A/N- This is a story that I started on before my other one, but I didn't really feel like continuing it. You can tell me whether I should continue it or not, cause I really don't know...

Prologue (Sort Of)

I was so little, only two, when it happened. My house burned down, with my entire family inside. Only my oldest sister Elizabelle made it out alive. I was being babysat, because, as the youngest of the family, I would get in everyone else's way. My six older brothers and sisters, along with my mom and dad, were working on a project. I don't know what kind of project, because the orphanage wouldn't tell me. My sister couldn't take care of me because she was only 14. We both got sent to the orphanage, and I grew up there. When I was 6, old enough to understand a few things, I asked her what happened that night. She shut her lips and refused to answer. For the next 2 years I asked her about it, over and over again. Each time she wouldn't answer. Finally I wore her down and she promised she would tell me that night. The explanation never came. She escaped from the orphanage and started a new life. She abandoned me. I lived in the orphanage by myself for the next four years. Suddenly, one night, I had a dream. I was flying, higher than even airplanes go. There was a terrible storm, and I had to dodge lightning bolts. Sometimes, I got a hit, and that hurt a lot! But in the end, I found a way out of the storm, and was in a beautiful meadow. I frolicked around until I felt exhausted, and I flopped down on the ground and fell asleep. That was when I woke up.

Chapter One

Arynia

Bright sunlight streamed through the window. I felt blissfully happy, still in my dream…until I remembered I was at the orphanage. The lush, soft green grass turned lumpy and hard as the dream faded, as so many others had. I was in my bed, chained there until Mistress Lissenup came and unchained me. (I doubt that's her real name, but it's what they used at the orphanage) Afterward, we were forced to eat cold oatmeal and drink sour milk. And so, another day started at the orphanage.

In class, I doodled on my notebook, not really paying attention to what the teacher said, until-

"Arynia Blackseed!" What are you DOING?" came the sharp voice of Mrs. Payattenshin. (Again, I doubt that this is her last name, but you never know. My real last name is Silverthorn, but color and plant show your rank here. Seed and black is the lowest, so I am not the only one with this last name. Redflower is the highest rank, and the Mistress' favorite students have this rank.) Anyway…

"Umm…uhh…"

"I see. You were not paying attention. Ten pairs of smacks, because you don't seem to be listening."

I winced. Ten pairs? That was a lot. Usually there was only three or four, sometimes even five, but never ten.

The leader of the "pops," Kacie, snickered and said, "Like always."

My best friends, Jadena and Kalen, looked at me like, really, lady?, but mostly with worry in their eyes. They knew that ten pairs would hurt.

The teacher's assistant, , came toward me with a ruler in her right hand. I laid my hands palms up on the desk and closed my eyes, bracing myself.

"Ow!" The ruler had smacked my right hand, and was going up for another blow, this time on my left hand. It struck.

"Ohh…" I groaned. The smacks felt harder than they ever did before. If this was only one pair, I didn't know how I was going to survive nine more. I had only ever received five, and just that much hurt plenty.

When it got to ten smacks, (5 pairs), my hands were red and raw. This was torture, and the worst thing was, if I moved my hands, I would get another pair of smacks.

When we were at 18, or nine pairs, I thought this would never end. Now my hands were bleeding, and every smack hurt more and more. The ruler struck, harder than it had ever hit me, even though this was the worst beating I'd ever received before. I nearly screamed with the effort of holding my hands where they were right now. I thought to myself, 'Just one more, please, just one more, do it, please.' Mrs. Yurintrubble seemed to know that I wanted her to finish it, because she held the ruler up, grinning. When it came down, I was aware of it, and time seemed to slow down. The ruler smacked, and this time, as soon as the ruler lifted a millimeter away, I yanked my hands back with a relieved sigh. Soon after, when Mrs. Payattenshin started class again, I paid attention.

