Running Towards a New Life (Need MALE Characters)

[NotAllThatCreative]

It was the first day of fall, and school, and Agnes was up trying to get some of the younger schoolkids up to get ready for school. It was quite chilly out so she got their coats and scarves ready before starting to make something warm for breakfast. The older teenagers always got the job of cooking and cleaning while the younger children had to make the beds and pick up what little toys they had. It was a madhouse when it was cleaning time. Everyone was everywhere and getting into each other's way.

Once she finished breakfast, she called out for the younger kids and started to make the plates, walking over to set them on the table. "Come on! You need to eat so you can brush your teeth and be off!"

 

[TheStoryOfMyLife]

Annabel got dressed in a hurry, running all over and pulling on a shirt and pants before sliding a pair of socks on. She ran down the stairs and imitatively went to the table, seeing one of the older girls start to set out plates. "Here," She offered, taking the plates from the girl's hands, "you put the food on them and I'll set them on the table."

 

[Captain Wumbo]

Lewis stumbled down the steps, struggling to get a shirt on. He had been awoken by the sounds of pounding feet, and yelling. He had hopped to find a little bit more sleep but he had work to do. Lewis stepped into the kitchen and noticed 2 of the older girls setting up the table for breakfast. Lewis simply smiled, he liked hectic mornings, he walked past them and opened the Ice box. He found himself a cup and grabbed the milk out, he poured himself a full cup, placed the milk back in the box and started out of the kitchen, as he walked past Agnes and quickly flicked her arm. Lewis walked away casually and found himself a seat at the kitchen entrance and took a long swig of his milk. "I love mornings." he said to himself quietly as he watched everyone rush around.

 

[Ythania]

Naturally, Mabel was already awake.

She woke up before dawn, in the murky darkness of the early hours. Her thin, lithe figure made it easy enough to slip out of bed quietly; besides, the other kids were used to her early wake-ups by now. She always seemed to get up before it was 'time', so to speak, in order to get some things done.

For example, this morning she took in the milk and gave the bathrooms a good scrubbing before Agnes had risen and started to coax other children downstairs into the dining room. Mabel never said a word of greeting to the children as she strode past them, bucket and mop in hand, completely and utterly ignoring their presence as she made her way down the stairs into the kitchen.

Mabel stood out like a sore thumb in the kitchens. Despite not being one of the oldest children present, she was certainly the tallest and her demeanour meant she could easily pass off as someone in her early twenties. There was always something defiant and hostile about the way she carried herself, her sharp elbows and visible cheekbones giving the younger tots a bit of a scowl as they ran around her legs to reach the dining room.

The breakfast today would have had to been scrambled eggs and toast. They simply didn't have the materials for much else these days...Mabel got to work cracking eggs into a bowl, as Agnes descended downstairs and entered the kitchen. Mabel said nothing but slid the bowl towards Agnes to work with as she took out the milk from the ice box and added a splash into their mixture, popping the bottle back into the ice box moments before Lewis took it up again and poured himself a glass. That deserved a glare from Mabel; surely he knew that was meant to go around for everyone?

Annabel appeared in the doorway, offering to take the plates from Agnes and set them out. Quick as a whip, Mabel turned on the stove with a spluttering smell of gas, and a match. She stared at the blue flames for a moment or two, her fingers reached up and touching the gold collar around her neck...this was a common occurrence for her. Something to do with the flames.

Confident that the other kids could cook a bowlful of mixed eggs, Mabel departed from the kitchen and disappeared up the stairs once more. She brushed her teeth and fussed with her hair desperately, staring at herself in the grimy, cracked mirror. She had a pallid tone and her expression was mournful as she ran a finger across her nose idly, her thoughts drifting a little. Exasperated at the failure of her prettying, Mabel got dressed into something a little warmer and more practical than a dark dressing gown and made her bed.

After Mabel tied her shoelaces and checked her schoolbag, she lay down on the bed. It was a simple rule - Mabel always avoided eating meals with others. Of course this leads to some complication, as she always ate last, it meant that her food was usually cold and not entirely plentiful. There was also a high risk of her skipping on breakfast entirely, should they be late for school. If someone didn't actually deliver a meal to her and make sure she ate it, there's always that question floating in the air of whether or not she's taken anything today.

