They forgot to feed me again.
They always do that. I remember the time they didn't give me food for a week. My tummy hurt so bad. I didn't think anything could hurt so bad. But I know that I'm wrong about a lot of things. Kind of hard not to know that when they tell me every day...
I'm eight. Eight and a half, actually. But you would never be able to tell that if you looked at me. I'm a 'bag of bones'. That's what everyone calls me when they first see me. 'There's nothing to you, girl. You're nothing but skin and bones. You're a child. Why aren't you eating?'
Because they don't feed me.
I don't go to school. I don't do anything apart from what they tell me to do. And they tell me to do horrible things. With horrible people, who make me say and do horrible things. I don't like it. I've never liked it. But I don't have a choice. If I want to eat, then I have to do what they say.
But I've done everything they want today. And I've got no food. I don't know why I thought they would tell the truth today. But my poor tummy...
I miss Kappa. They moved him to another part of the Sanctuary. They didn't like that we were friends. We aren't here to make friends, they said. We're here to do what they want us to do. If we want to stay safe, then we have to obey them. And the number one rule here is:
Don't make friends.
I can see my breath in front of me. White, like snow. I've never seen snow before. But I hear it's really pretty. Kappa told me about it once. He said that his mummy took him out one day and the sky was raining white flowers. And when he asked her what it was, she told him it was snow. White flowers in the sky. I wish I could see that.
I miss my mummy. I don't remember what she looks like though. They took my picture away from me when I got here, and I forgot her face. It's been four years since she brought me here. I only know that because they tell me every year. 'One year, two years, three years...' And then four years yesterday. And I've forgotten my mummy.
I won't cry. Only babies cry. They taught me that. 'Crying is a form of weakness. And we don't want weak little babies here.' I don't want to make them mad at me. I don't like it when they get mad. So I won't cry. I won't cry at all. I'll just pull up my blanket, and hope I can sleep...
“Echo!”
My name. Someone whispered my name. I open my eyes in the dark, which really isn't that dark to me any more. I sit here every night in the dark, staring at the wall and counting the cracks to help me sleep. I think I'm becoming an owl...
“Echo! Wake up!”
I can't see where it's coming from. They must be hiding. I pull the blanket around me as I creep through the room, stepping over all the sleeping children around me. This is against the rules. It's bed time. And at bed time, you have to be asleep. If they catch you, you're in trouble.
A hand grabs onto my arm, pulling me into the shadows. I bite my lip to stop myself from screaming out. What's going on? I don't understand. Is this a trick? Are they testing me? Am I going to be punished for not being asleep...
“Echo, it's me.”
Kappa. It's Kappa. I can see him now. I can see him like there's a light in front of me. But it's just him. It's just Kappa, bringing his own little light in his heart with him.
But he shouldn't be here.
“What are you doing here?” I whisper. “You're going to get in so much trouble...”
“I'm getting us out of here.”
What?! He's crazy! No one has ever left the Sanctuary before. Not without their permission. And everyone who tried...
“We can't! They'll catch us!”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes...”
“Then follow me.”
He leads me through a dark, damp little passage. I didn't even know it was there. How long has he been planning this? Did he dig this himself? He can't have...
I feel cold air hit me in the face. I gasp it in, blinded by a white light up above me. I cover my eyes, peeking through the cracks at a big round ball of light in the dark sky. The moon. That's the moon! I've never seen the moon before! It's so beautiful...
Kappa takes my hand and pulls me forward. My bare feet break sticks underneath them as we move further and further away from everything we know. It feels so strange compared to the cold hard floor of the Sanctuary.
Where are we going? I don't know. But I'm excited to find out...
A loud noise buzzes through the air, hurting my ears and my head at the same time. I scream out, trying to block the sound out with my hands. But it's not working. It's so loud...
“Run, Echo! Run!”
His hand drags me through the trees, my legs only just managing to catch up with him. I hear the dogs barking, the trumpets blowing. I've never been so scared in my life. They're on the hunt.
And they're after us.
I can feel my legs getting heavy as I start getting tired. I'm starting to struggle to breathe as I try to keep up with him. But I can't let him down. I can't let Kappa down...
But I do. My foot catches in a large branch as he jumps over it and I can't keep straight. I wobble, losing grip of his hand. I see him reach out to grab me, but he misses. And I'm falling. The ground doesn't find me, and I watch as his face gets further and further away. His hand still reaching out for me as it fades into blackness.
“Echo, no!”
I scream. And it all goes black.
*********************************************
A/N - Hello everyone! I took a brief break from writing The End Where I Begin (simply because I want to get it right first and wasn't in the mood tonight). I've had this story buzzing in my head for about a week now, and I just thought I would post this prologue up before starting to write the whole thing. Just to kind of get a feel of if people would be interested in it...This is a The Script fanfiction. The boys will most definitely show up in this. I just wanted these two characters to show up first. They're massively important. So yeah, please give it a quick read and let me know if you're interested in it at all. I hope it's at least gotten someone's attention (even if it is a Mark fic haha). So yeah. Vote, comment, do your thing guys. Much love x
