Yet another PrologueOctober 21, 2003 (Auburn Illinois)The taxicab smelled of cats and unwashed laundry. Christine had no problem telling exactly that to the unshaven driver. The ride to the airport was a long and rather uncomfortable one.
“Thank you very much for the ride, sir!” Rachel said loudly, urging Christine to do the same.
“Thank you, sir.” Christine said half-heartedly. “Don’t pay him, Rachel!” She hissed, as the nurse handed the driver a few bills. The cabbie snatched his money slammed the door in her face.
“Christine!” Rachel scolded, “You can’t be rude to people like that!”
“Of course not. I’m sorry, Rachel.” Christine said, hanging her head and looking the picture of contrition. She wasn’t sorry; not really. She was sorry that the cabbie had slammed the door on Rachel, but she was not sorry for what she had said.
Rachel smiled, “C’mon, Chris, let’s go. How about you take the violin?”
Christine eagerly held out her hands for the instrument, tucking it carefully under her arm. “We can’t miss my flight!” She said, smiling at Rachel.
Rachel smiled back, put a hand on Christine’s shoulder, and guided her through the revolving doors of the airport.
The roof of the airport was an enormous window, made of hundreds of panes of glass. Christine stared at it as she passed underneath, feeling the sunlight wash over her. Miles above her head, a jet flew low, preparing to land. She marveled at the architecture, judging how they must have tempered and set the glass so it would hold up against the noise and vibrations of the planes overhead.
“C’mon, honey,” Rachel said, “We’ve still got to meet Mr. Whammy.”
“Why can’t I just ride the plane alone?” Christine asked, finally showing the apprehension she’d been keeping back since she’d been invited to Whammy’s House.
“You know I’m not gonna let you do that, Chris.”
“And I guess you have to go back to the hospital after this,” Christine sighed.
“Yeah.” Rachel said. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s better for you to be at the House than to be at the hospital. You can be happy there.”
Christine looked away. She couldn’t deny that the House would be better for her. She would finally be with children more like herself. But would she really be happy? That remained to be seen.
Rachel spied an older man sitting serenely in the waiting area, hands folded in his lap. He spotted Rachel and smiled.
“Oh, here he is.” She said, as the man stood up and began strolling over to them. “Let’s be polite, okay.”
“Of course, Rachel.” Christine said. She meant it.
“Chris, how about you go over and put your stuff on the luggage belt?” Rachel said, wanting a few private words with Mr. Wammy.
“Do I have to give them my music?”
“No, just your violin and you bag. Hurry up, hun.”
Christine shuffled off, reluctant to give up her violin to the care of airport personnel.
“You must be Rachel.” Mr. Whammy said politely, holding out a hand.
Rachel shook it. She suddenly felt very conscious of her scrubs, which clashed sharply with Mr. Wammy’s crisp suit.
“That’s me!” She said brightly.
“Don’t be nervous,” Mr. Wammy smiled, his eyes crinkling pleasantly. “Christine is will be just fine.”
“This is…the best thing for her. A girl that smart can’t spend the rest of her life in a hospital…she has to use that intelligence.”
“But something’s bothering you.”
“Yes. I don’t know how she’ll adjust to living with other children and to your staff. She’s had a rough time, what with the things her stepfather did to her…” Rachel broke off, watching Christine closely examining the conveyor belt as it moved. “She’s very shy around new people, especially men.”
“We’ll win her over, don’t worry.” Mr. Wammy said reassuringly.
“I hope so...” Rachel said, smiling in a burned-out sort of way.
Christine returned, her face and hands covered in sooty black smears. She took one look at Mr. Whammy and took a few steps behind Rachel, burying her smudgy face in Rachel’s shirt.
“Christine, this is Mr. Wammy.” Rachel said loudly. “Why don’t you say hi?”
Christine raised her head. “Good morning, Mr. Wammy.” She said in a small voice.
“Good morning to you too, Miss Christine.” He said, smiling gently. “Can’t miss your flight can we?”
Christine shook her head, took a deep breath, and took her face out of Rachel’s back.
“Will you write to me, Rachel?” She asked, eyes to the ground.
“Oh…of course I will, Chris.” Rachel said, tears coming to her eyes. “Go on, now. You can tell me all about this when I write, okay?”
With a small smile, Christine followed Mr. Wammy to their plane terminal. Rachel waved after her, watching the little girl and the old man disappear from sight.
