Melaine

Chapter 8

"Miss Hannah said a man has come to take us in with him." The girl ,with blond hair probably around of thirteen who was folding their clothes in a trunk, spoke to her brother who was sitting on the second cot of double bunk bed. The boy, two years younger than the girl, had blonde hair like her sister though few shades darker than her and piercing electric blue eyes. He was sitting leg-crossed in his baby blue night pajamas, refusing to dress properly for the man who had come to adopt the siblings.
"Do you think Laine he'll only take one of us?" He asked his sister playing with his orange teddy bear the only thing he had left of his family when their parents were alive. The children were taken into the orphanage after their parents' death in a car accident when a trailer lost control and collided with their car. Unfortunate to the orphan siblings who survived the accident had yet to live through the fear of being separated from each other. Whoever had come at children's house for their adoption only resolved to take in one of the sibling. Once there's time when two families had adopted them separately and he ran away all the way back to the house where his sister was adopted in, and stabbed the nib of ink pen in the man's hand who claimed to be her foster father. Though no report has been hired by the family against the siblings who managed to elope and returned back to the orphan house. The man left the girl back in the orphanage.
"Don't be so glum! Miss Hannah said he's taking in both of us." The girl chirped closing the trunk and looked up at her brother who was trying to pull at his teddy's eye. Miss Hannah opened the door of the room and asked the children that it's time to meet their new father. The girl was quick on her feet and pulled her socks up trying to look presentable before their new father.
"Come down now!" The girl whined at her brother who finally came down the stairs of double bunk. The girl picked up their trunk and held hand of her brother before Miss. Hannah took the siblings to the office room where the man had been waiting for them. He clenched at his sister's hand, squeezing it in almost bone breaking manner to which girl glared at him asking him to calm down. The man stood up from his seat upon seeing the siblings and knelt in front of them smiling.
"You're a beautiful doll. What's your name?" He asked the girl who told him her name and to which she had been told her name is as pretty as she herself is. The man then turned to look at the young boy which made him uncomfortable in his skin underneath his scrutiny.

"What's your name?"

-
The girl pulled her red goggles over her head as she walked inside the school building. She had naturally tan complexion, fair healthy colour and had black chin length hair in bob cut with slight curls at the end. She was of good physique and height, object of envy of many girls and fascination of boys of high school whom she had blatantly turned down. Her eyes landed on the person of her interest, Rohan, who was putting his stuff in the locker. She sneaked behind him and spanked his rear that left him shocked upon her sight.
"Annie?" Rohan, being a tease, poked her cheek with his index finger and she swatted his hand away grinning.
"Come on Mr. I'm alive."Annie rolled her eyes at him enclosing her best friend in a hug and slapped his ass again making him curse at her.
"Would you quit spanking me?" He chuckled at the girl who shrugged back.
"What can I say? You have a nice ass and my hand missed you...alot." The emphasis was on the word 'alot'. Her words must've taken as innuendo, of sexual intimacy by the students in the corridor who gave them strange looks but not between them. Since being best friends, they had a habit of pure harassment and pulling good lines against each other out of their dictionary but always coming out clean in the end, feigning the halo of angel over their horned heads of devil.
"How did your visit to Italy go?" Rohan asked shutting the door of his locker.
"It went fine I guess...mom's boyfriend is a nice man and they are getting engaged next month."
"How's David doing?"
"He's got another homicide case on his hand. You know, they found a girl at the park whose eyes had been ripped out and her tongue and fingers were cut."
"It's very considerate of psychopath".
Rohan commented earning a glare from the officer's sister.
"She's alive and that's the torture. Neither able to tell nor identify or write of who did that to her."
"I like that man's thinking", Annie stopped in her track and turned to point finger at him in threatening manner.
"Ok ...Ok..." He held up his hands in defense, "Don't get me arrested lady."

Melaine's face was radiant as compared to the past months at school and had a soft smile on her lips, gracing her features. She was dressed in red plum button blouse and skinny jeans. Her hair, usually in ponytail, were left open with a hairband on her head that changed her much of the nerd look. She clenched at the strap of her bag smiling to herself and marched down to her locker to grab her books. She rotated the knob of her locker getting the combination and opened the door of her locker when red liquid splashed on her face and she shrieked covering her face with the back of her hand.

Blood...
...Blood of 'her' in the basement that splattered on the walls and Melaine's horrified face...

The girls burst out in laughter as her back hit the wall, covering her face with both hands.
"Look at her face!" Jessica laughed as girls jeered at her making a video of their prank on her. Both Rohan and Annie exchanged a confused look between them before pushing through the students in the corridor. His eyes landed on Melaine who was covered in red liquid slumped against the wall and had had her face hidden between her hands. He looked from Melaine to Jessica whose smile disappeared upon seeing him.
"What the hell is going on here?" He shouted at everyone and glared back at Jessica who was fidgeting with her necklace. Annie rushed to Melaine's side and handed her tissue to clean herself up.
"Are you alright?" She touched the girl's shoulder taking her in messy look.
"Yeah...", Melaine barely whispered blinking back tears as she worked on wiping her face and neck. Rohan stepped forward and towered above Jessica fuming up in his rage.
"You did this to her?" He seethed snarling at the brunette who flinched back.
"A slut like you should know where her place is..."
"Rohan stop!" Annie yelled at him from behind and shook her head, silently asking him to cool down his temper.He punched the wall next to Jessica's head, missing her face that gave her a good warning of future that he won't be hesitant next time. He stomped away from there and Melaine ran towards the bathroom to change her shirt and clean herself up. She washed her hands but the feeling of blood on her face and hands wouldn't go away even after years. She splashed water on her face, drenching her shirt in the process and looked up to see her reflection in the mirror.

She would never forget what had happened in the basement that night.

-

The man stopped the car in front of a huge manor and the girl pressed her hands on the window looking at the mansion in complete awe.
"Is that your house?" She asked in excitement pointing towards the house.
"It's our house now", he ruffled her hair and looked over his shoulder at the boy whose arms were hugging his teddy bear staring out of the opposite window to the house. The man got outside of the car and opened the door of the backseat for him.

"Shall we go inside, Alan?"