Chapter One
The Orphan
The orphanage in the town of Hangleton was a very gloomy place. It was an old, dilapidated building that looked like a strong wind would turn it to nothing but splinters. The children who lived there seemed just as battered as the building they were forced to live in. The residents living nearby could always see a few of the orphans outside every time they drove by the place, doing yard work like raking leaves or painting the fence. They were all horribly skinny, like they only received one meal a day, although no one would be surprised if it were true. They all had a somber look to them, but they would force smiles to anyone who walked by.
Everyone in Hangleton knew that the orphans were in the care of Ms. Krow, a vicious woman with a heart the size of an apple seed and a body to rival a cow's. She could be seen every Saturday at the local pub, The Keg King, flirting with whomever she caught sight of after her third bottle. Even though people knew she was a slimy woman who most likely mistreated those children, no one ever felt it was serious enough to step in and do something about it. After all, they were only orphans. It wasn't like anyone would really miss them.
Most of the orphans in the orphanage were there their whole childhood. They left when they turned eighteen, out to some minimum wage job that was arranged by Ms. Krow and the employer, which basically meant they were no better off than they were at the orphanage. They were forced to work all the time, cleaning up the house constantly. For some reason, no matter how much they scrubbed and dusted and swept, the house still smelt of mold and dirt.
But one dreary Autumn day, it turned out one girl wasn't working. She was lying belly-down under her cot, hoping not to be found. She had been on sweeping duty that morning, and in a fit of playfulness, when she and another orphan were sword fighting with their broom handles, accidently knocked over Ms. Krow's favorite lamp. The girl scratched some dirt out of the ridges on the wooden floor, thinking about how the hideous lamp and Ms. Krow looked so much alike. She wished she could get rid of Ms. Krow the same way.
The girl had been there her whole life, all six years of it. As far as she had been told, her mother died shortly after she was born, and she had no father. She would have asked for more details, like if her mother was sick or if she did have a father, just they didn't know where he was, but the number one rule at the Hangleton orphanage was "Don't Ask Questions."
The number two rule had to be "Don't break Ms. Krow's most ugliest lamp, because it's probably her favorite."
The girl wiped a tear from her eye. She hated living there. The other kids all hated it, too, but not to the extent she did. Bad things always seemed to happen everywhere she went. Most things she couldn't explain how they happened, like when a tree outside suddenly burst into flames as she was raking beneath it, or how one boy who had tried to hurt her found himself stuffed up the chimney. There was also the time all the windows in the room suddenly shattered simultaneously, and she was the one they pinned that one on, since she was the only one in the room at the time. And every time one of these things happened, or even smaller things, like breaking a lamp, she was beaten by Ms. Krow, or locked in the closet for a day or two with no meals, or both, if it seemed necessary. She knew that by nightfall she would have quite a few, painful bruises in various places on her body.
The girl stopped scratching for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows at the floor. She ran her fingers over it again. The wood was covered with scratches from scraping furniture across it and the sort, but one spot felt different, not like a normal, accidental scratch. It felt like someone had purposely carved something in it. She squinted in the dim light and could just make out what it was. It was a name. She raked her memory, trying to remember what sounds the symbols made. Finally, she figured it out.
"Tommy," she said aloud. There was no Tommy at the orphanage. She wondered who he was, and why he had decided to carve his name into the wooden floor. She smiled softly. She bet he got quite a pounding for that one. Well, at least everyone knew he had been there . . .
An idea flashed in her head. Wouldn't it be awesome, she thought, if orphans years later knew that she had been there? She looked around for something to use, and saw a broken bedspring hanging out of the mattress. She pulled on it. It came out easily. She held it loosely in her hand, so that it didn't poke her with the other end, and began to scratch her own name into the wood.
Light
She blew away the sawdust and then stared down at her work with a strange sense of pride. Now everyone would know that both she and Tommy had been there, and maybe others would add their own names. Maybe in a hundred years, there would be tons more names. She smiled. That would be comforting to some kid years from now, knowing they weren't alone.
Footsteps suddenly echoed in the hallway outside, and in a rush of horror, Light jerked around to see who it was.
Suddenly, she felt her hand sink into the floor. She reeled around and saw that the board she had just written her name on had dropped down. She gaped down at it, then pushed it aside, underneath the others.
It was like a little storage space. Inside there were little keepsakes and toys, Tommy's things. She gazed at the stuff in wonderment. She hadn't owned anything like this, but then again, she didn't even own the clothes she wore. Inside was a ball, a little toy car with one of its wheels missing, an old, browning drawing, and a ring.