London, October 21,2003Vivi and Rapheal finally arrive at london after the stomach turning trip. She went and grabbed her things; Her bags of cookies and boxes of ice cream and her folding papers. She smiled, holding them close and walking off the ship.
She tripping at the bottom but saving her sweets. She got a scrape on her chin and bruises up her arms. Rapheal rushed to her and lifted her up, examining the wounds.
"This is why you watch where you are walking!" He scolded. He pulled out a towel and cleaned her off in order to beat back any infection from the unsanitary dock wood.
"Thank you, Neko. At-least I saved my things! I'm sooo happy. I would have been lost without them..."
She almost cried but held back her tears with a large grin, showing off her dimples. Rapheal only smiled at his younger sister and walked, off holding her things for her. When the two of them got off they met up with Roger.
"I'm sorry, but you can not come, sir," Roger said to Rapheal.
Rapheal's eyes widened in shock at Roger. "Are you serious! I came with my sister and I was supposed to come as well! I'm supposed to be at Wammy's house. You can't do this to me!"
Roger looked at the boy and studied him, then went off to the side and talked with Mr. Wammy himself. After a while of yes and no's, Roger came back.
"Al-right you are aloud to come as well," Roger said shaking Rapheal's hand and apologizing for the inconvence. Rapheal thanked him and held onto Vivi's hand.
"So we can go now right, right?!" Vivi said staring at the limo. "Oh my gosh a limo, I've only seen these in pictures but this one takes the cake.... mmmm cake."
Vivi began to drool as she sat down in the back of the limo. Rapheal sighed and wiped her face clear. His little sister could be a bit of a ditz sometimes...
It took a little over thirty minutes to reach the hotel, where they picked up the other 5 children.
Chapter 1 (Edited)Ori got into the back seat of the limo, almost afraid to touch the leather with her bare skin. She loved cars. She loved them more than airplanes. In fact, the only thing she loved more than cars and cameras happened to be motorcycles. She crossed her legs, buckling herself into the seat next to the red-head.
Pyra sighed, already bored. Pulling out a pad of paper, she began to draw whatever came to mind.
Plague also clambered into the limo while simultaneously trying to put a Petri dish in her red cooler, the same Petri dish on which she had not moments ago smeared “Possible Streptococcus Strain: Trouble.” Plague enjoyed naming her strains.
Christine climbed into the car, clenching her hands around the handle of her violin case to hide their shaking. She sat rigidly in a seat next to the other children, occasionally casting them apprehensive little glances out of the corner of her eye.
Not one looked entirely normal, yet she could not find anything particularly threatening about them.
You're being irrational! She told herself. She eyed her shaking hands, trying to make them stop. Sadly, her will was not enough. If anything, the tremors intensified. Ori blinked at the person next to her, curiosity in her eyes. She always knew when someone was uneasy, or angry, or sad, no matter how much they tried to hide it. Her young eyes could look a person over and immediately profile them. That being said, if anyone professional tried to hide something from her, they would succeed.
She eyed the person's shaking hands, and frowned. "Are you okay?" She asked, concerned.
Vivi eyed the children in the car and smiled. She felt like she should say something but every time she tried to she couldn't think of something to say. Her brother sat with his hands folded on his laps. Raphael sat with his eyes closed and tried to think of noises to stop the ear shattering silence. Vivi then looked at the shaking girl holding her violin and she began folding a paper to look like her. She put the paper doll on her finger and waved to the girl. "Hallo little girl don't be scared of ze peoplez here. We are nice I am sure." Vivi smiled. Plague chuckled slightly at Vivi's antics as she peered at the group from behind her book.
"F...fine. I'm fine." Christine stuttered, pulling her knees up to her chest and peering at them over the top of her violin case. The cold black plastic was not comforting in the least. "D...don't worry about m...me." Her eyes widened as she saw the paper doll.
Irrational!! She thought desperately.
Stop being so irrational! But she couldn't do it. A surge of panic ran through her and she hid her face behind the violin. Ori frowned, leaning close enough to almost bump noses with the other student.
Suddenly she backed off, grinning. "I'm Ori! What's your name?"
Pyra looked over at the sudden noise, and raised an eyebrow. “Bipolar much?”
"I'm C...C...Christine." Christine said, wincing at the stutter. The psychologist had told her she was done with the stutter but, evidently, the psychologist had been wrong. "Really? Wow, your alias is cool! From what I heard, not very many aliases were normal names!" She giggled at the end of her sentence, and looked out the window.
