Vampires of Falconhaven

Chapter 4: First Meeting

-Skylar's POV-

Walking down the hallway of my new house, I noted that there was my new parents' room, the kitchen (maybe they had food!), as well as a bathroom and living room on the lower floor, and another bathroom which was between two bedrooms, one was a boys' room. One was just a boring white room.

Realising that this was to be my room, I slid my shoes off onto the floor and placed my stuffed dog Puppy onto the bed. At 9, most of the girls at the orphanage had tried to steal the younger children's toys. With my tiny frame, blonde girlish curls and pudgy build, as well as two different eye colours (Grass green and Sky blue), they always enjoyed making me an easy target.

Looking out of the window to see birds chirping on the branch of the trees, I watched my new parents unpack the few belongings I owned; a pillow, a blanket and a suitcase of old, worn clothes and shoes.

I sat and waited for them to come upstairs, kicking my tiny feet along the floor. I'd never had a bed before, just a mattress on the floor next to the other girls. Today was the start of a new life.

~

Mrs Griffon fixed me my afternoon tea, I had discovered that there weren't only cookies, but also muffins, brownies and strawberry milk here! I stuffed my tiny cheeks and greedily drank my milk. I went red as I looked up to see my new parents watch me with astonished eyes.

"Did they feed you at the orphanage?" Mrs Griffon asked me, a funny grin on her face.

I tried matching hers; "They fed us what they could, Ma'am. There were a lot of us to look after..." I glanced to the floor, where I had dropped crumbs. My eyes popped open and I flung myself to the floor, hastily cleaning the mess. I felt a large hand on my shoulder and I flinched, afraid of the scolding I might get.

"Relax, sweetheart. It's only a few crumbs." Dr Griffon soothed me as he picked me up and held me to him. Looking past his shoulder, I saw a steel door.

"What's in there?" I pointed at it and saw Mrs Griffon stand strangely still. Doctor Griffon smiled and put me down.

"I'll show you, would you like that?" He held his hand out to me. I didn't take it. I felt a strange emptiness in my belly as we continued walking towards the door.

~

It was cold down in the cellar, and I shivered and held my torn jacket closer to myself, biting the ends of the sleeves like I always do. I felt Dr Griffon take my hand as he led me down the stairs.

"Now, Skylar, what you're going to see here is top secret government business and you need to keep this a secret, okay sweetheart?" He looked me in the eye as we reached the end of the stairs. I nodded, not quite sure what to expect.

Dr Griffon turned on the light and I heard hissing, grunting, as well as footsteps hurrying into corners of the room. I tried to move slowly towards the end of the room, hoping there weren't any mice.

Cell bars, similar to those of the Jailhouse Rock (one of the good songs I enjoyed listening to from the orphanage's old radio) greeted me and I gasped in surprise as I saw a man huddled in the corner. Reaching towards the bars, I felt afraid, but I felt the urge to help the man more.

"A-Are you okay, S-Sir?" I asked. Silence. "Why... This isn't right, Dr Griffon!" He just looked very unhappy, frowning into the cell.

I screamed as the prisoner suddenly appeared in front of me, big teeth coming out of his mouth as well as red eyes. Doctor Griffin hurried to help me escape his iron-tight grip.

"Stop it, Marco. She's just a child." A bored voice sounded from across the room.

The young man laughed and stood back, his face going back to normal. I sighed in relief and turned to see another man, much larger than the first, sitting against the wall. I breathed deeply and made a move towards him.

"Why... Why are you here?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Why're you?" He replied quietly. Feeling a surge of courage, I stood proudly in front of him.

"Because, Sir, I am Skylar, newest child to Mr and Mrs Griffon and you and your friend are in my new home. Are you okay? You look sort of..." I couldn't speak. He had blood on his shirt and he looked...

"Dead? I am, little-y." He raised his head and flicked his long black hair out of his face, revealing his dark eyes. I crouched in front of him as well both studied each other.

A ringing sound was heard and Doctor Griffon muttered a bad word under his breath as he pulled me to the side. Both the men scoffed, the one who scared me started laughing about how he was going to be a horrible father, the other more bored of us being there. He pulled something from the desk behind him and gave it to me.

"Here is a spray bottle, Skylar. If they give you any trouble, spray them, okay?" I nodded and he walked up the stairs.

I turned and saw that both the young men were looking at me. Not used to the attention, I flushed bright red and shook my hair in front of my face, wishing I had a better cover from the strange men.

"Let me look at your face, girl." The first man said, sneering and walking to the closest corner with his arm out, beckoning me forward.

"Why?" I asked, afraid of him.

"You've got different coloured eyes. They're very beautiful. I wanted to get a closer look." He smiled at me, sounding sincere. I hesitated, as they were clearly in those cells for a reason. He noticed my fear and smiled wider.

I leaned against the nicer man's cell and he turned away from me. Feeling like I was annoying him, I walked towards the youngest prisoner. Lifting my fringe, I showed him my eyes.

"One green, one blue. I get it, it's weird. I'm already aware that I'm a freak, so please just shut up about it." I muttered as his smile faded.

"What?" I snapped at him. I hated people who stared at me like I was a freak.

"It's nothing. You just don't act very scared for someone who's in a room with prisoners, alone." He said as he suddenly yanked my arm, turning me and putting pressure on my shoulder, making me bend to the floor. Wincing, I knelt on the floor.

The other man stood to his full height, which was at least twice mine, glaring over my head and I felt the pressure fade. Feeling very afraid of the taller man, as he obviously had more power than the one who'd released me, I crawled to the stairway.

"Brother... She's a pathetic human and we should kill her as a message to our beloved Doctor." Feeling a wetness spread down my cheeks, I realized that I was crying. Wiping away any evidence of fear, I stood up.

With a new sense of strength, I raised the bottle to the smaller man, and he froze. Frowning at him, I begun to think about the sorts of questions I'd like to ask them.

"Why are you in jail? Why is my new father running the jail? Why did he give me this bottle and why is it scaring you?" I demanded to know.

"Answers are something Dr Griffon seems to want. Funny that, although not blood related, question asking runs in the family..."