Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Franchise or the song used in the chapter.
Nearly ten years had passed since the Kingsleys had adopted Anneliese, but Ironbridge had hardly changed at all. The sun rose and fell on the same beautiful gardens and lit up the golden gates of Kingsley Manor; it crept into their sitting room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the fateful day when Mrs. Kingsley agreed to adopt Anneliese. The only difference from then was the photographs on the mantelpiece, they really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of a four-year-old boy wearing different suits- but Roland Kingsley was no longer a four-year-old boy, and now the photographs showed a tall brown haired boy riding his first bicycle with a little girl riding her first bicycle, both of them riding their first horse, both playing a long game of chess with their father, both being hugged and kissed by their mother. The pictures also showed Roland holding a golden trophy for winning a fencing tournament and a little girl at her piano recital. The room held every sign there was another child living in the manor. But this chapter begins not in the manor, in a hotel room in Surrey.
Anneliese Kingsley was fast asleep in her hotel room, but not for long. She heard the buzzing of her alarm clock. Anneliese sat up and yawned. Normally she would wake up in her private dorm room at "Miss Minchin's Private School for Young Ladies" (which is located in London). But she and her class are on a week-long field trip in Surrey. Today they would be going to the zoo.
"Miss Minchin's Private School for Young Ladies" is a very small, elite, and expensive boarding school, so one class made up an entire grade.
Anneliese crawled out of her bed, walked over to the bed next to her and shook the sleeping girl awake. The girl who Anneliese shared her room with was her friend Emily Johnson. Emily had mousy blonde hair, light freckles, light brown eyes, and she was a bit chubby. "Good morning Anneliese," said Emily who was still half asleep. "Emily, get up! We have to go eat breakfast with the others before the bus gets here!" said Anneliese. Emily merely yawned and laid back down. "Come on sleepy-head! You don't want to miss the zoo?" asked Anneliese. Just as the word zoo left Anneliese's mouth, Emily quickly jumped out of bed and raced to her suitcase.
Anneliese sighed and walked over her suitcase. She pulled out a simple red dress with white sleeves and a pair of stockings. Normally she would wear her school uniform, but since she was on a week-long field trip she didn't have to wear it.
She touched the silver locket that dangled around her neck. It was about the size of her palm. On the round lid of the locket was a strange symbol. The symbol was an elaborate M with a waxing crescent moon and stars surrounding it. The round lid that was supposed to open reveals a picture was broken. The round lid refused to open. Anneliese has tried many ways to open the locket. She has tried….
To open it gently
To open it with force
Begging Roland to open it
Begging Mum to open it
Begging Dad to open it
Reading a book on how to open a locket
To use the way the book recommends
Smacking it with the book
Prying it open with scissors
Stabbing it with scissors
Using a hammer
Hitting it with a hammer
Throwing it against the wall
Throwing it on the floor
Throwing it down the stairs
She has tried all fifteen, and all fifteen failed her. After awhile Anneliese gave up. Nothing she could do would ever open her locket. And she must say, the locket did take some damage from the fifteen ways she tried to open it.
When Anneliese was dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror. Anneliese had always been small and skinny for her age. She had a thin face, long ebony black hair that was always in a glamorous ponytail, and midnight blue eyes. After looking at herself, she and Emily walked out of their room, down the hall, and into the elevator. They made their way to the dining area and joined the line to get breakfast.
After getting their breakfast, they joined their friend, Charlotte Crewe, at a table for three. Charlotte was pretty short, she had short blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. They all began to chat and eat their breakfast, when the school's bully, Lavinia Peterson, decided to play her favorite game. Torment Anneliese.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Freak and her two freakish," said Lavinia. "Good Morning Lavinia. Don't you have something better to do?" asked Anneliese who clearly was annoyed now. "You think I shouldn't waste my time on freaks like you?" asked Lavinia. "No, I think you are just stooping down to your usual low levels. You should try doing something better so you can rise to a better level. But of course, you can't resist the urge to torment me and my friends. So why don't you go away and stop wasting my time?" snapped Anneliese.
"Very well then," said Lavinia. She then whispered into Anneliese's ear "Freak" Anneliese jumped up and yelled, "Say that to my face, I dare you!" Now everyone in the dining area giving their undivided attention. Anneliese was now desperately fighting the urge to throw something at Lavinia
Lavinia now wore a proud smirk, it was her intention to provoke Anneliese in front of everyone. Anneliese quickly sat down, even though she would rather have hit Lavina with her plate. But there are probably countless laws about hitting people with a plate though.
