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CHAPTER ONE

“Are you questioning my professionalism? Are you implying that I am, to the nth, absolutely incapable of running this establishment?”
There was a long pause after Matron’s heated tirade.
“Yes, I know about the global economical crisis that it affecting everyone!” she snapped.
It obviously wasn’t just the said global economical crisis that was affecting her – PMS, Pissed-Off Matron Syndrome, was getting to her too.
Leina leaned in as close as she dared to the door that was slightly ajar.
Eavesdropping, she had learnt, very long ago, was one life-skill necessary for survival in this hell of a place.
“Our oldest resident is seventeen.”
Incredible. For once in her life, Matron had referred to her as a “resident” instead of with some other patronizing label.
“And how do you suppose we feed and clothe the other children? With scraps and rags?”
As if it isn’t already like that, Leina thought to herself with a glance down at her chemise that was practically moth-eaten.
She shifted herself to get a better angle of the room. Austere and pragmatic like the rest of the building, it was equipped with the bare essentials of an office. Matron sat at the table with an old-fashioned phone at her ear. She swatted at her frizzy hair in her usual hot temper and yelled some more obscenities into the mouthpiece. Any more up the decibel scale and Leina could swear, the other person would have their eardrums shattered. Behind matron was a cabinet that Leina planned, by any means, to get to later.
“We shall discuss this further then,” Matron said sharply and hung up. The clock chimed nine o’clock.
Bed-time. The race for either life or death.
Leina skittered down the corridor as quickly and quietly as she could before Matron could come out and scream “Rogue child at her!” – Not that she hadn’t on many occasions.
The door slammed and the click of Matron’s heels on the floor began to reverberate around the corridor. Clutching her glow-stick close to her, in case Matron’s eyesight had improved overnight (highly unlikely), Leina turned the corned and then climbed stealthily up the staircase. The yellow light of her glow-stick showed her a small puddle of water that was slowly dripping down the steps. Gross. Little Akira still hadn’t learnt how to control his bladder.
Taking care to avoid the three consecutive steps that creaked with the slightest touch, Leina took a massive lunge forwards and then scrambled up the remaining steps. She burst through the dormitory where a frenzy of children ran about, stuffing all their brightly coloured toys under their mattresses and clearing away any traces of the games that Matron frowned upon; dominoes, Monopoly, anything that was capable of brining delight.
“Quickly now! Into bed!” Leina hissed and switched off the lights. They all jumped into bed, ducked their heads under their blankets and squeezed their eyes tight-shut.
Silence. Not a sound. And then the dreaded three creaks came.
“NO NOISE OR YOU WILL ALL BE SENT AWAY!” Matron’s shrieking came like a blast from a bomb. All the children shivered in their skins.
Except Leina. She was sending herself away tonight.

After Matron had retreated to her own alcove (known because classical music was being played from her gramophone), Leina jumped out of bed and whisked the rug away from under her bed.
“What are you doing?” A little girl asked and sat up in bed. The other all children all followed suit.
Leina held the glow-stick up to her face “Do you really want to know? I am…releasing the monster…” She hoped her voice was scary enough to creep all the other children out. Half the children squealed and buried their heads under their pillows. Things would be easier if they were all gullible like that.
“There’s no such things as monsters,” the little girl said haughtily, “They don’t exist. You’re trying to get away.”
Leina ignored her and lifted up a loose floorboard where all her treasured possessions had been hidden. She pulled on a jumper and then shoved everything else into a Hello Kitty bag: a broken pen, a pirated copy of The Emancipation of Mimi which had been scribbled out to say Leina and a few bank notes.
Only one thing wasn’t there, the one thing that she had meant to take out first. Her fingers groped frantically around the pit and then there it was. It had almost escaped her reach. She yanked the locket away from the two floorboards where it got lodged in and clasped the necklace around her neck securely with a rush of relief.
“You’re going nowhere!” The little girl announced shrilly. She stood with her arms outstretched.
“Respect your elders, Junko-chan,” Leina said authoritatively. No commotion please, no commotion please.
“You’re not an adult so why should I? You’re three years away from being twenty, Leina.”
Canine mother! This little pretentious brat was barring the way out and totally devastating her chances of escaping this purgatory, this life of monotony
After I read some of your comments, thought I might post some notes up because it turns out that when I pasted the entire chapter, the whole thing didn’t turn out!

OK…..she hasn’t lived here her whole life. (It says later that she’s only been here 7 years, but that bit got chopped off by the word limit)

There is a prologue to this by the way so it would make more sense.

On the subject of the orphans…yeah, little Junko is shrewd, annoying, hmmm…..

thanks for your comments guys!