Chapter Four: Cleaning, Eating, and Exploring!

            Julie woke up to the sound of a crash. A big one. She woke up with a start, looking around frantically to see the room was okay, but her babies weren’t there. She panicked, getting up, looking everywhere, trying to remember where the crash came from.

            “Umma!” she heard a cry from the hallway. She ran to the hallway, seeing Xiumin and Luhan staring at a broken vase with wide eyes.

            “Min-Min, Luhannie!” She cried in relief and fear as she ran over to them, thinking they could be hurt. She pulled them into her arms, holding them close to her. She pulled back, checking for cuts or bruises. When she saw they had none, she flung Xiumin onto her back and Luhan onto her front, making them cling to her like monkeys. She picked up the broken pieces of the vase, throwing them away in the nearest trashcan. She then found a vacuum in one of the hallway closets, vacuuming up the mess so they couldn’t hurt themselves anymore.

            She then walked to the kitchen, patting Luhan’s back and rubbing Xiumin’s head in an effort to comfort them. When she got into the kitchen, she set them down on two highchairs that she found in the big pantry they had. She put them down and made more food for them. As it was cooking, the loud doorbell rang. The babies yelled, startled, looking around the room.

            Julie shushed the babies, turned the stove on low, and went to the door, swinging it open. She didn’t know what to expect, and she figured it was two more kids, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was a small blue box with a white ribbon keeping the lid on the bottom. She took the box and brought it to the kitchen, making sure she locked the door behind her. She set the box down, taking the ribbon off. She gave it to Xiumin, who was closer to her, and giggled as he played with it as if it was the coolest thing in the world.

            Julie turned back to the box, taking the lid off to see a folded piece of paper with her name on it and a stamp: ‘XO Orphanage’. She took the piece of paper off, seeing it was hiding a VERY pretty and expensive looking necklace. She held the necklace up, looking at it with curiosity. She put it back in the box, giving the lid to Luhan to play with. She took the letter and went back to the kitchen to continue the food, even pouring Luhan’s food into a bowl and putting it into the microwave to warm up.

            She stirred the soup as she read the letter.

Dear Julianna Randi or “Youthful Wolf Shield” as we call you here,

            My name is Soo Man, but you can call me Mr. Lee. I understand you have been chosen to take care of some special kids I know of. I had originally gave them to your grandmother and grandfather, but they didn’t take them. Many other families took them in, too, after that, but none of the kids let the adults touch them. The next day, they brought them back to the orphanage and seemed to have died a couple days or a week later.

            That’s why I wrote you this letter. No one ever got past Minseok and Luhan, and to see that you have not taken them back, I am bewildered and happy that you haven’t. I fear that if the others died a quick death, if you get more of the kids, you will die a horrible death that could be worse than the others. And, despite what your grandmother told you, I did not kill your father. The Tree of Life did; using its power, the tree made a glamour shadow person with its magic to kill all the ones who he deemed too selfish since they gave Minseok and Luhan back. The Tree watches over the children as if they were its own.

            Please, watch over the kids you have now, and the kids you get in the future. I understand that you are twenty and that I was lied to because your grandmother was worried. I know what happened to your family, and I am sorry for that. But, know that the twelve children I give you, you will have to watch, love, and accept as your own. I fear that if you don’t, you will also die. Also, please help them control their powers when they turn ten. Your last children you get will be tough to take on, all of them are, so be careful and whatever you do, don’t bring them back.

            Sincerely,

            Lee Soo Man

P.S. The necklace has its own powers, the same your kids will have. So, if you learn to control the powers you will gain, teaching the children will be easier than it would without it. Also, it will work as a shield to keep you safe no matter what.

            Julie sighed, laid the paper back down, poured the soup in a bowl to cool down, took out Luhan’s food, and walked back to the babies who were still playing with the ribbon and lid. She sat down with the food, beginning to feed the babies like she did the night before.

            When they finished, she went to the kitchen, filling up two bottles with milk. She warmed one up, putting some on her wrist to make sure it was okay to be given to a baby. She then gave it to Xiumin who was done with his food first as she left the other one in the microwave to warm up. She rocked Xiumin as he drank the milk, pulling him out when he didn’t want anymore. She patted his back, burping him to make sure he didn’t have any bubbles in his stomach. Soon, she put him down on the floor, picked up Luhan, and walked to get the other milk, hearing Xiumin following her.

            She got the bottle, rocking Luhan when she felt Xiumin hugging her calf, sitting on her foot. She giggled, making the kids look up at her, smiling at her. She continued to rock Luhan and waited for him to be done. When he didn’t want anymore, she burped him as well before setting him down with Xiumin. They both waddled out of the kitchen like Sumo Wrestlers because of their diapers. Julie followed them, of course, smiling when they turned around and saw her, they giggled and tried to run away. Eventually, they got to a different staircase than from before, climbing up the steps with Julie following them to make sure they were going to be okay. They ended up running away from her at the top of the stairs, giggling like little maniacs.

            They ran down a corridor that had no other doors than the one at the way end. They got to the door, trying to open it but failed. Julie caught up to them, almost pinning them to the door.

            “Ha! I got you now, Luhannie and Min-Min!” She said as she swooped each kid up in her arms, spinning around as the laughed from happiness. She set them down, watching as they pointed at the big wooden door that had blue paint splattered on it as if to make the door look bad and old. Julie smiled and opened the door, watching them run inside, thinking nothing bad was in the room.

            She the lights and gasped at what she saw.