 

[Mits]

Isaac was still trying to bleed his night's sleep dry. He had his blanket on, and his coat thrown over his head. For a tall kid, he somehow managed to conceal all of himself under a small throw. Iris slept in her clothes. It was her little way of finding a shortcut to getting through the early mornings. Despite looking like a ragamuffin, she was 'Ready' to start the day. She only had to slip her heavy boots on before going downstairs, clunking her shoes in a most unladylike fashion.
She was outside the kitchen, watching as many other kids started swarming Agnes like a bunch of hornets. She and Isaac usually did the dishes once the other kids were done. Since they were some of the taller kids, reaching up into the cabinets to put the plates away was no problem for them. If only Isaac would haul his two-and-a-half-pound rear end downstairs before the children wrecked the kitchen in all the commotion.
Iris usually had a stash of her own food, hidden in the deep pockets of her overcoat. She pulled a whole lemon from her pocket, and bit into it. Peel and all. She didn't like to dirty any plates, because in the end, she'd have to wash them. She heard the sound of dragging feet from behind her, and held her Lemon hand up. "Breakfast?" She said, still with a mouthful of lemon. She didn't have to look back to know it was Isaac, considering he was the only one in the house who dragged his feet and smelled like cat-fur from hanging around too many strays.
Isaac took the lemon, looking at the large bite mark. "You don't have any other fruit stashed in that raggedy coat of yours?" He said with a disdained tone.
Iris stuck her hand in her pocket, digging around as she chewed the chunk of lemon. "I have a couple of raisins." She shrugged, pulling the raisins out, and examining them in the light. As she stared at them, Isaac peered over his sister's shoulder, concerned by her silence. "Are you sure they're raisins?" Isaac asked, raising his eyebrows. Iris then jutted her hand in Isaac's face, making the 'raisins' teeter dangerously on the edge of her palm.
"Wanna find out for yourself?"
"God, no!" He pushed her hand away. Even if they were actually raisins, god only knew how old they were. "Why don't you go like, actually eat the fresh food prepared? It wont kill you." He shuddered. "The food you keep in those nasty pockets would probably kill you first."
"Only if you wanna do more dishes." Iris stuck her tongue out at him.
Grumbling in defeat, Isaac bit deep into the lemon. The two stood and shared Iris's little stash, waiting for the younger kids to finish eating.
"And if I died, I'd get to see grandma. Maybe even mom and dad." She put her hand in her pocket. Her thumb was stroking a cool shaft of metal. Isaac looked down with a sigh. He couldn't keep a sad face forever though. He laughed quietly, still looking down.
"Yeah, but Granny'd probably whoop you for leaving me all alone here."
"Granny'd never whoop me. If anything, she'd whoop you for being late. As always anyway." She said, taking out the metal object from her pocket. It was a key. "We still have the key to grandma's house."
"What do you expect us to do about it? Survive on your pocket stash and walk to grandma's house?" Isaac crossed his arms. It was already fall, which meant it was going to get far too cold to even think about it. But If they didn't find a job, or a house of their own, they'd be out in the cold regardless. They were both already 17, and 18 was just around the corner.
"Maybe if more kids came with us, we'd have more people to stash food, and clothes." She shrugged. "Grandma's house is better than this place. I'm not saying we should run immediately, that'd do us no good since winter is coming. "
"I am not parading a bunch of munchkins through the woods. If a pack of wolves show's up, they're toast." Isaac swiped his finger across his neck. "They have shelter, and if they're smart enough, they'll run when it's their turn. If they're stupid, that's not my problem."
Iris scoffed, annoyed with her brother. "What if one of them follows us?" She put her hands on her hips.
"Then they'd better know how to survive." Isaac said simply.
Iris went quiet. She didn't wan't to get to deep in this discussion, it wasn't even clear that it was going to happen soon anyway, so she didn't see the point in arguing with Mr.Nitpicker any longer. "I'm just saying, if we run, it's inevitable that someone is going to follow us. There's no getting around it, so get used to the idea of parading a bunch of munchkins through the woods."
Iris had a point. This place was full of kids, and someone probably heard them. Not to mention, it'd be nearly impossible to get out of the place without alerting someone.
Isaac walked away from his sister, and into the kitchen. He could practically dodge the small kids that whizzed around carelessly. He found himself his seat at the table, wanting to sit down. He glanced around at the other Teenagers in the room. Surveying them with the thought of these kids tagging along on the trip to grandma's house.
There was Agnes, handling the plates, and setting the table. She wasn't much at first glance, but Isaac was around long enough to catch her in the act of demonstrating her combat skills. She was probably going to be a valuable asset. She knew how to camp, apparently. A glint of gold caught his eye, and he looked at the locket between her breasts. Could she be convinced to give it up in a pinch? No, she was already suffering the loss of her sister. But maybe with the influence of the younger kids, she could be persuaded.
Then there were the other two, Lewis and Annabel. He didn't know what they had to offer, but they were a handy bunch, given a chance. But Chances weren't enough, and so far, Agnes was looking to be a promising member of this half-baked escape idea. Her skills, and her gold. He couldn't take his eyes off the locket, knowing that getting her to give that sucker up would be about as impossible as this trip all together.
Mabel was pretty vague. Sure, she was tall, and her demeanor alone was enough to make someone fear her for no real reason, but she was aloof. She skipped breakfast often, which Isaac could hardly complain about, less dishes for him and Iris anyway. His mind wandered back to Agnes, and so did his eyes. Agnes's hair was interesting to him. After being used to having such dark hair all the time, Agnes's fiery colored hair intrigued him. Sure, there were blondes in this orphanage, but he liked red hair.
Iris noticed Mabel leaving the kitchen, and that was her queue to find something to bring up for the girl. Reaching into her pockets to see if she had anything fresh the girl could have, she pulled out an orange. She stashed things like Lemons, oranges, and Apples in her pockets. Since she ate them quickly, she didn't have to worry about them making a mess or going bad. The orange was supposed to be a snack for school, but Mabel would need it more than she did anyway.
She approached Mabel, holding out the orange to her. "Snack?" She offered. Her gloved hands dwarfed the orange a little. It was one of the joy's of being tall. Iris wasn't happy to have big, boyish hands, or be mistaken for her twin brother all the time, but it didn't upset her as much as she was told it would. After all, Isaac had to deal with being called girly.

