Prologue

Goodsouls Childrens Home

Serena tossed in her sleep, imaginary walls closing in on her and the imaginary screams of others filling her ears. She whimpered and turned to get away from them, but they followed her, plaguing her relentlessly. She couldn't breathe, for the weight of her fear pressed on her chest, preventing her from getting the air she so desperately needed. As a result her heart pounded heavily, trying in vain to pump her blood around her body, the lack of oxygen making it almost impossible. Sweat beaded on her forehead and along the length of her body. She would wake up in time, to find that her nightdress and pillowcase would be soaked in sweat.

This was the state she found herself in every night. The nightmares that made sleep something to be feared and fought. Yet with the amount of work her body and mind were forced to endure all day, it was almost impossible not to surrender to what should have been oblivion.

Across the room, in one of the many beds that occupied the small room, Serena's new roommate watched her with pity. Newly arrived at the orphanage, Mina was two years younger than Serena's 18 years old. She was an insomniac, and rarely slept. She usually hated this condition, but seeing Serena in the fits of nightmares each night, had made her think twice. She would rather not sleep at all than sleep and dream like Serena did. Many nights she had debated over whether to go and wake her, but had never actually got up the nerves to get out of bed and do it. She feared the Keeper too much.

1 Week Later

The Keeper called to Serena as she was finishing her morning chores. She dreaded these days, when she was called away to the Keepers office, off which was a private room, and was subjected to endless tests. They generally lasted all morning and sometimes through into the afternoon. Once every month, generally in the week she had her period, from the day she had got here, Doctor Grivock, had come and delivered painful and repulsive tests, to both body and mind. Always she was forced to remove her clothing, or held down so they could be removed when she got up enough courage to resist, and she would be strapped to a wooden table, held at hands and feet. Then they would be left alone and the tests would begin. The mind tests were always first, questions would be thrown at her, the doctor's voice getting louder and louder, until he was shouting at her, demanding she gave up secrets she knew nothing about. Then came the physical examinations. She was always gagged for these, her screams of fury having drawn a curious crowd the first time she had been subjected to this. He would always start at the same place, her breasts, and work his way down. Hands that should have been impersonal, were not. And examinations that should have taken a few minutes were drawn out into half hour intervals, sometimes even longer. And she was always made to clean up any mess afterward, if she wanted to get her clothes back.

The one time she had gained the courage to run and hide, instead of following the summons, she had been found and the tests had been ten times worse than any other time, lasting two days and nights. Nothing had ever been quite that bad since, but today she decided she was not going to go. She turned and ran for the nearest door, hearing the shouts of The Keeper, and the sound of guardians pursuing her. She would not go back to that room this month, or any other month. SHE WOULD NOT GO BACK!