A ring? she thought to herself. What kind of boy wears a ring? She reached in and picked it up. It was a nice ring, she decided. It looked silver, but she knew that an orphan boy couldn't possibly own an actual silver ring; the caretaker would have taken it. It was probably plastic or something. She tried it on her fingers and was shocked to find that it fit every single one perfectly, even though it seemed so much bigger when she pulled it out. She left it on her ring finger, then gazed at it in wonder.
Suddenly, the door banged open and, panicking, Light replaced the board where it belonged.
"LIGHT!" a voice screeched, causing Light to wince in fear. Someone was stomping over to her hiding spot and then reached under and grabbed her by the back of the shirt and pulled her out.
Ms. Krow had found her. The ugly woman threw her against the wall, opposite the door, and Light caught a glimpse of some of the other orphans peering around the doorframe. A rush of hatred ran through her. They had told on her. Again.
"You ungrateful little brat!" Ms. Krow screeched, smacking Light across the face. Light whimpered and recoiled into the wall as another hand hit her. "You stupid, clumsy girl!" Smack! "I don't know why I insist on keeping you here!" Smack! "I should throw you out on the street!"
"Please do!" one of the kids shouted from the hallway. Ms. Krow spun around and the kids gave a small squeal and vanished.
Light was lying on her side now, quivering in a mixture of pain and terror. Ms. Krow stood up and looked down at her, her eyes bulging as they always did when they fell upon her, and Light gasped. Was she really going to throw her out?
"Always hiding from your troubles, eh," hissed Ms. Krow, bending down over Light. Light stared up at her with wide eyes. What was she doing?
Then, Ms. Krow threw out her hand and overturned the cot she had been hiding over, hurling it so hard it smashed into the next cot and they both fell apart. Light whimpered, not because she knew that Ms. Krow could make her fall apart just as easily, but because now her carving was fully exposed.
Maybe she wont see it... Light thought desperately. Maybe she'll be too angry to notice.
But Ms. Krow did notice. Her eyes seemed to pop out of her head as she laid them on the floor. Light held her breath, knowing that she was now in more trouble than ever.
Ms. Krow slowly turned her head to face Light. Her teeth were clenched and bared, her face was bright red, and her eyes stared fiercely down at her with such intensity that Light dropped her head and began to cry silently.
Ms. Krow got up and hurried over, then knocked over that cot, as well.
Light was corn Suddenly, without any warning, a horrible, piercing pain ran up her right cheek. Light cried out and fell sideways. At first, she thought that Ms. Krow had simply hit her, but when Light opened her stinging eyes, she saw the nasty woman bending over her, a bloody knife in her hand. Light's stomach churned and she laid a hand against her cheek. It was already bleeding heavily. Light was too horrified to cry, she just knew that she had to get away from Ms. Krow, before she killed her.
Panicking, Light flipped over and, with the agility created from several years of silent scrubbing races, scampered across the floor towards the door. Ms. Krow, who was slow and dim-witted, not to mention probably half drunk, spun around slowly and threw herself towards Light, but missed as Light scrambled under a cot. ered. She had nowhere else to go. Ms. Krow held up the knife again and Light threw her arms up to shield her face from what was about to happen.
But nothing happened. Cautiously, Light spread her arms and peered through the gap and saw Ms. Krow simply standing there. Light tried to figure out why the woman had stopped. She stared down at the girl with wild bulging eyes, frozen with her arm bearing the knife held above her head.
Then, Light heard it. The sound of a car roaring up the driveway of the orphanage. Ms. Krow's face grew pale and she looked over towards the window, just as the engine of the car turned off.
"Damn..." Ms. Krow hissed through clenched teeth, dropping the knife and taking big steps towards the window, making the ground shudder beneath them. Her fat head disappeared behind the curtains, and a second later a small squeal came out of them.
"In the closet!" Ms. Krow growled, pulling her head back out and staring down at Light with a blazing glare. "Get in there! Now!"
Light didn't move. She couldn't have if she wanted to. She couldn't breathe very easily, her stomach both cold and burning all at once. Ms. Krow stomped impatiently over to her, grabbed her painfully by the back of the shirt, and literally threw her into the closet. Light landed painfully on top of some broken brooms and buckets and stared in horror as the horrible woman slammed the door on her, plunging her into darkness, save for a small beam of light coming from the crack under the door and through the keyhole. She heard a click and knew that the door was then locked.
