As Cenielle was gaping at the monster beside her, somebody pulled her by the hair outside the car. She hasn’t even realized that the car has already stopped. Cenielle stopped herself from crying out loud, “I won’t cry. No,” she kept telling herself although deep inside, she was scared to bones.

Somebody whistled from nowhere and Cenielle felt that the grip on her was getting loose. That was the moment she was able to observe the place they were. It was as though an old castle, but not the one she imagined in her fairytales. It was dim, and it smelled awful, and she can hear the slightest creaks of the rats running everywhere. Her eyes widened. It was a picture of a nightmare.

Before she could take a step, somebody pushed her to the ground, “Sweetie, welcome to your palace!” and many other men from nowhere laughed at the same time. She stood up, “What do you want?!” Cenielle screamed at the top of her lungs. The men just laughed harder. “What a courageous vixen, huh!” a man sitting on a sack of something uttered and many other laughed even harder. Cenielle was on the verge of tears when a rustic door creaked open revealing a big, bald man wearing a business suit, the kind her father hated to wear, with a nice smile on his face. He sat at the only decent looking chair in that room and regarded her.

“What’s your name Miss?” the big, bald guy asked her.
Cenielle stepped back a little, “I don’t talk to strangers!” she said through gritted teeth.
The man smiled at the man who pushed her earlier, “Monrow, who’s this?”
“Boss, she’s the daughter of Larco. We didn’t kill her because we thought you’d be happy to see her,” Monrow answered him.

“Ah? Is she?” the boss smiled widely at Cenielle and he slowly stood up and walked to Cenielle. Cenielle wanted to run but Monrow held her still.

The Boss eyed her from head to foot still smiling; he was still smiling while patting her cheeks softly. Then all of a sudden, the Boss slapped Cenielle at both cheeks with great force Cenielle felt her neck would break “When I ask, you answer! Understood?!”

Cenielle, teary eyed from the pain nodded vehemently, mixed feelings of fear, hatred and pain lurking in her. But the Boss gave her another hard strike on the face screaming, “Understood?!”

“Ye—yes…”she said chokingly.

“Your father was so stupid to think he can run away from this organization without being traced. But I tell you, no one gets away from me,” and he turned his back to her, “bring her to where she should be Monrow, and you,” pertaining to the other huge guys who look equally sadistic, “come with me, we have to talk about the deal next week.”

Cenielle was abruptly carried by Monrow not caring if it would hurt or not, he just placed Cenielle on his shoulder like a sack of rice. Her tears were streaming down her swollen face, sobbing faintly. Her eyes were blurred but she could see the place they were heading to, a large prison cell, with many red eyes darted towards her. Panic spread towards her and she tried to break free but it was useless with the beast that was carrying her. “Let me go! Let me go!” she screamed.

Monrow unlocked the lock in the bars, “As you wish.”

And Monrow literally threw Cenielle inside the cell. She flew inside the dark smelly cell, she was as if floating in slow motion as she saw the many faces of children almost at her age stared at her. And she violently landed on another kid who was apparently lying, facing the wall.

Sickening thud echoed in the whole cell and the other kids didn’t even bothered to see if she was okay or if the kid she landed on was still alive. Cenielle felt dizzy but still tried to sit up. She shook the kid’s shoulder who didn’t even made a sound when she fell on him.

“Are you alright?” Cenielle asked softly, “I’m sorry.”

The kid didn’t bother to move, he just stared at the wall as if nothing happened. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

Somebody patted her on the back and when she turned, a girl smiled sadly at her who seems to be missing her front teeth.

“He was brought here two days ago, and since that he never changed his position. No use talking to him, by the way I’m Kiha,” the girl said.

Cenielle, glad that somebody talked to her, rested her back on the wall. “Why are we here?”

“Some are cooking morning till dawn, some are cleaning and many more,” Kiha replied.

Cenielle was confused and wanted to ask more questions but Kiha already turned her back and slept. That was the time she felt the pain in her entire body. Every time she tries to move her head sideways, her neck hurts. Her arm and leg was also aching. And the memory of her parents suddenly came running to her. Her tears rushed down and she tried to wipe it using the sleeves of her shirt. She let out a gasp; she couldn’t bear the overwhelming sadness in her.

