Master of souls: The beginnning

Halcyon

 

          Welcome to the town of Halcyon. It’s not your ordinary town. Strange things happen here but we make sure to clear any record of that. We don’t need the world butting into our business. Everything that happens here we have full control of. There’s no need to let the public come here and turn our safe haven into a zoo. When something bad does happen we tend to mind our own business because we all know about the evil that lives here. It’s just better not to interfere with its plan.

          It wasn’t always this way. The town use to be very free flowing. The townspeople would share everything with each other. We helped one another in every situation. We didn’t fear evil because it didn’t exist. The town was blessed and sacred and only knew peace. But then something changed. Everything became grey and gloomy. People started keeping to themselves. When obvious things happened we all just looked the other way like we didn’t know anything was going on. It probably wouldn’t of matter if we did want to change things. It’s like we lost control of everything. Someone or something came in and disturb the order of things. Halcyon was pure no more. It was dark. We all prayed that something would save us. Until then we will continue to hide our problems.

         

 

Katie:

I remember being a small child and having nothing. I lived with my grandma. I don’t have any memories of my mother or father but grandma would often tell me stories about how in love they were. Sometimes I would find myself staying up at night thinking about how things would be if they were still here with me. It often bothered me that I didn’t know whether my parents were still alive or not. I always get the same answer when I asked about them. Grandma always said that they loved me so much and that’s why they had to go away, they were trying to keep me safe. I don’t understand why they had to leave me though. If they really loved me then why did they have to leave me with no idea of who they were?

Going to school was always hard for me because I was an outcast. All the kids made fun of me and would beat me up on the school yard. I hated my parents for not being around. I felt like I was the only kid in this stupid small town that didn’t have any parents. It wasn’t fair. I wanted to be normal and be able to have friends to play with. I felt so alone in every aspect of my life.

Sometimes living with her can be a little hard though. She can manage pretty well on her own but every so often she has to call her homecare nurse to help out with things. At her age she had a hard time trying to do things when I’m not home. I tend to wonder if it would be easier on her if I would have just went into foster care. I know she would never let that happen though. She had such a big heart. I’m thankful that she cared so much.

I was walking home from school one day I was glad it was Friday because I needed a break. When I turned to walk down my street I seen there was an ambulance parked in front of my house. Panic filled my heart when I realized that grandma could be hurt. I dropped my books and ran to the house trying to make sure she was ok. When I reached the door the paramedics were walking out but my grandma wasn’t with them. I continued into the house to see where she is. I make it to her room and I see her lying in bed and there is a doctor standing over her. I asked him what happened. "Well she was trying to clean the house and became very faint and collapsed. She was yelling for help because she didn’t have her alert bracelet one. A neighbor heard her and came to make sure she was ok. He found her on the floor and called us. We ran some test but we won’t get the results back until about Monday. We believe she is just dehydrated but she hit her head a little hard. She is going to need to rest. We will need you to stay close and keep a close eye on her", he says. 

They needed to keep her hooked up to an IV to keep fluids in her. They told me she was responsive but she has been in and out of conscious. The also had her hooked up heart monitor just in case. Being that we were in a small town and there wasn’t a local hospital for miles the house doctor often brought the equipment with him.

I’m not sure about you but as a twelve years old I was having a hard time believing that good things could happen to me because first my parents just up and left me but then I might be losing the one person who was actually there for me. My life was crashing all around me and I had nowhere or no one to run too. I was scared and I just wanted to go with my grandma. I didn’t want her to have to leave me. I hoped that she would get better. I needed her.

I woke up Saturday morning and decided I should get some of the house chores done. I walked into the living room and turned on the radio. There’s nothing like music to help motivate you to get things done. Since I was already in there I might as well get the living room done first. I grabbed the duster and went to work. After I felt like everything was dust-free I grabbed to broom so I could get the rest of the dirt up. As I was walking toward the kitchen to dump the dust pan I was greet by my grandma. The only thing was she didn’t look like my grandma. Mostly because she wasn’t hooked up to her monitors and her eyes were a deep shade of black.

“Are you ok,” I asked her. She just smiled a very wicked and evil smile. Fear quickly caused my heart to race. “Grandma what’s wrong…you should be resting,” I told her. “There’s more that you should be worrying about…grandma won’t be here much longer to save you and once I get rid of her you will be all mine,” a voice said. I was so confused. Why was grandma saying these things and why didn’t she sound like her usual self. Then she ran towards me and grabbed me by my neck. I closed my eyes too scared to react.

When I opened my eyes again I was lying on the kitchen floor and my grandma was nowhere in sight. I quietly snuck down to her room to see if she was still in bed. I slowly crack her door open and she is still hooked to all her machine. I’m starting to wonder if I dreamt the whole thing even happened. It was the most feasible explanation. I mean why my grandma wouldn’t say those things to me.

