By Ariel
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: mild child abuse - for now... Ariel POV
Disclaimers: From now until the end, all ideas and characters are mine. *grins* Don't take. It won't make me happy and then you won't like what will happen.
A soft sound, muffled by the locked door, woke me up. I realized that at some point during the night I must have cried myself to sleep. Being abandoned and locked in a broom closet in a dingy basement had never crossed my mind for spending my first night at the orphanage – in America. A sliver of the morning’s light filtered in the closet by way of the tiny space at the bottom of the door. It wasn’t much but it allowed me to see my feet that I had now carefully stretched out onto the floor after having been pulled up the entire night.
My eyes felt dry now after crying the night before. I slowly wiped my face with the back of my hand, choking back a harsh sob when I felt that my fingers were tangled in a spider’s web. A soft whimper escaped my lips however, as a few tiny spiders crawled around me, one down my arm and onto the floor. I somehow knew they would not really hurt me but the feel of their spindly legs on my skin made me quite uncomfortable. The webs – getting caught in them, feeling them surround me – made me dislike the tiny monsters so much more.
I hadn’t really minded the mice as much. Their soft sounds from scurrying around the closet reminded me I wasn’t truly alone. I had thought they couldn’t – wouldn’t – leave me, but I was proved wrong. From the tiny ray of light, I saw the floor was free from the small rodents. They must have managed to escape or hide someplace. If they had escaped, then they truly were lucky. The only signs of life in that closet were the spiders and myself – a combination I wasn’t at all content with.
The sound outside the door got louder and once again it captured my attention. I wondered how much longer before I would be allowed out. A part of me wanted to try to escape, but the other part of me held me back, telling me that to do so would only get me in deeper trouble. I decided that it was not a risk I was willing to take yet. Ms. Haine seemed to hate me enough and I definitely didn’t want to add more to that feeling by doing something very, very wrong. I feared her with my life at this very moment and without anyone or anything to turn to – no family, no memory, no friends – I had to be brave ~ at least for now.
I stilled when the footsteps came closer, holding my breath. My hand captured my pendant and my fingers began rubbing it idly in a desperate attempt to calm myself. The light coming in was suddenly blocked by someone’s shadow. I started praying for someone to let me free – not knowing who would actually hear my silent pleas. With the way things had been going for me, I didn’t think that I would have any luck.
A gruff voice pulled away from my constantly wandering thoughts. “Hello? Anyone in there?” The male’s voice was very close and I jumped when he knocked on the door, my feet kicking the bucket I had been sitting on. “Hello? Ariel?” The sound of him fidgeting with the doorknob, as well as the scraping of the chair against the floor, made me sob out a sigh of slight relief.
My voice shook a little but I answered his call. “Y-yes, Sir. I’m inside…” I unconsciously kept playing with my pendant, the fingers of my other hand smoothing down my dress as I shifted on my seat. I could see a little more light filtering in from the sides of the door as it shook from the man’s effort to open it.
“Hold on then, sweetie,” his voice seemed soothing. Was it possible that a nice adult lived – or worked – here? I didn’t dwell much on the idea because he had spoken again. “Give me just another minute.” With that said, the creaky door opened and I was blinded by the light entering from one of the windows at the upper section of the basement.
I rubbed my eyes to help clear my vision, whimpering from the pain their dryness had caused me. I wanted to thank the man who had freed me but when I opened my eyes and looked up to take a good look at his face, I gasped in fear. He was tall and wore black slacks and a navy blue dress shirt that was tucked in, almost completely unbuttoned. He had slightly graying short hair that was slicked back. His black eyes held the same cold, hateful look as Ms. Haine’s. I knew I was in trouble when he smirked down at me and stepped inside the closet.
Losing my battle against panic, I let out a cry when he grabbed me by the arms and lifted me up, pushing my back against the wall, my feet completely off the ground. I thought I had cried all my tears the night before but I was wrong. They were now falling from my eyes, dripping from my cheeks onto his shoes.
The sound of his voice frightened me enough not to speak. “So, Ariel. No wonder Hélène didn’t let me come see her new “child” last night. She wanted me to appreciate you in the natural light.” He smirked darkly as he shifted, using one hand to grab onto my upper arm and allow my legs to hold me up. He slid a finger from his free hand down my cheek and neck, stopping a moment to pick up the pendant and look at it. “Nice…” he smirked then let it go, his fingers moving back up to my hair, playing with it in a way that I didn’t like.
After another moment of his inspection, he closed his eyes and leaned closer, his face now buried in my hair. He let out a groan and shuddered, releasing my arm and dropping to the floor. I huddled as far away from him as I could, staring up at him with teary, fearful eyes. I didn’t know what to do or what else was going to happen to me right now but I wanted to get away.
