Chapter One: On The Streets
Ten years later
A figure raced through the streets, wearing a black hoodie and denim jeans with converse. She was carrying a backpack and climbing a building. Chelsea Blake smirked widely as she jumped from building to building, yelping as she almost lost her balance but kept going. She sneaked down one, looking around as she clutched her prizes to her chest and panted, settling in an alley. She was now sixteen years old and now an orphan. At the age of eleven, she witnessed her parents house burn down with them inside it.
She felt no emotion about it as they had treated her worse after the death of her sister and now she was hiding out on the streets. Chelsea knew something was coming, felt it in her hot blood. And it involved her. She just didn't know how to prepare as the dreams kept showing her a man with a limp and another with an affinity for riddles. Chelsea often saw a man with a sharp dagger in her dreams too, coming at her with it.
She sighed as she hid her food for the night in her bag, her head lifting as soon as she heard sirens. "Shit.." she whispered before getting up and running as fast as she could. Chelsea suddenly cried out as she tripped, nearly breaking her ankle onto her face just as police surrounded her. She looked up with wide eyes, screaming as they grabbed her forcefully. "Let go! Let go of me!" she yelled angrily as she struggled violently.
The policeman chuckled. "You are a delinquent. Gotham no longer allows brats like you on the streets. And you, Ms. Blake, have a very lengthy history in the system." he said simply before shoving her into the car. Chelsea rolled her eyes, banging on the door. "I don't need fucking parents! I'm sixteen, I take care of myself asshole!" she yelled angrily, huffing as she reluctantly give up. The officer shrugged, uncaring. "Sorry. But it's Gotham's state law. Parent or guardian until your eighteenth birthday." he said simply before driving off with her in the car. Chelsea hit her back against the seat, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. She didn't know why they'd bother. The last two foster homes she'd been in she'd ran away. She'll just do it again.
The car soon stopped at Gotham Social Services where she was handcuffed by the police and dragged into the office of Chelsea's caseworker, Tori Kimura. The woman who took her to a group home just after her parent's deaths. Tori looked up with disappointment in her eyes. "Finally, caught up to you Ms. Blake. Did you really think you'd never be found?" she asked with a sigh. Chelsea gave a disgusted look. "I've been gone since I was eleven. Clearly I don't need adults. I am an adult." she said in annoyance. Tori stood up, adjusting her glasses. "Not in the eyes of the law I'm afraid. You are sixteen years old. A minor in the city of Gotham. An orphan." she said with disapproval.
Chelsea glared. "You said yourself because I'm an orphaned child I would never be adopted and therefore be forced to remain in foster care until you found blood family which I've told you don't exist!" she yelled in frustration. Tori sighed, shaking her head. "I said it would be almost impossible to place you with an adopted family due to preference. We always look for biological family as that is less paperwork for us. Since no one will adopt a teenager I have decided to keep you in an orphanage until you age out at twenty one." she said. Chelsea stared wide eyed, snarling. "Are you kidding me!? No! No I won't go!" she shouted.
Tori glared at her. "You have no choice! The former mayor enacted a Second Chance program for juvieniles like you to prevent runaways from being sent upstate. You will remain at the Falcone Orphanage run by a Sofia Falcone. You will remain in a cell until she arrives for you." she said simply. Chelsea growled, shaking angrily. "Isn't she a criminal?! You're making me stay with a criminal?!" she yelled angrily just as she was dragged away to a jail cell where she was uncuffed and locked inside. "You can't do this! Let me out!" she yelled, groaning before she finally sat down with a huff.
The only consolation was that they let her keep her bag of things. Since social services in Gotham was corrupt, they never checked it. Chelsea looked through it, relieved nothing of hers was stolen. She waited in the cell for hours until a woman and two men dressed nicely following behind her. "Chelsea Blake? Age sixteen?" the woman with black hair asked. One of the social workers pointed to Chelsea's holding cell and the woman smiled before approaching her.
Chelsea stood up, mildly curious. The woman smiled kindly at her. "So you're the delinquent I got a phonecall about. You'll be shaped up perfectly at the orphanage." she said simply as the cell was unlocked and Chelsea was lead out. She glared. "You can just let me go. Teenagers don't get adopted." she said angrily. The woman shrugged, leading her away after signing the paperwork. "Maybe not, but I am your temporary guardian now. And you will stay at the orphanage." she said simply. "Because the next time you run away, the agency will send you upstate." she said. Chelsea sighed heavily, frowning as she was put in the back of a limo. "You must be Sofia Falcone." she said. Sofia smiled. "Indeed I am. You should consider yourself quite lucky. I heard you were a slippery character." she replied. Chelsea sat and buckled her seatbelt reluctantly, crossing her arms.
"I can take care of myself. I don't need you and I don't need this program." she said before turning to look out the window. Sofia seemed to smile, curious. "Interesting.." she said softly. Chelsea played with her fishnet gloves, ignoring Sofia the rest of the way. When they arrived at the orphanage, she looked up at it and felt a chill run up her spine. She kept hearing a voice in her head, telling her she had a reason to be here. And she had to find out what it was. Sofia lead Chelsea out, the teen following the woman. "One of my assistants has a uniform prepared for you. Casual dress is not allowed unless it is the weekend or break from school." Sofia told her.
