Mask #Wattys2014

Chapter 2 - Evading Orphanages

I had more than once been on the receiving end of the bullies’ displays. And I had stopped them from beating up some of the younger ones a number of times. The caregivers who look after us don't care and ignore all our injuries. I once had a broken wrist and all they said was “Here's a bandage. Go clean it up.” Like seriously? They could show a little sympathy. And a smile does not count as sympathy.

The only way out of this hell hole was by adoption or by a clever escapade. The girl who I had escaped with, Tressa, died of cancer six months after we had run away. It was really for me sad considering she was two years older than me and she was like a big sister, I had done well. I survived about four years in total living for three and a half years by myself. It was really good for a girl who was about ten years old.

You see I knew my birthday was on the fifteenth of May, but I only knew how old I was by the end of the year when the New Year’s Eve fireworks lit up the New York sky. I never knew the actual date, and no one would tell me either.

Suddenly the back of the van was opened and I was roughly grabbed out of the vehicle.

"Put me down, you bastards!" I didn't know what it meant but it sounded pretty good. And it had an effect!

"What'd you call us? You filthy, no good slut!" Bob retorted.

"Okay, firstly I called you guy’s bastards and secondly, what the hell is a slut?" They dropped me in surprise. Good for me, bad for them I jumped straight back up and ran for it. "Crap!" I yelled. There was a three metre high electric, barbed wire fence surrounding the place now... the gate! I didn't think they had shut it when we came in. I glanced over there quickly, I was right!

But there was a burly security guard standing in the middle of the drive. "No! No! No! This can't be happening!" I yelled to myself.

"Oh, but darling. It is," And for the second time in my life I felt like acid was dripping down my back. "Oww!" I felt so tired! 'No! Stay awake! Don't you dare fall under their spell'. I scolded myself. Pete stared at me stunned as I fought their spell, I mean that's the only explanation right? They must be wizards or magicians. As I fought against the fatigue I kept forcing my eyes open, I refused to close them.

Pete and Bob stared at me in shock. "How are you doing that?" Bob asked astonished.

"No one has ever been able to fight it. Let alone over throw it!" Pete added.

I grinned evilly, "Let’s just say you messed with the wrong girl," I kicked Pete where a guy should never be kicked then I turned around and kicked Bob in the shins, they both fell to the ground. I saw the security guard, I ran straight at him but slid under him baseball style at the last second. I grabbed his pants and pulled down bringing them down to his knees. He was wearing Hello Kitty underwear… well that's kind of awkward. But I took off running again before they could catch me. Never again, I promised myself. I’m never getting that close again.

I ran through an endless maze of streets and alley ways, no real destination in mind. I figured if I could just loose them I would be safe again. How could I be more wrong?

The next street I ran down had three men standing in the middle arguing. I recognised one of them. The one facing me. He was the one who blew up my house all those years ago. The one who ruined my life, he worked for the orphanage as well. I did the only sensible thing, I turned down a nearby street without slowing my pace. Hopefully he won't have recognised me from that short glance. That was all I could hope for.

Most people say how hard it is to hope and find the good in the world when you’re alone, especially on the streets of New York City. But my life has been full of hope and luck, both the good and bad. I had made friends and escaped the clutches of evil quite a few times. But on the other hand I had been caught a few times, yet on the bright side it was only by the buffoons, Pete and Bob.

I kept running for what felt like hours but was really only about ten minutes of full sprinting. I didn't know where I was headed I just followed my feet. I ended up at the ruins of what was once my house. I walked through them to the place that was where my room used to be. I found lying in the ruins my old, and now rusty, locket. I opened it to see if there was a tracking chip or something similar in it.

I pulled out the photo of me and mum first. 'Nope, not there' I thought to myself, I quickly replaced it. I pulled out the photo of my dad. I had never known him but he still sent money to me some every week. I kept in contact with him via letters and I collected my allowance at the post office each week.

As I looked in the space behind it I saw nothing but I had a sudden impulse to turn the picture over. There on the back was a message, if you ever want to see your father. You WILL hand yourself over to me by the end of May.

I could tell that the message was fresh as the paper as aged as it is, the ink was still a strong, visible black. I sunk to my knees and cried my heart out. They had my father. Even though I had never met him I knew that I needed to find him, quick-smart.

I took off letting my feet take the route I had only ever taken once. I never wanted to go back, but they were the only ones that could have my dad. Even then it was only an honest mistake, I was running. For my father and the love he had for my mother; that thought was the only thing going through my head 'Do this for mum, don't let her down now'. I wasn't going to doing this for my father, but for my mum. She was the one who loved him, and never stopped, even when he left her.

That was until he moved to Australia. Apparently he was handsome and immensely famous or something like that to the rest of the world. All he was to me is a jerk who didn't love his family enough to stay and look after his newborn daughter. All I knew about dad was that he was a charmer, he fell in love with mum. They were going to get married but then he just picked up and left without another word.

Shouldn't I be running in the other direction? Why shouldn't I just leave him to die? The answer to all my questions circling round my head, Mum. God, I wish she was still here. Still alive, I didn't know for sure that she had died. I just assumed it, what if she was still alive out there somewhere? And I just let the love of her life, my father, die? It was just too horrible a thought to even consider so I kept running. Running down my forbidden road, my feet leading the way. The way I had only made a mistake of going down once.