October 31, 2005

Before the 'incident', life for Lana Parker had consisted of nothing the least bit out of the ordinary—aside from not knowing who her biological parents were, anyway. But, even at that, her life wasn’t any different than that of all of the other kids who had also been dropped off at the doorstep of the orphanage. They ran, played, completed daily chores, and did their homework. They said their prayers and made their beds, and in return had three square meals a day. It was what Lana imagined any other kid in the world did too, even if they did have parents. 

It had been eight-and-a-half years of spending her childhood in this way at the Stonebrook Orphanage in Lawrence, when a young couple by the name of Sarah and Calvin Evans walked through the door, and everything changed. 

Of course, it was every orphan’s dream to land a foster family, and they all had spent countless nights whispering in their beds, speculating just what it might be like. 

And, finally, Lana knew. Her days were now spent watching the woodland creatures that came to the backyard from the edge of the woods surrounding the vast Evans property, and laying in the grass with her bright red hair fanned out, watching the clouds and deciding what shape they had taken. There was helping Sarah in the kitchen making bread, and learning woodworking in the shop with Calvin. She loved the sound of thunder on rainy nights and cherished the way the flowers in the garden bloomed and smelled in springtime, and how Sarah told her all of their names. Together, they gathered the vegetable harvest when it was time and canned fruits and preserves for winter.

Some of her favorite moments of summer were when the three of them would sprawl out on the swing during the evenings and watch in hushed silence as the fireflies danced and glowed all around the screened-in porch—which she fancied were really fairies, like Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. 

Many afternoons, she played hostess to her stuffed animals over tea and scones, and enjoyed competitive rounds of hopscotch with the little girl down the street. 

It was far better than anything her and her fellow roommates could have ever dreamed up.

After nearly a year and a half spent with Sarah and Calvin, Lana felt beautiful and loved, especially once her foster parents started to put plans into motion to officially adopt her. In her mind, that was the ultimate act of love two one-time strangers could do for someone like her—someone whose own parents had abandoned them so cruelly.

Finally, she was wanted.

It was Halloween, and the day of her tenth birthday. Rain was pouring down outside the window of her bedroom and the first rays of dawn had barely begun to show themselves. Lana tossed and turned, having spent the entire night waking up from nightmares filled with frightening, dark creatures with glowing eyes. On top of the exhaustion, her throat was dry and sore, as if she had been screaming for hours, and the sides of her neck felt swollen and angry. There was a terrible pounding in her head and she tried to rub her temples to make it go away. About an hour went by, and her entire body begin to ache so deeply, it felt like her bones might break.

She recalled having the chicken pox when she was seven, and this was so much worse than that. It was hard to imagine what illness could make her feel so bad, and the thought suddenly crossed her mind that she might be dying. Is this what if felt like? How was she to know?

Her heart began pounding and her teeth chattered from shivering so violently. First one foot, then the other, she struggled to get out of bed, and eventually heaved herself down onto the floor in a mess of blankets. 

She could feel the cold, hardwood floor under her as she crawled, inch by inch, to her foster parents’ bedroom on a journey down the hallway that seemed to stretch on forever. Her breath was coming in frantic, short gasps after the incredible effort, and by the time she made it to just outside their door, she didn’t even have the strength left to stand up and turn the doorknob. 

Somehow, she found the energy to call out, though it sounded wobbly and so small to her own ears. Hoping it would be enough, she laid her throbbing head against the floor, squeezed her eyes shut, and listened. The sound of footsteps on the other side of the door came closer, and finally the door creaked open to reveal her foster dad’s tanned, stubble-covered face. It seemed to hover above her, and then his face blurred and the hallway began to spin around her. Around and around, and her stomach twisted and she tasted acid and bitterness in her mouth. A hysterical sob tore loose from her burning throat as the sickness overtook her and she was surer than ever that she was dying. 

“Lana, honey! What’s the matter?” she heard him cry, as he flung open the door the rest of the way, switched on the hall light, and crouched down in front of her. “Did you have another one of your nightmares?”

The floor seemed to rock and sway underneath her and she couldn’t get out the words, that, yes, she’d had one, but this was something far worse. 

“Calvin, what’s going on?” Sarah called out from inside the bedroom, and her footsteps thudded across the floor as she hurried to her husband’s side. 

Lana blinked up and tried to focus on her foster mom’s worried face as it materialized beside Calvin’s. 

“Lana? Sweetie? What’s wrong? Please, talk to us!” Sarah pleaded.

Her voice sounded far away and darkness began to swirl before Lana’s eyes, in spite of the ceiling light illuminating them now. Tears streamed down her face and she struggled to get the words out. “Some…thing’s…wrong…with… me!” she gasped. 

The final word had just left her lips when her skin suddenly erupted into so much fiery pain, she thought it must have been what the witch from “Hansel and Gretel” had felt like after being pushed in the oven. Her insides seemed to twist and writhe inside her, and then even the individual hairs on her head were burning holes in her scalp. 

She gasped for air, filled with the horrifying realization that this really was it, and that she would never see her new family again. 

Shrieking filled the air, but it sounded so far away now. The strong hands of her foster dad were no longer on her shoulders, and then she was falling, tumbling, into thick, suffocating darkness.