After breakfast, Anneliese, Emily, and Charlotte quickly lined their class up and walked out the front of the hotel, where the bus was waiting. Anneliese, Emily, and Charlotte sat in the very back of the bust. To Anneliese's dismay, Lavinia and one of her followers, Jessie Operic were sitting right in front of them. A little while later, when the bus was near the zoo, Lavinia whispered something loud enough for the three girls in the back to hear, into Jessie's ear. She whispered, "I wonder what the Freak will do this time?" "I don't know. Maybe she'll destroy the entire zoo," answered Jessie. Anneliese held the pencil in her hand so hard that it snapped. Better than a pencil snapping than another outburst. Strange things often happen around her.
Once, when it was raining so hard that it was impossible for you to go outside (even in a raincoat and carrying an umbrella) to come back in fully dry. Anneliese had woken late that morning, and she was in quite a rush to get to breakfast that she had forgotten her raincoat. As she was running to the Dining Hall, she slipped in a rather large puddle. Her hair was soaked, her uniform was wet and dirty as can be, and her shoes were covered in mud. She knew that if she walked into the Dining Hall like that, Lavinia would lead the entire school in a full-on choir singing "Freak Anneliese". A song that Lavinia was very proud to say that she had written. However, when she had gotten to the Dining Hall her hair was dry, her uniform was dry and clean, and her shoes were mud free. She looked like she had never stepped outside. She was questioned for a week about how she stayed dry.
Another time, Anneliese was climbing a really tall tree. When she was near the top, she had accidentally placed her foot on a very weak branch. The branch couldn't hold Anneliese's weight, so it ended up snapping right under her. Anneliese lost her balance and began plummeting straight to the ground. When she was halfway down, her fall began to slow down. Instead of falling down, she was floating down. When Anneliese reached the ground, she landed very gracefully. Anneliese decided not to tell anyone about what had happened.
The most recent one was about three weeks ago. Anneliese, Emily, and Charlotte were taking a walk in the park. They had walked past a boy and his mother. The boy for some reason decided to stick out his foot right in front of Anneliese and trip her. Anneliese fell face first onto the ground. She sat up and turned to glare at the boy, he had a pale complexion, a pointed face, white blonde hair. Suddenly a dark cloud formed over the boy's head and began to pour down upon him. He looked at Anneliese for a minute then walked towards her, the cloud following him. He got down on one knee and looked deep in her eyes. Anneliese noticed that his eyes were a stormy grey color. He then said, "You are just like me and one day you will learn to control it." Then he stood up and ran back to his mother, and they both walked away as if nothing had happened.
But today, nothing was going to go wrong, at least that is what Anneliese had hoped. It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. Anneliese had the best morning she'd had in a long time. She and Emily and Charlotte were very careful to walk as far away from Lavinia and Jessie and the rest of Lavinia's followers just in case they wanted to start their favorite game again. They ate lunch in the zoo restaurant. So far the event of the day was a boy in the restaurant throwing a tantrum because something didn't have enough ice cream.
Anneliese felt, afterward, that she should have known it was all too good to last. After lunch, they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Anneliese sadly suffered from Ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes. She could barely look at the snakes without the urge to either run out, scream, or faint. Every once in awhile Lavinia will either hiss or point out a poisonous cobra or thick, man-crushing pythons.
As she made her way towards the other door, she noticed that the boy who threw a tantrum earlier had his nose pressed against one of the windows. Anneliese got a good look at the boy and thought he looked like a very fat pink pig in a blonde wig and clothes. He was begging his father, who looked like an older version of him, to make whatever was inside move.
Anneliese slid towards the window where the boy once was, to see the poor creature out of pity and curiosity. To her horror, it was the largest snake in the place, a Boa Constrictor. She felt herself begin to go weak in the knees when somebody placed their hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw it one of the boys who were part of the fat boy's party. He looked pretty small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than because he was wearing clothes about four times bigger than he was. He had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape. There was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. For some reason, he looked quite like her and he looked rather familiar.
"Are you alright?" he asked. "Yes, thank you," replied Anneliese. "Why do you hang around with him? He seems bloody awful," asked Annelies as she nodded her head towards the fat boy. "He is my cousin," said the skinny boy. She found it ironic that a boy so thin would be related to someone so fat. "Your parents made you?" she asked. "No, my parents died when I was a baby. I live with him and his parents now," replied calmly the skinny boy. "I'm so sorry," said Anneliese.
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Anneliese and the boy. Anneliese was sure she was going be lying on the ground in a matter of minutes now. Then, it winked. That was it, she was sure she was going to faint any minute. Then, the boy winked back. How could he wink back? Thought Anneliese as she felt herself slowly losing consciousness.
Then the skinny boy began to speak in some sort of strange language. Now in less than one minute Anneliese Midnight Kingsley would be on the floor and someone would have to call the hospital. When Lavinia yelled "Hey Freak! I found your boyfriend!" as she pointed at the fat boy. The voice of Lavinia snapped Anneliese out of her fainting phase.
