Spoiler! :
Alora
I woke up, sweating and cold in my bed in the orphanage. My dream replayed itself in my head, the bright lights, the white lab coats, and the cold fear in my stomach. I looked around to assure myself that I was still in the orphanage then got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wipe my face. I ran the water and washed my face of the sweat and fearful expression, telling myself it had all just been a dream. I ran a brush through my brown hair out of habit and smiled at the natural red streaks.
My blue eyes stared back at me from my reflection in the mirror, showing how tired I was by having black half circles underneath them. I wrung out the washcloth I'd used then went back to bed.
When I got back to sleep a boy's face appeared in my dream.
He had black choppy hair and cinnamon skin. His irises were pitch black, standing out against the whites of his eyes, and his silver pupils. His face didn't show any emotion but his eyes seemed to be full of pain and unhappiness.
I wanted to reach out and stroke his face but I couldn't. It was just a dream.
…
When I woke up light was filtering through the windows in my room. Everybody else had already woken up and gone downstairs to breakfast. I swung my legs off the side of my bed and sat up, happy that the night of baffling dreams was over.
I stood up and started walking down stairs, shaking my head at the weirdness of it all. When I got downstairs I went to the table and sat down. Everybody stared at me.
"What?" I asked self consciously.
"You're really, really late getting down stairs Alora." Said Anne.
I looked at the clock over the stove, "Oh."
It was lunchtime.
"Wow." I said.
"Did you stay up late doing something last night?" Asked Yuliani, the orphanage director.
"No..."
"She read really late and was singing in her scratchy voice again." Raelyn butted in.
"At least my voice is better than yours, you pig."
"Right." Said Raelyn sarcastically, momentarily stalled while thinking of another insult.
"Raelyn, be nice. Alora, did you stay up late reading?" Now Lynsay was talking.
Lynsay was really nice, but horribly fair and she didn't believe in punishment. So nobody got punished when Lynsay was around. Which is a good thing I guess, but since I rarely get in trouble and Raelyn usually should be punished for being a brat means that I don't like Lysnay as much as I should.
"I am being nice," whined Raelyn. "She kept me up last night with her reading light on!"
"I didn't stay up late, I read until ten thirty then turned off my light."
I smirked at Raelyn.
Yuliani sighed, “Alright, both of you have to clean the house tomorrow. Together.”
I groaned, this is what people in cheesy books have to do when the get in trouble. Not me! I mean sure, cleaning the house isn’t bad at all, but doing it with Raelyn is torture.
“Yuli,” whined Raelyn, using Yuliani’s nickname, “I have my band audition tomorrow and I need to practice my oboe!”
I groaned. Another sleepless night for me while Raelyn “plays” her oboe, it sound more like an animal dying.
“Nobody gets a punishment.” Said Lynsay.
“Yes they do.” Argued Yuliani.
“It’s not fair for the girls, they both did each other wrong.”
“Punishment teaches discipline and discipline keeps the world in order.”
“No.”
“Yes, Lynsay.”
I looked around at the other orphans and saw the little ones silently slipping out of their seats as the older kids slowly snuck out of the room. Nobody wanted to be there while Yuli and Lynsay fought.
I scooted my chair back and crept out of the room just as the argument started to rise dramatically in volume.
“Punishment is cruel!” Shouted Lynsay
“You’re a wimp then! Punishment is discipline!” Yuliani yelled back at her.
I sighed then jogged to the computer room, hoping to get to a computer before anyone else did. When I got there only one computer was still open. I sprinted across the small room and collided with Raelyn.
“Moron.” She spat at me as she grabbed the computer chair and logged onto her account.
“I was here first.”
“Too bad, I got on the chair first, so you lose. Loser.” She smirked.
I grabbed a handful of Raelyn’s hair and pulled.
“Get. Out. Of. My. Chair.”
Raelyn screeched loudly as I started to pull her out of the chair using the handful of her hair.
Catriona rushed in, “Girls!!”
She started to pry my fingers from Raelyn’s hair as the rest of the orphans watched intently.
“God! Alora you’re such a brat! You’re just so greedy you need to get everything that you want? Huh?” Screamed Raelyn.
“No!” I screeched back. “I rarely ever get what I want! You always do because you’re such a freaking bitch!”
Catriana gasped and slapped me then Raelyn.
“Both of you! Go to your room. NOW!”
Raelyn screamed and ran up the stairs.
I rolled my eyes and trudged after her.
…
Later that week, after the whole cat fight between me and Raelyn had cooled a bit; I finally got onto my e-mail to see if Tri, my pen pal from India, had e-mailed me back yet. The whole pen-pal thing had been one of my school assignments but Tri and I had liked each other so much we decided to keep e-mailing each other.
After I responded to Tri I started deleting all the junk mail when an e-mail titled OFFICIAL caught my eye. I opened it up and read:
[b]Dear Ms. Surdale,
We are aware that you are now 17 and on the brink of adulthood. We would like to visit your home and inquire a few memories of your childhood.
We have already asked your guardians about this matter and they have agreed to it. Please do not mention it. We will be coming in two days.
Sincerely,
Anonymous,
3rd assistant to Marcus Shaile,
President of the United States[/b]
I re-read the e-mail over and over again, making sure I’d read it correctly, then trying to get my brain to believe it. The president’s 3rd assistant coming to see me? What kind of questions would he ask? Why was he going to ask me questions?
Suddenly a vision appeared in my head:
There was a huge white building, gleaming in the sunlight, then the sun went away and the picture turned to night time. I saw myself run up the steps in the dark, a terrified look on my face. I banged on the door yelling for help and to be let inside. Then the door opened and a shape stood in the darkness.
The boy from my dream.
I stumbled out of my chair and up to my room with a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was terribly wrong. The excitement at meeting a government official turned to terror as I tried to imagine what the sad looking boy had to do with this all.
Suddenly I heard a scream from the bathroom. I whirled around to see Raelyn screeching, clutching her face, running past me and down the stairs. As she ran past me she ripped her hand from her face and let blood splatter on me. I stepped back in horror as I saw the gash down her face, how did Raelyn do that to herself?
I heard Yuliani’s voice asking Raelyn what had happened, then I heard my name. My face paled as I realized what had happened.
Raelyn had been desperate enough to cut her own face just so that she could blame me.
I thundered down the stairs, my face pale with anger.
“How could you?” I screamed at Raelyn, “You’re desperate enough to cut your own face so that you can say I did it?!?!”
“See?” Sobbed Raelyn, “I told you she would accuse me of doing this to myself!”
“Because you did!”
“No I didn’t!!”
“Yes! I have proof!”
“What?” I snarled.
“My blood is on you,” Raelyn said with grim satisfaction. “I didn’t put my blood on you. You got it when you hit me with your book.”
“Well,” Yuliani sighed. “I believe that I have to acknowledge Raelyn. I’m sorry Alora but I think that Raelyn is saying the truth this time.”
Lynsay burst into the room, looking like she was about to give a speech on being fair and good, but stopped when she saw Raelyn’s bloody face.
Raelyn smirked at me as I tried to keep tears from filling my eyes.
“Please go to your room Alora,” said Yuliani quietly, “Don’t come down for dinner. No computer or TV for a month. You’re grounded.”
A sob escaped me as I ran up to my room. This was so unfair I couldn’t believe it. How could they not understand me?
There was only one option: I had to run away. I had to run away to keep my freedom. I had to run away to make sure the government didn’t follow me. I had to leave everyone I’d ever known and go out in the world on my own. I knew where I was going; it was just a matter of getting there.
Getting to the white building in my vision.
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