Chapter One: The Alley Girl
"Bye bye, mum!" She said over her shoulder as she skipped out of her house. Her mother lay on the sofa, tea bags on her closed eyes, barely aware of her daughter leaving the house at all.
"Have a good time, dear." The older woman said quite weakly, adjusting the bags over her eyes and sighing deeply. The woman was quite upset as she had managed to develop some horrible dark circles. She had been staying out too late, far too late. She didn't like the hours that she worked, she didn't like the pay she was given but she couldn't find any other work.
The autumn air blew in from the open window that hadn't shut since the little girl who just left was a baby, and while the mother lying on the sofa wished that it would just snap shut, her daughter didn't seem to mind it at all as she skipped down the sidewalk away from her house in her faded, yellow jumper. She quite liked that jumper.
The streets were dead quiet as most people were inside having supper. The little girl looked into the windows and wondered what it would be like to be the children that sat around the table. Her stomach grumbled. Usually she was never hungry, or at least that's what her mum thought. Somehow, the little girl's mother found it a bit easier to ignore her empty fridge if her baby girl assured her that she wasn't famished in the least.
The little girl pulled out a small, pink notebook and pen. Looking into the window of a particularly cheery house, she jotted down a few notes. She hummed to herself as she wrote, and then snapped her notebook shut, turned, and skipped down the road to the next house. She repeated her odd actions for the next couple of homes before she turned down a dark alley.
She spun around, letting her long, brown hair down from its ponytail and then continued on. Her thin, pale hands played with the frayed end of her blue skirt absentmindedly as she walked deeper into the dark maze. She didn't seem scared at all, she looked happy, she looked peaceful. Eventually, the little girl closed her eyes, which were as bright a shade of blue as her mother's, and held her arms out by her sides so that they barely brushed the dirty, graffiti-covered walls.
Her pace slowed just a little bit as she walked further into the stone labyrinth whose walls stretched high up to the sky. Her consistent humming turned to song as she ventured deeper and deeper. Her voice was a bit scratchy, as if she hadn't used it in a long time.
"Nighttime comes with shadows trailing; Baby's eyes are open wide," It seemed as thought time had stopped for the little girl as she continued the back street with her eyes shut. Every time she came to a turn, she would take it as if she knew where she was going. Not once did she ever hit a dead end.
"What are you doing back here, girly?" A man with a gruff voice asked as she walked by. She said nothing and the tramp shrunk back onto the shadows. Her song didn't stop as she continued on. The homeless shied away from her, there was something very wrong with this little girl. They did not ask her any questions. As she walked on, her song changed. The lyrics were old, the melody was slow. It was as if the young girl was going to a funeral.
After a little bit, her eyes opened and her half-finished song died in her throat. She stood in front of a chain-link fence. Boxes were stacked on either side of the walls that framed the twisted metal wall. The little girl took a deep breath and climbed on a low box and then up to a higher one until she could drop over to the other side.
She let out the deep breath she'd been holding the entire time and jumped over the side of the fence. The little girl covered her pale lips with her small hand to keep down a dry sob as her tights ripped. She sat back and hissed in pain as a blood stain soaked her kneecap. She stood up slowly, carefully and walked closer to the building that lay beyond the fence.
It was a short building made of dark grey stone. The windows were dark but dim streetlights shone from high above, casting shadows onto the slick pavement. The wind blew around the little girl, chilling her. A rat scurried by her feet but she did not scream. She remained silent, a hand clamped over her mouth.
She heard a creaking noise behind her. She didn't move. The creaking became louder, again she didn't move. Her eyes closed again as her breathing quickened.
She didn't turn around as someone grabbed her from behind.