Ruined

Chapter one

Ruben woke up with a roaring headache, the stench of rot and filth filling her nose. It was normal for that smell to greet her when she woke up, but it was also her job to get rid of it, even if it somehow returned every time she tried to clean it away. The sound of her younger foster brothers bumping heads in the hall forced her to drag herself out of bed, slip on some shoes, and sneak away to the roof to watch as the sun decided to wake up too. It was the only minute she ever had alone other than sleep, and she wouldn't disrespect the sun even if she could. She spread herself out on the roof tiles that remained frosted from the rain the night before, grinning as the sun heated her skin from the imminent cold inside that rotten house. She let her eyes fall closed as the wind carried the warmth across the sky, the brilliance amazing her every single time. A squirrel scurred past behind her, and she turned to look, smirking at the grin it gave her. It was almost as if she could sense what it was thinking, how it was feeling, and that squirrel smelled food, and not far away from the roof. Ruben was tempted to follow, since the food supply where she was currently housed was scarce, but she stopped herself, letting the squirrel get its fill. The trees were whispering about too, talking of the sun and the moon, and the sky. It was almost poetry, the way they hummed the words between one another, and Ruben could listen to it for hours.

And then an obnoxious knock broke her away from the trees, the shrill voices of little boys rising above the small minute of peace she had gotten. She quietly crawled down from the roof through her window, careful to brush the dirt and leaves off her sweater and jeans before leaving her little bubble of serenity. She rolled her eyes as the young boys pounced on her while she was still leaving the room, keeping her shoulders stiff as she shook her head.

"Why do you always decide to corner me when I'm still asleep?" she asked the two, laughing under her breath. The smell that had woken her became known to her as her sock was dampened in the hall, no doubt in her mind that the puddle was of piss, from whom, she did not know. The two boys behind her shrugged, pushing her forward as they narrowly missed the puddle Ruben would have to later scrub up. Her days plans were looking enjoyable already.

"Breakfast," they both prattled, yanking on her arms, and kicking at the back of her legs. She sighed as she walked into the filthy kitchen, filled to the brim with dirty dishes, and rotting food. Her list was really piling up. This wasn't as bad as some of the other homes they had stuck her in, ones filled with vile men, and abusing foster siblings. No, this was calm compared to those, and safe. She was the only foster child in the house, the others having either been adopted, or birthed by the foster mother herself. She had told Ruben pointedly when she walked through the front door that Ruben as a person was not important, and that she was only there so that the woman could earn extra cash. It wasn't anything new to Ruben of course, most of the people in her life hated her, and discarded her as if she were trash. The only real constant she'd ever had was the earth itself, with it's fresh air, and it's beautiful sun and moon, and the creatures that lived under it.

She didn't mind the loneliness anymore, at least not as much as she had in the beginning.

As she fried eggs for the boys who were up, she snuck a piece of toast while they weren't looking, knowing that it may be the only thing she would be able to eat that day. She filled the boys' plates with the eggs, and put down extra toast for when the others decided to come and join her with the little ones. She was forced to attend school in this home, like all the other children under that roof, but the grades she received were of no consolation, which was a relief to Ruben, given that most of her education had consisted of reading off of her other foster siblings' textbooks, and trying to fathom what they had to say the best she could. She didn't own the most impressive mind she'd seen, but she was sure she would get by, like she always did.

The oldest son of the foster mother drove them all to the school building, the hulking brick walls much more intimidating than she'd expected. She was shoved in the backseat of the small car, with no room to move about, and almost no room to breathe, which provided a nice distraction to what she would have to face next. Not that it really mattered to her either way, given that they would kick her out faster than they had taken her in. It was always that way, and the feeling of being unwanted was so familiar, yet so foreign and overwhelming each time. She didn't usually spend her time thinking too deeply on that fact, at least that was what she tried for. When they finally pulled up, she took a deep breath, and tried to get out of the car with the same technique as the oldest son, trying desperately to emmitt the essence of calm and collected. She knew it wasn't going in her favor.

The other children didn't even bother to ask whether she needed help, taking the time instead to rush inside the school building, leaving her in the dust. She took a deep breath, letting the air and it's beauty calm her. It always seemed to work, no matter how stressed she'd become. She forced herself to step through the doors, praying to herself that nothing would go wrong, that she would keep herself collected and calm, but she knew it was wishful thinking, and she wished it to be true anyway. The false air greeted her in a wave as she walked through the doors, keeping a hand on the strap of her backpack, the only bag she'd ever had to herself, the bag she'd had since her aunt had died when she was 7, and since she had been forced into foster care as retribution. She hadn't even been allowed to attend the funeral. She had nothing of real importance in the bag, but she always had all her belongings on hand, at all times, in case one of the foster siblings decided it would be better as theirs rather than her's. Her clothing was the only thing she didn't constantly carry.

She walked down the halls with her eyes on her shoes, trying to avoid the eye contact she was sure she was going to receive, it was just the kind that was known to send glares, and pity her way, rather than acceptance of her existence. It got rather annoying in her opinion, but there wasn't really anything she could do to fix it, so she learned to live with it instead, and avoid it mostly, which was probably escalating the situation further than it needed to go, but she found that she really didn't care. She slumped into her first class with fear, and rejection tattooed against her features, which must've looked ridiculous, given the looks that it merited, but she just shrugged it off, trying to only pay attention to the teachers draining voice. Now she could see why people complained all the damn time, teachers were annoying.

And then her worst nightmare came true, and everything she had spent her entire life trying to avoid toppled onto her with the force of all of the world wars combined. Vines had started growing up and around her desk, and she knew how they'd gotten there, she knew that they were there because she sub-consciously asked, and that they would be at her beck-and-call. The entire room halted, and everything was completely silent, until the teacher with the ever-so-droning voice, cornered her in particular.

"You have no idea where you've ended up, little girl, have you?" and suddenly the vines whipped, and she couldn't breathe. He knew, somehow he knew about her, and she couldn't stand for it. Before she could say a word, the leathery veins of the earth slithered towards him, and Ruben just about growled, the entire atmosphere crackling with the anticipation of her against him.

Magic was in the air, and it felt damn good to feel it again.