[Short] My Father is A Billionaire

My name is Rio Fidas. I'm an orphan. Well, at least I used to be.
For the first ten years of my life, I've been living under a church that has given me the privilege to do many things. But hear me out! I had to share it with my siblings, and I wasn't even sure if they were related to me. We knew we had to live here for a long time.

Days in the church were pretty alright, I would say. For ten years, Sister Diana has always taken care of me as if I were her own child. Sister Claire taught me as if I were her lovely student. And Sister Faune helped me with everything else, as if I were her best friend.

Well, I said that, but the other kids probably felt the same, too. The sisters gave their attention equally to my siblings, and not just to me, which is why I whined a bit here.

The other day, Reine had her homework from school, and Sister Claire had her full attention occupied with her. Whenever the kitchen was almost out of ingredients, Sister Faune always invited me to help her buy groceries, but not always, because Helga got her turn that week. Then, the other week was George's turn.

I felt entitled, but could you blame me, though? I was ten at the time. I was still a kid who liked attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time passed like crazy, and I was eleven. The church got a surprise visitor.

"Excuse me, Sister", his voice was deep, very mature, and scary.
"Oh, my. If it isn't Doctor Morguiene", Sister Diana looked very happy seeing him. He must be a good guy, then.
"May I come in?"
"Please, Doctor. You may come in."

We, the kids, were all hiding while hearing the conversation between the doctor and Sister Diana. Until Sister Faune found us out, "Hey, what are you kids doing here? No eavesdropping, okay. It's bad behavior."

We got escorted to the playground, but before we were fully out of the frame, I managed to hear the doctor say, "Say... is there a kid that I could adopt?"

I didn't fully grasp it at first because it had been five years since anyone had expressed interest in adopting us. I got a rollercoaster of emotions when I heard that from him. I was happy that someone would get adopted, and I got more attention from the Sisters. But at the same time, I had a bad feeling that he was a bad person.

It was evening, and Sister Claire taught us Math. By the way, just letting you all know— I hate Math. What was this a learning subject for people like me? What was this even for?
After the learning session ended, we got informed by Sister Claire, "Ok, kids. I have a little bit of good news for you."

Good news?
"Rio will get adopted by a family!" Sister Claire and the others cheered; meanwhile, I was flabbergasted and empty-headed.

"Wait, Sister! Is the one who adopted me the doctor?"
"Oh, my. That would be correct, Rio. How do you know?"
"I happened to hear the conversation between him and Siater Diana."

And so, I've been scheduled by the Sisters to pack all of my belongings before the day of my adoption. Honestly, at the time, I was so nervous. I mean, it was my first time... well, my first and last time I'll get adopted, right? Someone in my position would be extremely nervous. But alas, I had to keep going.

"Rio, I will miss you, brother."
"Me too. Don't forget about me, okay?"
"Yeah, remember to visit us often."

I never thought they would miss me. It actually felt warming and calming to know that they would remember me when I was away from the church.
"I... guess, I'll try to remember you guys", I answered awkwardly, but surprisingly, they still felt happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day of my adoption came, and all of my brothers and sisters, as well as the Sisters of the church, gathered to say goodbye to me. And for the first time in my life, I felt sad. It was quite an emotional goodbye; they were tearing up as I went away in the doctor's car.

As the car moved farther away from the church, the more anxious I got. The doctor then finally said something to me, while driving at the front of the car, "Now, dear. May I know your full name, please?"
I was surprised and thought, Huh? He didn't know my name? That's strange.
Somehow, some way, he answered my thought, "I was not aware of who would be my new son. The Sister said that you are one of the five oldest kids in the church."

I just went with his answer and said, "Rio Fidas, sir."
He quickly replied, "Now, now. We are officially family. You can call me dad or father. There is no need to be embarrassed."
I was hesitant, but said it anyway, "Ok, Dad. I understand"

After that, he took a look at me in the rear-view mirror. I looked at him back through the mirror just a second before deciding to face away to the window. The car ride took about three hours, and it was a stressful one.

"Would you like a tour, Rio? It's still four", he said it calmly while looking through the rear-view mirror. It gave me creepy vibes.
"I guess I can go on a tour", I said with a bit of hesitation. I was under so much pressure that I didn't even know whether I should feel happy or not.