When class was over, at 4:00pm, I rushed to my bed and sat down until it was time for dinner. During that time, Jadena and Kalen tried to get something to take away the pain, but it didn't do much. At 6:00 sharp, everybody was in the mess hall, getting ready for dinner. The nurse came over and saw my hands. She didn't ask any questions, but got right to work. When she put painkiller on them, the relief was cool and sweet.

Dinner consisted of fish in disgustingly green sauce, and five different vegetables like brussel sprouts, squishy, overripe tomatoes, raw lettuce in expired ranch, and…well, you get the idea. As for dessert, well…don't even get me started on the rotten fruit, plus the liquefied carrots that must have been from 100 years ago.

After dinner, Mistress Lissenup gave an announcement saying that tonight was the 100th anniversary of this orphanage, so we would not be chained to bed tonight. I was thinking, Hey, those carrots might really have been from 100 years ago. Then I realized that on the same night, four years ago, my sister Elizabelle escaped. Well, if she could escape, I can too.

I told Jadena and Kalen about what I was planning, and they thought about it for awhile. Immediately, Jadena said she was going with me. She was pretty, with a slight figure, orange-red hair, freckles, and sparkling emerald green eyes. I thought, 'It's no wonder she agreed so quickly. Mistress hates her, as well as me.' Kalen thought about it for awhile, and I was thinking that it's not that surprising, really, because Kalen was one of the popular kids, he was handsome, smart, funny, and a year older than Jadena and me. Mistress also liked him; hence, his last name was Redthorn. (The boys go from seed to thorn, because no boy wants their last name to be flower.)

Kalen said, "I don't know…what should I do?"

Alarmed, I said, "You can't seriously be thinking of staying, can you?"

A second later, he grinned. "Of course I'm not staying! I was just messing with you."

"Okay…it's time." I whispered. My plan was so absurd, Jadena was sure it was not going to work. Actually, even I was not sure it was going to work. What we needed to do first was dash across a heavily guarded hallway, with security cameras panning every spot. I found a piece of paper in Elizabelle's old bed, but it didn't make any sense, with these little black circles on a couple of parallel lines and red X's in between. "Ready, go!" I whispered as loudly as I dared to Jadena. She hopped gracefully to one spot. I held my breath, then let it out when the alarms didn't blare.

"Jadena, go to the next spot!" Kalen said in hushed tones. She nodded and hopped again. Kalen jumped, and landed, a bit more awkwardly, but the alarms still didn't go off. This time, Jadena seemed to know she needed to know where to hop and when, because she jumped. Kalen jumped to where she had been before. Now it was my turn. I gulped, thinking I would ruin it for everybody. Then I leaped. In that split second, I thought I jumped too far. Then I landed, light as a cat. 'Well, that's better than I expected.' I thought. Now it was Jadena's turn again. She jumped. After her next jump, she would have to make the really hard jump. It was at least 6 feet from the next spot to safety.

Kalen followed, and then I jumped again. Jadena went. Kalen jumped, and then I jumped. Now it was the hard jump. Jadena leaped as gracefully as a gazelle would, and I knew she would make it. She did.

Kalen went to where she was, and then I hopped to where he was. He bent down, and sprang up, just barely making it. Now it was my turn. I jumped to where Kalen was, and bent my legs, preparing for a jump, when-

"OW!" I shrieked, forgetting that we were supposed to be quiet. Suddenly I felt my arms pinned to my sides, and whoever was behind me tied my wrists together. I looked toward the end of the hallway, and saw that Jadena and Kalen were receiving similar treatment. I was about to call out for help, when a gag was tied around my mouth. I saw someone in black come toward me with an injection needle and a blindfold. I struggled and tried to scream, but the gag didn't let any sound come out, and the person behind me was too strong. All I could do was watch helplessly as I was injected with the needle, and the world slowly turned black as the blindfold was tied around my eyes.

A/N- I forgot to mention this, I just included the prologue cause it's really short.