A Victim of Circumstance

Chapter 1

For you to understand my story, I have to start from the beginning. I mean, from the very beginning.

My first foster family found me alone, a baby only a few weeks old crying outside their little house on the freezing doormat; Cliche, i know. They took me in. I heard they were nice people, a happy newly-wed couple hoping to start a family. At least, that was before the fire.

I was the only survivor in the house, me, a then four-and-a-bit-month-old baby. My case was 'unexplained', and to this day, remains unsolved. The whole house burned to a crisp. I heard it still smells like charcoal. The neighbors saw the flames sadistically licking from under our house, and heroically dialed the firefighters, while crying hidden under tables or in closets. It took hours for the water from the hydrants and trucks to have any affect on the fire, let alone put it out. By then, the screaming had ceased. They feared the worst; The anorexic walls caved in on themselves, reduced to only dust underneath what was left of the roof. Who would of guessed the least likely made it out alive?

People found me about a day later, during the cleanup. I was covered from head to toe in ash and dust, doctors had a hard time piecing together how i didn't die, smothered for over 24 hours. Ironically, that's how I got my nickname, Ash. I like it. My real name is such a stuck-up princess name. It doesn't suit me at all.

Unexplained phenomenon has been a part of my life since anyone remembers. I've had five other families since them. The first of which got into a serious car accident, leaving three of them dead, and the other in a coma. The second and third decided they had had enough of me, so they left, and the fourth vanished without a trace. The fifth family i still live with, though not for much longer, I can feel it. I'm sad about that, they are a lovely family; one of the nicest i can remember. They have maybe a few months at most .

I don't like it. All the people in my life who I cared for is dead or dying. People at my old school used to tease me, they called me names and told me that I was a witch. I suppose in a way that its true, though i don't understand it. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Believe me, I don't mean for anything to happen. I'm just a victim of circumstance.