Lyor startled awake from his unplanned nap as he heard a new voice. Old, deep yet kind. Probably here to assign him the job.
From the moment he had seen the unspoken interactions between the two and the food offerings, he had decided to eat and drink as much as he could. Even in Hansel and Gretel, the witch fed them before planning to eat them. And this woman, Mira, had said something similar.
"You need to gain your strength first."
Yes, gain his strength before he could go to work as usual. He realized that there wouldn't be any off days or anything.
Something similar had happened in the past where his dad left him in a restaurant for two weeks, borrowing money from the owner, and he had to work to pay it off. He hadn't gone to the apartment a single day within those two weeks but strangely he preferred that.
He hated that he preferred being away from his father. How ungrateful was he?
Mira went towards the new person, placed her hand over her heart, bowed her head, and spoke his name. The person, Teebu, did the same, and Lyor thought that was how he was supposed to greet in this place.
Teebu was a huge man, his shoulders broad, arms thick with ropey muscle that spoke of decades of gymnasium visits. His hair was mostly white, cropped close to the skull making him look more like a monk, and his gray eyes held a depth that made Lyor want to look away.
He moved with the careful grace of someone who knew exactly how much space he occupied, and Lyor assumed he was perhaps forty, some years older than his father but built like a statue where his father had been more like a scarecrow with some muscles.
Then he was walking towards him. Lyor scrambled off the bed, his bare feet hitting the packed clay floor, and placed his hand over his chest, bowed, and said his name. When he looked up, they all seemed surprised except Sol who raised his eyebrow with a smirk, and he averted his eyes quickly.
Teebu nodded in approval and returned his greeting introducing himself as the head of the village. He gestured for him to sit down but Lyor's attention was on the unmade bed, the soft blanket he wanted to carry everywhere he went, pooled where his body had been, evidence of his untidiness.
Would he yell at me for this?
But Mira and Sol sat on the corner of the bed, facing him, while he was sitting in the middle chair, and Teebu was sitting on another chair to his left parallel to the other two.
Trapped.
"Welcome to Nemeteia, Lyor."
"Th-Thank you." No, he was not thankful. He just felt so alone, abandoned. As if there had been a small black hole inside of him when his mom died and it kept growing, and he was feeling more and more black… empty.
Fading.
Drowning.
Sol's coughing brought him back to reality.
Mira was rubbing his back slowly, gentle circles watching him with care than the teasing gaze she held before. He remembered his mother.
"Let's get to the point quickly, shall we?" Teebu asked, and he nodded, eyes now cast to his hands clasped on his lap.
Oh... my fingernails are broken. When did that happen?
Not that it mattered. If it was hard labor, his nails wouldn't survive, neither would his bones.
"I heard you remember where you were from."
Another nod.
"Can you tell me a bit about yourself?"
So, the interview begins.
"I... I am Lyor Daniels. I am eighteen years old. I lived with my father, I mean, I live with my father." His fingers twisted together, the broken nail catching on his palm. "I worked at an immigration company. I did proofreading, financial calculations, document packaging, data input. But other than that I have worked at restaurants, cafes and cleaning companies. Which means, I can clean, I can mix cement, I can do laundry, I can make coffee and tea, I can stay late, I can..." He was counting on his fingers, voice gaining speed, desperation mounting with each listed utility.
"I can handle complaints, I can take responsibility for mistakes, I can..." He stopped when he received no acknowledgement or response.
Mira's hand had flown to her mouth. Teebu's jaw had tightened, the granite shifting. Even Sol, who had been staring at the wall, had turned to look at him with something that might have been horror.
"...I can do whatever is needed," Lyor finished, breathless, waiting for the assignment, the quota, the punishment for talking too much.
"That is quite a lot of work, young man," Teebu interrupted gently. "Impressive." The word felt foreign in the air.
"Do you remember how you got here?"
Lyor hesitated, his thumbnail finding a torn cuticle, worrying it until blood threatened. "I don't remember the exact moment. But I know how." He forced himself to meet Teebu's chest, not his eyes.
"We are poor. My father and I work." His voice steadied here, rehearsed. "When we need more money, I stay at places he takes me to." A pause. His jaw tightened. "So... I know he gave me to your village this time. To work. And when it is done, he will pick me up." He almost believed it, saying it aloud.
His head was screaming.
You are stupid. Father always tells you where you would go. Always tells you for how long. This time he didn't. He sold you for good, again! Lying won't help you!
As if to shake off the thoughts, he shook his head and looked at them as they were silent. He couldn't read Teebu's face but Mira looked really sad.
"I- uh... It's my turn to do rounds." Sol said abruptly and stood, he swayed a bit before stepping out.
"So, Lyor, there seems to be a small misunderstanding."
Something inside Lyor cracked.
Here it comes.
"This is Nemeteia and no one can come here because of anyone. You are here because the Goddess Neteila brought you here. You are here because you were chosen to have a new beginning, not because your father decided."
"What? Goddess?" It was rude but he thought that Teebu was unwell. People who spoke about divine voices and chosen beginnings were supposed to be in special hospitals. Then he wondered if this was a hospital for people like that and he had to be a caretaker.
"Yes. You remember the tree you fell from?"
He nodded trying his best to follow along the conversation considering that this may be a part of the interview.
"I also came from the tree and I am the only living person to meet her because the leader of the village always has to know the purpose of Nemeteia. It is strange that she let you have your memories. People here don't know where they are from, some don't even remember their names. They arrive here at different ages. Sol came here when he was 14, Mira when she was 35, I at the age of 21 and now I'm 60."
"What on earth?" Lyor couldn't help but let those words slip at hearing his age and slapped his palm over his mouth. And moreover, he didn't understand what was going on. This man is saying that his father didn't send him to work here. Was that the truth?
"What's earth?" Teebu had asked.