I wandered through the streets, tired and dirty. My mind replayed the same thought over and over again. I'm scared. It was getting dark now, my breath turning into a puff of white as I exhaled in the fridged cold. I'm scared. Everyone was going inside to their houses, where the have warm beds and food to eat. I didn't. I'm scared....

I saw a black shadow behind me, following me. I'd seen it for weeks, and I knew it was my imagination. My twin sister always teased me, and told me I had to face my fears one day or I'd be useless forever. I turned, and approached the shadowy figure. If I put my hand through it, it would disappear, I thought. I remember reaching out, and feeling it. It was real.

It pushed a sweet smelling cloth to my mouth, making me drowsy. I vagly remember being tied up and thrown in the back of a carriage.

I was sold at an auction, and woke up in a cell, in a basement. Cold shackles had been attached to my feet, to prevent me from running. And thus began my life, as a slave... I can still feel The shackles holding me back, even when they're not there anymore...

****5 years later****

Step step step step step step

I was running with a pile of books in my arms. I was a slave, and my masters orders had been to get him some books from the study to his room, for early morning reading. But, I fell asleep in the study and had been gone for I don't even know how long. It was hard to run with shackles on my feet, but I still tried.

I could hear his voice from his room "Where is that stupid brat, I sent her to the study 20 minuets ago!!!" Oh no... He's mad now... I tried to run faster. I entered his room, but I guess the gods must hate me. As soon as I entered his room, I tripped. And I tripped on nothing! Aaahhhhh no...... I fell right in front of him, scattering his precious books everywhere.

"You idiot!!" He screamed at me. As I was trying to pick the books up, he kicked me on the shoulder.

"Ahh!!" I squealed as I slid across the tile floor from his powerful kick. I heard my shoulder crack. I clutched my shoulder in pain, holding back tears.

"Oh, are you crying now!?" He yelled at me. His fierce eyes were blazing. "Look at this mess! You caused this, YOU." he sneered at me. "Get out of my sight."

I couldn't move, it hurt to much. My shoulder was throbbing. I couldn't move.

"I said get out of my sight!" He kicked my shoulder again, and I heard another crack.

I tried to hold on my yell, but I had no such luck. My yelp of pain was to loud. I could see master getting angrier. This never happened! I was always so obedient. I had never made him this mad before.... It was scary. I was scared. My vision was blurring due to the extreme pain. He just kept kicking me, He had moved from my shoulder to my stomach and chest. It hurt.

"Did you not hear me? Are you deaf? Do I need to throw you out myself!?" He screamed at me, his dark hair swinging with each kick. He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me out of the room. He left me in the hallway, barley conscious. My vision kept blurring, and I could no longer feel the pain in my shoulder.

I lay in the hallway, tears dripping down my face. If only I had gone to sleep earlier last night, then I wouldn't have fallen asleep in the study. If only I hadn't......

What do you wish?

....... What? Who, who was that voice?

Do you wish for a dream? Or a better reality?

I don't know....... I'm not sure.

A double life?

A double life? What's that?

Think it over, I'll be back.

I saw a boy in ruffled clothing smiling at me. He was the only thing I could see, everything else was black. There was nothing there. Nothing. It was strange, I didn't even remember closing my eyes. This must have been a dream. Just a dream. A Fantasy.

I awoke to the sound of water. It sounded like a water fall was nearby. But, that wasn't possible, I was still in masters Mansion. Wasn't I? I opened my eyes, and saw I was laying not on a cold tile floor, but on soft green grass next to a lake. A lake with a water fall. How had I gotten here? I looked to the top of the water fall, and saw the boy from before sitting on a rock at its top. I heard a voice in my head.

What do you think of this world?

What? Its amazing! Look at this waterfall!! But, its just a fantasy. Not reality. Right? The voice in my head continued.

That's your decision, and could be changed. What will you chose? I am so exited to find out! I'll send you back for now.

I felt a spell of drowsiness, and closed my eyes once again.

This time, I woke up in the mansion. I was in the room the servants slept in. There were 4 of us including me. There was one bed in the room, and I was laying on it. It was a small bed, but could just barley fit 4 people on it. "Ellen? Are you awake?" I heard a familiar voice call. I looked to see who it was.

Ann was standing above me. She was the oldest of us 5, maybe aging 19? That's what we thought. "Cm. is going to replace one of us." She said sadly. When she said Cm. it meant "Crazy Madman." Master thought it meant "cunning master" which was a compliment in his eyes. Lucky for us. He's ignorant in the dumbest of ways.

"What?" I said to Ann, who looked very worried. She was like a mother to all of us, so then thought of loosing one of her babies must have been heart-wrenching.

