Reece's Haven

Prologue II

WARNING: Child abuse!

"She does not need a Prince Charming or a Knight in shining armour to save her. She draws her own sword..."
– Nautica

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~ D O R O T H Y ~

November 1990

Age 10

Creak... Creak... Creak...

I drape the thin blanket over my head, praying silently for Sister Flora to leave the large dormitory. The dormitory houses sixteen girls, all are about my age. They, like me, are hiding under their blankets.

"Recite a prayer before you sleep," Sister Flora growls, walking around the dormitory with her hands behind her back with her sausage-like fingers gripping on a wooden metre rule.

Her weapon, some say.

Middle-aged, she is huge and round. Each and every student in this school is intimidated by her, especially me. Anywhere she'd go, silence would follow.

She places her rule on a table next to a girl's bed, and leans down to tie the laces of her black, polished shoes. She is very particular about polished shoes. If anyone were to show up to her class with unpolished shoes, she'd force them to stand on a chair for an entire day with no food and drink provided to them.

The colossal figure rises and, eagle-eyed, proceeds to the doorway of the dormitory.

Creak... Creak... Creak...

When the lights switch off and the doors slam shut, everyone lets out a breath of relief. Whispers erupt before mellowing down to silence. Once the dormitory becomes quiet, I shoot up on my narrow bed, pull out a drawer of my small bedside table and fish out a piece of paper, pencil and small torch.

I seek refuge under my thin blanket again, place the end of the torch in my mouth and begin to write on the paper.

Dear Reece,

Did you get any of my letters? I have not received a single reply from you yet. I sent loads of letters to mummy as well. She did not reply to any of them either.

This place is horrible. The food smells disgusting and it's always slimy. I can't sleep at night because my bed is hard and always squeaky. Sometimes, I can hear howls at night. I think they belong to wolves, but Sister Alexa said that there are no wolves here. But they do sound like wolf howls.

This place is nothing like London. It's so boring here! There's just grass everywhere and some smelly farm animals. That's all! The dormitory is still terrible. They haven't even fixed the heating system yet, and it's already November! What's going to happen when it gets colder?

Also, I'm lonely here. No one wants to be my friend. Everyone thinks I'm a crybaby and they make fun of me. I'm not a crybaby. I just miss home. I miss mummy. I also miss you. You don't think I'm a crybaby, do you?

I notice blotches of wetness on the bottom of the paper. Sniffing, I wipe away my tears with the right sleeve of my plain white nightgown. I continue to write with a sinking heart.

It's scary here, Reece. The sisters here are scary too and super strict, especially Sister Flora. Yesterday, she hit a poor girl on the head with a book because she was not paying attention to the lesson. She is horrible! She is as huge as an elephant and she sweats like a pig and smells like one too! Can you please tell mummy to pick me up from here? Tell her that I will promise to be the best daughter in the whole wide world if she brings me back home.

Please help me come back home.

Please save me from here!

Before I can sign my letter sign off, my shelter is snatched away from my body and a beam of light flashes onto my face, forcing my eyes to squint. When I recognise the familiar plump figure standing behind the bright torch, my torch drops from my mouth as a loud gasp escapes from my trembling lips.

"You!" Sister Flora bellows.

She pinches my right ear and drags me out of my bed. My body collides against the wooden floor with a big thud. Her hand grabs onto my chin and forces me to look at her red face, which seems to look like it's about to explode any second.

"You disobedient child!" she continues. "I have told you to sleep! What were you doing awake at this ungodly hour?"

Her murderous eyes trail away from me and she frowns. Letting go of my stinging ear, she picks up my letter from my bed, points her torch at it and skims through it before her grip on the paper tightens so much that her knuckles become ghostly white. My heart is pounding so much that I'm afraid that my rib cage would shatter.

"You... You..." she sputters, spitting. "You insolent child! After everything we have taught you, after everything we have done for you, this is how you show your gratitude?"

By now, I am definitely sure that all of the 15 girls are awake. They are deathly silent, hiding under their blankets to avoid Sister Flora's wrath. Sister Flora grabs my wrist in a death grip and drags me out of the dormitory. I sob hysterically, struggling to breathe.

"I...I-I am s-so-" I try to apologise and beg her to let me go, but my attempts are to no avail.

She pulls me along the empty corridor until she stands in front of an ominous door. The floor is icy cold, and I am barefoot. Pulling the door open, she pushes me from my back into a small, dark room. My body collides with the hard floor again while she switches the light on.

"We have fed you!" she snaps. "We have given you a roof over your head! We are providing you the gift of education! You ungrateful brat!"

She picks up a steel ruler from her desk with her right hand and begins to clap it slowly against her left hand threateningly.

"Stand up," she orders, growling like a predator.

I am in too much pain to obey her.

Please God. Please save me.

Suddenly, she lifts the ruler and then swings it. Sharp pain shoots through my body like electricity, and without realising it, I scream as loud as I am able to. Merciless and satisfied by my reaction, she swings the ruler again. I do not know how many times the ruler has struck me, but I will forever remember the drops of blood that are dripping on the floor, the indescribable pain on my back and the feeling of hopelessness.

There is a short moment where I look up and see crimson: her weapon is covered in my blood.

I am on the verge of losing consciousness when a door suddenly opens and Sister Alexa scrambles into the room. She gasps and immediately grabs onto the bloody ruler and snatches it away from my abuser.

"Sister Flora!" my saviour screams in disbelief and horror. "H-How can you have the audacity to harm a poor, innocent child?"

My abuser glares at her before she spits on me.

"Innocent? She is disobedient and ungrateful! Her faith in the Lord is weak! She does not deserve any-" Words become indiscernible.

I lift my head feebly and spot a scrawny, ginger-haired girl hiding behind the door. She watches me with wide eyes as her body shakes.

Wait... I know her. Her bed is next to mine in the dormitory.

What is she doing here? Did she send Sister Alexa to help me?

Before I can remember her name, my face drops to the floor and I fall into darkness.

*~*~*~*~*