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In one of the orphanage rooms, "Linda" sat on a wooden chair. The white lamps covered the place in a pale glow. In front of her stood a camera and a filming crew consisting of only two people. One of them was monitoring the camera, and the other was sitting on a swivel chair watching "Linda" as he said in a serious tone:
"Alright, start."
Linda said:
"Hello… my name is Linda carlaine de Miranov," she said in a voice filled with innocence mixed with a light softness, "I am now fifteen years old, and I have only three years left before I leave this gloomy orphanage."
She takes a deep breath and continues:
"I was born in a huge palace surrounded by forests on all sides, to an extremely noble and wealthy family. My father used to call me the jewel of the house, and my mother would not leave me for a single moment. As for my two older brothers, they protected me from everything, even from the sting of the cold."
A moment of silence, then a distant look… and her voice drops:
"Until… that fateful day."
A flashback appears:
" a luxurious hall adorned with gold and candles, the guests' laughter rising while the music filled the place. Her grandfather had thrown a grand party on the occasion of her sixth birthday. Suddenly… the lights went out. Silence fell, then the screaming began. Sounds of breaking, crying, heavy footsteps. Little Linda crawled in terror under the table to hide…. her small hand clutching her trembling white dress. And when the lights returned… everything was covered in blood. Bodies scattered across the floor, faces disfigured, her father's eyes open without life, her mother in his arms, and her brothers silent… they were all dead. She was the only survivor".
---
The camera moves slowly to shift to a boy sitting on the same chair.
"My name is William Grant, I am seventeen years old, and I have five months left before I leave here."
He forced a fake smile and continued:
"I grew up in a military family. My father was a commander in the army, and my mother was a respected teacher. I had a twin who looked exactly like me… but we were completely different. I was born healthy but not very intelligent, while he was smart but physically weak."
He lowered his gaze for a few seconds before continuing:
"When I was eight, I was the reason they all died…
We were all going on a camping trip. My father was driving the car, my mother was sitting in the seat beside him, and in the back my brother and I were playing a game on a video game console. While I was playing, I wanted to show my father how skilled I was in the game, so I brought the video game screen close to my father's face, and he began saying, 'William, move the game away from my face, I can't see the road.'
My mother was saying the same thing as him until my brother shouted, 'There's a truck there, a truck coming toward us.'
Suddenly I dropped the game console and screamed as I saw the truck approaching us. My father tried to avoid it, and the car flipped over with us inside.
I don't remember the accident well, but as soon as I woke up inside the car, I saw a sight I wished I had never seen in my entire life. My brother who had been beside me his body and head were separated from each other. I looked at my mother and found her body covered in blood, and there was glass that had pierced her stomach. I screamed amid the blood and shattered glass… but suddenly I heard my mother's voice as she sighed, 'William, get out of the car and get help.' And without saying a single word, I got out of the car quickly to search for help, until I heard a loud explosion behind me. I turned around to see the car burning before my eyes… it and my family.....
---
The transition shifts to a third girl, her curly orange hair swaying over her shoulders and a confident smile on her face:
"I'm Rosie Lancaster, I'm sixteen years old, and two years separate me from leaving this place. I was born to parents who were managers of a huge company… they were wealthy, but they never gave me any affection. I was that child who was left alone in her wide room…
Until my younger brother was born when I was five years old, and he became their favorite."
I always saw them giving my little brother attention they had never once given to me..
As for me, I had no name mentioned among them...
One day I tried to play with my brother, but my mother quickly pulled him away from me as she shouted, "Don't touch him."
It was painful to see myself trying to be loved in vain..
Her eyes widen as she recounts:
"At nine, I decided to run away. I left at night, under the rain, and ran without direction. I thought I was free… but freedom was nothing more than the beginning of another hell."
---
The transition moves to a young man in the corner of the room, his eyes sunken and his voice cold:
"My name is Elias… in two months I will leave here. Since I was six years old, I worked with my mother at the bar… yes, that's what they called it work. Until the day my mother became ill, and she was fired from her job, and I had to take responsibility for everything. So I started working carrying goods in exchange for money. I used to collect money to buy her medicine… but when I returned, I found her a cold corpse. I stayed beside her for a whole week until the neighbors complained about the smell. After that, I was transferred here."
---
The camera turned off, and Linda left the room to find her friends waiting for her.
She asked them innocently, "Why do they force us to film our cursed past?"
Rosie laughed bitterly: "Because they think that when we grow up, we'll come back to watch how we ended up here."
Elias frowned: "Damn it… who wants to remember this hell?"
While everyone was distracted, the four approached an old wall with a small opening and slipped outside.
In the narrow hidden corridor, Elias and William were already outside, while Rosie was trying to get through but got stuck between the sides of the wall. Linda laughed and pushed her from behind, saying loudly, "Come on, big-butt girl!"
Rosie's face turned red as she looked at William, who also seemed embarrassed.
---
In another place with other people, Jude (one of the most famous YouTubers in video games) stepped out of his Lamborghini… accompanied by his two colleagues, Camellia (the girl obsessed with her appearance who looks like a member of a rock band)
and Karem, who appeared afraid of almost anything, as they entered one of the cafés near the orphanage…
---
As the four of them slipped out from behind the crack in the wall,
they all headed to their usual place:
To a large hall filled with gamblers. Linda was gifted at the game of backgammon, used to competing against many men, among them (famous men, wealthy individuals, managers….).
This time, one of the richest men in the city set a large sum of money as a condition to gamble against her, and in return, if she lost, she would join to work in gambling...
Linda agreed gladly as she prepared to win a large amount of money.
But the moment she won, the man ordered his guards to seize them. Linda and her friends rushed to escape from the gambling hall while the guards chased them...
In the city streets, the sound of footsteps was getting closer, and suddenly, in front of Linda was a shiny black Lamborghini. Linda leaped over it gracefully, a move that amazed everyone.
On the other side, Jude was leaving the café with Camellia and Karem when he saw the scene, and his eyes met Linda's for a moment as she jumped over his car. He raised his phone and called his guard: "Bring me a new car… this one is dirty."
There were marks of Linda's dirty hands on it....
Camellia said sarcastically, "Oh, why another car? We can just wipe the stains?" But Jude had another reply: "I don't like others touching my belongings."
Linda and her friends managed to escape and returned to the orphanage at sunset. But as soon as they entered, they found the director standing waiting for them, and beside her was George, the spoiled child who had informed on them.
The director, with her harsh face, said coldly: "Do you think you can break the rules?"
The punishment was imminent, but Elias stepped forward: "I'm the one who took them… it has nothing to do with them."
The director stared at him for a moment, then grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him away. William was about to speak, but Elias interrupted him with his hand, signaling to him from behind...
They could only watch him in silence… knowing he had saved them at his own expense.
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