"OOH! LOOK!" She pointed at a motorcycle they passed. "Isn't that one cool?" Christine stared at the motorcycle but didn't say anything. "A...alias...?" She asked, looking over the violin case at Ori.
"I didn't know I had to have an alias." She was slightly angered that no one had alerted her of this sooner.
Plague lowered her book to her lap and smiled at Christine. "That's alright," she assured the younger girl. "I made the same mistake and I already knew about the whole needing an alias thing. Just choose a name that suits you. I'm Plague by the way."
After Plague introduced herself, a soft voice from beside her captured her attention. Turning away from the shy girl with the violin case, Plague looked to the other genius seated beside her. The girl was cocooned in her own world by a book and an iPod, to which Plague realized she was quietly singing along. Plague turned to the others in the limo noticing that the girl currently serenading the group had captured their attention as well.
Molly climbed in the sleek black limo and took a seat next to a girl with a lab coat on. She didn't say anything, merely paying attention to her iPod. She removed the slippers she almost never wore and pulled out another book seemingly from nowhere. It was another of her favorites. It set a slightly sad mood, however, so Molly changed the song to one on her "sad songs" playlist she had created. Not paying any mind to the others in the limo with her, Molly began to sing while she read.
Don't tell me
You're done for
I don't need to hear
You're done for
You can tell me what you are running from
I need you
More than you need you
Molly looked up from her book to change songs on her iPod when she noticed everyone staring at her.
"Uh....why's everyone looking at me?" she asked, eyes wandering. She shifted nervously in her seat.
Christine smiled at the singer, tapping her foot on the seat to the rhythm of the song. "That was very nice." She said. "That's why we're staring."
She pulled the violin a little closer to herself, still slightly uncomfortable around the other children. This impromptu serenade had given her and idea. "My name's Music...what's yours?"
Molly shut off her iPod and put a bookmark in her book before setting it on her left side, on the empty seat. She glanced at a shy looking girl holding a violin case, noting that this was the girl who had complimented her.
"My name is Ninja, but I prefer Kuno," she spoke softly. Molly saw the girl who introduced herself as Music pulling out her violin.
"So...um...how well do you play?"
"Well enough, I guess." Music replied, smiling bashfully.
She looked at the instrument with an expert eye. Customs had not been kind to it; one of the pegs had been dislodged and the E string was hanging limp against the fingerboard. Music held the violin carefully in her lap, deftly twisting the peg into its proper position. Every now and again she would pluck the string, shake her head at the sounding note, and adjust the peg again.
"Are you planning to play us all a song?" Kuno asked the younger girl. She watched as Music adjusted her violin, shook her head when the note she sounded was off, and adjusted it again.
Kuno didn't think she'd get an answer until Music was finished tuning her instrument, so she turned the older girl beside her.
"So, what's your name? If I'm making you repeat yourself, I apologize. But I think it's safe to say that I wouldn't have heard you if you said anything earlier," she said sheepishly.
The older girl next to Kuno looked up from her book due to the question. "Oh, I'm Plague." Turning to the newly dubbed Music, Plague smiled brightly and said, "I'd love to hear a song if you wouldn't mind."
Music blushed bright pink. "I...I dunno." She glanced at the violin, pressing it close to her chest. "I wasn't really planning on playing for you and I don't know if....I don't think I could...I mean..." She trailed off into silence, clutching her instrument as if her life depended on it.
"I'm probably so out of tune anyway..." She finished, in a very small voice.
Under the weight of the other children’s eyes, Music's hands began to shake again, her tiny fingers trembling against the strings. The only person she'd ever played for was Rachel. She shook her head vigorously at the two older girls, afraid she might stutter again if she spoke.
Kuno looked to Plague as an expression of slight confusion and a dash of shock danced across her features.
"Plague?" she repeated to herself. She then took in Plague's outfit, noticing the lab coat. 'Oh, she must like science and experimenting with bacteria.' Kuno thought. She was pulled from her thought processes as Music answered her question.
"Well, if you think you're out of tune, why not practice to check and see? And besides, I think it'd be lovely to hear you play. Please?" she tried persuading Music.
Ori blinked, drawn back from her daydream about motorcycles. "I want to hear you play!" She picked up on the conversation immediately.
Music shook her head again. She was starting to feel slightly sick.