 

[Captain Wumbo]

Lewis smiled as he watched more and more people walk in and out of the kitchen. He knew some of them, but he choose not to talk to them. He noticed the two tall siblings walk into the kitchen. They had always made Lewis fell uncomfortable, he had no idea why, he did not k of to much about them and he was already judging them.

Lewis shook his head and got up to put his now finished glass of milk back. As he walked past Mabel he deliberately gave her a piercing glare that matched her earlier one. He walked up to the sink and quickly washed the cup, he made sure to use a small about of water and soap, wastefulness was something that was looked down upon in his family. Lewis placed the cup back inside the pantry and whistled as he walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer.

Lewis took a seat on one of the old desks, and took a piece of paper out of his pocket. On the paper was scribbles of notes and drawings. This was Lewis's extraordinary escape plan paper. It had all his ideas all written down and categorized. He was planning to leave in about a week, he had planned on take some of the other kids but he he was not sure that he could take car of them, so he as gonna go it alone for know. His plan was simple, steal money from the head masters drawer, then steal the key to the door from the headmasters room, then grab some food, and be on his way. Unfortunately, his plan was not full proof, he risked the chance of being caught, and he did not want that. He knew that his plan was extremely selfish, steal money, steal food, but he was not going to stay here anymore. Watching other children get smacked and being emotionally or physically scared was not and environment he wished to be in. Lewis made a few more notes with his pencil and took a look at his cracked watch. He had a little bit more time before he had to leave, he would walk the kids to school then he would leave for work.

 

[WhoopDau]

Fülöp awoke around the same time as Agnes and went downstairs once he had done his morning routine. And as usual, he saw Mabel leave after preparing breakfast for the rest of them. He was almost always worried about her because she disliked eating with the rest of them. But he also understood that sometimes people were just anti-social. He discarded the idea of confronting her about it, but he will help clean. Greeting the kids good morning before picking up a rag, sponge, detergent, and a pail.

He filled the pail with warm water, and then poured a small amount of detergent into it. He put the detergent away once he was done pouring, then headed to the living room. He cleaned each window with the sponge, always starting on the top-left and swiping down. Using the dry rag to take out the excess water. He once he finished, he took another dry rag and wipe them down a second time.

 

[TheStoryOfMyLife]

After she helped with the younger kids, Annabel grabbed a plate of her own and joined the teenagers for breakfast. She watched as everyone slowly came in the room and grabbed their own plates. As she finished up her food Lewis walked in and washed out the cup he had used for his milk. Annabel washed off her plate as soon as he was done using the sink and followed behind him to where he sat down. While he was distracted with his paper, she used a swift hand and whacked him on the back of the head. "That's what you get for taking some milk. We're supposed ration it out, not just take it when we want." she scolded the older boy with her arms crossed.

Her expression quickly went from angry to interested when she saw his paper, "Ooo, is that an escape plan?"

