!! I hope you like this story as much as I do. Honestly, I'm really excited about it, because I have all these ideas popping up…but you didn't need to know that. Anyway, thanks for reading this far, and I know this is a story about my character, but don't be surprised when you see a familiar name from NML or something on here. Whatever…ONWARD! WHOOT!!

May 12, 1893

Andrianne leaned back on her heels and wiped her brow and looked around the factory. What a horrid, dark place this was, she thought to herself. Maybe this was what the old people called Hell. With bad lighting, horrible smells, and suffocating heat, it was no wonder why they called The Mill hell.

This wasn't any mill, she thought bitterly. That was the cover-up so the police wouldn't find anything bad.

"Not that they would give a damn anyway," Andrianne muttered to herself, testing the curse word. She liked how it sounded, and intended to keep using it.

Andrianne stood up and brushed at her pants to relieve them of dust and dirt, but to no avail. Giving up on their looks, she pulled her pants up even though they would slide down again, being too big for her.

"Aidan, your pants are too big." She complained to her close friend. Aidan Connelly was twelve and two years Andrianne's senior, and thought that that fact made him boss.

Aidan, even as a boy, tended to attract too much attention with his looks. Dark blonde hair fell into Aidan's blue-green eyes as he worked, and he tried hard to ignore the little girl behind him. Finally turning around, he fingered the penny on a chain around his neck and leaned against the machine he was working on.

"Sounds like a personal problem to me," He said after a moment of surveying the issue, and started to turn back around.

"You can be really mean when you want to be." She muttered, going back to her machine. Suddenly, a cracking sound joined the din of the factory, along with the agonized screams of a child. Andrianne stiffened at the sound.

Andrianne had never really thought about anyone but herself; she simply hadn't had to, but every time she heard that cracking sound, she felt like she could explode with a sense of justice.

For some reason, Ms. Lanning, who ran the factory with her brother, Charles, felt that it was acceptable to whip someone if something wasn't done properly. Andrianne was glad that she hadn't felt the sting of the whip yet, but she pitied the poor soul who'd bear its scars.

"It's Henry." Aidan stated to her, obviously tense at the sound as well. His irish accent was thicker than usual, signaling his inner distress. "I recognize that voice."

"Should someone do something about it?" She whispered, more to herself than to him.

Aidan merely snorted. "Not unless you wanna get whipped, too." He patted her back. "I'd get back to work if I were you. You don't want to get in trouble." He turned back to his own work, leaving her to her own thoughts of right and wrong.

"What do you think she used?" Andrianne asked him. "The regular or the Cat?"
Aidan pursed his lips. Finding no other game, the children of the factory often bet on the brand of whip or amount of trouble another had caused. Aidan was usually right.

"Depends on what he did, and what type of mood Charles is in," he said finally. "If it's nothing major, then he probably only got a few with the regular. But if he did something bad, or Charles is in a particularly nasty mood…I'd say he'd go for the Cat-o'-nine-tails."

The Cat was a whip with nine lashes and lead pellets at the ends. Very few of the children who worked at The Mill had seen or felt it, but of those who had…needless to say they didn't do a whole lot anymore. !!

!! "Whoa, hold on a second." Lon leaned forward. "They whipped them? Like…whipped them?" he asked horrified.

The old woman nodded solemnly. "It happened more often than you'd think, Lon. It was just how things were done. Kids didn't have rights back then, especially lower class and workers."

"That's horrible!" Anne gasped. "Didn't the police do anything about it?"

The old woman laughed. "Why would they? There was no money in it for them if they did so." She said, swinging her legs back and forth. "But anyway…

"Andrianne had been glad so far that she hadn't had to taste the whip, regular or otherwise." !!

"Until one day…"

June 3, 1894

Andrianne cracked her neck, wishing for another break of some kind. She felt weaker than normal. Whether it was due to the heat, or lack of food in her belly, or both, she didn't know.

Aidan tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, I found something for you to do on your next break."

"Oh, you mean next year?"

"Shut up." Aidan held it out to her, and Andrianne merely stared at the strand of red tubes.

"Firecrackers?" She asked. "You got me firecrackers?"

Aidan rolled his eyes. "A 'thanks' would suffice."

"Oh…so that's how she got firecrackers!" Lon said, proud of himself.

"Yeah..."

"I knew it. I've heard that part before."

"Good, you're very smart. Now shut up."

"Andy! Hey, Andy!"

Andrianne turned at the familiar voice and came face to face with Henry, another close friend of hers.

"Hey, Henry, what's up?"

Henry Martin, even though he was also older than Andrianne by almost three years, tended to not be one of the most courageous people in the world. He was also quite scrawny, and it looked as though he was actually younger than her. His blue eyes were anxious.

"Well…I wanted to say thanks for covering for me the other day." Henry said honestly. "I still hurt from the last time they whipped me."

Andrianne shrugged at him. "I just didn't want to hear you scream like a girl anymore." She joked. "Besides, you did bring me back some ice, so I think we're square." She turned back around when a supervisor walked towards them.

"Ms. Lanning wants to speak to you, kid." He said gruffly.

Andrianne looked around. "I don't see anyone named Kid around here." She smarted.

The supervisor wasn't pleased with that answer, and he grabbed her up by her arm and nearly dragged her the entire way to the office.

Aidan looked up from his work and paled visibly. Oh no…please don't whip her…

"Did they whip her?!" Lon asked suddenly

"Do you want to hear this or not?"

Lon snapped his jaw shut and sat back.

Andrianne looked around at the dark, dank office. It smelled just like Ms. Lanning, and was so dusty; one of the cabinets was nearly grey with the distracting stuff. You'd think that such a neat freak would dust her own cabinets, Andrianne thought.

