Chapter 7

"That was fun," I say, collapsing onto my back underneath the shade of a tree.

"Probably because you beat us all," Abigail says, giggling as she sits on a stone bench a short distance away.

"I played as a kid," I say simply.

"We all did, but we never got that good," Grant says laughing, legs swinging above my head as he sits on a branch in the tree.

I just laugh the praise away and soon we're all laughing, faces red from the exertion of the game. Well, almost all of us.

"You know, there's something wrong with you." Plubio snaps, staring at me with hard eyes.

I feel a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. "And what might that be?" I try to keep an even tone but my voice trembles slightly. So much for keeping an even tone.

"I have no idea, but I'm going to find out. You can bet on it, new girl." He storms away and the sinking feeling grows. I look around and see everyone staring at me, at the terrified look on my face.

"Oh no, he's going to find out the name of my dog when I was seven!" I say, trying to use the terrified look to my advantage. Everyone starts to laugh again, a bit uneasy this time.

"Don't worry; he's been going mad for a while now." Oliver says, voice still a bit worried.

"I can tell," I say distractedly, staring at Plubio's back as he leaves the courtyard. I have a feeling that I will be seeing more of his back than his face.

That night after dinner I go back to the room alone. I wasn't that hungry in the first place, so I had finished early. I sit on a bed in the corner of the room and watch as the sun sets on the horizon, far off in the distance. The door opens long after it has set, but I still sit and stare out the window.

"Hey, since it's your first night do you want to wash up and change first?" Ava asks, plopping down on the bed I had chosen.

"Sure, I could really use it. But I don't have any spare clothes…"

"Check your dresser. It's full of girl's clothes for you, all standard issue. That's why Abigail and I match." This is the first time that I've noticed how they are wearing the same clothes. Now that I think about it, all of the boys were wearing the same clothes as well.

"Oh, thanks. Where do I wash up?"

"At the first door on the right, you can't miss it."

"Thanks," I say and retrieve a nightgown from the dresser. I head down the hall and wash up quickly; I slip into the ill-fitting nightgown once I'm done. Once I return to my room Abigail leaves and I brush my wet hair, looking at my reflection in the mirror on top of the dresser. A scared, lying little girl stares back at me, a malicious, bloodthirsty look in her eye. I'm not surprised at all; I've never done anything good to prove my reflection wrong.

I burrow into the soft bed, burying myself in the thin sheets as best I can, trying hard to forget the troubles of the day.


"Hey, Zinnia, wake up!" Ava whispers into my ear, shaking me by the shoulder slightly.

I groan, not wanting to wake up, and finally muster up the strength to pry my eyes open. It's still dark outside.

"What's going on? It's the middle of the night."

"That's exactly why I'm waking you up. You have to pass our initiation ceremony." Her whispers radiate excitement.

"What initiation ceremony?" I say loudly. She immediately slaps her hand over my mouth, silencing me.

"You'll see." She says mysteriously, which earns quite a few muffled cries from me. She and Abigail pull me into a sitting position and tie a cloth around my mouth to keep me from screaming. It's loose and sloppily tied but I don't work it off; I'm curious as to see what they're going to do.

"Please don't make it any harder than it is, Zinnia. We all went through this." Abigail whispers while opening the door to the room. Oliver, Grant, and Plubio wait outside with a small sack of belongings. Oliver and Grant look extremely worried and unsure of themselves while Plubio is looking quite excited. Oh goody.

Ava and Abigail hand me off over to Oliver and he grips my arm tightly. "Nice seeing you, too," I say to him, but my words are muffled by the sad excuse for a gag. He throws me a worried and confused look, and then starts following the others through the dark corridors. He throws me worried glances several times, but looks straight ahead for the most part. He never meets my gaze directly.

We reach a pigsty and Plubio stops all of a sudden and so do the others. I keep going for a bit more, but Oliver pulls me back a bit. I just shrug and Plubio starts talking.

"Zinnia. It is your turn for your hazing ceremony." Oliver removes my gag so I am able to talk, so I do.

"Great, but I don't know how to create haze so have fun trying to explain it to me."

He gets an agitated look on his face that makes me smile. "You know that's not what I meant," he growls.

"Actually, I did and still do think that's what you meant. Am I wrong?" I ask innocently.

"Dead wrong…" He mutters under his breath, which I choose to ignore. "You know what? Just throw her in there and we'll go from there." He says to Oliver and Grant.

"I don't feel like meeting your family, Plubio. Could we do this some other time maybe?"

"Shut up!" He barks and I know that my words have cut deep. He knows for sure that he's an orphan, and he knows that he has no family. I feel like apologizing for a second, but I vote against it. I didn't ask for them to drag me out here in the middle of the night, why should I be nice about it?

"You should have thought of that when you got Oliver to take my gag off."

He makes a loud sound of frustration and comes over to pick me up himself. I'd say he's strong, but I'm not very heavy. I yawn and he just gets even worse. He tosses me into the sty and I land face first in the mud. I don't even want to think what else might be in the mix… I quickly get into a standing position and wipe it off of my face as best I can.

"You have to stay there for the rest of the night and sneak back into the orphanage without Devera noticing in the morning." Abigail explains, her voice quivering a bit.

"I don't think she can do it. Look at her, she's scrawny and probably can't do anything." Plubio says arrogantly, turning his back on me and starting to walk away.

Anger boils up inside of me and I shout, "I will do this, just you watch!"

He waves over his shoulder and I feel like jumping out of here and punching him, or at least dragging him back here and burying his face in whatever this is.

"Zinnia, we'll see you in the morning, okay?" Grant asks, interrupting my thoughts. I just give him a nod of acknowledgement and they all hurry to follow Plubio.

I wait until they are all out of sight to say, "Pfft, as if I'll stay here all night…" I plop down in the mud and watch the position of the moon overhead. Time passes by ever so slowly, the minutes dragging on and feeling like hours. After what I know to have actually been about 2 hours or so but felt like much more, I get up and climb out of the pigpen. I am coated in a thick layer of mud so I listen closely and hear water running nearby. I follow the sound and soon find a stream where I submerge myself, and wash off the muck.

I wring out my hair and nightgown and head back to the orphanage as quietly as possible. When I finally do reach it I walk around the building for quite a while, looking for an open window. Unfortunately, there aren't any so I settle for the back door. I open it just a crack and when I see nobody around I slip in and close the door softly behind me. I use one of the paths I memorized so far and somehow find my way to the room I share with Ava and Abigail. The corridors aren't lit at night so it's difficult, but I manage by touching walls and counting my steps. I go into the washroom and find that a candle is lit in here, so I wash the stench off my body. Once that is done I silently enter my room and change into a clean nightgown, then slide into my bed. Ava and Abigail are fast asleep, and they don't seem to notice me. I smile as I turn onto my side to face the wall. Fools.


I am SO sorry for not updating in such a long time, my laptop just got fixed (I had to get help from my dad since I have no idea how to do that sort of thing.) Well, that plus I have school and my teachers think that the first few days of school are amazing times to give out projects and other homework. Especially my algebra teacher... Enough of my excuses, I'm putting myself to sleep.

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Alright, thanks! Bye guys!