Chapter 1

I WALKED… I ran… occasionally, I looked behind me. There was this voice inside my head that told me to run and never stop. It said those pale-white creatures shouldn’t get a taste of my blood. I must save myself… The voice echoed everywhere I went, and it wouldn’t stop telling me to run. I had no idea where that voice was coming from. All I knew was that… my body followed the voice’s command.

But how could I ever save myself? I’m just a child, and I’m not aware of what the world outside the woods would be. Would it be sweet? Would it be cruel? I really didn’t know. I just ran as fast as I could. I huffed and puffed as I passed the trail of tall trees, looking straight at the horizon in front of me…

LUNA halted from reading when she heard footsteps approaching. She immediately blew off the candles and rushed to bed. The other orphans did the same and tucked themselves under the duvet. They all pretended to be asleep. It was already past eight in the evening. The nuns running the orphanage were checking room by room to see if everyone was sleeping. But Luna and the rest of her roommates had passed the age when they could easily fall asleep at that hour.

Soon she heard the hinges creaking. Luna peeked with one eye open. She saw a pale light coming from a candle the nun was holding, and after a few moments, the door closed. She counted from one to thirty. It was the number of steps one makes from the front of their room to the staircase.

“Mina, light the candles,” Luna whispered to the one lying on her right.

Mina, her ginger-haired friend, crawled out of her bed immediately, headed to the table, and lit the candles. When the pale light flooded inside the room, they left their beds one by one.

Luna sat on the floor and leaned her back against the wall while the others sat in front of her, forming a half-circle. She then opened the book she was reading, and just when she was about to say the first word, the door swung open, and Sister Sola came in.

“Girls,” the nun said in a firm tone.

They all stood up abruptly and turned in the nun’s direction.

Kira, the youngest of them, nudged her to the side. “This is your fault. You asked Mina to light the candles when Sister Sola’s still in front of the door.”

She bit her lower lip.

“But I heard her leave,” Luna muttered. She indeed heard descending footsteps, so she thought the nun had left. “She’s with someone, I guess.”

She heaved a deep sigh and put her hands behind her, just like the rest of the girls did. They all lowered their heads when the nun walked toward them.

“It’s already past your sleeping hour, yet here you are, trying to make a fool out of me just to do what?” Sister Sola’s voice was calm yet stern. Of course, she’d reprimand them for what they had done. “Who among you is the—”

Luna raised her hand even before the nun finished the question.

“It’s… me,” she said in a low tone.

She didn’t raise her head until she saw Sister Sola’s shoes in front of her.

“Luna.” The nun let out a sigh and held out a hand.

Biting her lower lip, she picked up the book and handed it to Sister Sola. The nun inspected it.

“Sister, please don’t be mad at Luna,” Mina pleaded afterward. Her friend would always come to her defense no matter what. Yes, they were that close. However, the others often regarded them as twins because they had the same hair color. “She was just reading us a book to help us fall asleep.”

The nun then closed the book and looked at them one by one.

“All right. I will let this one pass,” said Sister Sola, the firmness remaining in her voice. “Just his once.”

“Yey!” the girls rejoiced in chorus, except Luna.

Her eyes were fixed on the book the nun kept in her hands.

“But on one condition… All of you must do the backyard gardening for a week starting tomorrow,” Sister Sola added.

“What?” Kira groaned.

“Oh, no…” Mina followed.

“Sister, I’ll do anything aside from backyard gardening.”

“I’m good at the kitchen—”

“Enough,” said Sister Sola, cutting the commotion. “Now, go back to your beds and sleep before the other nuns notice y’all.”

The girls did what they were told, and so did Luna.

“Ah, I hate backyard gardening….” Mina said after a while. “You also hate it, right, Luna?”

“Hm.” She covered her eyes with her forearm.

“Sister Sola has your book, Luna. What are we gonna do now when we can’t sleep at night?” Dita asked afterward.

“We have no choice but to sleep then,” Hana chimed in. “Good night, girls….”

“Good night,” said everyone.

SHE stuck the shovel on the ground and wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand.

“It’d be nice if we at least have some refreshment,” said Kira, who was busy transferring the seedlings into the plot.

“We’re not in the position to demand a refreshment when it’s our fault why this happened,” Hana told them. “Until we’re out of the walls of this orphanage, we will always follow the nuns’ orders.”

“I can’t wait to get out of here,” said Dita.

Luna turned in Dita’s direction. They were the same age; only her birthday—not the real one—was months ahead.

“You know, days pass so quickly as though it’s just a blink of an eye. You’ll be out of here soon,” said Kira.