I had a new family with a single father. Yeah, that sounds sketchy as heck. It made my skin crawl. I was under the impression the doctor would at least have a wife; turns out he didn't. He said that her wife had died a couple of years ago, and she went out with a baby still in her womb. I didn't understand it at the time, but reflecting on it now, that was a remarkably insensitive thing to say to an eleven-year-old kid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a one-hour tour of the house, I finally rested in my room.
I was amazed by the vastness of this house. The doctor never said how grateful he was that he had this big house, but deep down, I could tell that he was delighted. I mean, he was so passionate about telling me all the rooms and things that he owned. That alone explained how he cared about his stuff.

Before going to bed, however, the doctor called me for dinner.
When we had dinner, he often asked me what I liked and disliked. Favorite things and dreams. All of them, he asked. I left there wondering why he was so fixated on me. It gave me chills that ran down my spine.

"So, Rio. I know this is sudden, but... from now on, you're name is not Rio Fidas, okay?"
As he said that, the aura surrounding him made me shiver, and my eyes locked onto him.
"From now on, your name is Rio Morguiene."
As a response, I nodded my head while my face was drenched in sweat.
"Great. We will arrange everything else tomorrow, and your activities, such as school and church, will remain the same. If you want anything, just ask me, okay?"
Once again, I nodded.

After dinner, I helped wash the dishes and headed to bed. Before that, though, I had a long bath. In that moment, I kept on thinking if this was a good thing. He has been kind to me from our first meeting, but that could be just an act... right? Was it right to be suspicious about someone who was adopting you? Should I be more cautious about the doctor?
This question kept lingering in my brain as I bathed.

Even before I went to bed, my mind was still fixated on the doctor.
"Am I... really his son, now? Isn't this too good to be true?"
Those were my last words before I closed my eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week has passed, and the doctor and I have become so much closer than on the first day.
"How's your school, Rio?"
"Oh, it's great, Dad. I'm glad you chose this school! Everybody there was so kind to me", believe me, that was a lie.
"Great! What do you want for dinner? Or do you want to make your own meal again?"
"Yeah. I will make my own." I was glad that the doctor permitted me to use the stove. I know I was eleven, and I shouldn't have been near those things, but if I can use it, what's the harm?

"Okay, dear. I'll drop you off at the house then. I'll be back at nine, so the lights have to be off before then, okay!"
"I'll make sure about it, Dad. I promised!"

How naive I was! After spending a week with the doctor, I was already relatively closer. Reflecting on it now, I couldn't believe how quickly my cautiousness has dissipated. It vanished when the doctor was playing a video game with me and giving a present. Oh dear me, the mind of a child is so easy to manipulate.

"Alright, kiddo. See you tonight."
"Good luck at work, Dad!"
And there I was back at the doctor's house.

I must admit, however, that even though I had my suspicions, I still learned a lot when I was at the church. I was quite happy. Like, I got PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo in the house, and it's not even my birthday yet. He knew how to impress a kid.

"Yeah! I love this game so much", there I was playing with my Nintendo without a care in the world. Until...
"Oh! It's seven? Time to turn on the light and head to bed."

This moment, when I almost found out what had been going on with the doctor.
"Oh... A basement... Hmm, he never said it, but might as well turn on the light, right?"
"Rio!" He screamed and scared me half to death.
"Wuaaah, father? I thought you came back at nine."
He walked closer to me and said, "Never, ever go to the basement. Do you understand?"
Scared, haunted, frightened, horrified — any word that evoked those emotions — I could feel it deep within my bones and nerves. Sweat was running down my head, and my throat was dry.

"Ye... ye... yes... I understand, Dad."
"Good. Now go to bed."
After that night, my suspicion was raised again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But not for long.
A year had passed, and the doctor and I had turned into a proper family. Even though a year had passed and we became a proper family, I still hold that thought of, "Why was he so insistent about the basement? Why didn't he allow me to go there?"

Those thoughts ran rampant free in my head, while I also felt happy because I had a good time with the doctor.
"Rio. Do you have a dream?" he asked me out of nowhere.
"Well..." Before I could even answer, he was suggesting something.
Something that sent out chill down my spine, "If you don't, why not continue my works? You have already seen me working in the office and are interested in it, right?"
"Ah... yeah, maybe", I just answered without a proper answer. At that moment, my thoughts clouded again. He is so insistent. What does he want from me?

