THE SCRAPPED PRINCESS

2 : THE INTERVAL

Chapter dedicated to my good friend and my never ending supporter, thank you for believing in me :) British_Work

Above is Shane's Photograph as a young boy

The East End London 1998

"Kitty Kitty, Comeoon! A sweet voice echoed down the small hallway as Shane clicked his fingers, calling on to the white and brown fluffy ball of a kitten. Kitty perched her ears but quickened her pace.

"Come back Kitty" little Shane pleaded as he raced after her across the small living room.

Kitty, who seemed to be running after something too, paid no heed, unsurprisingly considering the fact that there were more than a thousand mice in every corner of the small dingy apartment they lived in.

She dove under the living room excuse of a sofa and Shane jumped right behind her, his chubby hands reaching out to hold her back. In the process, he knocked over a bottle of beer that was carelessly perched on a wooden stool, causing it to spill on the already yeasty rug.

His aunt, Sophia who was flopped on an armchair at the corner of the room shot him a sharp look. Fear spread across his features as he tried to retrieve the bottle quickly, hoping to stop the gold liquid from spilling further.

"You little rascal! What have you done!?" She shouted, her angry eyes following the liquid slowly sinking into the rug, "What the hell have you done?? She questioned again, louder this time, scaring him further. Her voice seethed with so much anger, that Shane cowered against the Sofa and Kitty refused to come from underneath it.

"That was my last bottle of booze!! She cried.

"What happened? A heavy male voice drifted from the kitchen doorway and a sandy head appeared. A tall boy in his early twenties stood 6 feet tall popping nuts into his mouth.

"How long should I have to keep up with these rascals? All I have ever done is given the bastards a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs, what I don't understand is why they have to do this to me!! Sophia exaggerated in the presence of his toy boy.

"You should show them whose boss" The guy strolled into the small living area and dragged Shane towards his aunt.

"Let go of me!! Shane pleaded. He tried to scratch the guy's arms to no avail, his tight muscles were bared having left his shirt in the bedroom.

Anger spread all over his face when he felt Shane's nails move over his skin.

He flexed and threw Shane across the room where he landed just a step away from his aunt.

"What are you doing Joel? Let the piece of shit go" Sophia shouted with a hint of worry in her eyes, she knew for sure if the kids were taken into foster care, she wouldn't get the benefits that keeping them had given her.

"This is what you get then, for letting them go" Joel shouted in anger "This time you should give him a lesson, by the way booze is expensive and you should walk as if you are on glass when you around it" Unbuckling his belt, he handed it over to Sophia.

"Now boy, strip! He bent so he could face a trembling little Shane eye to eye.

Shane's huge eyes were filled with tears; he looked at his aunt and shook his head, silently pleading for her to make him stop.

Sophia rolled her eyes and barked "You heard the man!! Strip boy! She commanded, it seemed that she always wanted to please her toy boys, wherever they were around, she would never let things go and tried to act a victim.

"You think you are clever boy? Her hateful eyes bulged as she questioned him. Malice seethed from her lips at every word she said.

Shane shook his head vigorously denying the accusation.

Sophia took that as refusal, and before he knew it, strong arms had gripped him and peeled off all the clothes from his body. He cried endlessly screaming for help, as Sophia slashed the raw skin of his back, the room turned into a hazy blur after each painful strike, he tried so hard to block the pain away, when he failed, he let the darkness envelope him.

___*___

Bo shouted order after order to the waiters helping in the restaurant; she was managing the diner herself, now that her parents were gone. Hiring a manager was way too expensive, despite that, she enjoyed being there. It was her peaceful coven; that even she could call home.

It was 6:40 and both the crowd and laughter were slowly thinning, she estimated by 7:20 they would call it a night and wind up, on other occasions, she would have loved to stay longer, 10 to 11pm would have worked perfectly, but it was winter and everyone was rushing home, by 8 the streets would be completely deserted leaving it for the goons.

"Hurry up Marcella", Bo smiled urgently at a tiny black girl with shiny curls hanging on each side of her head, no matter how hard Bo had her tame her hair, it would always stick out in every direction, they both finally gave up on it, considering she wasn't allowed to prepare food.

"We are running late, it's not safe "

Marcella glanced at the clock on top of the counter, it read 7:40, a couple at the far end of the diner were arguing over a table in whispers "It's closing time!! She smiled and snapped her fingers at them as they stood quickly and exited; she quickly put the glasses in the racks, grabbed both hers and Bo's coats and struggled to close the Diners gates.

By the time they were outside, it was chilly and windy; the snow was so deep that they had to hold hands to trudge through it, they had not walked far when they heard a trash can being knocked over.

They shared an alarmed look and decided to move faster, in the heavy quite of the night, they could almost hear each other's heart beats, and of course the howling of the wind from afar.

When they were a few steps to the corner that led to the subway, two shadowed figures stepped out of the darkness and stood right in front of them.