I brushed it off and went back to cleaning the house up. I finish a little after noon. I walked outside to check the mailbox. When I reach the end of the porch I notice a man standing across the street staring at the house. I have never seen this man before. I continue to walk to the mailbox. I grab the mail and walk back to the house. Before I shut the door I look back and the man is still there. I slam the door and lock it.

I look through the letters and see that there is something for me but it doesn’t say who it is from. I opened it and when I saw what it said my heart stopped….

 

Chris:

          Growing up I always called my uncle my dad. It just always seemed right. He was the one to raise me after everything happen. My mom died when she was giving birth so for a while my real dad was the one to raise me. Then he started going through something and he just didn’t interact with the outside world. One night he came into my room and told me that one day I would understand what he was going through, he told me that he loved me. Then he walked over to the chair that was in the corner of my room. He pulled a revolver from behind his back, placed it in his mouth, and then he shot himself. I didn’t scream. I couldn’t scream. I just sat there looking at my dad’s body slowly become limp as the blood dripped from his mouth.

          I sat there until the sun came up. I couldn’t go back to sleep. I was just hoping that it was all a dream and that my dad was going to wake up. But he never did. I got out of bed and walk into the kitchen to use the phone. I called the only person I knew. About 20 minutes later my uncle was at the door. He still had no idea what was going on. When he walked into the house I grabbed his hand and brought him to my room. When he seen my dad’s body in the corner he grabbed me and pulled my face into his body. “You shouldn’t see this son…this isn’t meant for a child’s eyes to see,” he told me while he stroked my head.

          Suddenly the tears my eyes were keeping in began to fall. My body began to feel the pain and exhaustion that it was blocking out. I trembled and shook as the image of my dad blowing his brains out replayed in my head. My uncle picked me up and brought me to the living room. He set me on the couch and walked into the kitchen to use the phone. Next thing I knew the ambulance and the police were knocking on the door. My house became a zoo of people trying to clean up the mess of my dad. The whole time I just sat on the couch trying to wrap my head around the whole situation. My uncle packed up all my things and told me I will be moving with him to a small town.

          It only took us a few hours to get to his house after I talked to the police. It seemed like no matter how many times I told my story they kept asking me the same questions. I just wanted to get as far away as possible. I wanted to forget that life and start another in a new place.

          Once we got there I didn’t like it. There was something weird about the town I just didn’t know what it was. He showed me around the house and then helped me set up my room. It was going to be different but I was ready for the peacefulness to start. I was lying in my bed when uncle knocked on the door. “Hey kid how about we go out for some ice cream or something,” he asked. “Yes that seems like a great idea,” I told him as I climb off the bed. I put my shoes on and grabbed a sweater before we walked out the door.

          One of the good things about living in a small town is that everything was in walking distance. We walked to the ice cream shop which was only a couple of blocks away. On the way there I noticed a man walking across the street going to same way we were going. I tried not to let it bother me but every time I looked over there he made eye contact with me. It was making me very uncomfortable. I wanted to tell uncle about it but I was new there so maybe I was just overreacting a little bit. We made it to the shop and I got my favorite kind of ice cream butter pecan ice cream. We walked down to the local park, ate our ice cream, and watched some kids play. I felt more relaxed than I ever did in my whole life. I turned to my uncle, “Can I tell you something,” I asked him. “Sure anything,” he said. “Well I know with everything that happened today this might be a little out of line but I want to call dad…you are the closest thing I have ever had to one,” I confessed. He sat there quietly for a while then finally he let out a deep sigh, “That would be great Chris.” After that we don’t say anything else. As the sun started to go down we got up from the bench and walked back to the house.

          We made it back the house and I was exhausted. I went right to my room and collapsed on my bed. I looked over to my night stand and I saw what looked like a picture turned upside-down. Out of curiosity I reached over and grabbed it. When I turned it over to see what’s on the other side I screamed. It’s a picture of my dad with the revolver in his mouth right before he pulled the trigger. There were words written in red that said you’re next.

 

Katie:

          Ever since I had opened my letter I can’t get those awful words out of my head. I just didn’t understand why all of this is happening to me. I pulled the letter out of the drawer from my nightstand and read it over again trying to figure out who sent this to me.

You will never be safe.

Once I take all that you have left I will make you mine

I’ve been waiting so long to have you

Nothing will stop me

See you soon

          Just reading it gave me chills. I really hoped grandma got better soon because I hated the feeling that I was having. Someone is after me and I had no one to protect or save me. I was scared out of my mind. So many questions were running through my head. Who wrote this? Why do they want to hurt me? What did I do wrong? How can I fix this? I needed to find answers but I didn’t even know where to begin.

