CHAPTER ONE
As she stepped off of the gangplank and onto the docks, all the girl could do was stare. Big busy streets, big busy buildings, gleaming steel and glass everywhere. Carriages and pedestrians everywhere you looked; children playing in the streets; people selling fruit, fabric, jewelry, anything. Annalise didn't think she had ever seen so many people in her life. Different faces everywhere. The young, the old, the tough and the crips. She gaped at the massive crowds, turning on her heels, trying to take in everything at once. The sights, the sounds, the scents and smells of the busy city.
Others from the ship rushed around her, pushing past her, some shooting the young, blonde-haired girl glares as they rushed off to wherever they were destined. She was swept up in the rush of the crowd, clutching her bag to her, still staring wide-eyed around her. How was she going to find anything in New York when it was so big? She followed varying crowds through the streets, and their members dispersed one by one. Some dropped off at stores, some, the true New Yorkers, went into houses and apartments, and still others rushed off to the theatres and factories. Soon, Annalise found herself quite alone where not a half hour before, she was surrounded by what seemed to be every member of the human race.
She walked along the streets, looking for someone to ask for directions, somewhere to sleep. The street signs changed from unfamiliar to missing entirely as the section of the city she was in became more and more run-down. Fear slid its icy fingers down her spine as she looked up and around, only to discover the sun was setting and she was nowhere near a place she could stay the night. Where had her mum said to go? She couldn't remember, but what she described didn't sound anything like any of the places around here. Her footsteps became faster as she grew more frantic, her satchel swinging heavily at her side.
A tall, shadowed figure that suddenly stepped in her path made her stop, startled. "Hello?" she called out nervously, taking a tentative step closer to the shaded form of the man.
"Hey baby." came the mockingly purring reply, and the shadows before her multiplied as more men stepped from the alley, advancing on her. Annalise, alarms ringing in her head, backed away slowly, then as terror gripped her, turned to flee the gangsters, but a crushing grip came around her midsection. She kicked and struggled to get free, catching a fleeting glimpse of the man who held her, a burly, unshaven and beery smelling fellow, in the process. "Hand it ova', girl!!" her captor barked, an realizing they were really after her purse, clutched it to her, tears springing to her eyes as the man roughly shoved her back into the wall of a nearby alley. All the possessions she had left, her little bit of money, everything was in there. She screamed something she was too stressed out and terrified to make out at him, kicking his shins, her heavy dress, now ripped, rustling and becoming ever dirtier and more destroyed. The circle of men around the struggling pair laughed and started making cat-calls.
"Fight 'im, little goil, fight 'im! You won't live t'see tomorrah!"
"Is that all y'got?!"
"Think youse can beat us, blondie?"
Tears of pain and frustration streaming down her face, she shoved against the man with all her strength, and to her surprise he moved back. Lifting her foot once more, hot with anger, she sank her hardest kick right into the man's crotch. The thug let out a surprised gasp of air, falling away from her. Desperate, she darts away from him, not noticing the fist flying towards her head until it hit her. The last thing she saw as she staggered dizzily around then collapsed back against the wall was the band of rogues running off with her bag thrown over one man's shoulder.
Then everything went black.
As she stepped off of the gangplank and onto the docks, all the girl could do was stare. Big busy streets, big busy buildings, gleaming steel and glass everywhere. Carriages and pedestrians everywhere you looked; children playing in the streets; people selling fruit, fabric, jewelry, anything. Annalise didn't think she had ever seen so many people in her life. Different faces everywhere. The young, the old, the tough and the crips. She gaped at the massive crowds, turning on her heels, trying to take in everything at once. The sights, the sounds, the scents and smells of the busy city.
Others from the ship rushed around her, pushing past her, some shooting the young, blonde-haired girl glares as they rushed off to wherever they were destined. She was swept up in the rush of the crowd, clutching her bag to her, still staring wide-eyed around her. How was she going to find anything in New York when it was so big? She followed varying crowds through the streets, and their members dispersed one by one. Some dropped off at stores, some, the true New Yorkers, went into houses and apartments, and still others rushed off to the theatres and factories. Soon, Annalise found herself quite alone where not a half hour before, she was surrounded by what seemed to be every member of the human race.
She walked along the streets, looking for someone to ask for directions, somewhere to sleep. The street signs changed from unfamiliar to missing entirely as the section of the city she was in became more and more run-down. Fear slid its icy fingers down her spine as she looked up and around, only to discover the sun was setting and she was nowhere near a place she could stay the night. Where had her mum said to go? She couldn't remember, but what she described didn't sound anything like any of the places around here. Her footsteps became faster as she grew more frantic, her satchel swinging heavily at her side.
A tall, shadowed figure that suddenly stepped in her path made her stop, startled. "Hello?" she called out nervously, taking a tentative step closer to the shaded form of the man.
"Hey baby." came the mockingly purring reply, and the shadows before her multiplied as more men stepped from the alley, advancing on her. Annalise, alarms ringing in her head, backed away slowly, then as terror gripped her, turned to flee the gangsters, but a crushing grip came around her midsection. She kicked and struggled to get free, catching a fleeting glimpse of the man who held her, a burly, unshaven and beery smelling fellow, in the process. "Hand it ova', girl!!" her captor barked, an realizing they were really after her purse, clutched it to her, tears springing to her eyes as the man roughly shoved her back into the wall of a nearby alley. All the possessions she had left, her little bit of money, everything was in there. She screamed something she was too stressed out and terrified to make out at him, kicking his shins, her heavy dress, now ripped, rustling and becoming ever dirtier and more destroyed. The circle of men around the struggling pair laughed and started making cat-calls.
"Fight 'im, little goil, fight 'im! You won't live t'see tomorrah!"
"Is that all y'got?!"
"Think youse can beat us, blondie?"
Tears of pain and frustration streaming down her face, she shoved against the man with all her strength, and to her surprise he moved back. Lifting her foot once more, hot with anger, she sank her hardest kick right into the man's crotch. The thug let out a surprised gasp of air, falling away from her. Desperate, she darts away from him, not noticing the fist flying towards her head until it hit her. The last thing she saw as she staggered dizzily around then collapsed back against the wall was the band of rogues running off with her bag thrown over one man's shoulder.
Then everything went black.