The Warlocks Daughter

By R.J. Adams

Having lived in an orphanage her entire life, Willow dreams of the future and moving on to something better. Surrounded by children she dreams of helping those just like herself, those without a home or parents to go to.

But Willow is not all she seems, with darkness constantly chasing her and the orphanage appearing to be falling into disrepair, Willow believes that the owner is to blame for her miserable life, her tatty clothes and the lack of food for all the children, but is the owner to blame?

As Willow's life takes a turn into something more dark, twisted and evil, will she be able resist that which seems so tempting, or will she give into something so dark and desirable that may just be the end of light and humanity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.J. Adams
• Release date: Nov 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370527595

R.J. Adams

'Live each day as if it was your last as only you can make your dreams come true.'

Book preview

The Warlocks Daughter

Copyright 2016 R.J. Adams - Smashwords Edition

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

One

Running through the woods I find myself being chased, chased by something I cannot see. I run until I can barely breathe, I need to stop I need to catch my breath, what is it that’s after me? Hiding behind a tree a take a peek around to see what is coming but I see nothing, just darkness. My heart is racing and my breathing is fast but shallow. It’s dark, too dark to see what is following me. The leaves rustle as the wind blows in the night air, the sounds of owls hooting echo through the trees and an eerie feeling drapes over me.

I get up and run as fast as I can but now I feel like I’m going nowhere, I see fire light in the distance, I try to scream for help but no words come out. I cannot see where I’m going, it’s too dark to see that I feel something clip my foot and I fall onto the floor. I’m scared, terrified as I turn and see a huge black figure coming towards me, it reaches out to touch me and I scream.

Willow wake up, something touches me, I feel like I am being shook, Willow, wake up. I jump and open my eyes, it’s still dark, why is it so dark? You were having a nightmare, the little voice whispers.

I bring myself around and look, it’s dark because it’s night time, another nightmare, another night disturbing my sleep, sorry Ruby, come on, let me put you back to bed. I take her around to her own bed, walking in the dark she clutches on to her tatty torn teddy and climbs in, you go back to sleep now okay, I smile tucking her in.

I always tend to wake her when I have a nightmare; she is always the one that comes to my bed to bring me out of my nightmare. She is such a sweet little girl, loving and full of life but stuck here, just like me.

I stumble back to my bed and fall on the single mattress that has become hard and lumpy, not surprising, I haven’t had a new bed in forever, and I don’t remember when I last had anything new.

I am the oldest girl still living at Doreen’s Orphanage for Girls. I have been here since as far back as I can remember; I don’t ever remember having a mother or a father, just always being here.

Children have come and gone over the years but never me, no-one ever wanted me. I guess I am a little stranger than the others; I used to apparently speak to someone that was never there every night before I went to sleep, but then again all children have imaginary friends right? However much of that I don’t recall and plus I arrived with a strange burnt kind of tattoo on my palm, what type of person tattoos or burns a child? The same question they once asked me but I do not know where or how I got it, I don’t remember much of anything as a child.

Sometimes I have dreams of a woman, she has long black hair and wears a dress as red as the colour blood but is surrounded by a lovely white light, she cradles me and sings to me but then she is gone. Then there are the nightmares, the nightmares I have had since I was child, it is always that I am being chased by something or someone, like as if I know that one day something is coming for me, I just wish I knew what it was.

I look around the bedroom and the girls are asleep and Ruby has nodded back off, I snuggle back down into my bed, I feel so sleepy but I don’t want another nightmare, what does it matter, I must get some sleep. I pull the blanket up over my eyes and close my eyes; slowly I drift back off to sleep.

Come on girls, it’s time to get up, a voice moans, don’t be thinking you can lie in bed all day, everyone up and to the breakfast hall in five minutes, the voice orders.

I blink my eyes open; the little ones are up and in a hurry to get dressed. Their basic dresses hang on one rail in the room as they scramble to find one that fits them.

And you missy, I feel a nudge, I roll over and see Doreen leaning over me with her goggle eyes, don’t think you can lie in bed, breakfast hall, five minutes, she rips the blanket off me and I feel a cold chill, it’s s cold in here. She dumps it at the end of my bed and leaves.

Willow, a soft voice calls from behind me, I turn and see little Ruby, I cannot do my dress up.

Its okay, come here I’ll help you, I turn her around and attempt to pull the zip up, it’s faulty and jammed but with a push I manage to get it to the top.