 

[Captain Wumbo]

Lewis twirled the pencil with his fingers as he thought about his plan. He had planned to leave at night, but that was a dangerous time, he could have just walked out the front door, who was going to stop him. Lewis shook his head, that was not a possibility, kids could have decided to follow him also, and he did not want that. Lewis racked his brain thinking of things he should take with him, could he really just take the food and money needed to support this place. It was not like he was taking everyone with him, he could take some water and so scraps of food, just enough to to last him long enough to find another shelter.

Lewis sigh exasperatedly and was about to put his paper away when he he felt a hand smack into the pack of his head. Lewis's leaned forward a bit from the force of the hit. "OW!" Lewis yelled angrily as he looked up at a young girl. He had not heard her sneak up behind him. The girl then mentioned his escape paper, Lewis's eyes widened and he stuffed the paper in his pocket. "You need to mind your own business, don't you have work to do or something." He said scratching the back of his head nervously. He could not trust her, he was not sure that she would not tell the head master about it. "How much did you see." He said quietly standing up and looking her in the eyes.

 

[TheStoryOfMyLife]

"Enough to know that it was an escape plan." she answered quietly. "I would tell, but what fun would that be?" she smiled, "I want in. I already have some money saved up, and I know where the headmaster keeps his rum, in case you need to slip him a mickey." she whispered. She had been waiting to get out of here for six years, but never had anyone to go with. She couldn't have gone by herself, she was too young. If this guy was going, though, then maybe she could actually leave this horrid place.

 

[Captain Wumbo]

Lewis sighed, he had no choice, she already new to much, and he did not fell like arguing with her at the moment. Lewis scratched his head and though about her idea of using the head masters rum. "No, no. The rum thing is gonna be hard to do. But, maybe if we used a girl to do it." He said quietly, a new plan formulated in his head, this time, the chances of being caught diminished. "Look, keep this quiet, you can follow, just...I don't know, steal me some food and hide it, we leave in a weak." He said sternly. Lewis walked turned away and walked out the door and put his hands in his pocket, the little kids would be outside in a bit.

 

[TheStoryOfMyLife]

'Steal me some food'? You mean 'steal US some food'. She thought. She could probably get her hands on some canned foods, maybe even a pot if she was careful enough. For now, though, she would start on her chores and think of how she was going to gather supplies.

 

[NotAllThatCreative]

Agnes looked up as Annabel came over to her and nodded. She handed over some of the plates and continued with what she was doing. Narrowing her eyes on Lewis as he flicked her arm, she said nothing in response and looked towards the clock on the wall. It was almost time for her to go to work, something she loathed because not many of the older kids stuck around to take care of the babies and toddlers. Not bothering to eat, she noticed that one little red head was missing from the group.

"Where's Paige?" She asked, her eyes going directly towards Isaac. She knew that the girl had taken a liking to him, finding him just as odd as herself, and she was normally seen with him from time to time. "And the rest of you need to be off as well."

 

[Mits]

After hearing Agnes's question, Isaac looked over his shoulders. Paige was like a shadow to him, and he was just used to her following him like a baby duck. He never really noticed when she was there, and when she wasn't, but he knew she was always nearby if you looked hard enough. She was a quiet little thing, so it was easy to lose track of her.
"Paige?" He called out for her, then he said something in Russian. By the tone of his voice, he was obviously saying something along the lines of 'Where are you?' or 'Come here'. He and Paige both spoke Russian, so he assumed calling for her in a language she was familiar with would obviously mean someone was looking for her.
"I'll go search for her." He said to Agnes. Paige was a kid, but she was also clever, and that made Isaac like her more than the average kid. Most of the small children didn't like Isaac, it was mainly because his disdain for kids reminded them of their cold-hearted headmaster. Although he hated the man as much as the next person in this orphanage, he did have a knack for buttering the guy up, and earning what little trust he had. When it was time to lock up for the night, the headmaster had often let Isaac do the honors. Maybe it could come in handy with the escape.
He stood up, and went off to go look for the little redheaded girl. She couldn't have been too far.

 

[NotAllThatCreative]

Paige happened to still be in her room and getting ready. She wasn't feeling all that great but still attempted to get herself ready for school. Add to the fact that she had woken up late, she decided that she was going to skip breakfast and just go to school. After she fixed up her shirt, she walked over and grabbed her bag, making her way to the door. She opened up the door and stepped out of the room that she shared with four other girls, closing the door behind her before she started to walk down the hall to find her shoes.

