This is my disclaimer since everyone seems to be doing it these days! This story was inspired by the Cirque Du Freak series, as well as the new Larten Crepsley series. (This was just started this October 2010.) I do not own Vancha or any of the other book characters my original character may come in contact with. This is also set before the Cirque Du Freak series.

Warning! This chapter contains some mature content so please proceed with caution and by all means stop reading if it offends you. Now without further ado, enjoy!

No sooner had her head hit the pillow then she heard the stairs creak. She inwardly groaned at the sound, it meant that Madame Houdina was coming upstairs to make sure all the girls were in their beds fast asleep. Victoria had just snuck back in and was still in her street clothes. She quickly kicked her shoes off and stashed them underneath her bed before slipping under the covers. She was able to squeeze her eyes shut as the door to the girls' space was swiftly open letting the light of the hallway flood in to the room. Victoria evened out her breathing to make it look as if she was asleep.

She prayed to whatever god would listen that Madame Houdina would leave promptly. After a few excruciatingly long minutes passed, Victoria heard the door shut with a soft thump and the light vanished. She did not let out her breath until she heard the stairs creak once again. She quietly let out her sigh. She did not dare to risk being caught getting out of bed after hours to change so she resigned to sleeping in her current clothes, as dirty as they were. The floorboards creaked so loudly that they could be heard throughout the downstairs.

The last time someone attempted getting out of bed after hours was responsible for all the girls having to do extra chores on top of getting a vicious beating. Normally the girls stayed in their little cliques and would only rat on someone outside their clique but everyone had been asleep last time it happened. And of course Victoria had been the culprit last time, and was not willingly to forgo another miserable month of being shunned by all the other girls. Despite no actual proof, they all blamed her since she was the loner at the orphanage. Even Roger, the loner of the boys' side would not go near her. She was in short, a freak.

The bell located at the top of the stairs rang signaling time to wake up. It was a horrible noise and could wake the dead! As the girls started to stir, knowing that they only had a few minutes to get dressed and present themselves at the breakfast table. Victoria was one of the last ones to stir and just as the rest of the girls were exiting the room to head downstairs; she sprang out of bed and threw her shoes on. She didn't have time to change and did not want the other girls seeing that she had not changed. If she got caught she would be whipped several times and made to carry the water buckets in by herself all day.

Being the last one to wash her face in the community basin located in a small room adjacent to theirs, Victoria shuddered. She hated having to use nothing but cold water; it did help wake her up however. She had to stop staying out so late at night! It was starting to catch up to her. Despite telling herself this over and over again in her head as she slowly descended the stairs, she could not just turn her back on her friend now could she? She had only one friend in this cruel world and his name was Jason.

She had meet Jason a few months ago at the beginning of the summer and they had become thick as thieves, quite literally in fact. She smirked at the thought of a small knife hidden in her pocket. They had made a commotion and Jason was able to steal a man's knife while Victoria was faking an injury. Jason was kind enough to give it to her, since he knew she was having trouble with some of the boys at the orphanage. He said it was a 'token of his appreciation' for all the times she was there for him.

Breakfast commenced as usual, all the girls at one table and the boys at another. Everyone ate what little stale bread and rotten porridge they were rationed. There were about twelve girls and nine boys at the orphanage. All of whom were abandoned or unloved. Hardly anyone got adopted from this horrid place which they called Allen's House. It sounded pleasant enough and looked appealing from the outside, but on the inside it was a hell hole which was kept clean by the children who resided in it.

It was Monday morning and the day commenced much like other days, lessons from the bible from Madame Houdina, lunch of more stale bread, various chores, and finally dinner of slightly rotten potatoes and what could be called gravy. After which the children had about an hour or so of free time if all their chores were completed on time. This left an opportunity for Victoria and she grasped it with both hands.

She was able to sneak off and show up a few minutes early in the dark alleyway near the orphanage where she normally met up with Jason. The sun was setting and she would catch hell if she wasn't back before the town clock struck eight. As it were, she had about an hour and a half until she had to race back. What she did not realize that she had been followed by Dean and Scott the two boys were around her age.

As she leaned back on the dirty brick wall she looked down at her attire, ripped jeans and a ratty black shirt with holes in it. Her shoes were black from dirt and had numerous holes in the bottom and leaked horribly. Her only redeeming attribute was her dark brown curly hair that reached her mid back. Granted at the moment it looked like a rat's nest. She glanced up at the lamp post at the end of the alleyway and her dark brown eyes shown like a creamy caramel chocolate. And that's when they grabbed her…

Dean was slightly bigger so he grabbed her arms and held them behind her back before she had time to react. She flipped her hair over her should in attempt to see who her attackers were and clenched her teeth when she saw Thomas standing in front of her with a smug look on her face. If only she could get to her knife in her pocket…Before she had a chance to formulate a plan Thomas struck her across the face so hard her head spun to the side. "What do you want?" She demanded after spitting a mouthful of blood out.

"Well would you look at her! I like 'em feisty!" Scott drawled as he began to unbutton his pants and let them slip down to his feet.

Victoria's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. Never in a million years would she have pegged these two losers to be rapists! Before she could get her feet steady he fingered a hole in the stomach of her shirt and ripped it open exposing her flat stomach which was slightly toned from all the sit ups she normally did in her spare time she was not with Jason.

"Ooo, I like what I'm see-" Was all Scott could get out before she thrust her right foot up and in to his groin area. His underwear was still on but offered him no protection. She thought for a split second she was free when Dean released her, but was she wrong; dead wrong.

No sooner had he let her loose than his fist connected with the side of her face that had already been backhanded. Victoria did not stand a chance and immediately dropped to her feet. One swift kick in the ribs when she was stirring made her stop and lay near to motionless. "Let's get this over with." Dean said in a low sadistic voice.

At this point Scott had recovered and was about to drop his underwear and mount her when a flash of what appeared to be metal hit him in his shoulder blade. He hollered in pain and whipped around to see what had hit him and who had thrown it. Dean kicked Victoria again in the ribs and looked down the opposite side of the alley, he spotted no one.

Before either of them could speak another object came hurtling at Dean this time and hit him square in the back as he turned to run back towards the orphanage. Although it hit him hard, it was not enough force to knock the brute off of his feet.

Noticing that Dean had abandoned him, Scott pulled his pants up quickly and reached back and slowly pulled out the object embedded in his shoulder. When he finally got it out he studied it and realized it was a shuriken that looked as if it were handmade…"What the - ?" was all he managed to get out before another hit the ground by his feet and bounced and hit the wall. That was all he needed before he was running back towards the orphanage forgetting all about Victoria and his previous intentions.

Unfortunately for Victoria, Jason did not show up and his token had not helped one bit. She cursed Jason in her head and the fact that his little 'token of appreciation' was of no use. Just before she blacked out, she saw a figure fall from the sky above her and what looked like a small blur of green hair.

If only she had known what that token really was, a blessing in disguise.

So what did you think? Please review and let me know! I know it's a tad short but it has been a long time since I attempted to write anything!