🗝Chapter 1🗝

It was cold, but the man walked on. The child in his arms shivered, but she stayed silent. He didn’t know who she was, or what her name was, but he knew she was the one. There was a slight tremor in the air, and the man grimaced. It was getting stronger. He gently put the whimpering child at the door and checked to see if the key around her neck was still intact. He knocked and hid, trying, and mostly failing, to conceal his large figure. When one of the orphanage teachers opened the door and found her, he decided she would be safe. As long as nobody took the key away from her.

Twelve years later, a tired girl was shook awake at 5:00 in the morning.

“Hurry! Madam is coming for inspection today!” said Gwen’s best friend, Ash.

Ash was right, because the landlord of their orphanage was extremely neat, and constantly inspecting the condition of the building. If she was coming for inspection, they would need to clean their bunks. In the span of ten minutes, they made their beds, threw all of their trash out the window, and splashed water on their faces. Gwen had to polish up her glasses, and by 5:15 they were standing in front of their perfect bed, perfectly dressed, as the landlord of Beggar’s Hollow Home For Young Girls strutted in. Madame walked right past them, her upturned nose buried in her clipboard, and both girls let out a sigh of relief. The uptight woman immediately turned around and gave them a horrible smile.

“Ah, yes, our two big girls! Today is the day you’ll be transferred to McBridge’s Institution! Of course I’ll give you time to pack and say any goodbyes”, she drawled, checking off their names on a clipboard. “Just be sure to be at the front gates at one o’clock. Sharp.”

The goodbyes were surprisingly emotional, as Gwen and Ash had helped many of the young ones, sneaking the thin ones food and helping all of them with the brutal schoolwork. None of the ‘teachers’ had any particular fondness for the girls, and they were fine with keeping it at tense nods. However, Gwen couldn’t help but wipe away a tear as the place she was raised in slowly disappeared in the fog.

“Hey, it’s not so bad! Maybe we’ll actually get fed in McBridge’s!”, Ash said. But for Gwen it was that bad. Nobody ever came back from the Institution, and the rumors about the place were endless. After many tedious hours, the rumbling auto-carriage, with it’s mechanical horses, came to a stop. The first impression was big. Big iron gates, big front yard, big castle, and a large, ill concealed shadowy figure waiting at the door. Madame didn’t ever leave the safety of the carriage, and both girls were silently resenting her as they were forced to trudge up the muddy lawn.

Rumors and voices flitted through Gwen’s head as she stumbled up the stairs, gripping the key around her neck. They say he’s a murderer. A vicious monster who enslaves anyone who goes into his prison. He’s slowly gathering up an army to take over all of Beggar’s Hollow! She and Ash squeezed each other’s hands as they approached what they were sure would be their doom….

Want more? Stay tuned for the next chapter of Beggar’s Hollow!