She spun around when the door opened, as if she was caught doing something wrong. Ms. Lanning stared down her abnormally large nose at her and sniffed disdainfully.

"I've heard rumors about you, Miss DeMarco." Ms. Lanning rasped, sitting behind the dusty desk. Andrianne guessed that it must have been Charles' office, by the way Ms. Lanning stiffened at the sight of dust.

"Rumors, huh?" Andrianne said, folding her arms and tapping her chin with one finger. "Rumors are rumors, Ms. Lanning." She said innocently. "And those who believe them clearly have too much time on their hands." Andrianne knew that it was probably unhealthy to be developing such a smart mouth, but she couldn't help it. Ms. Lanning was bringing out the worst in her.

Ms. Lanning's eyes sharpened at the implication. "Indeed." She murmured. Taking a handkerchief from her sleeve, Ms. Lanning began to dust off the desk. "I've heard, Miss DeMarco," She emphasized the title, knowing how much Andrianne was beginning to hate it, "that you are helping certain children escape for periods of time throughout the day. You also cover for them later, saying that they were sick or using the bathroom."

Her eyes met Andrianne's as sharply as if she had stabbed her with a knife. "Is any of this untrue?"

Andrianne pretended to think about it. She enjoyed taunting the evil old bat, and found that she was also developing quite the acting routine. Or maybe she was just getting good at lying. Whatever way you looked at it.

'Miss DeMarco, I asked you a question." Ms. Lanning rasped sharply.

Andrianne's smirk was barely visible. "Maybe I did and maybe I didn't." She said with a sickeningly sweet smile. "I guess you'll never know."

"Who have you been letting escape?" She demanded. When Andrianne kept her silence and her defiant stare, Ms. Lanning called for her brother and got down the whip box. Andrianne's eyes widened.

Charles walked over to the desk and observed the whips in front of him. As he grabbed one, Andrianne protested violently.

"What for?!" She shouted as she was shoved to the ground.

"For disobedience and insubordination!" Ms. Lanning turned away with a huff and sat back behind the desk. It was as if she was entertained by the whole scene. Andrianne could just imagine her as a vulture, just barely waiting for its prey to bleed to death before pouncing.

Charles untied the Cat and loosened his neck, preparing to strike. Ms. Lanning sat forward. "Would you like to tell me who you've let escape now?" she asked.

Andrianne swallowed and glared daggers at the woman in front of her. "I'm no rat." She growled. Ms. Lanning shrugged and sat back again, signaling for her brother to carry on. Charles shrugged as well, and let the whip's lashes fly.

Andrianne had known pain. She'd been in fights, she'd broken bones, and she'd had gashes from working at the machine, but she never thought it could be like this. She felt nauseous even as she screamed. She felt as if she couldn't breathe. And long before Ms. Lanning held up her hand for her brother to stop, Andrianne had slipped into a dark abyss and passed out.!!

!! "Andrianne."

She wanted to shake her head No. I want more sleep, she thought, trying to ignore the voice. Who the heck keeps moving me. Leave me alone…

"Andrianne!"

She recognized the voice. But from where? As she slowly regained consciousness, pain began to turn her stomach. She cried out.

"She's alive, thank God." Aidan said, holding her still. "Andy, you gotta stop moving so much or you'll hurt yourself more. Your back isn't healed yet."

Andrianne could barely understand what he said, but she laid still and tried not to make a sound. Opening her eyes, she peered around and saw that she was laying on her stomach.

Aidan had her hand and was looking at the doctor that Ms. Lanning had called in. He was extremely outraged at the woman. The only reason she had called the doctor in was because Andrianne had been out for weeks, and there was no one as small as she was to run her machine. The old broad had even told the doctor that "Miss DeMarco has had an accident in the factory, and the machine ripped her back apart."

He was glad that he had seen doubt in the doctor's eyes.

The doctor stood as he finished the last of the bandaging. "She should stay in bed for another few days." He suggested. "If she moves too much right now, her wounds will reopen, and sadly, I don't think she can afford to lose that much more blood."

Ms. Lanning's frown only added to her bird-like features. "Of course. I understand. Thank you for coming." She said, shaking his hand as he left. She looked down at Andrianne and sniffed again. "I suppose you think that you're getting out of work for a while. You'll have one more day of rest, and then you're back on your feet and on your machine. We've lost enough money as it is."

Aidan glared at her. "The doctor just said she couldn't afford to lose any more blood. What if she dies?"

"Then I'll have to find another worker, then, won't I?" Ms. Lanning turned on her heel and stalked off. "You have work to do, Mr. Connelly."

"What a bitch!" Aidan snarled and looked down at Andrianne. He leaned down so only she could hear. "You're not working here anymore." He shook his head. "I won't let you. After you can get up again, you're gonna run away and hopefully find somewhere else to live. You could die here." He said, sitting back.

Andrianne blinked slowly at him. "So could you." She rasped.

Aidan gave a small smile. "Hey, remember who you're talking to. I'm invincible." He teased, only as an older brother could. He looked out the window, wiser than his almost fourteen years should allow. "Tomorrow I'll come up with a plan. I'll get you out of here." He squeezed her hand and got up, walking back to the mill. !!

!! "I'm thirsty." The old woman said suddenly, getting up and walking to the kitchen. Poking her head out, she asked, "Anyone else want anything?"

"You're just gonna leave it like that?" Liz asked, almost embarrassed that she was interested into the story. The old woman merely smiled.

"I told you I'm thirsty." She shrugged and went back into the kitchen. "If I'm going to tell you any more, I don't need a dry throat." !!

!! How's that for my next installment? I kind of got thirsty myself, now that I've written about it. While I get myself a drink, go ahead and review and give me feedback!!