Wicked Shadows (vampire diaries) *prequel to Dark descendants* ON HOLD

1824

"Lexi can we please head back?" I whined. "I'm thirsty and being in such a busy place makes my fangs ache." I grumbled and she slapped my arm, giving me a dead panned look.

"What have I told you about using such statements in public?" She hissed and I rolled my eyes and scoffed at her.

"Yeah, whatever. Can we eat? I'm starving." I say grumpily. She shushes me and we continue through the busy streets of London until we stopped at a worn down, two story building. There was a broken gate at the front of the building that we pushed through and up to the front door. I could hear hundreds o different sounds throughout the buildings, the pitter patter of feet on the grounnd, children laughing and crying, caretakers conversing, food boiling over on the stove, wax melting and I closed my eyes to shut out the overwhelming array of sounds.

Lexi knocked on the door and almost instantly the door was thrown open, a women in her late forties to early fifties stood at the door. Her clothes were worn and ragged looking, her hair was mousy brown with streaks of grey and looks as if it hadn't been brushed. Dark circles hung under her eyes but she smiled warmly at us and quickly invited us in.

"I'm so glad you were able to make it, even if it was only for a week or so." She says kindly and I almost blanched. We're staying a week or so? Oh hell no! Absolutely not! I am not staying in this fiflthy, disgusting, rat infested, ragamuffin-

"Mrs. Taylor? Who are they?" A young, naive voice spoke up and I winced at how closely it resembled the innocent voice of my youngest cousin Betty. Betty who went through hell because of Abigail and me. I looked to the source of the voice, finding a girl of about seven or eight tugging on the bottom of Mrs. Taylor's dress, while her other hand toyed with the ends of her barely brushed dirty blonde hair. It was not the same color of my golden locks, it was matted and messy and dirty, and could almost be considered a dirt brown. The little girls skin was paler then even mine, with bruises and dirt covering her arms. Big doe like brown eyes looked at Lexi and I curiously and she gave me a small shy smile when she saw me looking back.

"Really it's great to be coming to help Mrs. Taylor, we regret only being able to stay a week to help." Lexi said.

"Oh it's wonderful to even have a week of help." Mrs. Taylor said and picked the young girl up into her shaking arms. "Lily this is Lexi and Arielle. They're going to be helping around the home for a week." Mrs. Taylor said to the young girl named Lily. Lily turned and smiled brightly at us, one of her front teeth missing.

"Hello." Lily said shyly, leaning her head on Mrs. Taylor's shoulder and then jumping down from her arms and scurrying off.

"Now then should I explain your first jobs?"

***

I groaned as I sat down on the creaky bed i'd been offered at the orphanage, Lexi sitting down on the one opposite of it.

"I didn't know normal cleaning could be so painful." I complained, my muscles creaking in protest as I stretched them and fell back onto the lumpy bed.

"You did." Lexi tells me and my eyes snap open.

"Huh?" I asked and she smirked at me.

"If I remember correctly, you told me you spent most of your life staying with your uncle and cousins, working at the tavern in Salem right? Tavern's mean much cleaning, rooms and the bar alike. You probably spent most of your days cleaning and working the tavern with your uncle didn't you?" She asked inquistitivley. That clever bitch. Of course this was another one of her scheme's to get me to remember what it was like to be human, I just wasn't sure how. I figured with working in an Orphanage, she'd wanted me to take one look at the kids and see Betty and Abigail. But I hadn't been expecting a lesson tied in with the cleaning work.