The Game [OLD VERSION] | OUAT

Jack

[A/N: Thanks for giving this a chance, hope it won't let you down!]

I shook my head as I stood up. I had to go back to the orphanage before that men could find me. Stealing a quick look around, I suddenly heard a voice behind me.

     "Sienna," I turned round to quite a tall, blond guy darting me an enquiring glance. Jack, one of the boys living with me in the auspice. "What have you got there?" he asked, nodding to the pocket of my leather jacket.

     I tried to focus on his question, but my head was still lost in the guy I had just met.

     "Sienna?" he repeated as he waved his hand on my face. "Earth calling to Si!"

     "Have you heard anything about a new boy in the village?" I asked out of nowhere.

     Jack seemed startled by my question, narrowing his eyes as he looked down, lost in thought. "A new boy here? I don't think so... Why? Have you?"

     I hesitated to tell him the previous occurrences. "Oh, no, it's just that...", a smile spread across my face as I took the food out of my pocket, looking up at Jack. "Here you are: bread and some chocolate. All I could do with", Jack returned the grin gratefully.

     I broke a piece of the chocolate bar and offered it to him.

     "Come on," he said as he chewed his precious favourite snack. "We must be back before anyone notices we left."

     "Let's go, then", I smiled to myself; he had already forgotten about the boy.

***

The night had long fallen when we arrived at the orphanage and the children were already asleep. Jack opened the door carefully in order not to wake up the nurses or the caretakers, as we entered the building and went upstairs in silence.

     "Well, are you going to tell me what you were doing in that street all alone?" Jack whispered, half amused, half worried. Being only some months older, I had always thought he felt obliged to look after me.

     The mysterious guy I had seen earlier came to my mind again.

I was not alone.

"I could ask you the same", I replied with a sly smirk. I knew Jack would get seriously concerned if I told him about the boy.

     He laughed quietly. "I was just going for a walk in this beautiful night", he said mockingly.

     "Well then, so was I", I played along.

     Eventually, we reached the common bedroom, where eleven children were sleeping deeply.

Jack and I were the oldest in the orphanage; him being sixteen years old, me having turned fifteen. The youngest girl there was four years old —and after me came a nine-year-old boy so, yeah, we didn't have anyone but each other. Still, escaping from the orphanage with him had always been great fun, even though we would have to return eventually. It was sort of an odd game with no rules, in which we were even permitted to steal. It was our game.

     I tiptoed through the room towards my bed, the closest one to the only window, and sat down on it. So did Jack, whose bed was beside mine. He covered himself with the blankets as I heard his breath grow heavy, slow, and he soon fell asleep. My eyes went then to the window, gazing at the brightest star in the sky; the second star to the right, I liked to call it. I often dreamed that star was all mine, my only pertinence in a world where nothing had ever belonged to me, and where I had belonged to nobody. I watched it, admiring its inextinguishable light.

     My eyelids started weighting as my mind escaped into the world of dreams.

***

A hooded figure hidden by a cloak rode swiftly across the way. The horse stopped in front of an old stable, and the man jumped onto the ground.

     Almost instantly, an elderly woman came out of the barn.

     "I heard you coming, sir", the woman panted.

     "Good night, Bertha", the man replied calmly.

     "She's here, sir, she's here!" Bertha yelled happily.

     "Is it... a girl?" the man asked, eyes filles with surprise a d excitment. Bertha nodded her head vigorously as they both beamed widely. He took her hands, his tone bursting with joy.

     "And where's the fortunate mother?" he asked loudly, his eyes darting to the barn.

     Bertha gestured for him to follow her inside. There was a young woman sitting on an old rocking chair, staring at something in her lap with sweetness. She was sweating slightly and seemed to be tired, but she was still very beautiful. Her gaze was totally latched on it, and a smile of delight grew wider on her face. He approached her while Bertha grinned happily behind them, and he realized what the woman had in her arms: their baby, their daughter.

     "Love," said the woman in a sweet tone. "Would you like to meet your daughter?"

     The man looked at the little girl: she was so beautiful, a vulnerable child whose life depended on him since that very moment. He instantly felt a convulsion of joy and anxiousness and the woman looked at him, as an only, tiny tear ran down his cheek. He took the baby from her hands and placed her in his strong arms.

     "Well, little lass," the man whispered near the baby, who slept deeply. "I believe you and I are going to spend much time together." He looked up at the woman again, grinning. "What will her name be, love?"

     She smiled back at him as she stated proudly:

     "Sienna."