Orphaned Hearts

Prologue

"When will you ever let your guard down?"

Great, she thinks. I get to have another headache already.

Three months ago, a voice popped into her head. Only ever saying the same thing, she was afraid that it might start driving her crazy.

The utter darkness that she'd been living in had started to take a toll on her body, and the voice didn't help. The pressure of living alone, cold, hungry; it all started getting to her. Her stomach growled at her, as loud as a dog's whimpering. Compared to other people her age, she looked almost anorexic. Her bone thin arms and legs worried the one friend she had.

She'd gotten used to it. After all, running away from the orphanage might have been the best thing that ever happened to her.

If it weren't for the freed felons, she'd be fine. She'd have a house, a family, food, a life. The night at the ice cream parlor, the night the parlor's tile floors stained red with the blood of her closest family.

The man that killed her parents, working behind the counter, in the blue Kage's Ice Cream shirt. Ugh, how she hated that night.

She still had a mental image of the murderer. Bleached blonde hair, striking green eyes, a murderous smile. The murderous smile turned into a murder. The already watched man, freed from jail, turned and killed her parents. Just like that, her whole life changed.

The orphanage was a different story. After the parlor, the police department came to pick her up. Obviously, she was now an orphan. She tried to tell the officer that she still had family that could take care of her. She did, her Uncle Mark. Surely he would take care of her.

The officer disregarded her wants to be with family. Instead, he put her in the back of black sedan and took her to the Linetown Police Department for further investigation.