          Finally it was Monday and the doctor would be coming over to give me the status on my grandma. It felt like a lifetime waiting for him to come over. I just sat in the living room watching the door listening for a knock. At about 2 in the afternoon I heard the sound that has been playing in my head. I grabbed the door and welcomed him in. He walked over to the couch and had a seat. I got an uneasy feeling from the look on his face. I could tell the news wasn’t good. “So doctor what’s going on with my grandma,” I asked. “Well that’s the thing…all of her tests came back fine but she is in a coma and we don’t really know what cause it. The worst part is that there is nothing medically that we can do in order to wake her up. So now it’s a waiting game,” he explained. I didn’t understand. If she was health then why wouldn’t she wake up and respond to us. I felt like I was going in circles trying to figure this all out.

          I walked next door to the neighbor’s house and asked if they could keep an eye on my grandma during the day so that I wouldn’t have to miss school. Thankfully they were kind enough to help me out. I spent the rest of the day making a list of things that needed to be monitored. Even though there was nothing seriously wrong with grandma I didn’t want to take any chances.  She was my only guarantee to safety at that point. If I lost her who knew what would of happen to me. I had no family left who would have been able to take care of me. I would have to of been entered into the foster care system.

          The next day I went back to school with so much on my mind. I was hardly able focus in class. The teachers kept calling my name and my desk buddy would have to nudge me to bring me back to reality. It was time for break and it was a much needed. My best option was to clear my head so I could make it through the rest of the school day without any more problems. I didn’t want the teachers to think there is something wrong with me and to start asking questions. I didn’t want anyone to know what was going on outside of school. I was sitting by my favorite tree minding my own business when a little boy came up to me and asked me if I was ok. I didn’t have any friends at this school so why was this boy checking on me. I looked up and realized that I hadn’t seen him around there before. We didn’t get a lot of new people in town. “You are not from here are you,” I asked him. “No I’m not,” he said, “I just moved in with my uncle who has live here for a long time.” “Oh well welcome to the neighborhood,” I told him as I stuck out my hand for him to shake.  He was hesitant for a while like he was having a hard time trying to trust me which is weird because he came to me. He stuck his hand out and grabbed mine. “My name is Chris by the way,” he said. “I’m Katie it’s nice to meet you,” I said as I nodded. I had a feeling that he was going to be my one and only friend. At least I hoped so. I needed someone to be in my corner.

          We spent the rest of our break together just talking about nonsense. I found out he was in my class I was just so out of it earlier I didn’t even notice. We asked Ms. Stevens if it would be ok for us to change desk buddies. She said she didn’t care as long as we weren’t going to be disruptive or be distracted by one another. We promised we wouldn’t, he helped me grab my stuff and I moved to his desk. Fortunately he sat at the desk by himself so it didn’t take long for us to get settled. Once we were seated Ms. Stevens continued on with class. It was a lot easier to concentrate after I talked to Chris. He helped me take my mind off of all the problems I seemed to be dealing with.

          After school I decided to walk with Chris home. I showed him around a little bit since we were already out. As we were walked down the street we came to a house that gave me a bad vibe. It was supposed to be an orphanage but I have never seen anyone there before. It was weird though because every other time I walked down this block I never had that kind of feeling. Then again once my grandma became sick it seemed like everything began to change. I didn’t want to say anything to Chris because then he would think I was weird and I would lose the only friend I had ever had.

I looked over to the house and I saw the man that was standing outside my house the day I thought grandma climb out of her bed. He was just looking out the window staring at me. He had a hood on so I couldn’t see his eyes and it was freaking me out. I tried to keep myself calm enough so Chris wouldn’t notice how scared I was. Then he did exactly what I didn’t want him to do. “Hey who lives in this house,” He asked. “Honestly I don’t know who lives there…I have never seen anyone go in or come out of this house ever since I have lived here,” I told him. Then I kept walking. He looked at the house one more time then followed me down the street. If there was anything strange going on with that house I don’t want Chris to be caught up in it.

 

Chris:

          I don’t know what it was about seeing her sitting there by herself under that tree but I needed to talk to her. She seemed like the only person who wouldn’t judge me. By the end of the school day I felt like I had known her for years. It was refreshing to have a friend. I didn’t feel so alone knowing that I had her to count on.

