Orphaned Freedom – Family of 101 Side-Story
Chapter I – From the Beginning
Author's Note: The following fanfic takes place before the events of 'Family of 102' as it focuses on Trevor before he finds himself in London and meets Fergus.
Have you ever felt like the one thing you really want in your life is so easy to get but there's always something that stands in your way no matter how you try to get past it?
That's how me and practically everyone here in this shithole feels.
I should probably start from the beginning:
Hey. My name's Trevor. And like all the other poor buggers I share this orphanage with, I never knew my mum and dad. I was never told exactly what happened to them, just that they apparently died sometime after I was born without even an explanation of how and why they died to begin with.
I guess it doesn't really matter when the two people you'd wish to look up to were gone before you'd even get a chance to know them and recognise them as your parents. What actually mattered was that the child they left behind would be in a safe home and under the care of someone who knew how to love children as much as any parent should.
You can imagine how unlucky we all were when instead of a foster home, we got dumped in an orphanage in Dungeness called 'Innocent Youth'. Yeah, it looked "innocent" on the outside but it's a damn shame I can't say the same for who runs the hell-house.
Unless you're some kind of masochist that enjoys being humiliated, beaten like some kind of donkey and having the only keepsakes from your own parents taken away from you and probably destroyed, then Miss Milly Volent would be right up your street. I had a better name for her however, and that was "The Wicked Bitch of the West".
I'm not even exaggerating either. Milly Volent was so old that her skin looked like she had been alive since like the death of Jesus or some shite like that. They often say that old women were sweet, elegant and generous, so why a person like Volent even exists is beyond me.
All we'd ever hear from Milly Volent all day, every year was how much she hated children and she made that statement damn well clear if one of us did so little as drop of a tiny drop of milk on the floor.
I'm sure you get the picture at this point: Miss Milly Volent was nothing more than a nasty, ugly pig of a hag. And the fact that we were stuck in the same house as her for almost the rest of our lives made it even worse.
Dare I even talk about the punishments she gave us if any one of us was late on her strict schedule? Like if anyone wasn't awake at the arse-crack of dawn or anyone of us got an answer wrong on our lessons?
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. In Innocent Youth Orphanage, no fun was allowed in this dump. You could search every single nook and cranny in the place and you wouldn't find a single toy anywhere.
None of us were allowed to play, even on holidays such as Christmas. It was always wake up early and be tutored like we were in school for the entire day, then go to bed. Rinse and repeat. And anyone who complained would quickly be shut up by Milly Volent with a smack to the mouth.
This was more or less the reason why I've tried to escape so many times over the few years I've been here but every plan I've thought of has worked just as well as trying to sniff glue and not expect to die.
So here I am now, in some kind of ash bin that Milly Volent had thrown me into as punishment for trying to escape again. Thank god she didn't hate children enough to resort to setting the bin alight and burning me alive especially when I was probably the worst behaved of the bunch. Consider that as my punishment towards Milly Volent for being such a horrible old hag.
Hell, she kinda reminds me of that one women I once read about in one of the few books this orphanage had. What was her name…? "Cruella De Vil"? A woman so vile that I wouldn't blame you if you said she was literally the Devil in a woman's body.
I can admit I was scared shitless when I read about the part where she wanted to literally commit mass-genocide on not just a horde of Dalmatians. But Dalmatians that were also children. Really shows you just how fecked up that women really was in the head.
And considering that all those poor kids were anthros, meaning they were much like humans like myself, I didn't even feel bad when I learnt that Cruella died in prison after capturing some artist and wanted him to make some kind of painting out of the kids' fur. If Cruella had children before her death, I can only hope they didn't try to follow the same path as her.
You were probably thinking something just now, weren't you?
Well, you'd be right. This orphanage does in fact have a few anthro kids as well, though I can't really tell if there are more anthros or humans in this place. But needless to say, whenever the few times where we actually got allowed to take a break from schoolwork, many of the anthros here weren't afraid to treat us humans like shite, calling us "monkeys" and saying even more horrible stuff like "Our parents died so they could get away from our ugly no-furred faces." If any of us dared tried to defend ourselves, they'd immediately run crying to Milly Volent. You can probably guess who she immediately sided with even if we tried to explain our side of the story.
...Okay, I'm not being fair. There were honestly a few anthros here that didn't treat humans like that, especially me. One of them was a ten year old German Shepherd called Noah. A real nice lad but kind of a sissy and was never able to speak up against the anthros that hated humans.
Then you had nine year old Becky. A field mouse who would often squeak and cry whenever she got scared. And whenever she did, she'd always run and hide behind me for protection if I was nearby. I can't really blame the poor girl when she's so young and has to deal with Milly Volent, though I think the reason why she always ran to me was because I stood up for her once when she was being pushed around by an older human kid and no one else stepped in to help. That earned me a night outside and chained to a stake given that I had given the snotty arsehole a bloody nose but it was hella worth it in the end when Becky started to join me more often with my other friends. It was almost like she looked up to me as a big brother.
...To be honest, I feel guilty about leaving and essentially making her and the others have to live with Milly Volent and not get to be free like I wish to be. I swear, the next time I plan an escape, I'm taking as many of my friends with me and I'm going to make sure they all get good homes with actual parents.
