Eli looks at me worried, hearing my serious tone.

“What do you want to talk about, brother?” She asks, slightly nervous.

“How were you reincarnated here?” I decided to ask a more vague question in the hope that this would be more comfortable for her.

“You see I… I… I.” She says before starting to hyperventilate and sweat. She tries to continue speaking yet finds herself unable to.

“Calm down Eli. Everything's alright, I'm here with you. All the uncomfortable things are in the past, they will never come back to you again. I promise Eli.” I say in my most soothing tone as I feel my heart shred from seeing this poor girl freak out. Her hug tightens, while her panic does not completely subside. Ten minutes pass as I hold the frail little girl in my arms. Tears in her eyes and a panicked look are the only things I can see on her face. Complete silence engulfs the room before I hear her little voice once more.

“They… They used to do these things to me back in school.” She says in a shaken voice, tears fill her eyes once more as her voice quivers. Still determined to tell me her past, she decides to continue speaking.

“I… I…. They…used to hit me because of my hair… Cal…. Calling me things like an ugly monster, a freak.” She says in a shaken and stuttering voice.

“Afte-afterwards they used to lock me up in those closets…. I tried telling the teachers, and they gave them a warning, but they never stopped.” She says, tears flowing as she recomposes herself before continuing to speak. I tighten my hug as I could feel the poor little girl being shaken up by her troublesome past.

“It… It…. It just became worse after that. They started hitting me harder and… And started to lock me up longer.”

“One day we had swimming lessons, and they came up with this new idea. They… They started keeping me underwater before pulling me up again.” her face is completely frightened at the moment as she closes her eyes, clearly recalling even more things she chose to forget.

“They kept doing those things and one they kept me underwater. I remember yelling and yelling, the water it…it flowed in, and I struggled and… and I woke up somewhere else. There was some much blood and corpses. This person pointed to me and some other people took me away. They started doing these things to me, they came with things I didn't recognize and started doing weird chants, and they would even give me these things to eat.”

After finishing her sentence, I could see Eli start hyperventilating again. She wanted to keep speaking, but she couldn't as her body or mind rejects her attempts.

'I knew it would be dark, but this is monstrous. She's just a little girl, what did she do to deserve this?' I ask myself, bitterness and rage filling my heart and mind.

An 8-year-old child, my mind involuntarily goes through the memories that it decided to bury. I think back to my little sister when she was 8 years old. I was 10, and we decided to go to the park together. She was always on the slide and I used to adore the swing if I remember correctly. It's been so long now, some boys started picking on her because our family was quite poor. I can't quite recall what happened, I just remember how angry I was. As the temperamental child I was, I did what I thought was the right solution. I yelled at them, and it quickly escalated into a fight. Luckily, some parents were nearby and managed to separate us. The punishment I received at home was quite harsh in my opinion, but maybe I'm wrong. They praised me for standing up for my sister and scolded me for resorting to violence.

'You had to endure something so terrible and unfair, Eli. I don't know what's worse, the bullying or that you had no one who gave you a helping hand.' I think to myself as a soft liquid flows over my cheeks.

Eli looks surprised when she sees my face. She decides to look away as I could feel her arms tremble once again.

“I met these people there, they were just like me.” She says, her voice sounding more controlled and solemn.

“There even was this one girl who became my friend! Her name was Araam, and she was such a pretty and nice girl.” Her voice that was temporarily excited quickly found its sadness again.

“What happened to her?” I ask, trying to not make her linger in her past for much longer.

“She died, they tried to change her and her body couldn't handle it. Something about her being a fake and that they quickly had to bind her. Afterwards, they started doing things to me again. Apparently, they were quite happy with how I turned out, and they were talking about things like being able to use me later. I went back to my cell and met this new boy they captured. His name was Abbadon and he was quite strange. They really didn't like him, so I decided to be nice to him when I got the chance. We never spoke to each other, but I always sneaked some of my food in his plate.” She explains in a rapid tone, ignoring her irregular breathing and anxiety.

“Then they summoned me as they wanted to continue some new experiment on me. I remember a knife being pointed to my forehead when I saw Abbadon stand beside me. “Scream,” he said in this low tone, and I did. I… I don't remember what happened after that, but all those people were dead on the ground and the cells were opened. I decided to look for the outside and found myself in this city. Everybody looked like those people who did those things to me, so I decided to keep myself hidden in the alleys, and then I met brother.” Her face looks a mess, a slight smile appearing when she calls me brother. She looks at me, desperate for an answer.

“Those things will never happen to you again,” I say, taking a pause before finishing my sentence.

“I promise you, my little sister.”