Chelsea frowned. "Uniforms?" she asked. Sofia smiled, turning to her. "Yes. Formal dress is preferred. You are learning to become a young lady. The first step is knowing how to dress. And forgive me for saying so but your appearance needs a lot of work." she said as she looked her over. Chelsea sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. "Fine." she said with a fake smile. Sofia smiled softly. "The bathroom is down the hall. Have a bath while you're at it. Clean the dirty streets off you. And then prepare for bed." she said softly. Chelsea went upstairs reluctantly to do as she was told. "One of my people will show you to your room where you will meet your roommate." she called and Chelsea frowned, inwardly groaning. She hated roommates. The last roommate she had was at the group home when she first became an orphan. She was a horrible brat who always got away with picking on the other children.
Chelsea took a bath before then putting on the pajamas laid out for her which where obviously from a thrift store. They were plaid and very baggy on her small frame. She then put her old clothes in her bag before stepping out, being lead to her room. Another girl, about fifteen years old at least slept in a bed next to an empty, all made up one. "Sleep well." the assistant said before closing the door and audibly locking it. Chelsea was told she was a high risk runaway and the orphanage was taking precautions so she couldn't escape. She sighed, slowly getting into the bed and laying down on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep, too afraid of the nightmares she might have. It wasn't long though until sleep finally claimed her. It was an uneasy slumber, her dreams moving between good and awful. Chelsea heard her sister, Amber's soft voice calling to her, singing to her.
"The wolf..the wolf dear little sister..watch for the mark of the wolf.." the whispers said. Chelsea found herself in dark woods and slowly got up. She walked down a path way slowly. She heard voices, whispers of the dead calling to her. She saw a cloaked figure standing the shadows, a dagger in his head and hands like that of claws. "Your destiny awaits, Chelsea Blake..blood..for the blood of your family.." it growled. Chelsea frowned in confusion. "But I have no family! My sister is dead!" she cried.
The creature laughed darkly. "No..not yet..but you will..AND THEY WILL DIE WITH THIS EARTH!" it screamed, revealing the face of a large dragon roaring in her face. Chelsea screamed loudly in terror. Chelsea woke up in a cold sweat with a loud scream, eyes wide with horror and her whole body shook. Someone grabbed her, shaking her. "Hey! Hey you, wake up it's okay!" a female voice called. Chelsea panted, gasping and hiccuping with wide eyes. She turned, coming face to face with a pale girl with brown hair and deep blue eyes. She smiled. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
Chelsea swallowed hard. "Y-yeah..nightmare.." she mumbled as she looked back down. The girl nodded, biting her lip nervously and looking awkward. "Oh..my name's Sabrina!" she said happily. Chelsea glanced at her, faking a smile. "Chelsea..don't get too attached. I'm getting out of here." she said before standing up and stretching. Sabrina tilted her head, confused. "Why?" she asked curiously. Chelsea sighed. "There's no reason for me to be here. I can take care of myself." she said before taking the uniform placed for her and going to the bathroom to change into it. She looked herself in the mirror, seeing a different girl in the mirror then she hoped to see. She didn't see herself at all. Chelsea slowly put her hair up in a ponytail, frowning and stepping out. Sabrina had just put on her uniform, smiling and brushing her long brown hair. "Wanna walk to breakfast? There's gonna be a lot of traffic! You're new right?" she asked. It was obvious she was very bubbly. Chelsea sighed, shrugging boredly.
"I guess." she said before following her to the cafeteria. When they got there, Chelsea saw they had opened up frozen breakfasts and were serving them to hundreds of children of all ages. She hated being in a crowd and felt tense. Sabrina smiled happily at her. "Don't worry, you'll get used to this!" she said softly. Chelsea frowned. "How come you're here? Out of curiousity." she asked. Sabrina shrugged. "Just school. I have parents but they were friends with the Falcones and had me boarded here." she said softly as she lead Chelsea to the line. "Oh..my family is dead." she said softly. Sabrina frowned deeply. "I'm sorry.." she said sadly. She frowned and shook her head. "Don't be..only my older sister took care of me." she said softly.
Chelsea then took a breakfast sandwich and went to sit to eat, Sabrina trailing behind her. It wasn't long until Chelsea saw a young boy, no older then nine being hassled by two older boys. "Mute freak! Dumbass nerd!" one of the boys yelled, throwing his food in his face. Chelsea stood up, feeling angered at the sight. "Hey!" she yelled as she stormed over. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size bastard!" she growled. The boys turned to her, looking at her like a piece of meat. "And what are you gonna do? Bitch?" he growled back. Chelsea smirked sadistically before backhanding him hard in the face. He screamed, falling down and the other boy ran away in fear, the mute one staring at Chelsea in shock.
The boy she slapped quickly got up and ran as well as she went over to the younger boy. "Hi..who are you?" she asked softly, getting down at eye level with him. The boy gulped before writing in his notepad and showing her. 'I'm fine. I'm Martin.' he wrote with a small smile. Chelsea smiled back a little. "Chelsea. It's nice to meet you kiddo. Want to have breakfast with me and my friend over there?" she asked softly.
Martin smiled a little and nodded before following her to the table where Sabrina seemed shock. "You know he's gonna want revenge right? He owns the school!" she said. Chelsea shrugged as she ate her breakfast sandwich. "Don't care. That jerk deserved it." she said simply. The trio ate, then it was time for school. Chelsea and Sabrina were separated from Martin to take high school level classes. With how hard Chelsea's first class was, as the teacher condescended her for being an orphan juvenile. She sighed, hoping the rest of the day wouldn't be so awful.
That's it for this chapter. c: