A/N: hi! Tami here! This is my 1st fan fic, and all comments are welcome......... Thanks! By the way, rating may change, but it's set on PG-13, just to be safe...

Anyway, enjoy!

A sharp scream pierced the chilly night air, and the dull pounding of running footsteps ceased. A flash of green light blazed, momentarily illuminating the silent grove of trees near the forest entrance. The bundle of cloth in the woman's arms fell as she hit the ground, rolling out of sight under a tree, as a high, cruel laugh rent the silent night air, echoing eerily thru the trees. The swish of cloth was heard, sending the grove into silence. Then suddenly, thunder cracked, and the baby began to cry as it started to rain.

9-year-old Tammara woke up with a gasp and sat up in her bed. She'd been having that dream again, and she was sure that that pop she heard wasn't just a dream either. She looked around in a panic. All the other children lay fast asleep on their beds, their faces peaceful and calm. Tammara sighed, and couldn't help but feel that, in some way or another, she was not like the other kids. She had known it ever since. The only one who ever seemed to actually understand her was Amy, her best friend. She scanned the room again. Everything was the same, up to the cracks on the orphanage ceiling and the dirty white curtains fluttering in the partly open windows. She sighed with relief and turned over, going back to sleep. Not seeing the man who climbed out of the darkness outside her window, scanned the room, and then vanished with a soft crack.

"Tammara Monique! Get up, matron's looking for you!!!" a voice called, and Tammara felt her shoulder being shaken.

"Amy, I'm up, I'm up!" she said, pulling herself into a sitting position and rubbing her eyes.

"Matron's looking for you!" Amy repeated, pulling her to a bathroom at one end of the long room.

"Why's matron looking for me?" Tammara asked as she was being dragged along by Amy.

'Please... let it be someone...' she prayed as she washed her face and brushed her hair and teeth.

"I don't know why, but I know that Matron's gonna get mad at ya if you don't get that butt movin'!"

"Amy!"

The giggling girls rushed out to the hallway, stopping at a big door with a big brass plaque, reading 'Matron Amelia Fox'.

"Good luck to ya, Tammi!" Amy said, reading the hopeful expression in Tammara's eyes and squeezing her hand, before skipping down the hall, with many a backward look at her friend. Tammara sighed, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door timidly.

A/N: well, that's it for this chappie! Please go and click the little purple button with the letters GO found at the bottom of the screen... Thanks!

TaMi