Sounds horrible living here, bed’s that are uncomfortable, clothes the children have to scramble for and the ones they manage to find that do fit them are broken or ripped. I don’t blame Doreen; she doesn’t get much help to run the orphanage like she should. The fact is the money is tight, I’m old enough to know this but the little ones, I see their upset faces and I know they hate living here and who can blame them. It has changed so much, just left to rot in the grubby condition it is in, like no-one cares about us anymore.

It’s cold and damp, the building is falling down practically and they barely have enough clothes to wear that fit them, I am much older and bigger and I sometimes borrow Doreen’s clothes, which isn’t always a comfortable thing to do but I have nothing else, I cannot grumble.

I remember my youngest days here, it was warm and cosy and Doreen was so loving and attentive. Not being able to have children of her own she opened the orphanage and invited those in who had nowhere else to go, those whose parents didn’t want them or those who simply had no parents at all.

I loved it here when I first came here, well from my earliest memory of here and it never used to bother me when new mums and dads would come and never picked me, I had Doreen and Henry to look after me.

The burnt tattoo on my palm put potential parents off; I have no idea why, I guess maybe they thought I was a trouble maker or would grow to be one. But it didn’t matter. I had the orphanage and that was all I needed.

But when Henry died suddenly, I assumed Doreen inherited his estate and his wealth which is what kept us going, but the money began to run out, well that’s how it seemed. I would have thought that charities were willing to help us but we get nothing, not even visitors anymore, everything has become strange, as if we are cut off from the world. I haven’t left the Orphanage either since Henry died, I went out once with him but then never again.

Doreen has changed too, she doesn’t hug the children anymore, she doesn’t kiss them goodnight and seems to have become a cold heartless person. I understand things are tight and very difficult but she was so loving, I don’t understand why she stopped being that way with us, especially me. She became that way when Henry died, I always believed she had a broken heart but surely she shouldn’t stop being the wonderful person I remember?

Are you coming Willow? Ruby mumbles with her thumb in her gob. She is extremely adorable.

Yes, I’ll be there now, you go ahead, I smile and kiss her on the forehead. Ruby is like the little sister I always wanted or imagined having if I was to ever have a family. I never got attached to kids here, they used to come and go so frequently I never had chance to, although no-one has come to collect any children in a really long time, I remember not long after Henry died, some people did come but I didn’t want to go, I didn’t want to leave Doreen, since then no-one has come back, they have just left us here.

But, Ruby and I became attached not long after she arrived here; I was so lonely I just wanted someone I could love like sister or someone who needed me, as the other children didn’t really bother much. With blonde curly hair and stunning brown eyes, she clung on to me the moment she arrived and I became attached to her. At five years old she sucks her thumb for comfort and carries around a torn up teddy that she arrived with. I have such a bond with her I have never formed with anyone else and from the scars on her back; it appears to me she didn’t have an easy start. It’s fuzzy to me when exactly she arrived, I just woke up one day and there she was but I’m glad she arrived otherwise I think my loneliness would have consumed me.

I force myself out of bed and quickly run over to the broken wardrobe that has the basic clothes in my size here. Children range from two to ten, me being seventeen I am the oldest one here.

I head to breakfast hall and the usual morning routine begins, all the girls run around screaming and playing whilst Doreen tries to control them. They all argue over what chair they want to sit on and then it’s down to me to step in, the only person they tend to listen to although rarely speak to me at any other time.

Once they are all seated, Doreen and I sit down at the table and the children still fuss and whisper as the old cook comes out to serve us the sloppy breakfast she has prepared. Margaret has been here with Doreen since the orphanage started and has lately started to lose her marbles a bit; she talks to herself in the kitchen and has random arguments with nobody but the air. The food she prepares has seriously declined but when there’s nothing else to eat, you grin and bear it so you don’t go hungry.

The children fall silent and all you hear is the sounds of the spoons hitting the bowls and the loud chewing that always irritates me. Doreen sits at the head of the table looking like she hasn’t slept all night, she always looks like that lately and her appearance seems to be completely altered. Her hair is un-brushed, her teeth are yellowing and her clothes are barely washed, she used to be so pristine but now, she looks like the back end of a donkey some would say.

I see her staring at me out of the corner of my eye; she always makes sure I am sat next to her and not the smaller children who sit two chairs down as to not be as close to her.

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