The Trap

Perhaps you had already fallen into someone's trap.

Trap

The Priest grew increasingly enthusiastic, and it made you deeply uncomfortable. Especially after you realized this place was not as wonderful as it appeared, troubling thoughts began to surface.

You hoped it was all just your imagination. You tried to reassure yourself that everything was normal; after all, the Priest's explanations were perfectly reasonable... but you still began taking action instinctively.

You tried to band together with the other children, but they refused to associate with a "bad child" like you. You asked the nuns for help, only to receive warnings and scoldings. Sometimes, they even called the Priest over to discuss punishing you.

Although any punishment was dismissed with a single sentence and a smile from the Priest, the endless scoldings and rejections made you increasingly quiet and uneasy, especially after your sleeping quarters were deliberately moved to a separate room.

This was no special treatment. Rather, it was more like a punishment, or the mark of a "bad child"—all "bad children" lived in single rooms. However, their building was not with the other children, but closer to the church's backyard. There were only rooms for "bad children" and a storage shed here.

It was quiet here, frighteningly so. When you learned that the cemetery lay behind the storage shed, an inexplicable fear gripped you. Combined with the cramped space and tiny window in your room, the place felt even more like a miniature prison.

That night, the Priest knocked on your door. Though you did not answer and had locked it, neither mattered. The Priest had keys to every room, and he entered without trouble.

Seeing that you were not asleep and were even curled up in the corner, watching him warily, the Priest did not seem to mind. He simply smiled and gently asked why you were not obediently asleep despite the lights being out.

You did not answer him, merely watched him warily. He seemed to have come in only to check on you. After adding that you should go to bed early, he closed the door and left.

Because of the Priest's visit, you slept poorly. Even after locking your door again, you stared tensely at the entrance for the rest of the night, too afraid to sleep. This left you bleary-eyed the entire next day. At that point, the "bad children" seemed to officially accept you. Perhaps they were mocking you, perhaps comforting you, but in any case, you were one of them now—that was what they said.

The "school" teacher came again. When he saw you mingling with the "bad children," he seemed somewhat displeased. After speaking with the Priest for some time, he appeared to have been persuaded, though he gave you a rather regretful look.

That time, the "school" took several more children away than before. The children did not pay much attention to it. Those selected cheered, rejoicing at being chosen, while those who were not saw them off and lamented that they had not been picked.

You and the "bad children" watched it all in silence. As the "school bus" gradually drove away, you opened your mouth several times, wanting to say something. But after looking around at the cheering children, the indifferent nuns, and the Priest who kept smiling, you closed your mouth again.

You vaguely guessed that the "school" was probably fake too.

The words "child trafficking" suddenly surfaced in your mind, filling you with instinctive horror and anger. But those emotions quickly faded, replaced by endless panic and unease.

Days passed. After seemingly reaching some agreement, the Priest began acting more openly. He came to check on you almost every night, and he stayed longer each time. Though he always chose to leave under your wary gaze, you felt increasingly helpless.

One night, you faintly heard a child crying and the Priest speaking next door. Perhaps because the rooms were so well insulated, the sounds were muffled.

You made a terrible guess.

The next day, you noticed that the child next door practically dragged himself along with an exhausted body. His swollen red eyes still held traces of tears, the tear stains on his face had not been washed away, and his gait was strange.

Yet the other children and the nuns turned a blind eye. The children might not have known anything, but the nuns did not offer a single word of concern. They merely maintained the bare minimum of courtesy... and sometimes directly scolded him.

The other "bad children" seemed accustomed to it as well. They only said to the child, "Last night was hard, wasn't it?" After receiving a nod in response, they paid it no further attention.

These things seemed so commonplace that the child even rejected your concern.

You vaguely guessed that this had happened many times before. You had only failed to notice because you had not heard anything. It might even have been happening every day.

And you would very likely be next.

No one would help you, and no one would care, because everyone here had long since become "used to" it. Such things happening were "only natural." You did not even know who around you could be asked for help.

Fear came crashing down with despair in tow.

