Chapter six

The girl looked very frightened when she saw me like she saw a ghost. I tried reaching out to her but she flinched and moved back. 'poor thing, she looks like a kid around the eight years old. How on earth did she get this much injuries.

"Don't worry I won't hurt you, pls let me help you. My name is Amelia. I promise I won't hurt you." I said to her as I didn't want to scare her. The girl slowly started to warm up to me and put her hands on mine.

"Let me help you treat your wound. First we need to go to my house. Please don't be scared, I won't hurt you, okay?" the girl nodded as I carried her to aunt's house.

When we got home, I carried her to my room and put her on a mat since I didn't have a mattress. I cleaned her wound and added ointment. I was wondering how much pain she was feeling because this wounds were deep.

I cleaned the girl and gave her some of my old clothes. Although it was big, I made some adjustments to it and it was a little bit better.

I didn't want to trouble the girl so I allowed her to sleep. I really wanted to ask her questions like how did she get injured or where are her relatives but I could see that she was really tired.

The next morning, I was doing the chores when I heard a noise behind me. I turned and saw that it was the little girl hiding.

I smiled and dropped the mop I was holding. "You are awake. Are you hungry? I made pudding for you. Would you like to have some?" The girl slowly left where she was hiding and came to me. I could see she was really hungry. I led her to the dinning table and gave her pudding while I continued working."

After I was done I went to meet the little girl and sat opposite her. "Did you enjoy the pudding I made?" To my surprise the girl smiled and said "Yes, I really enjoyed it. Thank you."

The girl's voice was really cute. I smiled and asked her what her name was. "What is your name and how did you get injured?"

"My name is Catherine, I was attacked by a wild beast in the forest and I barely managed to escape." I was shocked how did she manage to go through all that.

"I am so sorry Catherine , you must have been very scared. How are your injuries now? Are they still very serious?" I look at her with worried eyes and I think she noticed I was really worried.

"I am absolutely fine, I think the injuries are gone now and I wasn't even in much pain anyways so please stop worrying."

That was when reality struck me. I rushed to Catherine and checked for any injuries but I didn't see a single scratch. I was quite relieved and confused. Those injuries were really deep but now they were all gone. I decided to not bother about that now and asked her about her family.

"Umm, Catherine, where are your parents. Do you know where you live." Catherine flinched when I asked that question and quickly replied "I don't remember anything. I don't know who my parents are and I don't remember where I live. I only remember my name."

I was dumbfounded. 'Was Catherine suffering from Amnesia? How could a small girl like this suffer this much?'

"Oh Catherine, I am really sorry. Don't worry I will help you find your family soon but before that you will be staying in an orphanage. I am not the owner of this place and I don't think the owner would want you here either. " Catherine looked confused and it looks like she doesn't know what an orphanage is.

"An orphanage is like a home for lost children and there are lots of children there so you won't feel lonely."

Catherine frowned and started crying "I don't want to go an orphanage, I want to stay with Amelia. I don't want to go anywhere without you." I was shocked and also touched by words but there is no way aunt Lucy would allow her to stay here and even if she stays here, they would treat her really bad and I don't want that.

"Oh Catherine, I won't leave you alone. I promise I will come visit you every day and I will bring lots of snacks" Catherine still won't budge and insisted on staying with me. "No, I want to stay with Amelia always. I don't want to be away from you"

Then I had an idea. Since aunt is not around now, she could stay here till then. Hopefully we would find her family then and if we still didn't find her family before then she would have to stay in the orphanage. "Catherine, I will allow you to stay here but if we don't find your parents in a month then you have to stay in the orphanage." she hesitated but she agreed and came over to hug me.

Since I was going to the Cafe in the afternoon, I decided to go buy some clothes and footwear for Catherine. After that she followed me to work since I couldn't leave her alone. We also went to the orphanage together. Even though she sticked to me all day, she still played with some kids at the orphanage and I was happy to see that she was getting along.

I tried looking for Catherine's family and in the mean time, Catherine and I were having a lot of fun together. When were free I would take her out to experience some things.

I bought a stuffed toy for Catherine and she was with it all the time. We also took pictures and I got it framed.

I also taught Catherine some dance moves and she would join the children at the center to dance. Life with Catherine was really great and I really wished she could stay with me forever but I remembered my dad words. I suddenly remembered that day and I was filled with regrets again.

Three weeks passed and still no news of Catherine parents. We were about to go to bed after a long day at the park. I payed lots of thick blankets on the floor and laid Catherine on it. All of a sudden Catherine sat up and asked me a question. "Amelia, why do you have a lot of scars on your body?"

I didn't want to tell her that I usually got beaten up by my aunt. "It is nothing, you don't have to worry about that. Just go to sleep, okay? We'll talk in the morning. Good night."

She hugs me and said "Goodnight Amelia. Then she went back to sleep." I was about to sleep when I suddenly heard a noise coming from the living room. Catherine also heard it and woke up immediately. "Amelia, what was that sound?" I turned to her and hugged her. "Don't worry, maybe it's a mice." The noise got louder and it looks like things were breaking. My heart raced as I took Catherine behind a shelf.

"Listen to me Catherine, you must not come out until I tell you to do so. Hid here and don't make any noise. Do you understand?"

Catherine held me and looked at me with teary eyes. "But I want to go with Amelia. Please let me go with you." I couldn't possibly let her follow me. What if it was someone dangerous?

"Catherine, now is not the time for this. You have to listen to me. Don't come until I tell you to, please. Do this for me." Catherine nodded and I grabbed a mop stick. I quietly went down to the living room and saw that it was in a mess. Someone must have done this but who.

Before I could start thinking of what to do, I was suddenly thrown to the wall really hard and I was being strangled really tight. I could not breathe at all. I could only see a tall figure in front of me but I couldn't see his face. Everything was already blurry. I was struggling to get away from his grip but he was to strong.

"Where is she? Tell me now before I smash your skull." what was this man talking about? Who is he talking about?

Just as I was about to pass out, I heard Catherine voice. "LET GO OF HER RIGHT NOW." just then the man let go of his grip and I fell to the ground. I was gasping for air. 'What was Catherine doing here? What if that man hurts her? I tried to gather myself to safe Catherine when she suddenly came to me.

"Amelia are you alright? Pls answer me." I immediately grabbed Catherine into a hug and acted as a shield.

I heard the man's voice again. "Hey you, leave her alone. LET GO OF MY SISTER!!!"