My birthday was near and I asked myself, "It's almost my 12th birthday, could I even ask that?"
The doctor looked at me suspiciously while we were dining out. I had no idea what he was thinking about.
He asked me, "How's your week, son? It's almost your first birthday, which we'll celebrate together. Aren't you excited?"
I answered, "Of course, Dad."
"What do you want for your birthday, son?"
After hearing that question, I was about to ask the question that I wanted to ask, but I changed it: "Dad, may I know how you became a billionaire?"

He was stunned. I looked at him seriously, and the atmosphere around us was thickening. He smiled at me and said, "You'll know when you're ready, son. Success will come around when you do hard work."
I could see that he dodged that question. He is also so persistent, huh?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you ever wondered why a billionaire became a billionaire in the first place? Sure, the doctor has good evidence as to why he is a billionaire now, but the question would still linger in my brain from time to time.

News and rumors about his success were all over the internet and newspapers. It was a massive story, and I became a central component of it. Yes, you heard me correctly. That's why I asked him about his successes; he used my name to spread lies in his interview.

I was never once involved in his success. Heck, I've only been here since he adopted me a year ago. What was his scheme that needed me in the picture of his success?

And that day, that question will be answered. I would come down there to reveal his secret. I prolonged it too long. I was tired of waiting for him to answer honestly. So, here I was, in front of the door to the basement.

Standing there, I was shivering. I knew for a fact that he won't be here any time soon. He was on TV and being interviewed. I could do whatever I wanted. Usually, I would play a video game and wait until he came back, but that day was different. I had made up my mind to go down to the basement, so I unlocked the door and went in without hesitation.

...

I found out upon entering.
"Uegh"
That was not a joke, I was puking because I just saw...
"... Human hanging on the ceiling?"
I got out of there as fast as I could and locked it back.

"What has he done? Why are humans hanging there?"
My mind went numb, I couldn't move, and I sat in front of the door for a long time.
I recovered just before he was back, and when he was opening the front door, he saw me and smiled at me. Of course, I smiled back and said, " Welcome back."
But in reality, I was scared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He is the best thing that I have after my wife passed away", that sounded morbid and disgusting after I discovered something in the basement. I just couldn't wrap my head around it, and it was filled with a lot of negative thoughts. Like, I just wanted to puke all over again and again.

"What is it, son?"
I couldn't! I just couldn't see his face anymore.
"Are you sick?"
I couldn't say anything.
"Son?"
My heart couldn't stop throbbing.

"You... have done it, haven't you?"
Everything fell to the ground.
"What did you see, son? Tell me!"
He knew... He Knew!
"What did you do when you saw it?"
NO! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER

Dream? It was all a dream?
I woke up with my body drenched in sweat, and it didn't smell nice.
I quickly grabbed a towel and headed toward the sink inside my bathroom to wash my face. It didn't make my mind at ease, but at least it made me calm a little bit. After that, I just sat down on the sofa in my room. I couldn't sleep at all. The nightmare took hold of my fear and made my heart beat too fast.

Then I heard a knock outside my room, "Rio? You okay, son?"
That's him! Did he know?
I walked toward my door ever so slightly and quietly.
*Knock* *Knock* "Son?"
Should I even open it and pretend to sleep?
"I'm coming in!"

"Hmm, it seemed that it was just my imagination."
I decided to quickly go back to my bed and cover myself with the blanket. I still couldn't face him right then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another year has passed, and it was my birthday.
"Happy birthday, Rio!"
A lot of my friends came to celebrate it.
"Thanks, everyone. I appreciated your kind gesture. And also, thank you to all who came to my party that my dad had prepared."

The party went well...
Well, until the end, that was.
"Huh? Power shortage? Why is it dark?"
I didn't prepare for that, and I tried to calm everyone in the room.
"Everybody! Keep calm! I know my dad will fix this! Just don't move a muscle and keep quiet!"

The power was restored, and everyone was relieved.
After that incident, we cut short our party and made it as brief as possible because we thought the party drew too much electricity.