“Horace!” The sound of Ms. Haine’s voice tore my eyes away from the man and over to the headmistress of the orphanage. I would have felt relieved but the sneer on her face directed at me wouldn’t allow such a desired emotion to fill me. “I see you found my newest addition. She is very lovely, isn’t she?” She strolled over to the closet, carefully pushing the man away from me and kneeling down in front of me. “I see you had a lovely night, dear.” I fought a whimper at the ice in her voice. “Isn’t that right?”
Knowing that she was expecting an affirmative answer, I nodded my head quickly. “Y-yes, M-ms. Haine. T-thank you.” My response must have pleased her because she got up and held out her hand for me, which I shakily took in my own.
Ms. Haine then helped me stand and pulled me out of the closet before nodding to the man. “That is Horace. He’s my lover and he helps me with the children here at the orphanage.” She smirked down at me. “When I am disobeyed and not in the mood to deal with a certain situation, I send all the bad children to him. Unfortunately, it is not as often as he would like.” I nodded slightly, my eyes turning over to see the man whose face was flushed – almost from having been fully sated.
“Let me show you where you will be staying, child,” Ms. Haine tugged harshly on my hand and we made our way through the basement and up the narrow steps. “Last night was just your welcome, Ariel. You actually do have a small bed to sleep on. Everything I said last night though – the rules – I do expect them to be obeyed.” We continued our way down the hall and towards the main stairway. Gripping my hand tightly with her fingers once again digging into my skin, she pulled me up the stairs and making me stay only one step behind her. She kept glancing back at me, smirking darkly when my eyes showed her my fear.
We reached the top of the stairs and Ms. Haine led me down the hall. The red carpet was dusty and old, making the whole second floor have a very distinct, unpleasant smell. We stopped in front of a beat-up door, which was slightly ajar. She pushed me inside and I stumbled over my own feet. Before I made it to the ground, she grabbed me by the arm and slammed the door shut, giving me a very dark look.
“This room will be yours. There are a total of five other children in here. All girls about your age.” Ms. Haine pointed to a small bed at the far corner. A thin white sheet covered the bed and the small pillow; a folded dark blue wool comforter lay on top of it. “That is your bed. You are not allowed to change it with any of the other girls.” She then pointed to a large dresser that was by the wall next to my new bed that had six drawers. “Your drawer is the bottom one. I took the liberty this morning and put what little belongings you had inside. But, you will not be allowed to wear this pretty little dress you have on for much longer.”
When I looked up at her in surprise, she merely smirked as she continued. “You will have to wear the clothes the other children do. There is a set of clothes for each day in your drawer. Laundry is done on Saturday morning. I will leave you to yourself for now. Breakfast is over.” She looked down and then crouched down in front of me. “I’m sorry dear. But I am afraid you missed breakfast. You will have to wait for lunchtime before you eat.”
Ms. Haine laughed when she heard my stomach growling. “Too bad. If you had come in earlier last night, I might have allowed you a snack.” She stood up once again and stepped away from me. “I will leave you alone for now so you can change and think. Lunch will not be for another five hours. You will not be allowed to join the other children in their play until you eat. So I suggest you stay here until it is time for you to come down to the dining room, which I know you found last night. Do not be late or otherwise you will be punished.”
She started towards the door, opening and then stopping to look back at me. I was staring at her with fearful eyes, silent tears streaming down my face. I looked carefully into her eyes and saw nothing more than coldness and hatred deep in them. When she grunted and left, shutting the door behind her, I closed my eyes and shuddered. The look in her eyes was scary but even then, I felt a kind of pity for the woman that combined with my fear and left me feeling a bit confused.
Sighing, I moved over to my bed, coughing when I opened the blanket and dust flew up in the air. I frowned and hastily wiped the tears from my eyes before I turned to the dresser. I struggled a little with the drawer but then when I had it opened, I saw my little bear. I gently picked it up, kissing its nose gently. Instead of changing my clothes like I was planning to, I turned and collapsed onto my bed, hugging the little stuffed animal to my chest.
Sobs wracked my body as I curled up as much as I could. Tears streamed down from my eyes, staining my pale face. I didn’t care what I had to do at the moment - I had plenty of time to myself. I didn’t want to be around anyone. I had always known life would be hard. But I had never realized that at six years of age, the harsh reality of the severity of life would start for me this soon.
I reminded myself of the same thing I had the night before.
I was completely alone.
TBC….
Back to Main
On to Chapter 4
My Creations
Home