          She showed me where she lived so that if I ever wanted to hang out I knew where to come. She only lived a block away from my new house. She brought me inside and showed me her grandma and told me about what happened to her. I felt sorry that she had to go through that but I could understand what she was going through. She told me I didn’t have to stay around if I didn’t want to but I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I asked her if I could stay and she told me I could. I was happy because even though I love being with my uncle it was nice to be around someone my age. We went into the living room and watched TV for a while.  “Do you ever get alone not having anyone to talk to,” I asked her. “Yes I do…ever since grandma fell into this coma she is in I feel so alone. The house just feels different,” she explained. “I know how you feel more than you know,” I said with a sigh. “So why do you live with your uncle anyway,” she asked. I knew the question was going to come up sooner or later I just didn’t think that we had to talk about it right then. I still had nightmares about my dad from that night. Plus there’s not much to say about my mom because I never knew who she was. “Umm…I kind of lost both of my parents and my uncle was the only one who could take me in so now I’m here,” I told her. She just looked at me with compassion in her eyes. She didn’t have to say anything because I knew we are in the same place in our lives. It just made it so much easier for me to trust her.

          It was getting late and I hadn’t checked in with my uncle yet. As much as I would have liked to stay there and bond I knew it was time for me to go home. I told her that maybe tomorrow after school we could go to my house and she could meet my uncle. She agreed to that. She walked me out and I made my way down the block to my house. The walk home seemed to take a long time. When I finally made it there my uncle was sitting on the porch swing. I wasn’t sure if he was upset or not because I didn’t check in. I walked up on the porch and sat next to him.

          “I’m sorry I didn’t check in with you,” I told him. “Chris its ok I just wish you would of came home and let me know first,” he said. I nodded my head knowing that I was wrong. After that we didn’t have to say much else. We came to an understanding quickly. I was happy about how easy it is to be with my uncle. I never felt like a kid before but then I did. I had the moderate freedom of a child. I was finally starting to feel free. I had a stable home, I had a caring guardian, and I had a friend to make life easier. I was looking forward to my life staying this way.

          Once the sun went down me and uncle went in the house and called it a night. I wanted to get some rest before school the next day. I wasn’t sure what the day would bring me but I wanted to be prepared. I woke up in the middle of the night. I had another nightmare about my dad. It wasn’t like the normal dreams I had about him. This one was different. It felt real like he was actually there in the room with me. It felt like he wanted to tell me something. I had never felt so scared before. I never wanted to have another nightmare like that. I stayed up the rest of the night. I didn’t want close my eyes because I was afraid of what I would see. I thought about Katie and what she was doing.

          Morning came and even though I was exhausted I was looking forward to school so I could see Katie. She was different from any other girl that I have met. Even though she was the outcast at the school I feel like she understood me more that anyone. After seeing what happened to her and how she lost most of her family I couldn’t help but to care for her so much more. When I walked into the classroom I didn’t see her anywhere. I didn’t worry too much. I figured it was just because she was waiting on the neighbors to come watch her grandma. When the bell finally rang she still wasn’t here. Ms. Stevens began the attendance. She was almost finished when there was a knock at the door. Ms. Stevens went to open the door and there stood Katie who looked like she was drained of energy. She came and sat next to me but it was like the rest of the world was oblivious to her. I decided it was best to give her some time and I would talk to her at break.

Katie:

          When I woke up in the morning I didn’t feel like myself. I felt like everything was going in slow motion. Something didn’t feel right but I couldn’t figure out what happened. I was hoping to shake the feeling soon. I was already running late and the neighbor wasn’t there to watch grandma yet. I finally heard a knock at the door. I open the door and no one was there. I decided to just go over there and let them know I was leaving. Whether or not they came over as soon as I left was the least of my worries. I couldn’t miss anymore school. Plus I couldn’t wait to see Chris.

          By the time I got to school the door was shut and I could hear Ms. Stevens taking attendance. I knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it. After a couple minutes she opened the door and without a word I walked in and took my seat next to Chris. From the look on his face I could tell that I wasn’t acting like my usual self. I just didn’t feel like me. I was lost in my own little world. My mind was racing but I could keep up with my thoughts. I felt like there was something watching me all the time.

          By the time first break came I couldn’t recall what happened in class. Everything was a blur. I walked out to the courtyard and sat under my favorite tree. I laid back and closed my eyes and enjoyed the sun beaming on my face. For a second the sun disappeared and then it came right back. I figured it was just a cloud but then I heard a deep sigh next to me. I peeked to the side of me and seen Chris lying next to me. Then I remembered he was the whole reason I went to school that day. I smiled as he laid there looking so relaxed.

          “Hey Chris sorry I didn’t say anything to you earlier,” I said. He just looked at me for a minute, “Katie you looked like you weren’t in the mood to deal with anyone so I gave you space there is nothing to apologize for”. Honestly I was shocked. Now don’t get me wrong I was glad that he wasn’t upset with me but he was like no other kid I had ever met. I felt like he has been through the same things that I had been through but I couldn’t be for certain because I didn’t know very much about him. “Thanks Chris you really are a great friend,” I said with a smile. He returned the smile and we laid back and continued to enjoy the sun.

