Beautiful Creatures Series

Chapter 1: WILD & UNTAMED / PROLOGUE PART 1

Seattle Washington…

Aurora fell to the floor of the Our Lady of Peace Orphanage. The other girls had been picking on her since she arrived at the orphanage days ago. She had been transferred from the St. Gustafson’s Orphanage because she was a problem child. Aurora was only five, but she had been in ten orphanages since the day she was born. Like many of the other orphans, she had no idea what had happened to her parents. All she knew was she didn’t have any. Kids were cruel and not very accepting of new arrivals.

These girls had taken Aurora’s stuffed teddy by force. That cotton-filled bear was the only thing Aurora owned. She took it everywhere with her since the day she was born. It was the only thing she had that gave her any comfort. The older girl had snatched it out of her hands and shoved Aurora to the floor when she tried to take it back.

Aurora picked herself up off the floor and squared off against the older girls. “Give me back my bear,” she demanded.

“Or what?” Hissed Nancy, the nine-year-old that held Aurora’s bear.

“Give it back,” Aurora yelled.

“Only babies have stuffed animals,” Nancy laughed. “You’re a baby.”

“Give me back, my bear,” Aurora snarled.

“No,” Aurora watched as Nancy walked over to the fireplace in the parlour room they were standing in and threw the teddy bear into the flames. The stuffed animal went up in flames instantly. Aurora rushed to the fireplace and grabbed the poker. She tried to rescue her bear, but it was a waste of time. By the time she got it out of the fire and put the flames out, the bear was destroyed.

Aurora stared down at her only possession, and she could hear the girls behind her laughing. Her anger built until Aurora could not contain her rage. As she tried to steady her breathing, Aurora’s amber eyes began to glow like lanterns in the dark. Her fingers flexed, and her nails became razor-sharp claws. Her canine teeth descended, becoming fangs, and her face twisted into something monstrous. Aurora turned and fixed Nancy in her sights. Then she let out an animalistic growl that could make the blood run cold.

The other girls in the room screamed at the sight of her, and the nuns came running into the room just in time to see Aurora rush Nancy and knock her to the floor. Sitting on top of Nancy, Aurora pinned the larger girl beneath her and began to hit and scratch her, leaving tears in the front of her clothes and in her skin. Nancy screamed, lifting her arms, trying to defend herself from the monster Aurora had become.

Suddenly out of nowhere, one of the nuns blindsided Aurora hard with a broom knocking her off Nancy and onto the floor. As Aurora picked herself up, the three nuns in the room were protecting the other children and holding their crosses out in front of them, reciting a prayer to ward off the devil.

Aurora took a deep breath, trying to relax. She slowly changed back. Her claws became hands, and her face was that of a child again. Had they not witnessed the change in her themselves, one would never have believed Aurora was a monster just seconds ago. Frightened, Aurora took a few cautious steps back. She didn’t understand what had happened. She had never done that before, at least not that she could remember. What had happened? Aurora was just as scared as everyone else in the room.

***

One week later…

Aurora had been moved to a small private room and quarantined. None of the other kids wanted to room with her. She had been locked into the room, and her meals were brought to her so that she did not interact with the other children.

That night Sister Mary Alice came for her with two other nuns. They insisted Aurora follow them. They circled her so she couldn’t wander off. As they walked down the halls, the other children gathered in the doorways of their rooms and watched as Aurora was escorted away. Aurora was getting a very bad feeling.

The nuns took Aurora to the basement of the orphanage. The basement was scary. The walls were white cinderblocks with a concrete floor. There were no windows, and the dim lights did little to alleviate the foreboding feeling of their surroundings. Sister Mary Alice pushed open a wooden door that creaked as she opened it. They all went inside, and Aurora noticed there was a bed with an iron bed frame in the middle of the small, dark, windowless room.

There were two Priests and three more nuns in the room. Father Thomas was in his formal robes, and he held an old leather-bound bible in his hands. At the same time, his younger partner Father John held a long length of rope in his hands. Aurora turned to see Sister Mary Alice shut and deadbolt the door to lock them in.

Aurora was getting a very bad feeling, and she was honest; she was scared. “Put the child on the bed,” Father Thomas ordered. Aurora panicked as the nuns lifted Aurora off her feet and placed her on the bed. They held her down as she struggled while Father John tied Aurora down to the bed, so she was restrained and couldn’t move. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

When she could no longer move, the nuns stepped back, and Father Thomas stood at the foot of the bed and threw holy water at her face. Then he opened his bible and made the sign of the cross as he started to speak in Latin. Aurora looked around to see all six nuns on their knees, their rosaries in their

folded hands as they bowed their heads a prayed. Fear filled Aurora as she realized what was going on… this was an exorcism.