Lethal

Chapter 5: Threat

The little girl settled into the orphanage after Father James introduced her to the other children and showed her around. He also showed her to her bed which had a nightstand, a small lamp, and a chest of drawers to arrange her clothes in.

However, the curious children around her seemed far less interested in her and much more in her scar.

"What is that on her shoulder?" a red-haired girl whispered, blatantly pointing in her direction.

"It looks ugly." snickered her brunette friend.

Alexandra's stomach fell as a knot formed in her throat at the comment. She turned away from the two girls and began arranging her favorite toys on the bed. One, in particular, was her favorite- a stuffed panda named Hiccup. Her father had won it for her at the local fair.

On alternate days, each of the children received a muffin after lunch. Alexandra was delighted because she was a huge fan of the baked good. She would save her muffin and hide it under her pillow to eat after dinner.

One day, to her utter dismay, when she returned after dinner, someone had upturned her entire bed. Her sheets had been pulled from the corner and her toys had been thrown on the floor. The muffin she'd saved for tonight had been smashed all over her pillow.

She heard whispering behind her and turned, only to see the red-haired girl and her friend smirking and giggling at her.

The sudden rage that shot through Alexandra's body at that moment shocked even her. Her fingers curled into fists, and she tried to restrain her growing anger when all she wanted to do was go up to that girl and smack the life out of her.

But she couldn't. Fighting with other children only led to being banned from all activities for a whole day and she didn't want to miss the movie they would be showing tomorrow night.

Thus controlling her ire, she marched out of the room and went to sit on the sill of one of the large windows that overlooked the garden outside. She was fuming. She hated it- everything and everyone around her.

Someone sat down beside her and she turned to see who it was.

She'd seen him around. He was one of the taller, older boys who always stayed alone. All the children looked at him with a weird combination of fear and fascination.

"You did a good thing not engaging with those two." he spoke softly, "They always do that to the new kids."

"Did she do it to you?" Alexandra asked, her eyes moving over his dark hair and pointed nose.

"Yeah, she tore up the only picture I had of my sister."

"That's horrible!" she gasped in horror.

"It was. I was so angry that I pushed her on the ground one day. She made a whole scene, told on me and I got grounded for two days."

"What a bitch!"

The sudden curse word from Alexandra made them pause abruptly. The two looked at each other a moment and then burst out laughing. It felt good. She could feel the anger dissipating.

"Don't worry. We'll get our revenge one day." he smiled at her.

"We will."

"Meanwhile," he dug his hand into his pocket, "you can have this."

She looked down to see a wrapped muffin displayed in his palm and an encouraging smile for her to take it.

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly, "You must have saved it for yourself."