly at the sight of it. Too much gold for my liking. As the door creeks open, I get a glance at the person I would be sharing this room with.

The dude was face down in his pillow, deep in sleep, his red ombre hair covering his tanned completion. He was snoring softly, chest gently rising and falling slowly. It was a calming sight after all that has happened today. God, it has all seemed a blur...

"This is your side hon," she says, pointing to the left side of the room where a plain white bed occupied. There was a bedside table next to it with a few children's books occupying the bottom of it with a small lamp on top of it.  "And the restroom is across Romans side." I nod, going to my side of the room, placing my suitcase next to the small bedside table.

"Tomorrow Roman will show you around, and tell you the rules, and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to come ask me, ok hon?" I nod again. Eliza smiles. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow sweetie." She says, gently closing the door, careful not to wake Roman.

As soon as I heard the footsteps retreat down the stairs and disappear, I get in bed and just start sobbing. All of the emotions I had been holding on from this point releasing all over my pillow.

I all of a sudden feel strong arms wrap themselves around my small waist. "Shh... It's gonna be ok. Just breath, ok?" But I couldn't. My breathing was still going against my commands. "Hey, what are five things you can see?" He asks me, his voice a bit husky due to just waking up. "U-umm... My jacket..."

"Good job, what else?" He asks. "The... The bed... The lamp..."

"Your doing such a good job, what are two more things?"

"My hair," I hear him chuckle lightly and he tucks my fly-aways behind my ear. I can feel my cheeks tint with a light pink.

"And... The wall." My breathing was much better.

"That was good, now what are four things you can feel?" He asks. I turn around, my finger roaming around his body to find his face, as it was pitch black in the room as the hallway light was now turned off. Once they had found they're target, I started exploring it.

"Your nose." I could tell it was a slender one.

"Eyes, Mouth, Eyebrows." I say as I find something that I recognized. I feel him nod his approval.

"Now what are three things you can hear?" My breathing was now back in track, but I continued cause I wanted to see where this was going.

"You, silence, and Eliza." I say immediately.

"Now two things you can taste."

"Just in general?" I ask. "Sure," he says, chuckling lightly.

"Peppermints, and strawberries." My two favorite things. But just because they were my two favorites doesn't mean me and my dad had enough money to afford them.

"And one thing you can smell."

"Hmm... Your breath." I say, then immediately regret it as I wasn't sure if it had hurt his feelings. "Fuck I'm sorry-"

"Nah, it's all good. Hey your all done!" I smirk. "I guess I never really introduced myself, my name is Roman! Roman the Great if you will." I roll my eyes, smirk still plastered onto my pale face.

"I'm Virgil. It's nice to meet you Princy." I say, laughing as I see his face heat up. "W-where'd you get Princy from?!" I shrugged my shoulders. "Dunno. Better get used to it though, cause it's my new nickname for you." He groans. "I mean it's not the worst." I laugh softly, then go silent again. I feel the weight on the bed shift as Roman gets up.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why were you having a panic attack?" He asks. I shudder. "You promise you won't tell...?" I ask him as I sit up to look at him. "I pinky promise." He says, holding his pinky finger out for me to take it. I remember when me and dad did that... I almost start crying again, but I refrain myself from having another breakdown. I take his pinky, and he smiles down at me, turning away from me swiftly to turn on the lamp.

"So... Today... I got taken away from my dad. The only person in this shitty life who actually have two fucks about me. He was taken to prison." I hear Roman gasp from his bed, and when I look over he has this... Almost pittying expression on his face. He was sitting crisscross applesauce style, deeply intrigued in my story.

"Now... Now I'll probably never see him again..." I could out a small sob, taking my head into my hands. "Heh... Sorry... I'm a mess... I'm sorry you have to see me like this... You probably hate me I'm-"

"Hey, Virge, it's all good." He says, walking over to where I was sitting to give me another hug, and this time I hug back, letting the tears pour down my face. He strokes my hair, singing me a lullabye that I remember my mom always singing... She said it was called Je'Taime which ment 'I love you' in french. His deep voice somehow fit the part very well... I could feel his chest vibrate as his voice carried on, as angelic as ever, and I couldn't help but hum along.

"My mom sang that to me all the time to calm me down before she died..." I say, looking down, tears starting to fog up my vision again. "Really? Both my parents sang it to me all the time before going to bed before they got in a car accident.." He says, going back to his bed. "I'm sorry that happened Princy," I say, understanding what it felt like to lose a parent who ment so dear to you.

He shrugged his shoulders. "It was a long time ago... And besides, I've gotten over with it." Somehow I didn't completely believe him. You never truly get over someone. You always have at least one piece of them still hanging on to you, never wanting to let go.

"Well it was nice to meet you Virge! Sweet dreams!" He says, reaching over to his bedside table to turn off the small hue of light given off by his lamp.

"Night Princy," I say before slowly but surely drifting off into sleep.
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Word count: 2,088