          A few minutes later the bell rings for us to go back inside. That break was exactly what I needed. I felt more focused and I was beginning to feel more like myself. Class was going well and then Ms. Stevens told us we had a project to do and that we would work in partners to complete it. I looked over at Chris and knew immediately he was going to be my partner. He looked over at me and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. The project was to create a display of our lives now and of what we want our future to be. After she said that I wasn’t so excited about it. I already had a hard time at school because I was the only kid without parents. Now I had to stand up in front of the class and talk about it. Great. Just great I tell you. I was about to tell Chris that I wasn’t doing the project but he had a horrified look on his face and I decided against it. It was then I realized that we really did have a lot in common. We both lost our biological parents and were now being raised by a family member. I don’t know why I didn’t catch on sooner. I remember him telling me that he lost his parents but I just figured that they were on vacation or we just in some kind of trouble with the law but they would be back for him one day.

          When it was time for lunch Chris was still very quiet. I wanted to talk to him but he gave me my space earlier and I just wanted to give him the same thing. So I just quietly stayed by his side. My mind raced trying to figure out what made his mood change so drastically. Then I began to wonder if that was how he felt when I was out of it that morning. After we grabbed our lunch he went and sat under our tree. He still hadn’t said a word. I sat down next to him and continued to be silent. Finally the silence was broken by a loud sigh. “Katie I need to tell you something before we do this project but I don’t want to lose you as a friend,” he said with his head down. I just looked at him not wanting to break his focus. “Up until I moved here I lived with my dad; my mom died while giving birth to me so I was all that my dad had left but I think it really hurt him that he lost my mom that day” he stopped and looked up at the sky, “Sometimes I wonder if dad wished mom would of made it instead of me, he got really depressed and he would talk to me anymore. The one night he came into my room and told me he loved me, he rubbed my head then sat in the car in the corner of my room, placed the gun in his mouth and shot himself. I still don’t understand why he did it. I just sat there in my bed. I still have nightmares about him and that night,” he stopped and looked over at me with tears in his eyes. I couldn’t say anything. I just reached over and pulled him into a hug because at that moment he needed it. I just held him.

 

Penance:

          I’m not sure how long it has been but it seems like it has been years since we have been able to roam the town freely. To my surprise the people of the town have no idea what goes on behind these walls. The only places we can go was school and then back “home” as he calls it. I can’t even remember how I got here. None of us can. One day life was perfect and then we lived here and the only memories we have are the ones from this house. The house is dark and gloomy. There are no toys and most of the windows are covered up. Once we come home from school we must come home and complete the list of chores “father” has left for us. But we call him the child keeper. After we finish our chores we have to do our studies until it’s time for bed.

          One of our jobs at school was to watch the other kids. I don’t know what we were watching for but we were told to keep an eye on things. Then something caught my eye, something different. There was a new kid. I have never seen him around town before. I figured this was something that “father” would want to know. After school ended I raced home and went straight to “father” and told him about the new boy. An evil smiled spread across his face. I was scared of the meaning behind that grin. “We have a lot of work my child…we must prepare for the welcoming,” he said to me in a low growl. It made me shiver. I knew that whatever was about to happen wasn’t going to be good. I just had to wait. I hoped and prayed that he would never have to come to this hell.

Chris:

          Katie was one of the first people I really opened up to since everything happened with my dad. I had been bottling up all of these emotions hoping that they would all just go away. But honestly it just made me feel worse. It was as if I haven’t moved on and fully mourned my father yet. After I talked to Katie and finally let the rest of those tears fall I honestly felt better. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without her. She seemed like one of the only things that made living in that crazy town sane.

I have always felt like something was off about living there. No one else really talked to anyone else. Plus there was the one house that everyone refused to talk about. I had to find out what those secrets were. I didn’t know how at the time but I had to find out or it just might have killed me. I just had to figure out how I was going to talk Katie into telling me all the dark things she knew about the town. The best thing was to just wait until she trusted me more. I didn’t want to lose her by pushing her away. She was the only benefit I had ant I didn’t want to jeopardize things with her in any way.

Katie was supposed to meet my uncle after school but after my whole episode I wasn’t really sure if she still wanted to be around me. I still had no idea what was going on in her life. I knew that he grandma wasn’t on but I didn’t know what lead up to her going into a coma. I opened up to her and the only I could think about was the fact that I needed to be there for her like she was for me. I wanted her to know that I was the friend she needed in life.