"You make a single sound," Ms. Krow warned from the opposite side of the door. "And you will be begging for death before I'm through with you."
"Yes Ms. Krow..." Light tried to say, but her voice wasn't working. She heard the woman's heavy footsteps walk away from the closet door, just as the doorbell rang.
"Clean up this mess," Ms. Krow snarled angrily, and her voice was followed by a chorus of children's voices responding dully, "Yes, Ms. Krow."
Light laid on her side, staring blankly at the beam of light coming from under the door. She felt numb all over. Her cheek was searing with more pain than ever in her life. She felt something warm and wet streaming heavily down her face from her cut, and knew she must be bleeding really badly.
Maybe I'll bleed so much my body will cave in, she thought slowly, still staring at the door. She felt ill at the thought of it.
Voices suddenly echoed up into the room, drowning out the sounds of the other kids cleaning up the room on the other side of the door. One Light recognized as Ms. Krow's. The other she didn't know.
"...I assure you, Detective, that I feel as if all these children are my own. Hell, they ARE my children, only I'm willing to give them up to couples who really want them..."
"Well," the other voice said. It was a man's voice, deep and serious. "We have received several calls lately from an anonymous person who believe that you are abusing and or malnourishing these children."
"Oh, no!" Ms. Krow laughed, as though the man had said that elephants were falling from the sky. "I love the little darlings! The rest are up here, cleaning up a mess they had made while playing this morning..."
Light felt the ground shaking as the two adults entered the room. With what little strength she still had, Light got to her knees. She leaned against the door for support and looked through the keyhole into the room.
The other orphans were all standing in a straight line, like they were supposed to. Ms. Krow stood before them, faking a look of adoration. A man stood next to her, wearing a pair of black slacks and a crisp white t-shirt. He didn't look that old, maybe 25 or so, yet there was evidence of his straw colored hair balding around the forehead. He was frowning down at a clipboard in his hands, and definitely didn't seem convinced that Ms. Krow cared for the kids. He cleared his throat and looked at the kids with a smile.
"I'm Detective Baker," he said in a suddenly soft and caring voice that took Light aback slightly. "I'm just here to make sure you kids are having fun. I'm the Fun Detective."
No one made a sound, although some kids shifted uncomfortably and looked at each other.
"I'm gonna ask each one of you in turn whether or not you like it here. I have all your names on this here list."
Light saw Ms. Krow's face go pale as she stared at Detective Baker's back, and her eyes flicked towards the closet door and back again. Light gripped the door frame in her hands, hope coursing through her ever weakening body.
He's going to find out... he's going to realize I'm not there and find out that the woman has nearly killed me... maybe he'll get me out of here. She had a horrible urge to start banging on the door, screaming at him to help her, to save her, but she didn't have the strength.
He took a long time to read through the list, talking to each kid in turn, holding long conversations with each one, asking them what they did for fun, how they liked living there, what their favorite colors were, etcetera. The other kids answered monotonously.
"...I play with toys sometimes..." "...I like to live here..." "..I like blue..."
After talking to the last kid, Detective Baker straightened and furrowed his eyes.
"Where is... L-." he squinted his eyes, "Light... peculiar name, but the last name is smudged..."
"Oh, her!" Ms. Krow said, clapping her hands and smiling cheerfully. "A family from Surrey came down and took her just two days ago."
"Oh really?" Detective Baker said, raising an eyebrow. "Can I see the paperwork?"
Light saw the enormous woman's eyes flicker as she did some quick thinking.
"Er, no. They just took her for a couple days, to see if the child liked the house and the family and all that."
Light felt her stomach plummet. Would he believe her?
He nodded slowly, his face showing no sign of either belief or disbelief.
"Well, I must say that this meeting has changed my perspective," he said, putting the list of names into a briefcase. "I'll let you know if anything comes up."
"No..." Light whispered, blinking in horror at the door, all her hopes diminishing. She dropped her head in defeat, and accidently hit it against the door.
"What was that?"
Light gasped very softly and looked back through the keyhole. The detective was staring her way. So was Ms. Krow, with fiery eyes.
"It's just this old house settling, I bet," Ms. Krow said off-handedly, still staring at the door.
Detective Baker stared at the closet door a few more seconds, then looked over at Ms. Krow, who's face quickly softened.
"Well. I guess I'd better go."