"Shut it Lavinia!" yelled Anneliese as she walked right towards Lavina. "Make me!" said Lavinia right in Anneliese's face. Even though the fat boy seemed terrible, he didn't deserve to be used and humiliated by Lavina, just to humiliate her, thought Anneliese. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" yelled someone behind them. "Go on make me! Hit me! I dare you!" said Lavinia. Anneliese was happy to accept the dare. She was about to smack Lavinia when a loud smack came from no one.
Anneliese saw Lavinia looked like she had just been smacked hard across the face. But, that doesn't make sense. Anneliese was the only one close enough to have hit Lavinia. Yet, she didn't even raise a hand towards her. How could have Lavinia be hit if Anneliese didn't even touch her?
Lavinia then looked behind Anneliese and screamed. Anneliese turned around and saw the Boa Constrictor slithering on the floor. Anneliese couldn't find her voice to scream. Instead, she lost all contact with her legs. Suddenly, Anneliese's head met the floor and everything went black.
When Anneliese awoke, she was laying in a hospital bed. Most of her class was surrounding her. One of her classmates ran out of the room to go tell their teacher, Ms. Minchin. Ms. Minchin is the younger sister of Headmistress Minchin. Both are direct descendants of the founder of "Miss Minchin's Private School for Young Ladies". "What happened?" asked Anneliese. "Well you fainted," said one of her classmates. "You think I didn't know that. What happened after I fainted?" asked Anneliese. "Well after you fainted, you and Lavinia were carried off to the zoo infirmary. Lavinia was given an ice pack for her cheek, while someone called the hospital to come and pick you up. The zoo director then showed up and asked for Ms. Minchin." said another classmate. "What happened next?" asked Anneliese.
Ms. Minchin then walked into the room. Ms. Minchin was a sweet woman, who wore too much make-up and often had her red hair in elaborate buns. "The zookeeper sends his apologies. After you and Lavinia were brought to the zoo infirmary, the zoo director asked for me and he took me to his office. Inside of his office were five people. Three boys, a man, and a woman. I'm assuming the man and woman are married and one of the boys is their son. Anyhow, the zoo director himself made the woman and I a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Two of the boys could only gibber. The other was surprisingly calm. Besides that, after I finished my tea, I began to berate the man for letting this happen especially with you around," said Ms. Minchin as she took a sip of water.
"After I mentioned your name, the husband turned from bright red to ghastly white, the wife coughed up her tea, the two gibbering boys stopped gibbering, the other boy paid attention to me, and the zoo director began to sweat nervously. He asked me if I could personally give you his apologies for everything. The husband and wife wished to check on you since and I quote 'Since we are parents too, we feel it is our duty to check in on the poor child'. I told the zoo director I will and that the parents can't." said Ms. Minchin.
"After, all of that you were brought to the hospital and I called your parents and the school. Your parents will be here soon to take you home. And the school says they are letting the entire class begin summer vacation early," finished Ms. Minchin.
Anneliese nodded and asked to be left alone. Miss Minchin hurried everyone out of the room and closed the door. Anneliese fell backward and stared at the ceiling. Why did this happen today? Everything was going so perfectly. Why do strange things happen around her? First, the boy speaking a strange language, then the glass vanishing, and finally Lavinia being mysteriously slapped.
As Anneliese slowly began to drift off to sleep, she thought about nearly everything in her life was strange. Her earliest memory was a blinding flash of green light flashing seven times and the words "I'll be back for you". She often wondered where this memory took place. Every time she asked her parents they quickly would either say she must have been dreaming or they don't recall such a moment happening.
There were also times when she would run into some very strange strangers in the streets. Once, a tiny woman in a vibrant purple top hat with peacock feathers had bowed to her once she was while out shopping with her Mum and her Aunt Violet. Another time, a wild-looking old man dressed all in red, blue, and yellow had waved merrily at her once when she was walking in the park. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken her hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Anneliese tried to get a closer look. Anneliese just assumed they were strange paparazzi.
Another strange thing in Anneliese's was that she had this strange lullaby stuck in her head. It went like this:
Constant as the stars above
Always know that you are loved
And my love shining in you
Will help you make your dreams come true
Will help your dreams come true
The lamb lies down and rests it head
On its mother downy bed
Dolphins play in the moonlights glow
And butterflies dream of a violet-rose
Dreams of a violet-rose
I'll cradle you in my arms tonight
As sun embraces the moonlight
The clouds will carry off tonight
Our dreams will run deep like the sea
Our dreams will run deep like the sea
Constant as the stars above
Always know that you are loved
And my love shining in you
Will help you make your dreams come true
Will help your dreams come true
The most strange thing in her life was herself. Compared to the rest of her family, she stood out like a sore thumb. Her hair was an ebony black hair was darker than her mother's black hair, her skin paler than anyone in her family, and her deep night sky blue eyes matched nobody her family. Her own reflection was a constant reminder.
Before Annelise, fell asleep she pondered the idea that she might be adopted. A thought she often pondered from time to time.
And that is Chapter 2. Please a review