“Papa, mama,” she murmured. Unconsciously, she pulled her knees up to her face and rocked herself.

The next thing she knew, she was feeling very cold. She opened her eyes and saw that a guy who looked like a drunk was throwing water at them. “Get up you lazy fools!” The other kids were already running to the exit fast as if they would die if they did not. She slowly stood up. Not knowing what to do, she stepped towards the exit following the others. She was almost outside when he heard the drank.

“Stand up there! You are already lying there for almost three days! Make your self useful bastard!” and the guy kicked the boy on the legs.

The boy twitched in pain but never uttered a word. Cenielle was afraid of the drank but she ran nevertheless towards the boy lying on the cold floor and helped him sit up. “Come now, he’ll kill you if you don’t.”

The boy walked with the help of Cenielle limply. And as they were walking towards the exit, the drank yelled, “Move fast, you two!”

Cenielle and the boy followed the other kids and found their selves in a factory-like place. The other kids were lined up neatly but with terror on their faces. They lined up at the last.
The place was hot and smelled something like rustic and dizzying. And huge guys not less than 15 in number were there watching them. The guy who appeared to be in-charge clapped his hands lazily.

“Alright, little rats finish the packing of our treasures at exactly 10:15 am and we’ll give you a nice lunch!”

The kids ran to a very long stainless table and began packing. Cenielle tried to observe what they were doing and tried to follow. She scooped 5 tablespoons of a white, powder-like substance and sealed it in a small plastic using stapler. She had no idea what it was and then she realized that the boy wasn’t doing anything.

“Hey, why don’t you start?” Cenielle asked the boy standing motionless beside her and just staring at the table.
“If they see you, they’ll hurt you again,” she whispered.

The boy turned his head towards her and she saw that anger was carved down on his face. Cenielle felt sad again but she knew that letting the boy just stand up there wouldn’t do anything good. So she took the hands of the boy and placed a couple of transparent plastics. She was too also trembling because she was sensing the great pain coming from the boy. She was feeling sad about her parents but there was something in the boy she couldn’t say.

The boy slowly followed what the rest were doing. They were like robots following a certain routine. And by the time they were finished packing, the men watching them took out the cartons where they placed the packing. The table was emptied and two men distributed one piece of bread and water in a plastic cup to each and everyone.

“I’m giving you five minutes to eat and you’ll go to the third floor and clean the area!”

Cenielle was really hungry but the food wasn’t inviting. The bread was just placed directly on the table and plastic cups seemed to be dirty. She looked around and saw that none cared if the food was clean or not. All they cared was that they were eating something.

She looked at the boy who was obviously hungry but didn’t touch the food. She sighed and smiled at the boy. “Let’s eat now! This seems to be yummy, don’t you think so?” Cenielle said as she was lifting the bread to .

“Are you crazy?” the boy suddenly said. Cenielle looked puzzled, “This isn’t food they’re giving us. There are molds already and that would give you stomachache.”

Cenielle gaped at him in awe. That was the first time he talked for so many hours. She looked at the boy and at the bread. “But I’m starving,” was her reply while she was slowly putting her bread back on the table. She studied the other kids who seem to enjoy the food.

“If you two won’t eat your bread, I’ll take them!” and the boy wearing a girl’s shirt took the bread fast as if it will disappear if he didn’t do so.

Cenielle was watching everyone especially the silent boy beside her. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans that looked dirty nevertheless looked expensive. He was the only one wearing fine clothing as she was wearing her pajamas. He clearly looked rich. And when the boy faced her, she smiled again but the boy didn’t.

Next thing they were doing, they were scrubbing the dusty floors on the third floor using nothing but a piece of cloth. It was already 5:30 pm but they were still not finished due to the wideness and dirtiness of the whole floor. She was scrubbing absent mindedly when he saw the silent boy entered slowly to one of the rooms. She stood up and looked if someone was watching and followed the boy inside the room. When she entered, her nose was filled with mouth-watering aroma. It was the kitchen and there were nice food on the table.

“Wow,” she exclaimed. She went directly to the table and took a piece of roasted chicken and ate it happily.

