Orphan Spiderlings

Are They The Ones?

HARLEY'S POV

We sped into the orphanage and were welcomed back with a slap on the head.

"Where did you think you could go? I told you no food and water for three days and what do you do? Not only did you ungrateful brats leave the room that I specifically remember locking, you three idiots stole food and water from the kitchen! You may be able to escape the basement, hell you may be able to escape this house, but at the end of the day you will always wind up where idiotic, ungrateful brats like yourselves belong! In the basement with the rats and trash! Now, I also happened to notice that one of my bobby pins happened to go missing. Which means one of these other brats broke you out." Levy got right up in our faces.

"If you tell me who broke you three idiots out, your punishment won't nearly be as harsh as theirs! Well? Anyone care to tell?" None of us spoke. One unspoken rule we all stuck by was snitches get stitches, literally in our case. So we remained silent. Whatever happens to us, we most likely survive because of our enhanced healing factor. The others, would never be as lucky. So we try and take as many of the beatings as we can, to keep everyone safe.

"No one? What a shame. I guess I'll be forced to resort to more, damaging measures." Levy grabbed each of us by our collars and dragged us to the kitchen. She walked up to the utensils drawer and pulled out three sharp knives. We all looked at her with true fear painted on our faces, knives being pulled out, was not a good sign.

"Now, if you don't tell me who broke you out, I will chose three random children from this pathetic little house, slice them up and let them bleed on the floor! On top of that, each of you brats will face an even more severe punishment that is different from all the rest! So who will be the one the spill the beans on who let you three out?" We still didn't speak.

"Still no one. Not a peep?" Ms. Levy looked at us with a maniacal smile. We couldn't give away who it was. Ms. Levy began our punishment. The knives slashed and plunged into our sides, and cuts old and new were burst into our skin. As we began to lose more and more blood, we started to scream in hopes that someone, hopefully an adult, would hear us. But our hopes of that happening were slowly fading out. After about half an hour of torturing us, she decided that we had lost enough blood and was about to exit the kitchen and leave us to bleed out on the floor while she went to attack the other kids. But before she could even exit the room, two men appeared in the kitchen doorway, with Lauren and Jack by their sides, and man, did these guys look pissed. Before we knew what was happening, we all passed out one by one from blood loss.

STEVE'S POV

Tony and I pulled up to the orphanage, and it looked horrible. Paint was peeling on the outside and wood was chipped all around the building. It looked like a rip-off haunted house.

"Holy shit. This is definitely not a place to be raising kids. How'd the government even allow kids to live in a place like this." Tony looked at the place, disgusted by what he saw. I couldn't agree more.

"There's gotta be at least 50 health and safety violations here." I added on. We walked through the gate and up the stony path to the door. Tony knocked on the door and a few seconds later a young girl and boy opened the door and let us in. The inside was worse than the outside. The paint was peeling and the carpet extremely dirty. I wasn't sure if Tony knew the smell, but I definitely did. The orphanage smelt of alcohol and blood. I looked at Tony and he looked at me in a way that said 'I smell it too.' While we waited for 'Ms. Levy' we got ourselves acquainted with the little boy and girl who let us in, named Jack and Lauren. They said that Ms. Levy was in the kitchen making up lunch. Which confused me to say the least. Who "makes up" lunch? You make lunch not make it up. I asked Lauren if what she meant to say was "make lunch". To my surprise, she denied it, saying that she means everything she says. I looked at Tony, but he wasn't as confused as I was, so he must of figured something out. He asked for directions to the nearest bathroom, and Jack pointed him to it. Tony grabbed my arm and yanked me in.

"Tony what-"

"You shush and listen to me for a second. I think I know what's going on here. All of these kids are being abused. And it's painfully obvious that this Levy person is not taking care of them properly. Think about it Steve. The kids earning money, the broken down house, the smell of alcohol and blood everywhere. It all adds up." I thought about it and realized he was right. The look on my face must've said I understood because Tony brought us back out where Jack and Lauren were beginning to clean. Before we could question them, three ear-piercing, heart-shattering screams were heard throughout the building. We rushed to the kitchen, Jack and Lauren leading the way. The next thing I knew I was calling Bruce to get the medbay ready, loading these three kids into the car, and asking Jack and Lauren to get their stuff. Tony on the other hand was calling the police and getting the papers for us to sign. Tony kissed me and told me he'd meet me at the tower, and to keep those kids alive. I nodded and drove off just as the police pulled up.