But you did not give up hope. You thought you should ask the police for help. In your mind, the police were people who would definitely be able to help you. Moreover, thanks to what seemed like an innate powerful memory, you still remembered the route the Priest had taken when he brought you to the Police Station. So, you discussed with several "bad children" you were close to whether you could find an opportunity to seek help from the police.

Some children were unwilling, even urging you not to entertain such thoughts. If they could leave, they felt it would be better to simply run away, even if they had no idea where they could escape to.

But some children were willing to help you. After some hesitation, they chose to do so.

After several days of discussion and testing, you came up with a roughly feasible plan.

You could not leave during the day. From the moment everyone woke up, all the children moved together under the supervision of the Priest and nuns. They could move around freely, but if anyone went missing, it would be noticed immediately. Therefore, you could only leave at night, and because of the Priest, it had to be in the dead of night.

The wall behind the storage shed leading into the cemetery was relatively low. By using some nearby debris, you could barely climb over it. Then, you could squeeze through the gaps in the iron bars at the cemetery gate and leave.

The Priest only cleaned the cemetery on Wednesday afternoons, and even then, only once every other week. Normally, he only appeared at the cemetery entrance in the morning and evening. Unless someone came to hold a burial or visit a grave, he would not enter the cemetery at other times, so you did not need to worry about running into him.

In addition, you thought you needed to take one child with you to meet the officers, preferably one with injuries inflicted by the Priest. That would at least establish the fact that the Priest had "abused children."

As for leaving your rooms, which should have been the most troublesome part, it was actually the easiest. The Priest was in the habit of not locking doors whenever he entered or left a room, seemingly so he could conveniently come and go from the children's rooms. Meanwhile, the "bad children" all locked their doors before sleeping every night.

In other words, on the night of the "escape," you could simply leave directly. Of course, to avoid suspicion, you still had to lock your doors before the Priest arrived, then act only after he had come and gone. That way, the Priest would not notice anything amiss.

"To be safe, we should wait until the Priest starts before leaving," one child suggested. Though the suggestion was hurtful and terrible, it did make sense.

Naturally, the suggestion was opposed when it was first made. Though they had grown used to "that kind of thing," if they could avoid experiencing it, that was obviously better. After all... it hurt.

However, the suggestion was eventually accepted, because the child who had proposed it volunteered to bear that responsibility. His reason was, "Whoever suggests it should be responsible for it."

You were deeply moved. You could see from his expression how difficult and unwilling he had been when making that decision, as well as the final resolve. In the days after the plan was decided, you almost compensatorily tried to make it up to him, as if that was the only way to make yourself feel better.

The following days went smoothly. You lived as usual, and neither the Priest nor the nuns noticed anything. On the night of the plan, the operation also went smoothly. You locked your door as always, curled up in the corner of your bed, and watched warily as the Priest naturally opened the door and entered in the middle of the night. After he left, you waited a while longer before quietly opening your door and walking slowly down the corridor.

As you passed one room, faint sounds reached you through the door. You could vaguely make out the child's voice and the Priest's. You pressed your lips together, knowing it was time to act.

You knocked on the door of the child who had agreed to leave with you as "evidence," softly called his name, and used your voice to prove your identity. Then, the two of you quickly left together—relying on the soundproofing here, you could move more boldly and more quickly.

Everything went smoothly. You circled behind the storage shed, climbed over the wall using the piled-up debris, squeezed through the gaps in the iron bars at the cemetery gate, then found familiar roads by the decent moonlight and scattered streetlights, following the direction to the Police Station from your memory.

"Are we really going this way, Wang?"

The young boy wrapped his clothes more tightly around himself. The night, with winter gradually approaching, was especially cold.

"Of course. I remember."

Xi Wang answered firmly. He seemed exceptionally confident in his memory.

"But it feels like we've been walking for so long..."

"It hasn't even been an hour."

"Should... should we just forget it? We don't have to go... The Priest gives us a place to live, food, and clothes. That kind of thing... we can endure it... right?"

By the end, even his own tone had become uncertain.

