Chapter 1: The Old Hag
"Wake up! Wake up, you little brat!" Mina was slowly waking up to the harsh voice of the Salem Orphanage's caretaker, Ms. Reedy. Mina knew Ms. Reedy was speaking, but as she was half asleep, she couldn't fully understand what she was saying. So Mina came up with a very intelligent remark…
"Wha…?" Mina was about to open her eyes until she felt a sharp pain go across her cheek.
"Ow! What the… What was that for!?" WHACK!!! Another slash of pain filled her face. Now she was wide-awake.
"Shut up, you insolent child! And don't think that I won't smack you again if you speak to me like that. Because I will… only much, much harder." Mina was now on the floor, holding her already-bruising cheek. Ms. Reedy then grabbed her by her long, wavy hair and pulled it until Mina clumsily staggered onto her feet, but only to be shoved back on her bed again.
"Now, get your ass up! Get dressed! I want you to scrub every inch of this orphanage! Got it?" "What? Not even a 'good morning, Mina'," she asked (more like stated) coldly. But, of course, she was ignored. Ms. Reedy just narrowed her eyes. "These floors had better be shining like the Boston Skyline or your backside will by the time I'm through with you. Do you understand me?
"Mina just starred at her with those strange, mysterious eyes. Suddenly, Ms. Reedy had her hands tight around her neck. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" Ms. Reedy's hands were so tight around Mina's throat that the only way she could have answered was to nod. That seemed to satisfy Ms. Reedy so she released Mina from her metal chokehold and turned on her heels to leave.
As she was leaving, Mina was making ugly faces behind her back, hoping that she would just drop dead on the spot. She hated the old hag that was Ms. Reedy. She hated those cold, hard blue eyes that seemed to burn a hole when she looked at you, that crooked beak-like nose, those cracked, shriveled lips that formed into a smile when a child was in pain, showing hideous, blackened teeth. She just hated her!
Mina was now at the point of getting dressed, while muttering things about her hatred for Ms. Reedy. " Stupid old witch… I hope a house falls on her face… if it did, she'd deserve it… old hag! I hate her!"
By that time, she had finished getting dressed and went to go brush her teeth and other hygenic things. And finally, she tied an old, practically ancient black, silk ribbon to her hair. Only then did she look in the broken mirror to view herself. She was wearing a green and black corset dress with three quarter sleeves. She was also wearing her favorite lace glovelets that had no fingers and lace- up boots.
"Hmm…" She had a distant look in her eyes. She was thinking very hard about something very important... she made a funny face. Then another one, and another one. Then she made a straight face and did something very mature… she stuck out her tongue and giggled.
She turned and reached for the door, but no sooner had she touched the handle, did an older boy, about 15 or 16, walked in. " Hey, get out of here, freak!" Mina wasn't in the mood. "Pardon my manners, but I was here first, Dennison. And I don't know if you knew about it, but there's this new invention and it's called KNOCKING!"
Thomas Dennison was one of those top people that made her life a living hell. He was the oldest orphan and because of that he had everyone kissing his ass. Everyone except Mina.
"Do you think I care about what you say, runt? Now move or I'll knife you again." (Yes, he was the one who gave her the scar) Mina was about to say a witty remark but she wasn't in the mood to argue so she just walked past him. "Jerk," she said to herself.
She grabbed a rag and a bucket with soapy water and started scrubbing the floor. She dipped her rag into the water again. She was letting it soak until… "MINA!" That shocked her out of her stupor so quickly that she jumped, making the bucket topple over. " Aw, shit!" "MINA!" She gave up on trying to stop the water from spreading, so she decided to see who needed her so badly.
