Once Abandoned, Now Found

Chapter 1

It was the kind of night that made people shut their curtains, curl up with a hot drink, a blanket, and watch films loud enough to drown out the sounds of nature. Winter had recently passed, and though the snow had gone, the sky was making sure to remind the inhabitants of Innswood that snow wasn't the only watery element it could unleash. The sky should have been eerily dark, an ink-black, but instead, it remained a twilight blue with flashes of white and silver darting across, creating jagged paths through the darkness. In the unfortunate streets that became wind tunnels in times like this, the rain was almost horizontal; the wind whipping up a loud frenzy just to add to the storm's symphony. If the Innswood population wasn't already inside, they were about to be, ready to relish in the comforts of central heating and waterproofing.

But in a small alley, not far from Innswood's normally bustling city centre, a small girl was shivering under some cardboard boxes and ripped tarpaulin. The storm had already lasted a day and night without a moment of relief, and the weather forecast predicted several days more; something the small girl may not live to see. Her name was Alex, and after running away three weeks ago, she called this alley home; though right now it was just as unsafe and dangerous as the one she had left. Alex had stopped crying several hours ago, no longer having the water to spare for tears. It had been many days since she had eaten and drank anything substantial. An occasional cup of rainwater, using her hands to collect the much-needed water, had been her only source of nutrition. Alex should probably still be crying though, the loud booms of thunder adding to the distress the small girl already faced from the screaming winds and pounding rain. When she had found the alley a week ago, she had carefully positioned tarpaulin and cardboard boxes to create a "home", the tarpaulin providing a sliver of waterproofing. It wasn't enough. The poor girl was soaked to the skin, shivering and coughing through an awful fever that had begun earlier that day. She was laying on the ground, curled up in the fetal position with her hands clasped together and her feet crossed and pulled to her chest. Alex was praying to a God she didn't believe in to stop her suffering.

Only a few streets away, Maggie and Danni Briggs were laughing at their predicament. While they had successfully remembered their waterproof coats before leaving for work, they had neither waterproof shoes nor trousers, and their car was parked in their driveway almost a mile away. They were laughing because the storm reminded them of when they met, running into each other while looking for shelter from a rainstorm. A few hot drinks and a lot of flirting later, the two women were able to call that a spontaneous but successful date. Three years later they were just as enamoured with each other as they had been the first time they met, and more than willing to laugh about being caught out in a storm. Their joy wasn't going to last much longer, because using an alley to cut down their walk home was going to change them.

"Babe, please stop running!" Maggie cried, her worn-down trainers not suitable for the slippy pavements.

"Alright, just for you cutie" Danni replied, catching her girlfriend as she fell and planting a tender kiss on her lips.

"Next time we bring the car" Danni smiled, clasping Maggie's hand in hers as they continued their walk through the storm.

"Or maybe we could have just gotten a taxi like I suggested" Maggie retorted, somehow grinning like a mad man though she was nearly soaked through.

"What's the fun in that?"

Maggie sighed as her girlfriend splashed in the puddles and generally acted like a small child, goofing about in the rain to help make light of their situation.

"If we cut through here, it should take off a good 20 minutes!" Danni called, having just found a darkened entrance to an alley.

"You want me to walk through a dark alley, in the middle of a thunderstorm, without a torch?" Maggie couldn't believe her ears at the suggestion. Two seconds later and she was just beyond the entrance to the alley, groaning and muttering to herself about how Danni owed her several favours after this.

Alex could hear the women approaching, and tried to make herself even smaller than before. She couldn't risk being sent back, and that thought alone made her shiver.

Maggie and Danni were almost by Alex, and then...there was a scream. An unexpected clash of thunder broke Alex from her fear-driven stupor, so without thinking she let out an almighty scream, scaring herself as well as the women.

"What the actual hell was that!" Danni exclaimed in response to the scream, holding her heart as she attempted to calm down. If Maggie hadn't been so concerned by the scream, she would have probably laughed at Danni's response, but that scream. That scream was piercing, and frightening, and could have only come from a place of true terror. Hunting around using the flashlight on the back of her phone, she quickly caught sight of Alex, catching herself before she ran over to the small girl.

"Hello darling," said Maggie softly, crouching down so she was closer to eye level with the girl, who had backed up into her home of cardboard to keep distance between them all. Carefully, Maggie moved forwards, still making sure to move too quickly or too much.

"That was a nasty scream little one, I guess that thunder must have really frightened you huh?" Maggie's voice remained gentle and calm, talking to the shivering figure like she would any scared child. Alex nodded quickly in response, her eyes flitting between the woman crouched before her and the second woman behind.

"Well that's no good is it, we can't have you screaming over thunder, it'll hurt your poor throat."

Alex nodded in agreement.

"Can you tell me your name little one?" Maggie asked, stepping forwards again."A-A-Alex" a small voice stuttered, her voice sounding sore.

"Hello Alex, my name is Maggie, and that is my girlfriend Danni." Maggie had to hold in a coo as Alex slowly raised her hand and waved at the two women. In case the girl's stature wasn't enough of the clue, the wave had proved to Maggie that Alex was a little.

A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This isn't the first book I've written but it is the first one I've published to wattpad.

It has been grammar checked but if anything doesn't make sense please let me know. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated!