Breaking Violins

Prologue

Elijah smirked at her. He’d wanted to explore that venue since he first set foot in October Hill. Curiosity got the best of her and she met his gaze again only to have her breath taken away. He kissed her again. Slower this time. Her heart beat was incredibly fast and she felt as if she couldn’t breathe. He leaned away again but pressed their fore heads together.

“Take deep breaths,” He whispered to her. She nodded and breathed deeply. He brought his lips softy to hers one last time before picking up her crushed ice pack and bringing back to her head. She shivered delicately. She didn’t know when or how but she knew some thing was starting right now. Her skin was coated in a thin sheen of sweat though she felt cold.

....................................................

The morning breakfast bell croaked like an old caged bird throughout the house. Emberlynne hadn’t been asleep anyway so it didn’t bother her to crawl out of bed at 7:30 am. She grabbed her guppy, a beat up antic stuffed rabbit with a detachable black top hat, limp arms and legs that flailed at its sides, button eyes and a large tear over the forehead where it had obviously been stitched back up. A filthy thing really but Emberlynne went nowhere without it.  She looked in her full body wood-framed mirror at her rather pretty reflection. She wouldn’t have thought so but no one could be oblivious to her beauty. A beautiful even complexion of caramel brown skin that looked as satin to the touch and wavy ebony hair that met the small of her back and swept in baby curls across her forehead and neck. But Emberlynne’s most startling feature was her ocean blue eyes that didn’t really belong on a colored girls face.

Her white suit didn’t feel out of place in a place like this; October Hill’s orphanage for mentally challenged teens and adolescence. She shuffled out of her room and into the hallway where she spotted Hart Cartridge. There were dark purple circles under his eyes and he was humming the sesame street theme song. Hart’s mop of blonde hair was carelessly placed and he didn’t seem to give a damn in the world either. They walked silently side by side all the way down to the first floor for breakfast. The old English paintings and rugs that resided in the hallway weren’t really worth a sparred glance. Once they made it to the Grande hall for breakfast most of the kids wear all seated. Lillian Mani was in the far corner of the room struggling with one of the nurses.

                “Now, Lillian swallow the goddamn pill before Mother comes down here.” He pleaded trying to hold her rampantly swinging arms and legs. She let out a child’s impatient squeal.

“No,” Her high pitched voice responded stubbornly.

“If we can’t get you to take your medicine, well have to use a needle.” The male nurse taunted. Lillian then stopped struggling. Emberlynne took her seat next to Hart. The Grande hall was clad in chandelier and red carpet with beautiful medieval designs. The nurses cautiously served them one by one with different assortments of food, some cut up into small pieces to avoid choking hazards. Everything was premade and designed to be eaten with fingers only. There were no utensils at October Hill. There had been so many violent riots and gruesome suicides at October Hill in the last hundred years that it had been opted to be shut down several times.

                As Emberlynne reached for a small cut of pancake to dip in syrup, Damen interrupted her.

“Emmy, how many times have I told you about having Guppy at the table,” He said referring to her Rabbit. Her eyes filled with tears as she handed him over to the young yet friendly male nurse. His green eyes glittered with remorse as he took Guppy and patted her hair lightly in reassurance. For the rest of Breakfast Emberlynne remained silent and still, not even glancing at her food. Once everyone had been dismissed he gave her Guppy and smiled with a hint of pity.