Right, so I finally decided to start publishing my book-project in a blog. This is part of the first chapter I've written (not done yet) which I will update as I go along. Have fun reading it:

Endoraia

- Chapter I -

The Orphanage

'Jaiden, wake up! Breakfast is in ten minutes,' a distant voice echoed, from what seemed like miles away. The curtain in his window was forced to one side, as sunlight penetrated the small room. Hardly noticing Jaiden rolled to the other side and pulled the blanket over his head to shield himself.
'I said wake up, damn it!' the voice now snarled angrily as he received a sharp blow to the top of the head.
'All right, allright! I'm up! You happy?!' Jaiden replied angrily as he sat up in bed, 'How is anyone supposed to be able to sleep when you're making all this racket, Dom?'
'Well -,' Dominic replied with the flicker of a smile playing across his face, '- you're not supposed to, that's the general idea! It's already nine and you're running late for your meeting today!'
Scowling, Jaiden's face darkened as he started to realize what day it was. He eyed the chair to the right side of his bed, hesitantly, but sure enough, there lay the old ragged suit he was supposed to wear for today's interview. He threw his legs out of the bed and onto the cold tiles, barely suppressing a shudder, as he looked around his small room.
It was not very big, about ten by six feet and very simple in its design and content. The wooden walls were painted in a dark marine blue and the ceiling was white. Notable objects in the room were scarce, containing a bedside table with a small lamp upon it, a two-foot cupboard for his clothes, his body sized mirror, a small heater and a sink for washing.
Getting up, slowly, he walked to the sink and turned on the hot water. It felt warm and soothing to the touch, as he formed a bowl with his hands and splashed it across his face. Slightly refreshed, now wiping his face with a towel, he turned to face Dominic.
'Do I really have to?' he asked, with a note of plea in his voice.
Dominic smiled more warmly, as he noticed the tone in which Jaiden spoke. 'Yes, you have to. You know that. You all do. Even, if you don't want to. You should be happy that this might finally be the day!'
Fat chance, Jaiden thought as he stood up to put on his suit, No one ever picks me. It's been like this for the last fourteen years, so why would it change today? It's not like I even want it to. Looking into his body sized mirror, he started buttoning his white shirt, finding solace in his negative chain of thought.
'I know what you're thinking,' Dominic suddenly uttered, the smile on his face gone and a look of disapproval replacing it. 'That no one is going to choose you, right? It's like this with you every time Jaiden! You need to be on your best behaviour and don't think like that. You know you can't stay here forever.'
Eyeing Dominic's reflection in the mirror, Jaiden's spirits plummeted. He knew, as he had for the past four years, that he would eventually have to leave. But this was still the only home he had ever known. After his birth, his parents had suddenly disappeared leaving him alone to fend for himself at five weeks old. Had it not been for a neighbour complaining over the constant crying, to the police, no one would probably ever have found him. He would have died. But, alas, this was not his fate. The leading officer had dropped him off at his would-be home, where he had now lived these past fourteen years.
They had taken him in, fed him and cared for him. Or at least, as much as they could, considering he was not the only child in the mansion. For the first decade of his time there, Jaiden had had a proper upbringing with all that followed. He had laughed, played games, learned, cried and fought with the other children, that is, until the vast majority of them at some point, were taken away. During some instances though, starting at ten years old, Jaiden had realized that he was different from the other children. Before this realization though, he had speculated and asked questions. When was it his turn? Why had no one picked him yet? Questions the faculty were reluctant to answer. In time, after certain events, Jaiden concluded that he would probably never be chosen. Not like this.
Discarding these thoughts, smiling ironically at himself, now flattening his hair, Jaiden thought back on the most prominent of such occasions;

