18 Years Later - Present Day

***

SAM’S POV

“EVERYONE UP!” 

My eyes opened abruptly, quickly turning into a squint from the warm sunlight that poured into my room through the singular window. 

“ESPECIALLY YOU SAM, YOU HAVE TO GET TO THE CAPITAL EARLY TODAY” called the Director. 

I let out a breath and pulled the duvet above my head. 

“Five more minutes,” I muffled through the fabric. 

“SAM. UP. NOW.” 

I let out a groan and rolled the duvet off myself. 

“I’m sure a lie-in isn’t too much to ask for on someone’s birthday,” I mumbled in a croaky voice, sitting up on the side of my bed. I buried my face in my hands and ran my fingers through my floppy red hair.

I glanced over to my side table where my necklace lay sprawled out. Its pendant an iridescent metal amalgamation of geometric shapes that interlocked together glimmering in the rays of light. The Director had told me that when she found me on the doorsteps of the orphanage it hung around my neck. 

There was no note or word from the people that left me. Just a necklace.

Also, since the Director did not know when I was born that became my ‘birthday.’ 

I reached over for the necklace, feeling its smooth texture on the tips of my fingers. I brought the necklace close to inspect it. Releasing my grip around the pendant, I let it gently roll into my palm. I stared at it, becoming entranced by its aura. 

How could this ever help me know about my past? 

I’m just not sure where to start.

“SAM, YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE, OR I’M SENDING YOU AWAY TO THE LUMBERJACKS!” 

I snapped out of my trance and sprung up from my bent-over position on my bed placing the necklace around my neck and threw on my clothes. They consisted of dark grey cargos that hung loosely around my legs, a simple maroon long-sleeved shirt, and a hooded darker maroon hoodie that had its sleeves cut at my biceps.

I rushed over to my sink and ran the tap to splash some icy water onto my face. It ran down my skin until it was absorbed by the material of the hoodie around the base of my neck. I looked up at the cracked mirror fixed above the sink.

My eyes were filled a purplish-black and an essence of matching hue smoked out the sides of them glowing a mauve tint onto my face. 

“AH!” I shouted, jumping back tripping over an uneven floorboard, my shoulders landing on the side of the frame of my bed. My legs scrambled on the floor pressing my back against the bed frame.

I let out brief staggered exhales of air before coming to my senses. I gingerly got up, looking towards the mirror again. However, I was met with my normal eyes and face. Edging closer towards my reflection I extended my neck allowing myself to see my face with detail. I contorted it with my hands and prodded my cheeks to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Was I seeing things?

A pandemonium of footsteps suddenly flooded my ears, and I turned my head towards my bedroom door where the sounds had projected from; the other kids were making their way to the dining hall.

“Crap I need to hurry, or the Director will kill me,” I said, crossing my room towards the exit. Whilst the Director and I did see eye to eye the whole time she was like a mother figure to me, even though I never told her directly.

She was there when no one else was.

I twisted the doorknob and swung the door open, I stepped out and shut it behind me. Dorm rooms of the other children were all located on walkways that lined a big hall that extended multiple stories up. This meant the kids could see across the gap to the other rooms above, below, and on the same level over the railing. A benefit of being on the top level is the leaky roof which I had grown to endure over the years.

“-Move Sam!” 

“-Mind out!” 

 “-Outta the way!” 

A barrage of running children knocked into me pushing me back against the wall. 

“Kids,” I muttered under my breath with a hint of sting in my voice. “I guess these are the benefits of being the oldest now.”

 I started to stride down the walkway towards the spiral stairs that were located at each corner of the hall. My strides grew into a sprint; the bannister of the spiral steps moving ever closer. Another benefit of having your room on the top floor is that there is a fun way to wake up in the morning.

 As I approached the spiral stairs, I saw the kids that had run past me a few flights below.

I reached the bannister and pushed off it with my hands lifting my feet and legs over the wood. I looked at the orphan's faces in awe as I fell by them towards the ground below. The concentric circles of the staircase twisted like an optical illusion as I free-fell. The floor grew closer, and I turned, flying headfirst with my arm held out.

 Any other untrained person wouldn’t survive the drop.

 The palm of my hand seemed to melt into the air as it got to the cobblestone floor. I corkscrewed around, landing in a forward roll allowing me up onto my feet. The motions of this phenomenon of mine had come to me naturally after falling over the railing one morning – not my proudest moment.

 I galloped down the corridor. Sunlight barely reached this corner of the building due to its ancient architecture – the constructors definitely didn’t design it thinking about the owner’s comfort. Maybe that’s why it was abandoned by its original occupants or so I’m told. The only source of light was the oil lamps that lit up the walls. They allowed anyone to see the cracked stone that made up the interior décor with scattered cobwebs being their only companions.

I took a left at the end of the hallway and saw sunlight in the distance – from the window of the dining hall.

If I am quick, I could get breakfast. 

I cracked a smile and galloped towards the hall.

“FOOOD” I bellowed, my voice echoing around me. The sunlight getting brighter, filling my eyes. I could smell it.

“SAM IF YOU STEP IN THAT DINING HALL, I WILL REMOVE YOU MYSELF!”  

I stopped dead, steps away from the door frame of the hall.

My head dropped down and my eyes locked to the floor as I trudged past the breakfast hall. I felt the silence of all the children in there as they all stopped what they were doing to look at me pass by. 

Yeah, enjoy your food you little p-, I thought.

 I took another left where the corridor widened and became a ‘T’ with a third path to the right, which lead to the main entrance of the orphanage building. On my left was the Director's office.

I stopped in front of it and took a deep breath.