I just sat in my room trying to figure out how to make everything right. I heard a knock on my door and I was just hoping that is was Katie coming over. I told whoever it was to come in. Disappointment sat on my face when I saw that my uncle walked in. I tried to force a fake smile. “Do you think it would be ok for me to take a walk…I have a lot on my mind and I really just want to clear it,” I explained to him. He said he wanted me to stay in the house because it’s dangerous to walk around at night around here. What he said really caught my attention. That’s when I decided I was going to sneak out and figure out what was so dangerous about this damn town. After my uncle finally fell asleep I snuck out my window and began to wander around town. I started out the only way I knew which was towards Katie’s house. Whether I was coincidence or not the house that everyone in the town seemed to avoid was on the opposite side of the street of Katie’s house. There was a sign in the yard that I never noticed before. It read Penance Orphanage. The crazy thing was that I didn’t even know we had an orphanage. There was a quote on the sign but it was too dark to make out what it really said. Then I heard the noise of a rocking chair. I looked over on the porch and there was the man that I had seen before rocking back and forth slowly. Within the blink of an eye he had disappeared. I didn’t know whether I was going crazy or not.

It was time for me to stop exploring for the night before anything really creepy happened. I wasn’t sure about that house or that man but I knew I needed to mind what I had been told and stay away. There was definitely something crazy going on in this town but after what I had seen I knew I wasn’t ready to find out just what that was. The only thing left to figure out was how I was going to tell Katie that I was scared and didn’t want to be alone. Then it hit me. I haven’t heard from Katie in a few days. I needed to go see her and make sure she was alright. She was my friend after all. Instead of heading home I decided to go and check on Katie. There was a bad feeling inside of me and I needed to know that everything was ok.

When I finally got to her house everything was different. There were boards of the door and windows. It was as if her house had been vacant for years. I walk up the sidewalk to the porch. When I stepped on the wood a made an eerie creaking noise, like I hadn’t been walked on in years. Everything was beginning to fall apart. I didn’t understand what was going on. Katie was just at school and now her house is empty. Where did she go and why didn’t she say goodbye to me before she left. I thought I was her friend. I tried the door handle to see if it was locked. The door swung open with ease. I walk through the house carefully. Everything looks exactly like it did the last time I seen it except not dusty and dirty. Walking around I try to find a clue as to what happened here. Nothing makes any sense. She had no reason to leave. Something was pulling me towards her room. I slowly pushed open the door. At first everything seemed normal-ish. Then I looked around and he was standing there. Smiling.

Katie:

          I was up starting to get the feeling that Chris was mad at me. I haven’t talked to him since lunch on Thursday. We didn’t have school on Friday because it was some type of teacher day. I wanted to go over to his house but I needed to spend more time with grandma because there was always a chance that she could wake and if she did I didn’t want to miss it. I know that Chris would understand. I made a promise to myself that I would run and find him first thing Monday morning. Right now I just needed to clear my head. Grandma would be ok for a few minutes.

          I grabbed a sweater and locked the door behind me. There was so much going on lately that I just could handle the pressure anymore. I wanted to be a kid again. I wanted to be able to go outside and play with other kids without feeling guilty about leaving grandma behind. I wanted her to cook me dinner when I got home after a long day. But instead she is lying in a bed with tubes in her arms. It wasn’t fair. As I got towards the end of the street I decided to turn around and walk back the other way. I felt nice to leave all my thought behind me with each step I took. The more I walked the more I thought about going over to Chris’s house to talk to him. The only thing was it being so late I knew his uncle wouldn’t appreciate me showing up at this hour. I would have to sneak to his bedroom and knock on the door like we were in the olden days as grandma use to call them.

          Making up my mind I made my way over to his house. I had to make sure things were ok between us and that he was ok emotionally. The only thing I didn’t like about walking at night was the fact that I had to walk past the “haunted” orphanage. I remember hearing all the stories growing up. There was one that stuck with me the most. Grandma used to tell me the story before bed because it would keep the bad man away. She would tuck me in tight and begin the tale like this:

A long time ago before you were born this town was peaceful and quiet.

The neighbors were all friendly. We all helped each other out.

Then one day the dark clouds came in and never left.

A man in a dark hood brought them.

He was very strange.

You couldn’t see his face or any of his body for that matter.

He said he was sent by the state to run the orphanage.

The thing was we had no need for an orphanage.

All our children had families.

A few months went by and strange things began to happen.

Parents had to leave their children.

Relatives seemed like they didn’t exist.

The orphanage became very populated.

Nothing was making since.

Once this kids left for the orphanage it’s like they disappeared.

The house always appeared empty.

It is said that he gets rid of the families and steals the children.