"Let me, er, see you to the door," Ms. Krow said, forcing a smile and grabbing the detective by the arm. Light watched in disbelief as the two adults walked out, then burst into sobs.
She was in the worst of trouble: she was as good as dead. She had almost alerted the detective of her presence. She fell back onto the mass of broken cleaning supplies. She was growing light-headed and cold. Crying just took away all strength she had left.
Then, the familiar heavy footfalls started vibrating through the floor, and Light let out a panicky breath and clenched her eyes shut. The door clicked and swung open, the bright light blinding her.
"You... nearly... had me... arrested!" the woman spat, so furious that she had to take breaths in between words to talk clearly. She took a step towards Light, her huge body casting a shadow ominously over the girl.
"Please, Ms. Krow," Light whimpered, realizing that she was trembling badly. "Please... please don't hurt me...."
Ms. Krow just stared at her for a moment, then smiled maliciously.
"No. I wont... Instead, you will stay here... in the closet... no meals... for a week...."
Light felt her veins run cold. She gaped up at Ms. Krow in horror.
"No... no, please..."
"That'll teach you!" Ms. Krow snarled, slamming the door.
"No..." Light breathed, staring at the door in dread. A whole week... in her condition... without food...
It was too much for her. The world seemed to collapse in on her, blacking out the line of light from under the door, silencing the sounds of the other orphans footsteps walking around, and deleting all feeling. The last thing she was aware of, before passing out completely, was thinking that it was all the ring's fault. It was all Tommy's fault...
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"Wake up you stupid child!"
The words knocked Light back to consciousness. The first pain that returned to her were in her eyes, which felt like they were on fire. The sudden absence of darkness hurt them. Her cheek was the next one to start twinging, and then slowly down her body came the aches and pains in her joints and bruises. She groaned, hardly able to tolerate it, and shrunk back, trying to find the painless darkness that she had been so welcomed in.
"I said wake up!"
A horrible pain ran up her leg and she cried out, then shrunk back even more.
"So do you really want to stay in for a week, even when I offer an early release? Fine!"
Light's eyes snapped open as she heard the door creaking shut.
"No!" she gasped, throwing her foot out to stop the door. The door opened again, and Ms. Krow stood above her, her flabby arms crossed over her big bosom.
"Well, well. That wasn't so bad, now, was it. You've managed to make it two days. I figure that's impressive, so you may come out."
Light stared in disbelief. Even with her mind fogged up with pain and exhaustion, she knew that this wasn't right. What was she playing at? She's never held back on a punishment before. Why now? What were her motives?
"Why?" she asked, her own voice sounding horribly weak in her own ears.
"No reason..." the woman said, but the way she was smiling....
"You're going to hurt me, aren't you..." Light whispered, scooting herself back against the wall. Ms. Krow's face broke into a wild sneer, and with a sweep of her enormous arm, picked the girl up by the ankle and dragged her out.
"You're a smart child,"she said, fighting to control Light as she struggled against the awful woman's grip. "That detective guy is going to be back today. I'm planning on having you stuffed into a dumpster by then...."
"No!" Light gasped, and with an amazing burst of strength she didn't think she could still have after two days of lying half-dead in a closet, kicked out and wrenched her leg out of the woman's thick hands. She landed hard on the ground and gave a loud outcry in pain.
"You disgusting little scab," the woman huffed, kneeling over the child. "What chance do you think you have, to fight back?"
Light couldn't answer. She didn't know how to. She knew that if Ms. Krow meant to kill her, she would. It had happened before, possibly tons of times before. How could she prevent it from happening to her now.
The sudden realization of the truth created a twinge of anger and hatred inside her. She's killed so many children, she thought, a tiny hot little flame quickly growing and spreading through her body "and she will probably keep killing once I'm gone... I should stop her... no... I wish she would just die!
She forgot that she was only a small skinny child, and that she was one of the most overgrown women in town. She forgot that she was barely able to stand on her own two feet. Before she knew what she was doing, she had lunged herself at the enormous woman. Amazingly, her small, skinny body had created enough force to knock the woman over. Light started hitting her, hitting her as hard and as full as anger as the woman once had. She was screaming and crying, punching and smacking.
"Die you disgusting woman!" she screeched at the top of her lungs.
Suddenly the world turned upside down and Light slammed head-first into a wall. She fell onto the ground, her head pounding, her vision blurring. The room felt like it was swaying. She saw a pair of horrible pink shoes next to her and then shut her eyes tightly, fear and hatred mixing uneasily inside her.