"Thanks for coming!" I shouted at everyone that leave my residence. "Come again!"
After that, I came back inside my house...
"Son, could you please lend me a hand?"
He asked me with a tone I had never heard before.
Almost like he was trying to hide something.

"Sure, Dad", I answered him nervously.
I came up to him to hear his request.
"I have work to do in the basement. Can I ask you to cook dinner? You can use the leftovers from your party."

"Yeah... Sure! I'll do it."
I wasn't sure what to expect there, but he's definitely going to do something notorious...
Don't think about it! Don't think about it!
And it made me overthink things.

After I had finished making our dinner, I called him out, "Dad! Dinner's ready!"
He didn't respond.
"Dad? It's going to get cold."
Still no response.
"Wonder what he's up to."

As I said that, I walked toward the basement door. Slowly and steadily. I arrived and looked at the doorknob, staring at it without blinking. My hand was shaking even before I grabbed the doorknob; heck, it was even covered in sweat. I counted every second my hand approached the doorknob. My hand was so heavy and...

*Kreek*

"You say something, son?"
I ended up back at the dinner table.
"Yeah! Dinner's ready!"
"Ah, okay. I'll be there in just a moment. My work is almost done", he had the biggest smile saying that to me. I didn't understand why, but...

"HELP! SOMEBODY!"
What?

*Kreek*

I heard something that made my body shiver. It was not as loud, but I could hear it. What was he up to down there? I was wondering, and I thought that was just a recorded voice, but then that thought got scrapped after I was reminded that I had seen human flesh the last time I went in there.

"Fuck! That thought ruined my appetite. Now, it's hard to eat these meals."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week passed by, and that voice of someone calling for help was still lingering inside my brain. I felt uneasy every time I approached the basement door. I got goosebumps and started sweating.

He hasn't come home yet, then. So, I could only do what I always do before he arrived home, playing some game...

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

Huh?
I heard a knocking sound coming from the basement door.
What the hell was that? It sounded too real. Am I hallucinating?
I became paranoid and had an overthinking again.

"I already went inside there once. Never again!"
That was what I said out loud, but deep down, I knew I had to check it out again...

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

The knocking repeated, and this time it sounded louder. My eyes locked onto the door, and thoughts were running wild inside my brain.

Was the screaming last week real? What was he doing last week? The knocking is getting louder and I hate it!

I haven't decided yet if I want to investigate further...

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

But that last knock convinced me to stand up and walk up to the door.
"I hate what I'm about to do. I hope I didn't regret this later."
Without hesitation, I opened the door and the result...

"No... one? Was that really a hallucination? I could've sworn..."

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

I did a double-take to confirm that fourth knocking sound.
"It's still coming from deep in. What is that?"

I went in with bravery before he came back. My heart was beating fast, sweat drenched like a waterfall, and all my wrists felt like noodles, but those were cancelled by my concern about that knocking.

"Hello? Anybody here?"

I shouted multiple times, and the knocking was still there. It was concerning.
In my childhood, I never thought I would care for a stranger. Yet, here I was walking through the basement trying to find someone in need of my help.

When I arrived at the point I was in last time, I was surprised...
"The hanging human flesh is not here anymore? What?"

I quickly changed the topic before I overthought it again. I hyper-focused on my subject to find the origin of that knocking sound.
As I dived deeper into the basement, I noticed that the basement went much deeper underground...
"How deep is this basement?"

A dark tunnel...
Candle holder on the wall...
Slippery moss on the ground, wall, and ceiling...
Bugs flew everywhere...
And there were sounds of crickets...

Mixed feelings going through that stair hall, but I made it past. Upon arriving, I could see things that defined a sci-fi-like scenario. I felt like I arrived at something out of Five Nights at Freddy's or Poppy Playtime. It was ominous.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

It quickly became more ominous when I heard the knocking sound directly in front of me. The source of sound was a door that looked like a regular wooden door that has a round upper part. The knocking didn't sound like a regular knock anymore; it was more like banging, since it sounded like whoever was behind that door was using something big to force their way to... break the door, I guess?

"Hello?" I asked into the door, "Who is that behind the door?"
I got no response.

I slowly approached the door, and with intense feeling, I glued my vision to that door. I locked in and told myself to be brave for a second because there were some people in need of my help. Or so I thought, I don't really know what to expect beyond the door.