“Yeah, right. Which reminds me….” Dita turned her gaze to her. “Luna’s leaving soon.”

Happy Village—the orphanage they were in usually releases the children into society once they turn eighteen. Luna had seen her roommates and other orphans come and go for years. Either those children were adopted, fostered, or released. However, in her case, she got out of the orphanage many times through foster homes and failed adoptions.

No one wanted her. They believed she brought misfortune to every home that she’d been to. And now that she was about to turn eighteen in a matter of days… all she could feel was fear embracing her. Luna was afraid of the outside world.

“Once you leave this place, I’m going to miss braiding your long, wavy ginger hair, Luna.” Mina started to caress her hair.

“Yeah, right. Her royal highness will leave us here,” Kira jested.

It was a long-time inside joke that started when they all noticed how fair her skin was. Since then, they’d joke about it from time to time.

“Girls—”

“Luna.”

She turned around and saw Sister Josie approaching her.

“What is it, Sister?” she asked the moment the nun reached her.

“Mother Superior wants you to come to her office,” the nun informed her.

She let out a sigh and turned to her roommates.

“Don’t worry.” She beamed. “I’ll be back.”

Luna washed her hands on the pail of water nearby and caught up with the nun.

Her heart was beating crazy as they neared the Mother Superior’s office. She had an idea of what that conversation would be about. Of course, with her coming of age approaching, Mother Superior would ask about her plans.

Sister Josie knocked on the office’s door when they arrived. After a few moments, the door swung open, and they got in.

Mother Superior was standing by the window, with her back facing her direction.

“Go on,” Sister Sola pushed her from the back. “Go and talk to her.”

Luna breathed in and out exaggeratedly as though it would help her calm down.

“Mother Superior,” she called in a voice that sounded almost like a whisper.

The head nun turned in her direction and smiled.

“You’re here already.” The nun sauntered toward her table and sat down. “I used to summon you twice or thrice before I could get you inside my office.”

Luna’s palms started to sweat out of nervousness. She rubbed them against the hem of her dress and met Mother Superior’s gaze.

“Whenever you call me to come inside your office, it’s either you’re sending me to a foster home or prospective adopters came.”

“Can you still recall that day you came here to Happy Village?” asked Mother Superior.

Luna only knew her name and age at that time, so the nuns had to consider the day she came to the orphanage as her birthday. She did not understand why she had no memories of what had happened and where she came from. She could only remember running out of the woods and wandering the streets with an empty stomach. Luna was stealing fruits from one of the market stalls when Sister Sola found her. The nun brought her immediately to Happy Village. She asked around if someone was looking for a missing six-year-old girl. But days became weeks, and weeks turned into months; no one came to look for Luna until now. Mother Superior then declared that she was one of many abandoned children.

The nuns took her in, clothed her, fed her, and tried to rehome her. But rehoming Luna was always a huge failure. Mother Superior would always tell her that maybe she and her new family weren’t a match, but she knew it was more than that. It was true that she brought misfortune to those homes she had been to. Her arrival was always accompanied by accidental deaths and, worst… murder.

“It was almost twelve years ago,” she responded after a while.

“In eleven days, you’ll be eighteen and—”

“Please, don’t release me, Mother Superior.” Luna kneeled with her fists clenched above her lap and started crying.

“L-Luna…”

“I don’t want to go out. I’m scared of the outside world, and I have nowhere to go…!”

While the other orphans were excited to leave that place, she wanted to stay. She wouldn’t mind serving Happy Village for the rest of her life.

She felt hands grasp her arms from behind and pull her up. But she kneeled again.

“Oh, poor child,” said Sister Sola.

“Please… I’m begging you to let me stay. In return, I will serve the orphanage with all my life....”

“I have to think about this matter first,” Mother Superior said afterward. “You may leave, for now, Luna. I’ll summon you again once I come up with a decision.”

She wiped her tears and turned to Sister Sola, who gave her a nod. Luna then went out of the office. Before the door shut, she heard the nuns’ conversation.

“Maybe we should keep her here a little more. Luna’s not ready yet,” Sister Sola suggested.

“You’re right. She’s a special case, though,” said Mother Superior.

She let go of the knob and sighed. Luna wished the nuns would keep her forever. She had no family. She had nowhere to go. The orphanage was the only place she knew she’d be safe…

Luna didn’t return to the backyard and headed straight to the bedroom. She lay on the bed and covered herself with the duvet. Her friends must’ve been waiting, but she stayed inside and cried a river until she fell asleep.