The boy who was searching something in the cabinets turned his head and saw that Cenielle was eating the food for the Boss! He ran and stopped Cenielle from eating.

“Idiot! What are you doing?!” he said trying to minimize his voice.
Cenielle smiled, “This is delicious! Try it!”

The boy uttered something under his breath and pulled Cenielle towards the door. “Let’s get out of…”

But before he could even finish what he was about to say, Monrow who was looking grumpily entered the kitchen, Cenielle quickly threw the bone under the table. Monrow looked at them and saw the bone under the table. He stared at the two of them with piercing eyes.

“Why you!” Monrow yelled at Cenielle and took her by the arm. His face inches away from Cenielle’s.

“Who gave you the right to eat that?!” He said anger on his face, and Cenielle could feel his fingers digging on her arm.

“But I’m hungry sir…”she said softly.

“Hungry? We already fed you this morning!” he said through gritted teeth.

He pulled Cenielle by the hair and she let out a cry. The boy rushed to Monrow. “Sir! I was the one who ate a piece! Not her!”

Monrow looked at him and smacked him on the face. “That doesn’t make any difference!” Monrow yelled as the boy stumbled on the floor, his lower lip bleeding. Cenielle looked at him with horror.

Monrow grabbed Cenielle and the boy by their arms and forcefully dragged the two of them to a far room with a steel door. Monrow opened it and threw them inside and banged the door closed. “You’re not eating anything tonight!” and they heard his footsteps trail away.

Cenielle cried and buried her face on her knees. The boy breathed deeply and grunted.

“You’re an idiot.”

Cenielle looked up and saw the boy standing in front of her wiping the blood from his lip; she didn’t know what to say. After all it was her fault.

“I’m sorry…” she said in a hoarse voice and continued crying.

“Stop saying “sorrys” okay?” and the boy sat beside her.
It was already getting dark. The only source of light coming to the room was the moon which the glow was entering from a small window with bars.

“They killed my parents! I miss my Papa and Mama…I want to go with them!” she cried.

The boy didn’t say anything. He just rested his head on the cold wall and looked up, fighting his own tears.

“I wasn’t able to help them…if only I didn’t chicken out, I would have warned my Mama! And now she’s dead, it’s entirely my fault!” she continued.

“We were here for a vacation,”…the boy started and Cenielle suddenly stopped crying, “I was so happy because that was the first time we went together as a whole family. My stepfather, mother and me…but while we were playing in our hotel room, men wearing business suits entered our room …”

“…Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Sochiro.”

“What are you doing here!? This is a private room!” Lawliet’s father said while trying to protect his family from the presence of danger.

“Yeah we know. That’s why we’re here, we know you’re carrying the precious blue diamond from your ancestors, the ‘Tear of Diana’” the big, bald guy, the Boss, said very calmly.

“We don’t know what you’re talking about!” Mrs. Sochiro said hugging Lawliet tightly.

The three hugged each other as the men in suit searched the entire unit. And they found nothing.

The Boss walked slowly towards them and hit Mr. Sochiro on the face using his gun. And Mrs. Sochiro screamed as the Boss pulled Lawliet away from her.

“Ma!” Lawliet yelled trying to break free from his grip.

Mrs. Sochiro’s face was distraught as she watched the Boss pointed the gun on his only son’s head.

Mr. Sochiro took his wife’s hand. “No, my son has nothing to do with this! Leave him alone!”

The Boss smiled broadly, “Oh, he has something to do with this, and look at him, he is cute isn’t he?” nodding to the other men in the room, one was Monrow.

“Let him go!” Mrs. Sochiro pleaded.

The Boss’s face became grim, “The ‘Tear of Diana” or say goodbye to this boy forever.”

Mrs. Sochiro cried helplessly as Mr. Sochiro stood up raising his hands. “Okay! Okay! I’ll give you the diamond! But please, do not hurt my son!”

“That depends,” the Boss said and the other men laughed.

Mr. Sochiro, opened-up the monitor of a desktop computer that turned out to be encasing a small vault. And slowly took out the vault and place it on the floor.

“Very clever,” the Boss commented.

“Now, my son, please!”

