Chapter 59: Confession
Arora stared at Mr Raymond in a daze, confusion etched across her face.
She didn't understand what was going on.
They had just been talking about his Santa Claus scheme to make her feel better when he suddenly broke down crying.
Her thoughts began racing as she processed his words.
".... Uncle?"
"Mr Raymond, what are you talking about?" She said, asking the same question in the span of just minutes. This time though, the uneasy feeling she had felt when they left the orphanage returned in full.
Mr. Raymond said nothing for several moments as he sobbed in the driver's seat, his head resting against the steering wheel.
Finally, he gathered himself enough to turn back and face her.
"...Yes, uncle. I'm your uncle, Arora."
"Your... father's brother," he stammered as tears began flowing again.
"I'm sorry. I'm so... so... sorry, Arora, my dear girl."
"Your father gave you to me... so I could look after you."
"So I could take care of you. And yet, somehow, we ended up here."
Arora remained silent as she stared at Raymond with a confused and slightly terrified expression. Countless thoughts ran through her mind like a marathon.
Mr. Raymond, the man who'd always looked after her, protected her, and even kept her sane without her knowledge — was her uncle.
Arora couldn't remember what her biological parents looked like. She had been told that they had dropped her off at the orphanage years ago and never returned. No one had ever told her about them past that, or why they did it. Whenever she'd asked Mr. Ann or Mr. Raymond, she was always given a vague, pointless answer before being told not to worry herself over such things from the past.
And now Mr. Raymond was saying he was her uncle. Her family.
Questions flooded her mind. Why didn't he tell her sooner? Why had he left her at an orphanage when he could have taken care of her as his niece? Did Mr. Rogers and Ms. Ann know about this? If they did, why had they never told her? Why was he crying?
All types of questions ran through her head.
But the one she wanted answered most was...
Why was he telling her now?
That question had ran amok in her head for several confusing moments, before she had finally thought of a terrifying possibility.
"M-Mr. Raymond," Arora said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Tears began welling up in her eyes, fogging up her glasses slightly.
"...Where are you taking me?" she asked, her tone calm despite the fear and despair creeping in.
Silence.
Complete and utter silence stretched between them for what felt like an eternity.
Mr. Raymond's body trembled visibly as he wrestled with himself internally. He understood the plan. He understood the mission. He understood everything Elijah had told him.
...But he just couldn't do it.
He couldn't do it anymore.
He straightened up, placing his head against the headrest as he gazed blankly into the distance.
"To your death... Arora," he muttered, his voice almost inaudible.
"I'm... I'm driving you... my own niece... to your death."
"...Just like I've driven all the others to their deaths for the past decade."
Arora shuddered as a cold chill ran down her spine.
Her entire body trembled in utter shock and fright.
"Ah..." she muttered in a daze.
Images of every child who'd been adopted from the orphanage flashed through her mind, and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She remembered the few she had interacted with especially. She remembered Sam, she remembered Eunice, she remembered Tom. She even remembered little Cindy and the bright, innocent smile she'd worn on the day of her adoption.
Arora felt sick, she felt sicker than she had ever felt in her life. Her world had just crumbled in an instant. Nothing felt real anymore. The man she trusted most in the world was her uncle, and yet, he was taking her to her death.
She suddenly remembered the expressions Ms. Ann and Mr. Rogers always had whenever children were adopted.
She had never understood why they always looked so gloomy. She simply guessed it was because they would miss the children they had taken care of for so long.
But now she did.
They felt bad... because they were killing them.
They were shipping all those children to their deaths like livestock.
The orphanage wasn't an orphanage.
It was a slaughterhouse.
And now it was her turn.
Arora turned to Mr. Raymond, tears falling freely from her once bright orange eyes.
"W-why?!" she asked through terrified sobs.
Mr. Raymond remained silent, simply gritting his teeth in frustration and gripping the wheels tightly.
Her features suddenly contorted with rage, hatred, and anguish.
"WHY?!" she shouted as she lunged at him from behind the driver's seat. She clawed at his neck, trying her best to inflict as much damage as possible.
Mr. Raymond was slow to react, barely stopping her from tearing out his throat. Instead, her hands found his face, leaving a deep, painful gash across it.
"Ahh!" he screamed in pain as he finally managed to grab both her hands and push her back against the backseat. He stood up slightly, pressing her down while retrieving something from his glove box.
A moment later, he pulled out what looked like a gas mask and placed it over her face, struggling to hold down her crying, screaming form.
She tried her best to fight him off, punching and kicking wherever she thought it would hurt. But in the end, it didn't matter. She was no match for his strength.
A few seconds later, the mask took effect as she realized her consciousness was beginning to fade bit by bit.
"Ahhh!"
"Help!"
"Help me, please!"
She screeched in desperation, hoping someone, anyone, in this vast, desert-like landscape would hear her cries and rescue her.
Unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
Raymond stared down at the crying, pleading, desperate form of his niece as tears rolled down his face nonstop.
"...I don't expect you to forgive me."
"In fact, I don't want you to."
"You're just a child, after all. You can't understand what we grown-ups have to do. You shouldn't have to understand."
"I'm sorry I've failed you. I'm sorry this world has failed you," he said as he felt her struggling form begin to weaken from the gas.
"If we ever meet in the afterlife, I'll accept whatever you or your parents have in store for me."
"...But until then, goodbye, my dear Arora."
Arora gazed into Raymond's eyes with such hatred that it consumed every other emotion she had. She wanted him dead. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to DESTROY him.
Seconds later, her consciousness finally faded, and all she could see was darkness.
_____________
"She's coming to" a female nurse shouted as she rolled a stretcher down a series of corridors.
"Damn it, already? That idiot Raymond. I told him not to fuck this up, and yet he went and did just that," a man with raven-dark hair and golden eyes said. He was dressed in a doctor's uniform, his expression enraged.
"Should we sedate her again, sir?" the nurse asked.
"No, it's too late for that. It could have negative effects on the project, so just leave her be."
The man looked down at Arora's barely conscious form.
"Besides, she's about to lose consciousness again anyway" he said finally, as Arora's eyelids slowly shut once more.