First Blood

       I don’t remember much, but a few things from my childhood stand out. I remember the people at the orphanage weren’t overly fond of me. Any time a prospective adopter would visit the facility, I was locked in the basement as to not tarnish their reputation. I knew they didn’t like me, so I would go out of my way to annoy them. The reason this stands out is because I spent an awful lot of time in that basement. I liked being there. It was a safe place for me to think, and I became in tune with myself. One day when I was four years-old, I was sent to the basement like normal, but something was different. I felt as though there was someone else that I couldn’t see.

“Hello?”

There was no response, and for a while it was quiet until a voice answered me.

“You’re a strong little girl, Maya, stronger than you think.”

I thought about it for a minute.

“Yeah, I know. I can do a full push-up. Ms. Lisa says it’s stupid though.”

The voice sighed, and was quiet for the moment. Then he said,

“Just remember that the saying, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me’, is a complete lie. You’re words WILL hurt people.”

I felt weird as he said that, but I shrugged it off. I felt even safer than I ever had in that building. I sat there thinking about what I had been told and whether or not I believed it. I was only four, so I thought it was one of the adults playing a trick on me, but it didn’t sound like anyone I was familiar with. As I hear footsteps coming towards the door, I fire one last question.

“What is your name?”

Just as I hear someone unlocking the door, I see two red eyes in the corner looking at me.

“Call me Loki” he says before disappearing into the shadows. The door opens and I walk slowly up the steps, still processing everything I had been told. I didn’t believe it, but I knew there was someone down there talking to me. I knew enough not to tell any of the grown-ups about Loki, they’d all just laugh at me. I kept everything to myself for two years. I didn’t talk to him at all during that time. One day they forgot to hide me, and a young couple came in looking to adopt. They immediately saw me and started trying to get to know me. I was confused, no one ever talked to me. The housemothers stared at me disapprovingly, and the couple could tell I was scared. They started filling out the paperwork that very instant, and I was told to get my things. Ms. Lisa followed me to the bedroom.

“How can a little brat like you ruin everything we’ve worked for”

I ignored her because I didn’t want to keep my new family waiting and have them change their minds. Ms. Lisa grabs me by my hair and forces me to look at her. She stared at me with those cold, hate-filled eyes that I couldn’t wait to never see again.

“I can’t wait to never see you again. I wouldn’t care if you jumped off the building and died!”

    She was taken aback and let go of me. I quickly grabbed my things and ran out of the room before she could react. When I got to the waiting room, my new parents were already standing their with big smiles and their arms open wide. I immediately hugged them and cried. They were taking me away from the place that I hated so much. I got in the car and watched the orphanage shrink in the distance with a huge smile on my face. We drove for about twenty minutes and we talked the whole way. We pulled up in front of this massive house with a big backyard and a pool. My awe grew as soon as we stepped foot in the front door. My new mom took my things and showed me to my room. It was a whole room to myself, and it wasn’t the basement for once. The room was already decorated with pretty wallpaper, a huge bed, and more toys I would have ever imagined possible.

“If there is ANYTHING you don’t like, we can change it. You just have to tell me, okay?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s awesome! Thank you mom!”

I immediately hugged her and started crying. I don’t think she expected my reaction, because she started to cry too. We stayed like that for a little while, and when we separated we laughed and went downstairs to watch some television. My dad had it on the news to see what the weather was going to be like the next day so they could show me around the neighborhood. As we were waiting for the weather to come on, I realized that I left my favorite blanket at the orphanage and started crying. My dad saw how much I needed that blanket and hugged me.

“I saw how scared you were at that place so I don’t want you going back there, but I’ll go to the orphanage and get it for you.”

I hugged him again, and then he left. My mother then took me to the kitchen and let me help her set the table for dinner. It was getting later and my father was still not home. My mother was getting increasingly worried the later it got. Two and a half hours went by and my father finally came home, white as a sheet. He came over to my mother and whispered something in her ear and her eyes went wide. She then calmly and lovingly turns to me and looks me in the eyes.

“Maya, you don’t ever have to worry about Ms. Lisa hurting you again.”

My stomach dropped and I knew what she meant. The worst part was, I knew I was responsible for everything that happened. I remembered what Loki had told me and cried. I could hear his laughter from the corner of the room as I realized what I had done.

Reviews

[Cristalle Kao]

I LOVES. This was really well done, and I loved how well you captured this spooky feeling from the first paragraph! I feel like Loki is going to be making more appearances...