"L...look." She said, fighting to keep her voice steady. "C...can I play like this?" Extending her arm, she showed them all her trembling hand.
"I can't."
Vivi looked at the girl named music and sat cross legged in the seat. "Well, if you can't play, then you can't play. We want you to sound your best. Maybe when you warm up to us you'll play for us. It'll sound nice. I always liked the sound of a violin, sometimes I wish I could play it but the last time I tried it sounded like that cats that slept with me at night in the abandoned school." Vivi's eye twitched then smiled again. "Oh, I forgots to tell you all. I'm Vivi and this is my silent brother, Neko." She pointed to the older teenager that had been asleep the whole time.
Plague smiled and waved at Vivi and her slumbering brother.
Kuno gave a lopsided grin to Vivi and her brother. "Nice to meet you, Vivi."
Vivi cocked her head to the side and smiled with her head still in the same position. "Nice to meet you too," she said to Kuno and Plague.
Music smiled nervously at Vivi. "Yes, it's nice v...very to meet you both. And yes, I'll play l...later."
Vivi pulled out the finger puppet that looked like Music and drew a smile on the face of the paper doll. "YAY! Now we are friends. Right?" She pointed the finger puppet in Music's direction made it nod. "Right?" She grinned, almost like the Cheshire Cat.
Music reached out, patting the puppet gently on the head. “I guess we can be friends,” she said. As she reached for the doll, she exposed her arm. Vivid pink scars crisscrossed up her pale skin, some disappearing under the sleeve of her overlarge T-shirt, only to reappear snaking up her neck and cheek.
When Plague saw the scars on Music's arm, her eyes narrowed. Plague wasn't going to pry, the girl was timid enough at it was, but she was going to keep and eye on her. After all, she'd taken care of many abused children she'd met in the numerous foster homes in which she'd lived. Music was going to get better. She'd make sure of it.
Ori made a face that made her look almost as wide-eyed as an anime character. "WOAH."
Pyra looked at her. "What?"
"Naaaathinggggg..." Ori grinned. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you Vivi!"
Upon hearing Ori's exclamation, she flashed her eyes over to Ori, to see what had interested her. Noticing her eyes on Music, Kuno cast a cautious glance at the shy girl. She saw many scars decorating the girl's arm. 'This girl can't be any older than ten! Why does she have so many scars?' she thought to herself. Kuno withdrew herself from the conversations going on around her, drew her knees up to her chest, and hugged them to herself before grabbing her iPod and turning it up full volume.
Seeing the scars on Music's arm had reminded her of her own angry, red scars on her arms. She was glad to have her lace sleeves on. They hid the cuts well. She rested her head on her arms, which caused an earphone to fall out of her ear. The song playing partially filled the car.
"...That night he caged her, bruised and broke her..." the voice sang.
"Oh, oops. Sorry..." Kuno spoke softly, picking up her earphone and returning it to her ear.
Plague glanced over at Kuno. Plague may have been ditzy at times, but she noticed Kuno's reaction to Music's scars, and she knew what that meant. Plague sighed. She thought that maybe the kids at Whammy’s wouldn't be like the kids from the foster homes in Chicago. She knew it was selfish to assume so, but she'd seen so many broken children in her life and it hurt her immensely. She wrapped an arm around Kuno, and smiled placidly at her. Plague had taken care of the broken children in Chicago. It was her job, and if the children at Whammy’s needed her too, then she'd be there for them.
Music watched their faces carefully.
"I'm...m...m..." She bit back on the words, trying with every ounce of willpower to force the stutter out of her speech.
"I'm...s...sorry if this bothers you." She said, indicating her torn arms. "I can change into a different shirt if you w...want."
Plague smiled at the stuttering girl. "You're fine, kiddo."
Music returned the smile somewhat nervously, placing her violin tenderly back in its case. She folded her arms across her chest in an attempt to conceal the scars from Kuno. It was clear that the sight of Music's mutilated arms brought back some things that the older girl would rather not think about.
There was a thick silence permeating the car. The new Whammy's orphans sat ruminating on things they would have preferred to have forgotten.
To get her mind off the rather depressing atmosphere, Plague looked out the window. Tall, ancient trees lined the road. The fallen, colorful leaves shaded in the tints of autumn swirled in the wind the car created by passing. In a moment, the limo was turning into a long drive at the end of which stood a stately manor: Whammy's House Orphanage. Her eyes fixed on the prestigious building, Plague commented, "I guess we're here."