          Her story was scary but it also kept me on my toes. I watched my surroundings and I was never outside alone at night. Well except for that moment. There was something telling me that I needed to be out there. There was something out there that and it felt like I was being pulled to find out what it was. I continued on my way just thinking about everything. It was hard not to drive myself crazy trying to understand what that story really says about that crazy town. As long as I could remember there was always something strange going on. As I got closer to the orphanage I noticed something on the ground. It looked like a dead animal but it was really big. I had a weird feeling but I knew I had to make sure whatever it was going to be okay. The closer I got the more my heart started to race. Finally I was right in front of it. I gasped as I realized that it was Chris lying unconscious on the ground. I touched his skin to make sure he was still alive. He was cold but he still had a pulse. Why he was out there passed out and all alone, it didn’t make any sense. I tried to wake him up but he would budge. I knew that I had to bring him back to my house so that he was safe. I tried my best to carry him. He was heavier than I was but that didn’t stop me from trying. Finally I made it back to the house with Chris being somewhat dragged next to me. I brought him back to my room and put him on the bed. Hopefully he woke up soon. I wanted to know what happened to him.

Chris:

          All I remembered was him standing there smiling at me. I closed my eyes a tightly as I could. When I opened them again I was still in Katie’s room. The man was no longer there. Instead Katie was sitting on the edge on the bed. I wasn’t sure when she had gotten there but everything seems different from before. I just laid there trying to get my thoughts together before I asked her any questions.

          “Katie when did you get home,” I asked her very quietly. She turned around surprised that I was awake and talking. “Chris you had me worried sick, what the heck happened to you,” she responded hysterically. We both sat there with a confused look on our faces. She told me that she had been home all night except for when she went for a walk and found me lying unconscious in front of the orphanage. Then I remembered what I did last night. I left the house and went exploring to find out any information about that crazy town. I saw that strange man from the orphanage but then he disappeared. I thought I walked to Katie’s house to talk to her but apparently that was all just a dream. Well more like a very real nightmare. I just wonder what it means. I wasn’t sure whether I really wanted to tell Katie about what I saw in my dream. I didn’t want to scare her. She already had suspicions about the orphanage and its secrets and I wasn’t ready for her to know that they were true.

          Making a risky decision I decided not to tell her about the dream yet. I want to have more information before we do anything else crazy. We have been through enough already and I don’t want to lose her or anyone else. She is looking at me waiting for an answer. I tell her that I don’t remember my dream. All I remember was that I was coming to talk to her because I thought she was mad at me. “I wasn’t mad at you Chris I just didn’t know what to say,” she told me. “Katie you are the first person I have ever opened up too about things that have happened to me in the past. There’s no one else that I could really talk to about it without being judged or made fun of. Somehow it seems like you have been through similar things that I have and that why I feel so close to you. I trust you Katie,” I explained to her. I was just hoping that she understood.

She didn’t say anything. It seemed like years were passing by and she still hadn’t said a word. Then finally I heard her take a deep breath, “Chris you are right we do have something in common and I have never told anyone about my life before; when I was just a little girl my parents left me. They didn’t give me a reason they just left saying that one day I would understand why they left, that I would be safer. My grandma knows more than what she is telling me but I will never know what that is now because she won’t wake up.” I looked at her with a blank stare. I wasn’t sure what was going through my head and I had no idea how to put it into words. I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea and feel like I didn’t care about what she just told me. I took a deep breath and I pulled her into my arms. I just held her. She was truly my best friend and the world had hurt us both. We were honestly alone in the world and I vowed to myself that I would protect her. No matter what I was never going to leave her side. She looked up at me and I told her I promised we would always be together. We sat in her bedroom until the sun came up.

We must have dozed off while I was hugging her. I stretched and yawned and shook Katie so that I could move my arms. She woke up, got out of bed, stretched, and yawned. I told her we should probably head over to my house that that I could check in with my uncle and let him know that I was okay and I didn’t mean to leave without telling him. While I was getting myself ready for the day Katie went downstairs to check on her grandma to make sure her vitals were still where they were supposed to be. She came from out of her grandma’s room and said that everything was fine and we could go. I grabbed all of my stuff so that we could head down to my house. As we walked down the street we glanced over to the orphanage when I was found passed out the night before. I felt like someone was watching us as we walked by. I no longer wanted to be anywhere near there.

I started to pick up my pace a little bit so that I was no longer within eye sight of that place. Katie must have caught on to what I was doing because she caught right up with me. It didn’t seem to take us very long to make it all the way to my house. We walked onto the porch and in the front door. I called out for my uncle. I didn’t get a response so I walked through the house to see if I could find him. It was still the weekend so I knew that he wasn’t working. When I finally made it back to the front door and couldn’t find him I began to worry. I told Katie something didn’t feel right about him not being at home. I went up to his room and checked to see if there was any sign that he had left the house. Everything was in its proper place and that’s what made no sense. Why couldn’t I find him? I called for Katie come upstairs to his room and try to help me locate anything that didn’t seem right. We both looked around the room like we were detectives trying to solve a murder.

