When a person loses their memory and doesn't know who they are, it's like being born again.
But when a person regains their memory and remembers exactly who they are, that is a true rebirth.
Ray had been reborn—literally. A thirty-year-old soul inside an eleven-year-old body.
However, the exact moment eleven-year-old Ray fully regained his memories and realized who he was... happened to be the exact moment he was committing a robbery.
well, actually, he was in the middle of bashing someone's head in.
Just a second ago, he had grabbed a brick lying next to him and smashed it ruthlessly against a middle-aged man's skull.
Eleven-year-old boys aren't exactly weak. After three solid hits with a jagged brick, even a head made of iron would have a dent in it, let alone a human one.
The man was thirty-five, a foreigner standing about six-foot-one. Ray was only eleven, barely scraping four-foot-seven. Yet, not only did he land the hit, but he also managed to crack the guy's skull three times in a row.
He managed this because the man currently had him pinned to the ground, his massive head buried in the crook of Ray's neck, trying to kiss him.
It was child abuse. It was rape.
In his past life in the 21st century, Ray couldn't have even imagined such a thing happening to him. But in this life? He ran straight into it.
Before his memories returned, Ray didn't know who he was, but he possessed a mature subconscious. He wasn't a clueless child.
So, the sharp brick next to him became his tool for survival. Three hits later, the man stopped moving. That was the moment his past life's memories flooded back: I've been reincarnated.
He didn't have time to marvel at his rebirth or sort through eleven years of new memories.
Ray—a totally average guy in his past life—was currently hyperventilating, his heart pounding against his ribs like a drum.
Because... it looked like he had just killed someone.
---
In his previous thirty years of life, Ray had been a law-abiding citizen. Married for five years, a son and a daughter, a decent salary, and a happy life. He even donated to charity now and then.
Yet, fate decided to give this upstanding pillar of society a terminal illness.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, it wasn't the next morning—it was eleven years later. And the moment he opened them, this happened.
Looking at the man collapsed beside him, blood and brain matter leaking from his head, Ray felt a wave of nausea. He immediately started dry heaving.
It wasn't a scene an ordinary person could adjust to instantly.
However, while he couldn't stop the physiological reaction, suppressing the psychological panic wasn't too hard for someone with the mind of an adult.
Besides, this wasn't the time to be sick. He had to run. He had to get as far away as possible.
Not just because he had killed someone, but because he had to escape this place—this hellhole in 1988 London.
The man lying on the ground was just your average, run-of-the-mill pervert. He was just one of many predators lurking in the orphanage system.
But in this world, there was a monster far more terrifying than him.
That monster was Ryan Evers, the director of the orphanage. Ray was one of his wards, currently going by the name Rey Faest.
The orphanage was named after the director. Not because he had great authority or a stellar reputation, but because he had funded it himself, supplemented by government grants.
In 1980s London, private orphanages like this were common. The founders got a good reputation and a hefty check from the government every year. The director and corrupt officials pocketed the money, and the orphans... well, they were just props.
You rarely saw stray orphans in London because kind-hearted citizens and police officers always shipped them off to these institutions. In that environment, abuse was practically the norm.
The Ryan Evers Orphanage was just one of many houses of horrors.
But if the dead employee on the ground was a pervert, Director Ryan Evers was a man-eating demon.
Based on Rey's memories of the last eleven years, he strongly suspected the guy might actually be a vampire.
---
Ryan Evers was a white male, around thirty years old.
He had a cold, chiseled appearance and an elegant demeanor. Every move he made screamed "aristocrat." A man like him was popular with the ladies, and no one would ever associate him with the word "abuser."
But in Rey's memory, at least ten children had entered Evers' private room and never came out.
aside from vampires, Rey couldn't think of a reason for children to vanish into thin air.
The guy's aura matched every vampire movie Rey had seen in his past life. The only difference was that Evers was better at hiding it. Well, except for his nightly glass of "red wine."
Rey had seen Ryan Evers drink that wine. He saw it once a year.
The look on Evers' face when he drank it was one of pure ecstasy, like an addict getting a fix.
But the point wasn't his expression; it was the liquid in the goblet.
Faint, transparent mist would rise from the coppery-smelling liquid. To Rey, that mist looked like reluctant, tortured souls. He could practically see the faces of the missing children in that vapor.
The shapes were faint and blurry, but Rey just knew. It was the child who had entered the room that day. Over ten years, once a year, the soul of a child Rey knew would appear in that wine.
One a year. Ten years, ten kids. Rey didn't know who it was this year because he had stopped making friends a long time ago.
Perhaps this year, it was supposed to be him.
Today was August 14th. Rey's eleventh birthday.
Rey was of mixed heritage. He had messy black hair, deep eyes, and a high nose bridge. His sharp features gave him an almost elven, ethereal quality.
Ryan Evers considered Rey a gift from God—a gift reserved exclusively for him.