"He went to the slave market, he's returned with a new slave." She paused "And I herd him say, 'I can finally get rid of that stupid brat'." she looked like she would burst into tears at any moment. "I don't want one of my beloved children to go....." She said. She called us all her children, even though she was not our mother. But we all considered her a mother, no mater what anyone else said. That was just our way.

The room door opened, and in was thrown a tired looking girl. Convenient timing. The girl was crying, so Ann immediately went over to her and hugged her. I sat up, but fell back down because of my shoulder. It was bandaged. I glanced at the girl from my lying down position. She could be really pretty, if taken care of. She had brown hair, like Ann's but a lighter shade. And her eyes were milk chocolate brown, Ann's were a more dark chocolate.

After a while, the others returned to the room. When we all got there, Ann had us sit in a circle. "OK, now I know this may not be the best time, but...... I want to do introductions before someone leaves." She said, staring us all down. "Good, I'll start." She looked at the new girl she had sitting in her lap. "Hello, I am Ann. I am the leader or mother of all of you, so don't cross me. I'm pretty sure I'm around 19 years old. I'm named Ann, because I liked that name from a book I read. If you can't read, I will teach you if it kills me." She looked the new girl in the eyes. "If you have any problems, you can tell me." Ann turned her gaze to Sparrow.

"Oh, me now?" Sparrow said. "Ok, hi! I'm sparrow! I'm 14 years old I think, and umm... I'm named sparrow because Ann said I'm like a cute innocent baby sparrow! FYI, A sparrows a real cute bird." She said batting her eye lashes. She wasn't fooling anyone. Sparrow could be a real brat if she wanted, and we all knew it. I should warn the new girl...

"OK, Hallie you next." Ann said. Hallie hadn't been paying attention. She was braiding my hair, I hadn't noticed. She braided whoever's hair was closest when she got Bored, hah, It was a habit she couldn't break. Its so sad, one of them will have to go.... "Hallie!" Ann said sharply, snapping her fingers.

Hallie looked up, and sighed. She did that a lot. "My name is Hallie, I'm 16, I'm Hallie because I let Ann name me." She then continued braiding my hair. All eyes were on me now.

"Oh, umm..." I said nervously. I straitened my glasses. "I'm, I'm Ellen. I'm 13 maybe? Some where between 13 and 16 I think.." I stuttered. "My parents named me, I think they're both dead." I said. Most lower class families nowadays sell at least one of there children into slavery, and are required to visit them once a year. Unless, the slave was kidnapped or has no living relative's. I was kidnapped, So I don't get a visit like the others. And I kept my real name to, instead of making a new one like Ann and the others.

"Well, now that that's over, how about you sweetie?" Ann asked the new girl. The new girl looked scared. That was expected though....

We did all look pretty weird. Sparrow and Ann both had brown hair and brown eyes, but Ann's were dark and sparrows were more brown/blond hair with really light brown eyes. Like the light part of cinnamon? I don't really know how I'd describe it. They were like opposite twins. Hallie had a reddish blonde hair with warm grey eyes. I, however, kinda looked like a freak. My sister Elaina pulled off this look, but I couldn't when covered in dirt. My pinkish magenta hair was weird, and I had bright blue eyes that almost glowed. And, I wore glasses that were to big for me, as I was nearly blind without them. This did not help when trying to fit in a crowd...

"I like the name ruby. Its not my name, but I'd like it to be." The new girl, or ruby, said. "I'm 14."

Sparrow jumped onto her "Welcome to the family!!" She yelled. Ruby squealed. She looked at me, confused. "Hey, How did you hurt your shoulder?" She asked. I looked at the floor and said nothing.

"Hey, who gets the bed tonight? 5 won't fit, especially with Ellen's shoulder like that." Sparrow asked Ann.

"Obviously, Ellen and ruby. Just for tonight." She replied calmly.

"That's ok....." I said sheepishly "Someone else can have it."

"Nope!" Ann replied smiling "you, little Missy, are sleeping in the bed with Ruby if I have to tie you to the bed!" She poked my nose. "Up you go!" She helped me on the bed.

Ruby's face was red. She lay down next to me and scooted as far away from me as she could. I laughed inside. She was embarrassed? That would soon pass, sharing a bed with 3 others. I closed my eyes to sleep.

But when I awoke, I wasn't where I should have been. I wasn't in the bed, I was in a forest. A forest... With a water fall nearby, I heard it. I sat up, confused. My shoulder wasn't hurt anymore. I looked around, and heard rustling. I looked over tho the right, and a bush was shaking slightly. Before I could react, something jumped out and landed on me, pinning me down.

I looked up at it, and I saw—