Pain of the Innocent

Life at the orphanage was tough. I had to make my way to the top though. I was determined but the rest of the orphanage, except Timmy and Nathanial, were also determined. The older kids were at the top as they were bigger and smarter then the younger kids. They would trick and humiliate the others just to show them whose boss. Well… and eye for an eye.

It was my first full day at that wretched place. I was outside in the back. I was sitting under a tree I believe. Nathanial was nowhere to be found and Timmy was running around chasing after a butterfly. I was absently petting a garter snake I had found earlier that morning when Jalen and his lackeys walked over.

“You see here Vince, we don’t take kindly of people talking irrespectively towards their superiors,” Jalen sneered.

“Then why are you talking that way towards me?” I asked emotionlessly.

Jalen motioned to one of his lackeys, a large boy with dark brown hair and puny green eyes. The boy bent down and picked me up by the front of my shirt and pressed me up against the tree.

“Because, we are your superiors. We are at the top here. You would do best to respect us unless you want to get seriously injured,” Jalen said. “Troy, Herald, show him what we mean by that.”

The brunette, Troy, and a blonde boy who looked to be Troy’s brother, started to punch and kick every part of me they could reach. By the time they were done I was nothing but a mass of bleeding and bruised flesh and clothes. But using my gift I managed to trip Troy, who landed with an ‘oof’ on his fat face. With a smirk I got up and limped back inside. Once back in the room I shared with Nathanial and Timmy, I managed to mostly heal myself before Nathanial ran in.

I smirked. “Didn’t hurt me as much as they thought.”

Nathanial grinned. “They can be so stupid sometimes.” Then the older boy got serious. “But really, you shouldn’t be messing with those three, especially Jalen. The boy is smart, not the smartest, but smart,” he said grimly.

“Of course I’ll be careful,” I muttered sarcastically.

Nathanial went back outside without another word. I slumped onto my bed and stared at the bunk above me.

How could I be so stupid as to pick a fight with them? They were stronger. Of course, that was it. I was much younger but in a contest of knowledge, I’d beat him easy with all the reading I’ve done. But I needed to train my body.

My eyes widened. Of course! I would train. I needed to protect myself and what better then to practice karate and such? The next day I would go to the library and check out some books on karate.

After washing off the blood and healing a few more bruises with my gift, I made my way down to lunch. I had spent a few more hours contemplating on what I would do to train and now I had the whole thing planned. I would have my physical training five days a week, the other two to rest, and I would read before bed and on weekends. I would practice my gift at every free chance as well. Perfect.

I stepped into the cafeteria and looked around. Finally spotting Nathanial and Timmy, I walked over and sat down in front of the two.

“Hey Vince. I was starting to think you’d never show,” Nathanial said through a mouth full of food.

I grimaced as bread crumbs from his sandwich fell out of his mouth while he talked. Timmy just giggled.

“Not eating?” Nathanial asked after swallowing the sandwich.

I shook my head. “Not hungry.”

The older boy just nodded and started on the rest of his sandwich. For the rest of lunch I sat there in silence. As soon as lunch was over Nathanial dragged me back to the room with Timmy trailing behind.

That night I had dreams filled with death. There was people running around everywhere in some unknown village, trying to escape me as I slaughtered them all one by one. There was blood everywhere and I enjoyed best of all how the life left there eyes. The smell of death was strong and the feel of blood on my hands made me giddy with excitement. I was just about to kill some blonde woman whose face contorted with terror so prettily, when somebody woke me up.

I sat up with a start, my arms in front of my face defensively. But it was only Timmy. He was shaking and only then did I realize he was crying. Reaching through the dark of the bedroom, and picked him up and placed him next to me.

“Bad dream?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Then you can sleep here tonight,” I said, offering him a kind smile.

Timmy smiled back and was soon fast asleep again. Normally I wouldn’t be so kind; had anybody else come up to me like that I would have told them to piss off but there was just something about the younger boy that made me want to care for him and to be there for him. It was almost as though the boy was a little brother.

Smiling at the thought of having a little brother, I went back to dreams filled with death, only to be awoken by a woman’s loud banging on the door the next morning.

I got up with a yawn. It was Monday, I think, and I was ready to start my training. I started to get up, being careful not to wake Timmy, when I realized it was my birthday. I was ten. Of course, that didn’t mean anything to me. Birthdays were never important to me.

With a sigh I got up and got dressed, unaware what the day had in store for me. That day held so many surprises; I’ll never forget it.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long but I didn’t have time to write it with school and all. This chapter wasn’t very exciting or anything but the next one will be better, I promise. I just had to build the story up a little, you know. Like it, love it, hate it? Plz review!