Broken

Chapter Seven: Meet the Jones'

"Jordan...Jordan..." I mumbled.

"Louis! She's awake!" a squeaky voice yelled in the distance. Heavy footsteps entered the room.

I opened my eyes. A small lamp lit up the room. The walls were a pumpkin orange, not the easiest on my eyes but it could have been worse. Out the corner of my eye, I saw multiple picture frames of various sizes. I was laying on the cold hard floor. I arched my back and groaned. I no longer was in the rag dress; the contrast was suffocating. Literally. I had been changed into a corset and that cut off all circulation to my head but was covered by a billowy, sheer white shirt tucked into a pencil skirt with a belt. "Where am I?" My voice was strained. I sounded like a smoker. I saw the dark figure that knocked me down. I immediately jumped up. "Who are you people?"

"Calm down." His voice was unsurprisingly deep and calming.

"What happening last night?"

"You ran into me last night and knocked yourself out. I took you home with me, changed your clothes, and let you rest."

"Ok." I relaxed a little bit. I completely ignored the part where he said he'd changed me as if I were his child. I turned to the girl. She was very chubby in the tummy with a full face. She had round brown eyes, two missing teeth, and a wide nose. Her hair was done in a tight bun that puffed out like a balloon. "Who are you?"

"I'm Althea! Louis is my big brother." She was so cheerful I almost fell over. I always loved kids since I lived most of my life in an orphanage.

"Nice to meet you, Althea. My name is Katrina."

"Do you want to play with my bricks?"

"No, Althea. What did I tell you about playing with those?" Louis interrupted.

"That I'm too old to be playing with them."

"And?"

"That I should give them to the younger boys down the street." she sounded like a depressed robot.

"Exactly. You go and do that while I take care or Miss Katrina."

Althea sulked away.

"I have some soup boiling for you on the stove." Louis got up from his spot on the floor. He was very tall and slightly muscular in the light. While his skin was very dark, he radiated in warmth and authority. Louis wore a shirt similar to mine tucked into some dress pants. "I have a dress for you in the spare room. I just grabbed the closest thing I could find without waking up the kids." He stirred the liquid in the pot.

"You put me in a corset." It wasn't a question. I already didn't like this guy; two seconds into meeting him and he already violated my privacy.

"I could've left you in a rag." He looked up, the beginning of a smile on his face.

I sighed. "Thank you. You have another kid?"

He scowled playfully. "My younger brother, Beverly. He's always up to something."

"Where are your parents?"

A shadow seemed to pass over us. "They were murdered a few years ago."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I know what it's like to not have your family there all the time. I grew up in an orphanage."

"That must've been rough."

"Not really, I met my boyfriend there. Well, I don't know what we are now." I said sadly.

"What were you running from?"

"This guy thought I was a prostitute and was trying to get with me in his car and I'm not that type of girl so I ran."