'There he is! Get him!' A boy's voice roared from across the courtyard to the tree, under which Jaiden was sitting.
Composed of a big square lawn, having a fountain surrounded by benches in the middle, and small tiled paths across the grass, the courtyard provided the perfect place to relax in the summer. Situated behind the mansion, with a path on either side of it, leading towards the entrance and a hedge running along the outer walls, this beautiful location helped to deflect from the fact that the grounds were surrounded by a ten-foot metal fence. In the south-eastern corner stood the giant oak which had provided Jaiden with a place to sit in the summer, for as long as he had been able to read. He was ploughing through a book about the ancient animals, Dinosaurs, which had once inhabited the planet. How they fascinated him, these big reptilian creatures. Diverting his attention from his book, curious as to what all the ruckus was about, Jaiden looked up. He then realized that this boy, whom he identified as Simon, was pointing at him and that four other children were heading his way, hefting small rocks and wearing disconcerting smiles upon their faces. A shock of immediate horror went through Jaiden.
Simon was two years older than him and fairly big for his own age. He had a stone cold face and an air of sadness about him. When he or none of his friends were around, the other children usually referred to him as a depressed gorilla, because of his broad shoulders and long arms. All monkey resemblance aside though; he was tall, big and strong. Jaiden had seen him lift up a boy by the throat, with one hand, only to throw him two feet into the air. Things had changed since he had come to the Orphanage. No one played outside anymore.
But why's he pointing at me? he thought to himself as he stood up and closed his book. Ransacking his brains for any offence he might have caused, he paused to look down at his own scrawny body and tallness. Not exactly much of a threat.
He knew that Simon and his five goons, 'The Rats', some of which were just as bad as their leader, usually only beat up the ones trespassing on their so-called territory or annoyed them. They were unusually cruel to these victims. Thus, with no desire to stand there waiting to find out the cause of a possible beating, Jaiden dropped his book and darted across the courtyard.
'Stop or we'll shoot!' one of the boys yelled at Jaiden, as he ran.
Yeah right - thought Jaiden as he looked over his shoulder to see them aiming at him while running, - Like you weren't going to fire them at me no matter what I did. Running straight ahead, taking the path around the house, farthest from the gang, Jaiden would try to reach the safety of the insides. He turned left around the corner of the big mansion's outer wall, as he heard stones impact where he had been moments before. Feeling slightly out of breath, he caught sight of the front entrance to the mansion. Having only one entrance or exit was not exactly beneficial in this particular situation. Though, as he got closer, Jaiden slowed, feeling the elation of safety course through his body.
I might not be much of a fighter, but at least I'm fa-.
Jaiden's knees impacted with the ground just before his stomach hit the surface and the forward momentum forced his face downward.
What the hell? he thought, as the smell of freshly mown grass and dirt reached his nostrils. Trying to stand up again, recovering from the momentary shock, Jaiden felt a sharp pain rise in his left leg. Out of breath and struggling to get up he used his arms as support on the ground, finally managing to stand as he tried to locate the source of his abrupt fall. With a slight limp he turned around, only to find the sixth member of Simon's gang, Paul, facing him with a sluggish grin playing across his round face. Jaiden's attention was diverted to the stick in his right hand.
So he hit me in the hollow of my knee.
Just standing there, looking at Jaiden, Paul finally opened his mouth, pointed to his left and said, 'Hah! I got you good there, didn't I? We thought you might run, so I hid in the hedge there, waiting for you to run by!'
'Good plan,' Jaiden answered in mock admiration.
'The others are coming now.'
'I can't wait.'
As panic started to take over Jaiden's mind, the five other Rats came hurrying towards the two. What was he going to do? The gang placed themselves in a circle with Jaiden and Simon in the middle.
'You, hah, shouldn't have, hah, run from us!' Simon panted violently, his brows furrowed and his face contorted with rage '- now you're gonna get it!'
'What have I done?' Asked Jaiden as his voice cracked, making him realize how fearful he sounded.
'What makes you think you've done anything?'
'If I haven't done anything, then why've you chased me all the way round the house? What do you want?'
Simon took a step towards Jaiden as he raised a fist to chest level, 'I wanna kick your ass.'
Looking up at the giant before him, Jaiden had never felt so scared in his entire life. Slowly a terrifying thought formed in his head;
I'm going to die... I'm going to die... I'm going to die!
He felt it through his entire body. The fear engulfed him like a, hungry python tightening its grip. He was shaking and his fingers were tingling because of this, and the adrenaline being released into his system. Jaiden thought of the other kids Simon had beaten two weeks ago. Albert had spotted a black eye and bended rib, whilst James had shown up at the nurses' office with a broken nose and a big wound over his eyebrow - four stitches. When asked what had happened, Jaiden knew the two boys had said that they had fought each other instead of explaining about Simon. That's how scared they were.
With his mind lingering on those two, Jaiden came to the realization that he was not going to die. He was just going to get beaten up. Not that that was a much more satisfying outcome. Gathering the rest of his remaining, but rapidly weakening, courage he managed to ask another question;
'But if I haven't done anything, why do want to beat me up?'
At this question the Rats actually started laughing. So hard, that they had trouble stopping again. Finally as the laughter turned into chuckles, Simon answered him.
'Because you're a freak.'
There was no mistaking the tone in his voice as he uttered these words. It was a mixture of hate and loathing. The look in Simon's eyes had changed as well. It was no longer anger that dominated his features. It was a leering in his eyes and a taunting smile, more threatening than a look of rage.
The words struck Jaiden like a bullet, making him recoil a step backwards. The circle tightened around him.
'I'm not a freak,' said Jaiden, uncertainty and astonishment creeping into his voice. 'Why'd you say that? I'm just like you.'
'You're nothing like us!' Simon replied through gritted teeth. 'You don't see any of us, walking around looking like that!'
'Like what?'
'Like that, you idiot!' said Simon as he pointed towards Jaiden. 'Why do you think you're still in this place, huh? Nobody wants to adopt an ugly freak like you! Haven't you realized that yet? You've been here for ten years now haven't you? What were you expecting to happen to you? Most of us are taken away within half a year. But not you, you're still here. Aren't you? Freak.' The gang started laughing again.
It took Jaiden several seconds to process what Simon just said. He had never thought about that before, but now that it was mentioned he recognized the truth in the words. He was not like the other children. Why had he never thought about that? He had always been different. Something, now that he thought about it, which was always apparent when playing with the other kids. They distanced themselves from him. A sort of fear of the unknown, marked by Jaiden's appearance. When they were not playing, the other boys rarely even talked to him in the first place. In cla s s he always worked alone. The faculty were quick to dismiss him too. They probably thought of him as a freak as well.
While these thoughts passed through Jaiden's mind, the laughter around him stopped.
'What's with the silence, freak? Did it just dawn on you how right I am?'
'Don't call me a freak,' muttered Jaiden, looking down into the ground, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists. anger replacing fear, aided and worsened by the sudden realization of truth in Simon's words.

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