Chapter 1: A Hell Hole

Swish, swish, swish, plop.

Even as I mopped the floor, I glared at it. Another job I should not be doing. More menial work I was doing just because the Madam wanted to lord it over me.

Swish, swish, swish, plop.

My feet stepped back as I pumped my arms more vigorously. I squeezed the mop into the bucket just once, trusting that my strength was enough to have it as dry as possible.

I glanced outside at the multitudes of children milling about during the few hours of free time we had, where the caretakers left us to our own devices. However, my eyes did not linger on any specific clique with longing to join them. No. They drifted farther, to the huge oak tree beyond them. If I could finish with this chore, I could retire to my tree, where it would be peaceful and quiet. My sketchbook was up there, too.

Swish, swish, swish, plop.

"Hey freak!" one of the boys called me. "Madam wants to talk to you."

Of course she did. Since it was her favorite pastime to jostle me around like a beating rag, this new development was hardly surprising. I was, however, disappointed. Whatever new jobs she would force me to do would undoubtedly consume the rest of my evening. My sketchbook would remain untouched.

My feet and the bottoms of my work overalls were suddenly drenched. I watched the water I had dutifully collected into the bucket spread over the floor, ruining my work. My grip on the mop became knuckle- white as I turned on the boy who had tipped my bucket. Cold, white anger surged inside me like a tidal wave. I found myself baring my teeth to him as a low rumble stirred in my chest.

"Freak," the boy's companions behind him muttered among themselves. The boy himself, however, smiled cruelly. Her reached for me and tugged on my ponytail, saying, "Learn not to ignore me next time, Carrothead."

Too fast for him to see, I twisted the mop and cracked it soundly across his knees. He screeched, bending over, which gave me the chance to swipe my leg out and trip him forward. His scream was cut off my the mouthful of soapy water he encountered when he faceplanted on the floor. A cold glare solved the problem of his cronies coming after me.

I walked away.

For obvious reasons, I was not the most popular girl at this orphanage. I was blunt and not particularly friendly, and I was the oldest child still here. In other words, a reject. But the thing that repelled people from me most was that, plainly and simply, I was a freak.

Apart from my inhuman strength and reflexes, people claimed they could not see in the dark, which came as naturally to me as hearing crickets at night. I often felt detached from my peers in something deeper than loneliness, because I wasn't one of them, and I could just sense it. Many had labeled my mannerisms as animalistic and feral. Most of them wished to get rid of me, but nothing seemed to work on me. I had unwavering health, cuts and aches healed impossibly quickly, and even that one venomous snakebite I received years ago did nothing to me.

So yes, I was a freak. People talked about me but never to me, and their eyes followed me everywhere. I was always labeled as "violent," too, so they didn't normally come too close to me either.

I barged into Madam's office, like I always did. She screeched at me, like she always did.

"Isabel! How many times must I demand for you to knock, you demon child?!"

"Why would I bother?" I drawled. "Like, what am I gonna find, you kissing a picture or what?"

She glared at me. I leaned against the closed door, already bored.

I knew what was going to happen. She was going to begin her regular yelling session, then she would tire out and tell me what I did wrong this time, and the price I was to pay.

But she didn't. I narrowed my eyes.

"How long will you pester me, Isabel? You know, this is why I never recommend you to people who want to adopt. Even when they ask for you, I discourage them because I am such a nice person. Only a monster would allow good, willing potential parents to be cursed with such a burden. A lazy, insolent, disobedient, unapologetic little demon like you doesn't deserve to be among people. Unfortunately, it means I have to deal with you myself."

Ah. So this is why I had been stuck in this hell hole. She had been blocking my way out for ten years, so she could torture me herself. My anger began to simmer.

She smirked.

"Which is why I am delighted that your eighteenth birthday is in three weeks. Honestly, it couldn't have come too soon. Finally, I will not be responsible for you. This state will allow me to turn you from my door, wash my hands, and breathe. I will sleep for the first time in almost a decade!"

For once, Madam and I actually agreed on something. That last sentence was exactly what I was thinking. A tiny smile almost appeared on my face.

Then her smirk turned evil. "I was almost tempted to do it now. No one would blame me if I threw you out a little early, considering how insolent and disobedient you are. But then, I thought, I could also keep you here for a little bit longer. I could do whatever I want with you for the next few weeks. After all, you will not be present for the monthly checkup. I will probably not be compensated for keeping you this last month."

There she paused so I could soak in all the implications.

She was right. She ran this place, regulating where I could sleep, what I could eat, and what I did during my days. Now that I was turning eighteen, the state would be all too happy to forget I existed. No one would ask her about me. But if I left now, any officer who picked me up from the streets would run a background check on me and find out that I was underage. She would be questioned. So she couldn't afford to let me go yet, but she wasn't willing to waste any more of her resources on me.

"Isabel, you are going to spend the next several days alone, in a locked stall, down in the barn where you belong. You are only going to receive breakfast, which I will personally deliver to you."

She was watching for my reaction, so I gave her something she didn't expect.

I matched her evil grin.

"Ooh, how terrible. You're really poor in the creativity department. Honestly I was expecting something at least better than three weeks of what sounds like a holiday, Kelly."

Her cheeks reddened, and I was amused by her shock. She didn't think I knew her first name.

"Just for that, your cell won't even get to be a clean one!" She shrieked.

"Whatever you say, Kelly. Anything but standing here listening to you spewing bullshit. I will be delighted, just call me when you're ready."

She must have wanted to say something else, but I slammed the door on her.

My decision was made in less than a second. I wondered briefly if I had been thinking about it all along.

Immediately, I bounded up the stairs and into the dormitory. I found a bag and went straight to the laundry room. Without a thought spent on it, I stuffed it full of clothes. I picked out ones which would remind me the least about my life here.

Sure, they weren't mine, but since this was an escape, I considered it my booty.

From there, I leapt through the second-floor window and landed without so much as a scratch.

I made my way to my tree. As usual , no one bothered me. Climbing it, I settled into a comfortable spot. I used my backpack as a pillow.

Then I shut my eyes to sleep. I would need my rest, tonight.

A/N

Ooh, the first chapter! Do you like it? Please comment and vote. I'll be watching and waiting, so please don't disappoint.

What do you think will happen in the next chapter?

*Picture is of Isabel*