Please... let something happen... anything... anything to keep her from hurting me....
Seconds passed in silence. It was a moment before Light realized that nothing was happening. Cautiously, she opened her eyes and looked up at the woman. The woman was looking down at her, but not with rage. Her eyes were bulging with horror, and she was pressing a hand to her huge chest. She let out a shuddering breath and stumbled back, clutching her chest even tighter. Light gaped in shock. What was happening?
Then, the woman gave a small squeal and fell over backwards. The whole house shuddered violently as she hit the floor.
Light just stared in awe at the woman laying unmoving before her. Light was pressed against the wall, unable to move. She was too afraid to. What if this was just a trick? The woman had staged this, creating a trap for her, so when she moved over to see if she were still breathing, the woman would be able to grab her off-gaurd and snap her body in half. If she didn't move, the plan wouldn't work....
But minutes passed, and the woman didn't move.
"Ms. Krow...." said a quiet voice at the door. Light looked up and saw most of the orphans standing there. They had most likely been summoned by the loud rumble that ran through the old building when the stocky woman had hit the ground. They all were pale faced, and no one seemed to be able to accept what they were seeing.
"Light.... killed Ms. Krow...." a curly-haired boy said weakly, eyes round in horror. The other orphans began to echo it back to those around them, so a wave of murmurs suddenly rose.
"I didn't!" Light yelled at them. They didn't seem to believe her. Their voices were rising; they were screaming it now, around the house. They were overjoyed that not only had Ms. Krow been eliminated, but this troublesome girl would be out of their hair as well. Light's hatred for Ms. Krow averted it's attention now to those kids. She clenched her hands tightly, anger rising up through her throat.
"I didn't kill her!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
But then, another feeling washed over her; it was a tingling feeling that began at her fingertips, then quickly spread through her fingers, and hand, and soon it was surging through her whole body. It didn't feel natural, it felt... weird... like that feeling you get when you put a half-dead 9-volt battery to your tongue. Light glanced over at Ms. Krow's body and wondered if she had, indeed, killed the woman.
The doorbell sounded somewhere below them, and all traces of anger and hatred vanished, along with the tingling sensation. Panic took their places. She heard the door open, and then the deep voice from before.
"Where's Ms. Krow?"
Light felt her body grow numb in horror. She had stopped breathing, not allowing her breath to get in the way of her hearing. She heard voices, children's voices, saying everything. Well, everything that was a threat to her. They said she had attacked the woman, and that now the woman was dead, adding details that never happened as they bounded up the stairs.
The owners of the voices, both young and old, appeared at the door. Detective stood there, a younger boy gripping his arm and pointing at her with an evil smile.
"That's her! That's the one!"
Light realized that she was shaking, the room feeling unnaturally cold to her. The realization of how much trouble she was in shot through her as she realized that there were several policemen standing behind the detective, talking to one another in soft voices she could not make out. She was frozen in fear. What were they discussing? Were they going to arrest her, have her carried off to prison?
Once again it felt like the world was caving in. It fell heavily upon her, crushing her lungs, causing her to stop breathing. An eerie silence was wrapping itself around her, so she could clearly see the orphans talking jubilantly to the adults, but couldn't hear them. Gravity caught a firm hold on her, and she slipped over sideways.
"Light," a deep voice said, breaking through the darkness. Light blinked, seeing a pair of loafers next to her. She turned her head and saw the blurred figure of Detective Baker above her. Amazingly, he looked concerned. She felt the warmth of his hand against her cheek, and a wave of confusion washed over her. What was going on?
"Someone get an ambulance," she heard him say, but it took her failing mind a moment to register that it was intended for her. His voice was saying more, but his words slurred together, making it impossible for her fogged brain to interpret it. The world was growing dark once more.
She wasn't even aware that she had taken off the little silver band and was gripping it tightly in her hand as the world slowed to a stop around her.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, an eleven year old boy named Harry Potter felt his scar hurt for the very first time.
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So. That's my first chapter of my fanfiction. I hope you guys liked it. And you saw that last sentence! ^_^ This story is going to completely coincide with Rowling's, meaning that my two books are basically in place of Rowling's sixth and seventh books. And students, watch closely. I've already made a crapload of forshadows in this chapter. ^_^ I've studied Rowling's literature too closely. I should *cough*never*cough* stop...
Proceed to Chapter Two: July 31st
