Ria held the mysterious man’s hand a bit tighter as her eyes were met with a bright flash of light which caused her to close her eyes in response, the man had noticed this and calmly said

“Don’t worry, this won’t last long. We’ll be at our destination soon.” 

Just as he finished his sentence the light began to dim and Ria felt a solid ground below her feet. But as she opened her eyes she realized she was alone again, she looked around to see a familiar sight of a small broken down house. This house looked uninhabitable to most people, but to her and her family it was the only home they knew.

As she walked closer she could hear two people arguing 

“You know it will be too dangerous to keep them around.” Said a male voice.

“I know! But they are only kids…will they even survive if we abandon them?” A female voice replied. 

“Then do you have a better plan? We can’t bring them any further without endangering them more and more. As soon as they see we have kids they will certainly use that to their advantage to lure us out!” He replied clearly worried.

While the two were arguing they failed to notice a child who was sheepishly peeking from a corner, her eyes filled with fear. 

Ria barely remembers this part of her memories, she had tried so hard to forget it, yet it still keeps finding its way back to haunt her. And now she is forced to watch her world fall apart once again.

The man and woman continued to argue until the child couldn’t hold it in anymore and she started to cry, this caught the attention of the two arguing adults. 

“How long have you been watching?!” Said the man in an angry tone. 

The woman came to comfort her daughter and snapped back at the man 

“I know we all are stressed about the situation, but don’t take it out on the kids!” 

She picked up her daughter and left to go back into their ”bedroom”, but this room was far from comfortable. It was simply a small worn down room with tattered rags spread out on the floor as a makeshift bed, life really was hard for this family.

The woman put her daughter down on the floor after she had calmed down, when she managed to compose herself she asked 

“Are you really leaving us?…” 

She may have only been 5 years old but the cruel reality of their situation meant she had to grow up and adapt as fast as she could, innocence had only been a short lived moment of bliss for her. 

This question made the woman break down, she didn’t know how else to answer and only whispered 

“I’m sorry.” 

She then silently cried as she hugged her daughter, yet little did the child know, this would be the last time she’d feel her mother’s embrace. 

Morning soon came and as the young child woke up it was quiet, too quiet. She instinctively called out for her parents but she was met with only silence, then the child walked out of the room and saw a letter placed on the table her parents were arguing on last night. 

“Hey sweetie I know you will be reading this when you wake up and will be very confused. Mom and dad are very sorry for leaving you and your brother alone, but it is the only way you both could have a chance to live normally. If you are angry and will hate us, we don’t blame you, we have given you so much pain that you don’t deserve. We’re sorry, we are so so sorry we had failed as parents. Please take care of yourself and your brother, but if you can, don’t tell him about our past situation, lie to him if you can…just spare him from the pain we weren’t able to protect you from.

You two deserve a better life in the care of others, your auntie and uncle will pick you up there today.

-love mom and dad”

Ria could only watch as the past repeated itself, she knew she was only a spectator in this and that she couldn’t do anything to change what had happened. 

“The past is done, we only have the future to look forward to…” she thought. As that thought crossed her mind she heard a voice saying

“Congratulations Ria Hallow, you passed the trial.” 

Then her vision began to dim once more.