Iridescent ¤ Millard Nullings

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Adrenaline rushed through her body as her legs pumped through the rotten, autumn leaves. She was crying, and it just mixed with the rain that kept falling faster, and harder. Her heart pounded, her head thundered with the sounds of screaming and yelling behind her. They were catching up.

She was confused in the moment, not knowing what the bloody hell had just happened. She turned to look at the crowd gathering behind her, and let out a frightened yell. When she turned back, all she heard was a crack. Her vision went blurry as her head ached with pain, then everything slowly turned black.

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She woke up, unable to move her arms or legs. She was shivering with cold, still sopping wet. Her head throbbed with a horrendous pain, and the shivering only made it worse. She could tell that she sat in a tall, wooden chair; her feet didn't touch the ground. Her ankles and wrists were bound to the chair. Her eyes opened to see many angry men surrounding her.

"What's ya name, child?" A man with a patch on his eye questioned, yanking her head back by her ginger hair to look him in the eye.

"Mel-Melaina, sir," She shakily replied.

"Ya full name!" The large man bellowed.

"Melaina Castor," Melaina yelled back with her eyes squeezed shut, despite the pain thundering through her brain.

"And why in God's name is the devil on His earth, eh?"

Let's hear a story of how she got there.

It was early dawn, the people in the town hadn't even awakened yet. Melaina had just arrived into this town, a small one on the coast of Wales. She didn't have anything to eat or anything to her name, she had only one ancient dress from the near 1950s, a bonnet, and a shawl, all of which she had stolen. So, she went searching for something more.

Melaina came across a small produce stand, which she couldn't tell if it was running, or just an old worn down one. But she found food inside, and ate a luxurious feast of raw carrots, potatoes, squash, and beans. But as she was gathering potatoes from the bin, and into the apron of her dress, Melaina heard the click of a gun.

"I advise ya not ta move, kid. Drop my potatoes."

She let go of the hem of the dress, and the potatoes thudded to the ground. Melaina quickly threw myself onto her knees into a beggar's stance, one she had assumed many times.

"Please, sir! I am only a hungry orphan!" She cried, picking up the potatoes.

"Go rummage in some generous lad's stand, ya hear?"

He then picked her up by the collar of her dress, carrying her out of the shack. When they got outside, he pulled her towards the pub where a man stood watching after hearing a commotion. Melaina latched her hand onto his arm, then grabbed her black shawl. His grip on her loosened, and then he fell to his knees coughing. He grew pale, then green, his hair turning white as he puked into the mud.

"Oi, Miss! He's right dying!" The man called, rushing to pull Melaina off him.

Horrified at what she did, she dodged the man, and started sprinting out of the town and into the woods. A crowd had joined the man after her, chasing her far. Whilst running, she ran into a tree, knocking herself out, and they were able to get her. They tried to burn her on a stake, and when she emerged from the fire, they didn't take too kindly.

All this was only a week ago, and now as she stood on the steps of a yet another orphanage, it feels so long ago.