One of Them

Prologue

It was January when the tiny girl had appeared at the front door of Lucinda's home for girls. Snowflakes fell lightly from the night sky to the girl's blazing red hair, making her hair look like it was laced with tiny crystals. Tears streamed from the girl's beautiful brown eyes as she knocked on the door. An aging woman opened the door, she gasped in shock when she saw the tiny child. She picked up the freezing girl in her arms and carried her inside.

"What is such a tiny child like you doing out in the cold at this time of night?" The old woman asked. "Shouldn't you be at home with her parents?"

The child looked down, great sadness clouded her eyes. "They're gone..." She squeaked.

The old woman frowned. "I see..." She said. "Could you tell me your name, child?"

The child looked up. "Annabelle Holly." She squeaked. "But Mommy called me Anna."

The old woman smiled warmly at her. "My name is Lucinda." She said. "But you may call me whatever you like."

Lucinda brought the tiny child to a room filled with many sleeping girls. She gave her warm pajamas and a soft bed.

"Go to sleep, Anna." Lucinda said. "It is very late, and you must be tired."

Anna closed her eyes, Lucinda turned off the light and walked towards the door.

"Lucinda?" Anna asked.

Lucinda looked over her shoulder to the young girl. "Yes, Anna?" She asked.

"Do you think my parents will come back?" She asked.

Lucinda's smile faded. "I don't know." She said. "But if they don't, new parents will find you, and love you like they did."

Anna sat up in bed. "But what if they don't?" She asked.

Lucinda turned back to the door. "Than someone else will." She said. "Someday."

That happened nine years ago, but Anna's parents never came back, and nobody adopted her. Lucinda became very sick a few years after Anna had arrived, and she passed away, leaving the orphanage to a horrible woman named Ms. Finch. She completely loathed all the girls in the orphanage.

Anna tried to make friends with the other girls in the orphanage, but some were jealous of her beauty, and hurt her, both physically and verbally. Soon, Anna became sick of the taunting and kicking, and decided to fight back. She used her cleverness and strength to beat down her enemies when they attacked her, and sometimes it got bloody.

But even being the strongest girl in the orphanage didn't make her feel better, there was something missing in her life.

Love, Joy, and Belonging.

She had none of those things, she didn't belong in the orphanage, she wasn't loved there, and she hadn't been happy since Lucinda died.

But soon, very soon, she would feel those things again.