I grabbed the door handle and tried to open it. No luck! The door was shut tight. I couldn't even turn the handle. I didn't give up, though, because after that failed attempt, I quickly scanned the room to search for a meaningful item that could help me go through the door. In the middle of searching, I noticed something...
The disturbing truth about my adoptive father.

"What the heck? A... human experiment?"
I saw some kind of blueprint inside one of the monitors. And in that blueprint, it contains a human that got skinned and cut into portions.

"What the fuck is this sicko thing?"

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

The knocking could be heard again, but then it was different this time.

*PSST*

I heard the wooden door just release gas. In my head, I was so confused, but through my eyes, I saw that the door didn't open like a regular door. It was open like one of those doors that slide upward. Then, I saw what I truly couldn't believe, "Mister Coulsen?" My teacher from my school came out of that room.

"Rio? What the... What are you doing here? This place is not safe!"

I felt betrayed. I never thought he was involved in this madness. I never once felt he was important in this whole story; I didn't feel the need to mention him once in my life.

"Rio... Tell me!"
"No! You first! Why are you down here in my father's basement?"
"I'm sorry, Rio! I hope you understand!"

In the blink of an eye, I was tranquilized with a weapon that Mr. Coulsen pulled up, and I was unconscious. After that, I didn't know what happened to me or Mr. Coulsen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rio! Are you okay?"
"Dad?"

I ended up on top of my bed, and the doctor was sitting beside me.
"You were talking in your sleep. Did you get delirious?"
"Huh? No?"
He is playing with me... right?

I hated that he consistently blocked me from those topics if he didn't want me to know. I was just saying, weren't you the one trying to tie me up in your success? If he wanted to get me involved, why lie?

"Okay, I'll make sure you sleep well tonight. I'll be sleeping on the sofa."
"Oh, okay."
He's onto me! He knew I would sneak back to the basement.

I was sweating, but calm. I planned out a way to expose him. I already know this much about him, I couldn't just stop there. I needed to know more. That's just how it goes, right? When you know too much, you want more.

"Dad?" I called out to him.
"Yes?" He looked at me.
"May I go to the bathroom?" I lied.
"Why did you ask? Of course, you can." He answered honestly.
"Ok, I'll be back." I walked out of my room.
I expected he wouldn't suspect me, but he stared at me blankly. I had no idea whether that was code or not, but that stare really sets off my goosebumps.

Yeah, that was definitely a code. I had to act fast!

To begin with, I had to enter his office without him knowing. I knew that he had CCTV installed in front of his home office. So, I needed a way to get around that! After I get inside, I have to somehow get info about this project that he and Mr. Coulsen worked on.

Second! The attics!
I have been there a couple of times already, and I know for a fact that many unused things in there could be useful for me. Oh, I also need a backpack or two.

Third! The escape route!
I didn't see many rooms other than that one room in the basement. So, my two options were to go back upstairs or YOLO it and enter that room. I would much rather the former, but the latter option could lead to discovery.

Fourth! Confirmation!
I already went this far. I had to know why there was human flesh down there! I had to know where that knocking voice came from! And I had to know... Why did he want me to get involved?

And finally!
Try to inform the authority. I have no idea how that works or if the Indonesian government would be interested in this investigation. But I at least had to give it a go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No... No... There is no way...

I failed. I got caught!
I have much to do, but little time to execute it. He caught me even before I arrived at his office. He was already inside when I crawled out from the air ventilation.

"Dad? How?"
He sits there manically, looking at me like I'm some kind of bug that he can easily crush.

"I'm proud of you, Rio. I thought you would like to forget all of this."
He sat there and wouldn't move a muscle, staring and looking disappointed at me.

"I... I..." I was speechless. I couldn't form a word.

"I must say, for a kid your age, I was surprised you went this far to know my secret."

It took bravery, and I actually did it!
"Tell me, father! You said, "You'll know when you're ready, son. Success will come around when you do hard work," to me when I was turning twelve. Tell me now! I am ready!"

"I guess... You have the right to know, huh? Okay then, I'll tell you what all of these are about... I hope... You ready..."

~To Be Continued, in: All I Ever Wanted Is Just Attention~