The Boss sat down on the brownish, red sofa still pointing the gun towards Lawliet.

“We’re not done yet. Open it and show me the blue diamond.”

Mr. Sochiro’s trembling hands were turning the different combinations but didn’t match up.

“I’m getting bored…” The Boss said menacingly.

For the fourth time, the combinations were correctly turned and the vault was opened. Mr. Sochiro took out the blue diamond. The 4-inch, blue, round diamond glittered hundreds of rainbows as the light hit it.

“Very well, Monrow, take the diamond,” the Boss commanded.

After Monrow took the diamond and placed in a leather box, Lawliet tried to run to his parents but was stopped by the Boss himself.

“I want a little show here,” he said dreamily.

“You promised me you’d let my son go!” Mr. Sochiro said accusingly.

The Boss stood up, “I didn’t promise anything.”

“You devil!” Mr. Sochiro tried to run and grab Lawliet but the Boss shot Mr. Sochiro on the leg using his gun, no loud sound made.

The man suddenly fell on the floor. Mrs. Sochiro ran towards her husband crying.

“Pa!” Lawliet screamed trying to get loose.

“I didn’t say you can move,” he smiled at Lawliet, “very well, since you are going to die here, why don’t we make it a happy ending?”

“You devil! Leave us already! You got what you want!” Mrs. Sochiro screamed.

The Boss tapped the gun on his hand and pointed it to Lawliet. “I’ll kill your son in front of you.”

“NO!” the couple cried in unison.

Lawliet on the other hand was trembling terribly as the gun on his head was pushed harder. The Boss was about to pull the trigger when he giggled.

“Oh, I think this is way too old of a scene. Let’s change the plot shall we?” The Boss took the gun off of Lawliet’s head and placed it on his hands.

“Now boy, I want you to shoot your parents, fast.”

Lawliet’s eyes widened as he was watching his parents crying helplessly. His hands were trembling and he threw the gun on the floor.

“Listen boy, if you shoot them, I’ll spare you promise,” and he raised his right hand as if making an oath.

“NO!” Lawliet said firmly.

The Boss took the gun and placed it again on Lawliet’s hands, “Parents, your son will shoot you and I’ll spare him or I’ll shoot the three of you?”

Mr. and Mrs. Sochiro knew they could do nothing, looked at each other and nodded.

“Lawliet, do what the man is telling you to do,” his mother told him.

“I can’t!” Lawliet said while crying.

“Lawliet, this is what we want you to do, it’s okay?” his father said pleadingly.

The Boss giggled, “What a dramatic scene, ‘it’s okay’, yes I promise your son will live only if he do this.”

Lawliet flared his angry eyes towards the men especially on the Boss. “He is a liar! What makes you think he will stand up to his words?! He just wants a show and I won’t give it to him! I’d rather die now with you than to be the one to kill you!”

The Boss smiled and clapped a little. “Wow, you’re quiet a brain, how old are you? Six, seven? Very well,” the Boss took Lawliet’s hands and pointed it to his parents. He was manipulating Lawliet like a puppet. “Though unwillingly, this looks just like the same.”

Lawliet was fighting to point the gun to his parents but the Boss was so strong. He was crying while seeing his parents hug each other, trying to protect one another. And the next thing Lawliet saw was his parents on the floor, a pool of blood forming under them.
“Pa! Ma!” Lawliet screamed at the top of his lungs.

The Boss stood up. “That’s fine with me, it looked as if you’re really the one shooting them, though it would be happier if you shoot them willingly. Remember, it was you who pulled the trigger.”

“No! I didn’t!” Lawliet yelled as he ran towards his parents but another man grabbed him and all turned to black…

Cenielle was like a stone sitting, gaping at the boy who was clearly trembling beside her.

“I didn’t pull the trigger, he pulled it…” the boy said while crying.

“Now, Cenielle, what are you going to do if someone is hurting in front of you?” Cenielle’s mother asked her one day.

Cenielle opened up her arms and said, “I’ll give him a…”

Lawliet was surprised to feel that Cenielle was already hugging him tightly. And his trembling slowly went away.

“It’s okay you know, your parents know that,” Cenielle said while crying.

And together they spilled out their sorrows for a new beginning.