"That isn't a reason for him to do that kind of thing."

Xi Wang spoke while searching for the route in his memory. At the same time, he tightened his clothes around himself to keep warm. After a brief pause, he added,

"Besides, Wright is already keeping the Priest occupied for us. We can't let what he did be in vain... If we're fast enough, we can even go back and catch him in the act."

"Y-yeah..."

The boy seemed to realize what his earlier words implied. His eyes unconsciously glanced aside, and his tone became even more guilty.

"...We're close. We'll be there soon."

Xi Wang spoke softly, as though soothing him, or perhaps telling himself the same thing.

After continuing along the route in his memory for a while, Xi Wang spotted several landmarks that looked familiar. Delighted, he hurried forward with the boy. Before long, they arrived at that place, the place that would surely help them—the Police Station.

Even in the dead of night, the lights were still on. They could vaguely see officers diligently on duty inside, chatting and joking with one another to ease their growing drowsiness.

"Great!"

Xi Wang spoke excitedly, his expression relaxing slightly, as though a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. He quickly led the boy into the police station, preparing to ask them for help.

"Hey, little guys, why aren't you asleep at home at this hour? What are you doing here?"

When Xi Wang pushed open the door and entered, several officers on duty noticed the two children and asked in a half-joking, half-inquisitive tone.

"Officer, we need help."

Xi Wang spoke very seriously. Then he gently pulled over the boy beside him, whose expression was somewhat stiff, rolled up his sleeve, and revealed the lingering injuries on his arm.

Judging from their severity, these injuries already qualified as abuse. Combined with the boy's somewhat unwilling expression, the injuries certainly did not exist only on his arm.

"Oh?"

The officers looked at the two of you, then at the injuries on the boy's arm. They frowned, seemingly displeased that such a young child had been abused.

Xi Wang noticed this and immediately told them everything the Priest had done, informing them that a child was being abused by the Priest at that very moment.

"This is... outrageous. I can't believe something like this is happening."

One of the officers stepped forward and gently pulled the boy's sleeve back down, covering his injuries. Then he looked the boy directly in the eyes.

"Child, tell me. You can guarantee that the Priest did all of this, right?"

"...Mm."

The boy looked timidly at the officer before him, then at Xi Wang standing beside him and encouraging him with his eyes. He lowered his head, gave a slight nod, and responded in an almost inaudible voice.

"...This is unbelievable! That Priest is actually doing such things in secret!"

The officer who had received the answer fell silent for a moment before speaking with near-indignant anger.

The Priest seemed to have a very good reputation outside?

The thought flashed through Xi Wang's mind instinctively.

"Come on, children! We'll take you back! Someone like that must be punished!"

But soon, the officer took the boy's hand and led him outside. At the same time, aside from those who needed to remain at the Police Station on duty, several officers wore indignant expressions as they led Xi Wang out as well, making him stop dwelling on the thought.

The police will help us, he thought.

Several officers brought the boy into one police car, while several others took Xi Wang into another.

"Don't be afraid, child. We'll protect you."

In the back seat, an officer smiled, gently patted Xi Wang's tense and anxious back, and spoke softly.

"...Mm."

Xi Wang nodded, relaxing slightly.

He did not sense anything wrong, nor did he think there was any problem with any of this. After all, "go to the police when you're in trouble" was only natural.

But when everyone returned to the church, what Xi Wang saw was a peaceful, tranquil courtyard, the Priest who seemed to have come out to greet them after hearing the police sirens, and the officers... who greeted the Priest with obvious familiarity.

They spoke with each other familiarly, seemingly exchanging a few jokes and chatting about everyday matters. Then the officers gently pushed the boy, who had kept his head lowered and was constantly rubbing the corner of his clothes between his fingers, signaling toward the Priest before pointing at you, who were still in the car.

"..."

The Priest looked over in the direction they indicated. There was a faint smile in his eyes as he looked at Xi Wang.

!!!

Xi Wang's expression instantly turned horrified. Realizing something was wrong, he immediately tried to get out of the car and run.

But...