 

[Zeroisdead]

Dex sat quietly in kitchen on a chair that was pulled away from the others in the corner of the room, fiddling with a broken radio that he had found on the way home the other day, and was now taking it apart with his screwdriver to try and see what exactly was wrong with it, mostly to satisfy his own curiosity. He was learning from a repair man the basic circuitry of things like this, well, that was until he had lost both his job and home and Dex never saw him again. Dex thought it was sad how people were just loosing everything within an instant, he wanted to do something about it, but what could he do, it's not like he has any money or a home. A small shock of electricity zapped his finger. "Ouch!" he exclaimed shaking the pain from his hand then sticking his lightly burnt finger in his mouth trying, yet failing to ease the pain. How there was electricity still running through the radio was beyond him, he did know that it hurt like hell, but that it wouldn't prevent him from continuing to mess with the device until it was completely beyond repair, or it was decent enough shape to sell for a few cents.

He set the on the ground next to him with is other hand and went to go get some water, avoiding the others busy scuffles. He thought about not going to school, he didn't see much use for it because he had already learned much of what they would teach him, but he decided that he should go, simply because that was what he was expected to do and he was already to go anyways, plus he could make some detours and find more parts to rebuild the radio, but chances of that were slim, he was luck to find that broken one in the first place, but it wouldn't hurt to try. he grabbed a cup of water and seeing that most ere done getting food and he hadn't eaten yet, he got a few scraps of leftover eggs as well. He always tried to be the last one to eat if he could, seeing that food was scarce and he was in a healthier condition than some of the other children. Seeing that many of the others had already gone, he quickly drank his water and ate before running back to his chair, stuffing the radio and his screwdriver into his messenger bag, then quickly heading out the door to get to school.

 

[NotAllThatCreative]

It was now Friday night and most of the children were in bed around this time, it being eleven, and Agnes was one of the few that were up. She was getting her things and Paige's stuff together as well. Now was the time, she just had to get the rest of the plan going. Make the headmaster pass out, get enough money for bus passes, and get out. That was it. She just hoped that they wouldn't get caught. Last thing they needed was the police after them and trying to bring them back to this hellhole.

Shaking her head of the thoughts, she walked over to her bed, where Paige happened to be sleeping for a few moments, and reached under the bed, pulling out a tin coffee canister. She opened it up and pulled out what little money she made from the very jobs she had over the last year. Stuffing said money into her back pocket, she pushed the canister back under her bed before standing back up and walked over towards the table that had their bags on it. She continued to put blankets, clothes, and some stuff she stole from the kitchen into the bags and zipped it up once she was done.

"Let's get this show on the road." Agnes grumbled to herself as she pulled out a bottle of Moonshine from her dresser and walked out of the room, making her way towards the headmaster's bedroom to gift him with the alcohol.

 

[TheStoryOfMyLife]

Annabel was relaxing down stairs playing her violin like any other night. She had managed to get about ten cans of food, ten apples, and a old beat up pot that she snagged when no one was looking. The food was hidden under a floor board under her bed along with some extra clothes, money, and a can opener. She planned on carrying the food in a rucksack, her clothes and supplies in her now empty school bag, and her violin in its case.

She was very excited, they were to leave in a few days, or was it today? She couldn't remember what day it was when Lewis said they would leave in a week. Placing her violin back in it's case, she got up and decided to ask him. Hopefully he was still awake. When she reached the top of the stairs she saw Agnes come from her room with a bottle of moonshine. "Psst, Agnes, what are you doing with moonshine?" She whispered. She knew some of the older kids drank when the younger kids weren't around, but she didn't think that was what Agnes was doing.

 

[NotAllThatCreative]

Agnes looked up as someone started speaking to her and shrugged lightly. "Get the headmaster drunk and let him pass out." She informed and looked down at the bottle before towards Annabel. "Once he passes out, I'm getting the hell out of here with Paige." She had everything she would need for herself and Paige so she was eager to get out and get on the road before morning. "If you're going to follow, best get ready."

 

[Captain Wumbo]

Lewis plan was finally coming together. He had Annabel collect the food that he needed. He was going to give the head master the Moonshine, and he would be out of here. Unfortunately, Lewis had forgotten to tell everyone in the plan that there were other people. He had told not told Agnes to give the headmaster moonshine without warning the others. He did not account for Anna leaving before the plan was executed. Lewis sighed as he heard her harsh whispers from the stairs. He had already been packed, he had his pack with some of the headmaster money. All he needed now was the moonshine to finish up the last part of the plan.
"Calm down Anna, she has something that could help both of us." He whispered as he walked down the last step. He motioned for Agnes to do her thing. He had not planned for 2 more people to accompany them. But that moonshine was apart of his plan. But since she had it, she could always do it herself.

"If you want to you could do it. He whispered leaning on the wall. "But we had a plan to leave also, I don't see a problem with proposing a merger." He said with a grin on his face.