That was the main reason Rey had avoided abuse for eleven years while kids around him suffered. He was being saved for the main course.
Tomorrow night was the scheduled time for Evers' special "wine tasting." But tonight, a perverted employee had dragged Rey to a construction site next to the orphanage.
Evers was out attending a ball tonight, which gave the bold employee the courage to try and steal a taste of the boss's prize.
The vampire director wanted to eat him, and the perverted employee wanted to assault him.
faced with two evils, Rey chose the lesser immediate threat. Besides, being dragged out of the orphanage was a chance to escape. So when the employee led him to the construction site, Rey didn't fight back too hard.
Until he picked up the brick.
Escape required money. That was true in any era.
Rey searched the dead man's pockets and found 354 pounds.
Three hundred and fifty pounds in crisp, new notes, plus four pounds in crumpled bills and some change.
This was a fortune. An orphanage employee shouldn't have this kind of cash.
Rey didn't have time to ponder the money's origins. clutching the cash, he scrambled over the wall and fled.
With a small fortune in his pocket, Rey headed to a department store a few streets away. He bought a complete set of clothes and did a full makeover.
He put on a collared shirt, layered with a brown knit sweater, and topped it with a thick, off-white coat. Finally, he pulled a pink woolen beanie down low, almost covering his eyes and hiding his forehead completely.
The beanie had two fluffy pom-poms hanging down to his collarbones. It was sickeningly cute.
For his lower half, he chose thick girls' jeans and a pair of pink sneakers.
He was on the run. The goal was to blend in and confuse witnesses, so he dressed like a girl. He figured it would make it much harder for Ryan Evers to track him down.
After changing, Rey went to a nearby restaurant and ate a massive meal. Then, he hopped on a bus heading as far away as possible.
---
Ray—or rather, Rey Faest (we'll call him Rey from now on)—realized he had changed.
He had just killed a man, yet he had calmed down incredibly fast, immediately thinking about disguises and food.
Maybe eleven years of witnessing crimes against children and living under the silent terror of the director had hardened him. If he didn't have the mature mind of an adult, he probably would have grown up twisted.
The disguise was to avoid the police, but mostly to avoid the Director. He knew Ryan Evers wouldn't let him go.
As for the food, that was simple logic. Restoring his stamina and blood sugar helped him think. Without a calm escape plan, he'd be caught in no time.
Rey had escaped just as the sky turned dark. After eating and switching buses three times, he was finally far away from the hell that was the Ryan Evers Orphanage.
At 8:00 PM, Rey was forced to get off at a busy street.
The bus driver had started asking suspicious questions about his name and address. If Rey hadn't been dressed nicely and answered calmly, the well-meaning driver would have driven him straight to a police station or the nearest shelter.
August in Britain wasn't freezing, but despite the bright moon, the temperature drop at night was significant.
The shops were closed. Rey, walking alone under the streetlights, stuck out like a sore thumb.
Just as he caught the attention of a homeless man, Rey ducked into an alley behind a shopping center.
The service alleys behind large malls were deserted after hours. Rey went back there specifically to shake the tail.
He knew exactly what the homeless man wanted.
Even though Rey was dressed well, a child walking alone in a commercial district this late was either a runaway or a street urchin who had stolen nice clothes.
Either way, if the man dragged Rey to a police station, he'd get a reward.
---
The homeless man was about a hundred yards behind him. When Rey glanced back, the man sped up, breaking into a run.
He had a limp, but even for a "cripple," his full-sprint speed was no joke. He was keeping pace with Rey.
Pretending to be calm was useless now. Rey bolted.
Ten yards ahead was a corner. Rey whipped around it to the right.
To his right was a long alleyway, stretching over three hundred yards. In a straight line, the limping man would definitely catch him.
To his left was a six-foot wall. Without a foothold, there was no way he could climb it.
To his right were the rear loading doors of the mall. As soon as Rey turned the corner, he rushed toward a large glass door.
It was locked.
Panting heavily, Rey stood before the glass door, pressing his right palm against the cold surface, leaning his entire weight forward.
Burning with anxiety, he tried to force himself to be calm. His deep eyes stared intensely at the glass in front of him.
Open. Just open.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds...
Just before the limping tramp rounded the corner, the glass suddenly vanished.
Rey stumbled forward, his momentum carrying him through the empty frame where the glass used to be. He scrambled up and ran around the interior corner.
At that exact moment, the homeless man rounded the corner. He looked down the long alleyway—no sign of Rey. The little "girl" he had been chasing had just disappeared.
The man wasn't going to give up a payday that easily. The wall on the left was too high for a ten-year-old to jump.
So, he looked to the right. Maybe one of the mall's rear doors was unlocked?
But when the man walked up to the glass door Rey had just entered, the glass was back.
Solid. Intact.
And wrapped around the door handles was a heavy, locked iron chain.