Where was I…? Oh yeah, my friends.
The last of the anthros I had for friends was a red panda of Chinese origin, went by Min Li. Just a month younger than me and smart as 'ell. She even had the glasses to prove it. Earned her trust after I found her glasses after Milly Volent confiscated them as punishment for something she didn't even do or maybe because Volent was feeling more like a bitch than usual. Her being smart benefited her a lot since she never got punished for any schoolwork mistakes. Wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for her however as being smart meant she got probably picked on the most for being a "four-eyed nerd" and was even forced and blackmailed by some of the other kids to make her let them cheat any of the lessons from her when Milly Volent wasn't looking.
Fucking leeches. Definitely not gonna have any sympathy for them when I get the hell out of here.
The two humans that never treated Min like that were the only humans in my "friend group". Eleven year old Tom who had lived out alone in the far away streets until Milly Volent found him and took him in at the age of nine, so he had a good knowledge of urban survival. In fact, it was him I usually came to in order to brainstorm my escape plans.
And lastly was Axel, the oldest of our group, hell, he was older than me at fourteen years. And because of that, he was the biggest out of all of us. A little on the stupid side but kind hearted and really just a big softie.
...Well, unless if he were to see you picking on Min Li. Think of it as like pissing off a bull. If Axel saw you being an arse to Min, he'll come roaring at you but for a good reason.
It was a surprise to all of us when Min revealed a year or so ago that Axel was actually her older brother. Her late mum after moving to England met a human guy from America and they both hit it off better than typical married couples nowadays. I was a little confused at first until Min explained that it was actually possible for an anthro female to birth an offspring of her species even if the father is a human or a different species altogether, but it's a very rare occurrence.
It's this reason alone why Axel would always stick by Min's side as much as possible. But in many instances such as the school lessons, that wouldn't be possible with Milly Volent keeping him out of the classroom since she thought that Axel was too dumb and would never learn anything from her lessons. Which was why he never knew or could even do anything about the other kids copying her work.
Urgh, just the thought of that snarky old slag treating Axel like a feral dog is already getting me pissed off. It's not the poor lad's fault that he's a bit of a dumbarse.
I really need to find him and Min Li some good parents, for god's sake.
I'll talk more tomorrow, getting tired.
"UP, BOY! NOW!"
Uuugh, as if I wanted to hear Milly Volent's screechy voice forcing me awake when I was already getting used to the gritty ashes underneath me. I'd much rather hear nails on a fuckin' chalkboard.
With a held-back groan, I pushed myself off the soot-covered base of the bin and pulled myself out, groaning internally at the sight of Volent's ugly mug before me.
"Christ, boy! Look at you! Are you trying to give this orphanage a bad name with the state of you?!"
Yeah, that's real funny coming from the one who dumped my arse in that bin in the first place.
"...You gave this orphanage a bad name a long time ago, you withering shrew." I just mumbled under my breath, Milly somehow must've still heard me even at such an old age as I felt her bony hand smack the back of my head.
"YOU WATCH WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO, WALSH! KEEP THAT DISRESPECTFUL TONGUE IN YOUR MOUTH AND STAND AGAINST THAT WALL!"
Oh, real scary. Pretending to execute me like the police do with guns. Like I'm gonna fall for that bullshit. So after meeting the wall, I turn to see what the old bag was doing to find her with the garden hose in hand, holding it out towards me with her other hand on the outdoor tap. Of course she doesn't want me dirtying up her "precious orphanage". Ugh, just get it over with alre-
AGH HOLY JESUS FUCKING BOLLOCKS WHY IS IT SO FUCKING COLD?!
"Ugh… You look even more in a wretched state than before. Get inside and get dry. Don't even think about being late for breakfast." Milly Volent snarled at me before forcefully shoving me inside the house by the shoulder. A few minutes away from her is good enough at least.
I was instantly met by two arms wrapping tightly around me alongside a squeak of fear and relief the second I stepped into one of the orphanage bedrooms. No wild guesses on who it was as I saw Becky hugging me, but thankfully not hard enough to choke me
"O-Oh my gosh, Trevor! I-I was s-so worried about you all night, I thought she had done something really bad to you!" I held back a chuckle as the little mouse girl poured out her worries for me as I gently patted her on the head.
"Easy there, Becks. It's gonna take a lot more from Milly Volent to kill me." I reassured, having forgotten that I was still soaked at this point until Min Li came over, towel in hand as she gave it to me.
"So that didn't work either?" The red panda asked, her voice disheartened as she looked down at the floor despondently.
"Yeah… I swear that woman's not human, especially with how old she is. There's gotta be a reason why she always found me out even in the most cryptic of plans." I suggested, hoping Min Li may have an answer for that with her being so smart, but I was only fooling myself.
Tom at one point in the past had suggested that the orphanage may have had security cameras all over the place, which would make some sense but the very few times we managed to look around the place, we didn't see a single camera in sight. And given the state of the house all the time, it's unlikely that Milly Volent would even be able to afford tech like that.
"We're going to need a better plan. Get the others and meet us here at night." I commanded as Min Li and Becky nodded before I finished up drying and we all headed downstairs for our breakfast.
If it's stale porridge that tastes like wood chips hurled up by a baby again, I'm gonna lose it.