The Kiss From Hell

2

I don't recall or remember how I got here, or who I am really. I just woke up on the cold, hard floor, caged in with steel bars. While I had no memory, I had an uncanny ability to read, write and understand almost everything being told to me, even some things that weren't said out loud.

Being here should terrify me, it should make me feel powerless and useless, but the days I endured being hit, slapped, starved and otherwise abused, just made me feel...strong. It was a rather fearful feeling, feeling power coursing through your veins, everytime you were hit. Yet I did. I felt the energy transfer and I...fed off of it. The screams I let out weren't screams of fear, contrary to what these Handlers thought, they were screams of power. In the dark, the silence of my cage, I practiced manipulating the energy they transferred to me. I could feel myself growing stronger as time passed.

Unfortunately, the hunger from starvation did nothing other then make me angry and weaken my resolve. Alas, my time would come where I would escape and bring destruction to this place. The other kids here were so young, my heart broke as some of them left and never came back. I was never told what happened to them, or where they went, but it always left a scar on my heart.

I would get my vengeance, one way or another.

I woke from my vengeful sleep hearing the chatter of excited kids in their cages, rattling the bars. "Its placement day". "Maybe it's finally my turn to go". They'd whisper through excited lips. I smiled, hoping one or more of these innocents would get to go to a home filled with love and compassion.

The people came through the orphanage, almost everyday for the past week. Placement day was always exciting. The Keepers allowed us to shower and comb our hair, they weren't allowed to give us any visible bruises and we were even allowed a meal a day. The best part was being allowed out of the cages they kept us in. Usually it was the younger ones who got placed and shown to families. A few had already been snapped up and taken to their new homes. It was just me and a few of the more homely looking children left.

Being 8, I was already well out of the cute enough to take home, phase. I had one outfit to wear for Placement Days, and this was my 6th time wearing it already. My long black hair was tied back in a red ribbon, my pale white skin was finally free from the black and blue bruises of last week. With cleanly scrubbed teeth, I smiled at the family as they peered down at me. From behind them a bushy-haired boy greeted my smile with a wide one of his own, his brown eyes sparkling with mischief. He couldn't have been much older then myself.

His parents stared down, first looking at me, then at him as he eagerly gazed at me.

"Come along Susan, there are many other children, many more suited to your family structure and type." The Warden sharply said to the boys mother. "This child is one of our broken ones. She came from a horrible home and is quite unruly. Look at her, she didn't even brush all of her hair." He snarled at me, causing me to defiantly stare up at him. I could see past the lies, past the glamor. I had no family, I had no home.

This family had no idea they had walked into a den of Ghouls, Vampires and other such creatures spawned straight from the gates of Hell. His glamor would make him appear kind, thoughtful, even masking the ugly dead-tone of his voice, making him sound melodic and charming.

Susan paused for a minute, staring down at her son's crushed face.

"No thank-you Warden, we will adopt this child. What is her name?"

"Name?" He scoffed. "She didn't come with one."

Susan thought a moment, looking up at her husband before nodding. "Eliza"

The Warden glared at me, angry that I was going to be taken from him so soon. After all, I didn't actually come from anywhere, not that I can remember anyway. I just woke up one day in a cold, hard cage, being prodded by cattle rods.

"Very well, are you sure you don't want a more suitable child? We have toddlers and younger children for you if you'd like a more compliant one."

Susan shook her head and smiled kindly at me. "No thank you. Let's go sign the paperwork."

They turned away from me and The Warden pinched my arm before following them down the hallway. Rubbing the sore spot, I tried to stop myself from smiling with glee.

I was finally going to be free from this place. I could make a life for myself. I'd have a family, a brother. Maybe they even have a dog! I'd never seen a dog before, but my best friend told me she had dreamt of one. They sound wondrous.

"Let's go you filthy rat" a caretaker screamed at me before roughly grabbing my hair. "I've been instructed to give you a bath and collect your things before you're taken to your placement."

The snarling face, with a gaping mouth and rows upon rows of dirty teeth grinned at me before breathing it's noxious breath on my face, causing me to pass out.

The world descended into darkness and I felt my body being roughly jostled before finally succumbing to the sweet picture of black.