To Write Love on Her Arms

Chapter One

When Katta Peverell was young, age seven, she awoke from dreaming one day with a splitting headache. Reaching up, and putting her hand to her forehead, she felt something weighing her arm down. Opening her bright hazel eyes, her entire life was changed. The young British girl found herself lying on an all white hospital bed, with IVs hooked to her arms, beeping machines, and blinding white lights. How did she get there?

Katta was found at the scene of a plane crash, being one of the few survivors. It was concluded that her parents were dead and since Katta had no known relatives, to the United States government's knowledge, two weeks later she was sent to an all girls' orphanage in Salem, Massachusetts, with nothing but her name, a stuffed wolf, and an odd necklace of a triangle with a circle inside of it and a line straight through the middle with her name engraved into the back. Not to mention that the, now orphaned, seven-year-old held no memories of her life in England before her awakening.

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It was one of the many nights filled with snowfall in Salem. On this night, now 15 years old, Katta sat in her shared room, at St. Mary's Home for Orphaned Girls, quietly stroking the strings of her precious guitar and singing softly to herself, "I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby, come with me Friday, don't say maybe". Katta's roommate, a short girl with a scrunched up face and blonde hair, opened the door, interrupting her song. "C'mon, it's time for supper¹!" She said snottily, with a thick Boston accent.

Having dealt with her roommate's distaste for her for eight years, Katta ignored the older girl, pushing her thick glasses up her nose, and walked past her, out the door after putting the withered guitar in its case. Her roommate, whose name was Rose, always hated it when she didn't get a reaction out of Katta. She probably would have had she not been the size of a garden gnome. Ever since Katta had first arrived at the orphanage, Rose made it her goal to cause the younger girl grief. She had even gone as far as sabotaging interviews for her adoption and turning all the other children against her. Because of this, Katta had never had a friend, she had never felt loved, and so she stayed to herself. Even if she wasn't intimidated in the least. Rose followed Katta out of the room, thinking of ways to handle the unwanted girl. Then it came to her. The perfect way to get rid of Katta Peverell.


The two girls were at the top of the stairs and Katta was about to begin walking down to the dining room when Rose jumped at her. For such a small girl, she had quite an impact as Katta felt herself falling forward. She closed her eyes waiting to feel her body fall down the cold, rigid stairs, but it was as if they had disappeared. Katta felt nothing. Then she opened her eyes. Her body was at the very top of the stairs in the exact spot Rose had been before she had been pushed. Katta's mind, however, was at what lay at the bottom of the staircase.

What have I done? Katta thought. Lying under the last step was Rose's body. Her arms were twisted around, her legs were bent at wrong angles, and her neck.... Once Katta caught sight of her roommate's contored limbs, she ran down the staircase. At the bottom, she examined Rose's neck and concluded that it was, indeed, broken. Then, leaning down, Katta felt for a pulse. There was none.

Katta immediately started to panic and yelled, "Somebody call 9-1-1!", before fainting.

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The sound of sirens brought Katta back to consciousness. The policemen, fire department, and ambulance had arrived at the scene and one of the police officers began tugging on her arm. He was saying something, but it sounded muffled and jumbled, as Katta's senses haven't quite adjusted since she had blacked out. Why are the police here? She thought. Then the memories came flooding back...

....Rose pushing her....


....Them switching places....


....Rose's dead body.

Tears rushed behind her eyelids as realization hit her. She had killed someone. Katta whimpered, trying to hold the racing water-works in. A police officer heard her, then gently forced her to stand on both feet. Katta clawed at her eyes, trying to force the tears back. "Did she make it?" Katta's first words shocked the officer. He didn't expect her to be speaking so soon, seeing as how she had been passed out for over 4 hours, and barely had control of any motor skills. "Miss Lent was taken to the hospital as soon as the ambulance had arrived. As for now, we're going to take you down to the station, okay?" the officer replied. Katta nodded and numbly got into the back of the black police cruiser.

Katta didn't come back to the orphanage until late that night. When the police officer brought Katta to the police station, she was questioned on the incident and her relationship with Rose. Each question that was thrown at her was answered with a lie. She couldn't tell them that the two teenage girls "magically" switched places after Rose attempted to push her down the stairs. They'd think she was crazy. As for her relationship with her roommate, that was all they were according to the police, roommates. After hours of questioning, Katta was released. As far as she knew, the police didn't know a thing of the truth, and therefore Katta was thought to be innocent. However, that's not what the other girls at the orphanage thought at all. To them Katta was a murderer, and she was going to be getting hell from then on.

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Word count: 963

Alright, so this is chapter one of a fanfic that I've been writing on-and-off for quite a few years. I have the first four chapters, which I will be posting tonight, and hopefully with a little bit of inspiration there will be more to come! Let me know how you like or don't like!