I groaned lightly and rubbed my temple in irritation. If I heard the word 'demon' one more time I think I'm going to turn into one myself. My aunt shot me an apologetic look before turning her attention to the nun lady.

" How are you so sure, Ms. McOlsen?" Valerie insisted. " You've never seen this so called 'demon', have you?"

" I don't need to see it to know what it is." The old crow squawked irritably. " I just want it to leave my children alone." I rolled my eyes and yawned. If anyone needed an exorcism, it was this lady. All the kids were eating in silence, probably scared that they'd be yelled at if they said a word. I dragged my fork across my plate, making that earsplitting screech that was like nails on a chalkboard. Ms. McOlsen turned to me and glared sharply.

" Child, do not make that horrid noise!" She snapped and I looked at her boredly.

" One, I'm not a child, lady." I drawled. " And two, you ain't no parent of mine, so take your crappy commanding attitude and shove it where the sun don't shine."

" How dare you!" The woman gasped, placing a hand on her chest. " You're parents should be ashamed to have such a disrespectful little—"

" Hey." I sharply cut her off. " Don't you dare tell me how my parents should feel. My dad ain't in my life and my momma always told me to give respect when respect is due. You haven't shown me one ounce of respect since I showed up. You practically called me a slut even though I never said a word, so don't start with me, lady." The kids looked at me, stunned that I would even try to stand up to the nun as she stared at me in shock. I only stared at her, unamused, until my aunt cleared her throat. That seemed to snap McOlsen out of her daze as she looked at Valerie.

" Would you like to take this conversation into another room?" My aunt asked in which the older woman nodded.

" Yes, that would be a good idea." She huffed, standing up. " Children, remember your manners and your chores." The kids nodded wordlessly and continued their meal while I just glared at the old woman's retreating figure. Once she was out of sight, I sighed loudly.

" How do you all deal with that?" I asked, looking at them in question. A few of the older kids turned and looked at me.

" How did you just stand up to her like that?" A boy with dark brown hair countered. " If anyone of us would've done that, she would've ripped us a new one and we'd be cleaning the orphanage until we're forty!" I raised a brow before shrugging at the boy's question.

" I dunno, I don't take other people's crap." I muttered. " I can't stand control freaks, they drive me nuts. So when I see one, I kind of just blow up, I guess."

" That was awesome!" Another kid spoke up. " You totally schooled her!"

" Yeah, did you see her face when Allie just told her off?" A young girl grinned. " Priceless!"

" I wish I had your guts…" Another boy murmured and I cracked a grin.

" Come on, you can tell that witch off any day." I said, putting my hands behind my head. " She may be your caretaker, but she can't tell you how to be you. If she thinks she can, she's wrong."

" But she's so scary…" A little girl whimpered.

" She's just an old croon." An older boy stated. " Allie's right. We shouldn't be scared of her." I nearly laughed in victory as the orphans began excitedly chattering with one another. This was much better than their fearful silence earlier. My gaze shifted to Cory, who was staring at me and looking behind him. Seemed like he was talking to Jack about what was going on. He smiled a bit at whatever his hidden friend said before looking back at the scene.

Growing bored rather quickly, I picked up a pea from my plate. I hated the vegetable, so instead of eating it, I tossed it at the nearest kid, hitting him in the cheek. He blinked in mild shock before looking at me. I pretended to look away innocently.

" Did… did you just throw your food at me…?" He asked, blinking at me. I picked up another pea and inspected it.

" I dunno." I said, tossing it at him again. This time, it hit him lightly on his forehead. " Did it feel like that?" He squinted at the challenge and took one of his own peas and tossed it at me. I grinned and ducked, watching as a young girl got hit in the head with it. She gasped and looked over, blinking in confusion.

" He did it." I said, pointing to the boy who looked at me like 'how dare you'. The girl puffed out her cheeks and picked up a handful of food, chucking it at the both of us. I quickly tried to cover my face, but regardless, the handful of squishy contents hit me and the other kid. Covered in muck, I grabbed my plate and tossed it across the table, sending the food flying.

" Who's up for a food fight?!" I yelled as the kids followed my lead, throwing chunks of food at each other and dodging random vegetables and such. I laughed and dodged an attempt to head-shot me.

So what if that old hag was going to yell at us for this, these kids needed something to help them loosen up. If I'm the one that has to shake things up a bit in this place, then hell, I'm going to rock their world.

0o0o0o0o0o

Well, I was right about the old crow getting mad. More like she was having a cow about our food fight. I was silently fuming at her for upsetting a few of the little kids, causing them to tear up. But the look my aunt was giving me told me that if I stayed quiet, maybe they wouldn't get in any more trouble.

McOlsen turned to me and pointed a finger nearly in my face. My eyes narrowed and I resisted the urge to bite her finger off.

" You dare come into my home and cause such a havoc?" She screeched and I almost covered my ears to drone out her shrill cries. " All these children were behaved and mindful children before you came and corrupted them—"

" Okay, look," I snapped, cutting the old hag off. " Yeah, I started the damn food fight, but don't you dare stand there and tell me I'm the problem. These kids are terrified to breathe the wrong way 'lest they sin'! You think that you're some kind of saint but you aren't. If you cared about these kids, you'd let them be themselves. But no. Instead, you gotta try and mold them into something they don't wanna be. Face it, you're a control freak that wants nothing more than these kids to be what you want them to be. Have you ever stopped for a moment and asked them what they wanna do with their lives?" The room fell silent as I fumed at the woman before shaking my head and walking off.

" You know what? Never mind." I hissed. " If you're going to be an ass about everything and be a hypocrite, then go ahead. But I think these kids deserve better than that. We're not all the same, we're made to be different. You can't expect these kids to all be prim and proper all the time." With that, I started up the stairs to one of the guest rooms. I needed to sleep before I ripped that woman's head from her body.

Closing the door, I growled and rubbed my face with my hands, trudging over to the mattress and flopping down onto it. I hoped that witch got it through her thick skull that she couldn't control people. I sighed and rolled over, staring at the wall. My aunt would probably make me apologize tomorrow… or tonight, whichever one.

I fell into a fitful sleep with dreams of dead children trying to disembowel me, and creepy, echoing laughter in the background.