Orphanage

One

Lilith lay in bed, waiting for the orphanage to quiet down. Then she would be able to fly out the window, and sit in peace on the roof. Being a vampire had those advantages. She could hear extremely well, and didn't need much sleep, if any at all, and she could slip out the window undetected.

  Finally she heard the last troublesome kid take a deep breath as he fell asleep. The boards gave their last creak as the house's administrator rolled over in bed on the next floor. Slowly, Lilith slipped off her covers, and flew slightly off the ground until she reached the window. The latch emitted a small grinding noise when she pulled it up, but no one stirred so she pushed open the window. She silently went out, and pushed the window shut, but not so the latch swung down.

   Lilith flew over and sat with her knees to her chin as she looked up at the moon. It was a crescent, but it still gave off so much light. She liked looking at the other side, and past the gates a ways, was the ocean.  It crashed against the cliffs that lay there. She enjoyed looking at the pretty things, instead of the cruel, ugly place she was in. She glanced down, for just a moment, and saw the thick, tall, spiked iron fence that surrounded the entire orphanage building. A thick gate was at the entrance, requiring two keys. A dusty road continued out, and didn't reach somewhere for at least 4 miles.

   The door leading into the building itself required effort to get in. An Id was needed, a reason, and for most occasions, an appointment. After that, thing were pretty chill. Besides for the cook getting in a frenzy about manners, but that was understandable. They didn't bother putting locks on the 2'd, 3'd, and 4th floor windows, since the lowest ones were 20 feet off the ground.

   But of course, they didn't account for having a vampire there, and they didn't know they did now. She was just a normal girl to them. They didn't know she could leave at any point she wanted. She hadn't though. She'd have no where to go, and she wasn't sure what she would do. She sometimes left to the town at night, to get blood she needed, and sometimes to see things, but she always came back. Plus, even if she did leave, they would put a bounty on her head. A 15 year old girl who escaped from the IronBridge orphanage in England, that would be a mighty story indeed.

   Lilith snapped to attention when she heard a thumping noise from inside.

"She's not here," came an english accented boys voice. She recognized it as Devin, one of the meaner boys there. He must have been going to the bathroom, and peeked in. Her bed was almost to the door, and when he saw she was gone, opportunity called.

"I see that," one of his friends said, with the same accent, who must have accompanied him.

"I'm going to tell Ms Vinch, " Devin said triumphantly. "Come on then."

   Lilith sighed, and listened to the footsteps until they were half way up the stairs. Then she flew down to the window, opened it, and quietly latched it shut behind her. Running silently over to her bed, she slipped in, closed her eyes, and calmed her breathing.

   Lilith lay very still as she heard now three sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. They came closer, until they stopped at the door.

"Honestly!" Lilith heard Ms Vinch exclaim quietly. "You two had to drag me down here, and she's there?"

"I swear! She was gone not a minute ago!" Devin protested.

"You look for every opportunity to trouble anyone," Ms Vinch scolded him. "You get dishes for a week."

   He started to protest, but she must have stopped him. "And Lye, you're lucky you didn't have a say in this. I know how Devin drags people into his shenanigans, so I'll let you off."

   She snorted, and went back up the steps. Lilith stayed very still, aware that Devin was still watching her. She knew he would want to wait till he thought she thought he wasn't there and move, but he didn't know she had super hearing and could easily flip his plan. So she stayed still, actually beginning to feel drowsy, when Lye, probably getting annoyed, walked away. Devin scolded him, but he shot back a comment. Devin growled and followed him, giving up on his plan.

   Lilith sighed as they walked away. Devin was always looking for trouble, no matter how small. He was also a bit meaner to her, because she had stood up to him once, and made him look silly. It had been at lunch one day, and he was picking on a younger boy than himself. Lilith stood up, and shouted at him. He didn't like this one bit, and rushed at her, but she stepped aside and tripped him. Devin fell, slammed into some kid, and he turned around and pushed him to the floor. But by the time he looked for Lilith again, she had run to the library. She knew she could easily beat him, but she didn't want to cause a scene. It would be a little suspicious. So she tried to avoid him, since he was now out for her. But this was kind of unavoidable. If Ms Vinch actually saw she wasn't in bed, then who knows what chores she would get. Something nasty.

   By now, and was tired. She checked one last time to make sure Devin wasn't here, then snuggling into her covers, Lilith fell asleep.