The Lores of Lyra - Rising Star [Book I]

Chapter 2 - Orphan

When Annabell had noticed his friends in the back, cheering him on, it had taken everything within her to collect her books and walk away. It had been an accident when she pushed past him, accidentally making him fall over. Most of the times she would have muttered an apology, but at this point in the event she was to enraged to care whether he would get in trouble with his mother for making his clothes soiled.

As a result, the little brat had told on her, not to his mother, but to his older brother Lucas. He had cornered her some days after, followed by around ten of his friends. The eleven guys had gathered forces and charged at her. She hadn’t been able to wrestle her way out of it. The first fifteen minutes she’d tried, but the result would have been the same, so instead she had cowered down trying to keep her vital organs protected from the worst of the attacks.

Annabell still didn’t know who called for help. When she woke up again, she was back at the orphanage. Ms. Serena had been watching over her for at least a few hours when she finally opened up her eyes. A doctor came to see her, and everyone had been shocked over how fast she was healing.

"It was a miracle," they said.

People started coming around to see the child that magically survived the brutal attack. At first, she’d sort of liked the positive attention. It had caused the orphanage massive advertising, and many kids were adopted in the following days.  But after the first few glorious days, everything went downhill.

A groan escaped Annabell’s lips—her rear was falling asleep as well. Trying to adjust her position, she thought back once more.

It hadn’t taken long before the media had tried to get the spoof on her situation. Doctors rushed to examine her—they wanted to be the one to discover how she survived. Apparently, one of the kicks she’d received to her head had been so powerful that the chance of survival without instant medical help was near zero.

Ms. Serena struggled to keep people at bay, but the media were some of the most persistent folks. They were yelling questions at her from the street: ‘Who was she?’, ‘How did she do it?’, and her favorite, ‘How did she end up here?’

For a while, she’d been amused at their desperate cries for a spoof. Her amusement faltered when Elder Errai showed up, though. The Elders were the highest people in Astron. Mandatory classes taught about them, and the story of how they came to power. They were the most prominent people in the country, and if Annabell knew anything about them in particular, it was that they wouldn’t take notice of on single orphan child—without having something fishy in mind.

When Ms. Selena had announced his arrival, Annabell’s suspicious nature had caused her to refuse him entry, which would have worked if he’d respected her privacy. Errai had forced his way in—possibly by bribing the orphanage.

The memory alone gave her chills.

“What happened?” he asked. His black eyes were void of any feelings.

“I was attacked—“

“I mean after.”

“I woke up here. Ms. Selena was the first thing I saw when I opened—“

“How did you do it?” he interrupted her again.

“I don’t know.” Annabell looked down at her bandaged limbs. “I have no clue.”

A shiver crept up her spine.

It hadn’t stopped there. Elder Errai asked many questions, and she had tried to answer them to the best of her ability. But with every question, her fear of him increased. She hadn’t been able to put her finger on what it was. Only the fact that he was an Elder had prevented her from accusing him of being pure evil—she kept it to her mind.