Katie started in the closet and I began looking around and on the nightstands. Looking through all of the drawers and on the floor trying to find anything. I was lost in a trance when I hear Katie let out a small scream. I quickly got back up to my feet and ran to the closet. She was standing there like she had seen a ghost. I looked around the closet and tried to figure out what made her scream. After a minute or two I was still confused so I asked her what was wrong. At first she didn’t speak. She was in some sort of shock. Then she slowly turned towards me and a creepy grin spread across her face. I wasn’t sure how to really feel about it.

“Looking for something,” a deep growl came from Katie’s mouth. “Who are you,” I whispered. For a while the voice coming from inside her just grumbled. After what seemed like an eternity it spoke once again, “I am that feeling you get when someone watching you…I am what gives you that feeling you get when the hairs stand up on the back of your neck…Heed my warning the time for you to become mine is coming.”

She shook for a second and then she looked around. She was disoriented. “Where are we,” she asked. “Do you remember what you just said to me,” I questioned. She shook her head no.  I wasn’t sure whether I should tell her or not. One thing I did know for sure was that something bad was coming and I didn’t think there was anything I could do to stop it.

Katie:

            We were standing in Chris’s uncles’ bedroom and I had no idea how I had gotten there. Chris had a fearful look on his face and I didn’t know what was going on. When I went to reach for him he flinched back like I was going to hurt him. “Chris what is going on? Why you are looking at me like that,” I wondered. Nothing made sense. Why was he all of the sudden scared to be around me. I just stared at him hoping he would tell me what was going on. “Chris please,” I begged. He sighed and sat on the corner of his uncle’s bed. “Katie you came with me to my uncle’s house to check in. When we got here something wasn’t right so I said we should look around. We started looking around in here but then you screamed like you saw a ghost or something. I came over to see if you were ok and it wasn’t you talking to me,” he said as I stared back at him with wide eyes. That couldn’t be true. How is that possible?

            Was I really possessed by something? I could understand why Chris felt the way he did. It was creepy and it seemed like the more days that went by the worse things were getting. I didn’t know how much more we would be able to take before we will feel like we are completely insane. Nothing makes any sense. Everything seems to be falling apart around us. Something bad is coming, I could feel it in my bones. I told Chris we should probably go back to my house and wait for his uncle to come get him. I couldn’t let him stay over here alone especially since there was something weird going on around us. We locked up the house and began our journey back to my house. The sun was beginning to set and there was an unusual cool breeze that took over. As we began walking the clouds began to shift and a fog had begun to rise. An eerie feeling began to wash over me. If I didn’t know it before I definitely knew it then that something bad was coming and it was coming fast.

            I looked over at Chris and I could tell that he was feeling just as freaked out as I was. We began to pick up the pace as we were lightly jogging towards grandma’s house. As we looked around I began to notice that there were figures appearing in the distance. At first I was thinking maybe it was just the trees or something but then I realized that they were children coming our way. I grabbed Chris’s hand as we slowed our pace. We didn’t want to get near the mysterious kids. Suddenly the wind howled causing both of us to jump. Nothing was worse than hearing Chris scream telling me that someone grabbed his shoulder. I froze. Neither of us wanting to know what was behind us. Holding our breath we cautiously turned our heads around as we saw a man in a long black trench coat with a hood over his head. His face wasn’t visible but his eyes were something you could never forget. They were a deep dark shade of red that seemed as if they were gazing into our souls. I peeked over at Chris and yelled run.

At that moment it was as if everything slowed down completely. Time stood still as we spun around and lunged away from this thing behind us. We weren’t able to get far though before we were completely surrounded by children muttering a dreadful chant. “Join us and let master cleanse your soul, become one of us never be alone again.” They just kept saying it over and over again. Each time louder than the last. It became so unbearable that we both fell to our knees covering our ears begging for it all to stop.

I don’t remember when we passed out exactly or how long we were out for but I knew when I woke up something was off. I didn’t recognize out surrounding. The room was dark and a large wooden door with bars where a window should have been that was slightly ajar. Standing up I reached out for a wall to guide me towards the door trying to make sure I didn’t run into anything on the way out. Once I made it to the door I pushed it open and poked my head out. The hallways was lined with at least 10 doors like the one I woke up behind. I inched further into the hallways wondering where Chris ended up. Taking a wild guess I decided to check the room to my right. I stood up on my tippy toes and glanced through the bars. There was a brown haired child sitting at a desk just staring at the wall. I backed away from the door and went towards the door that was to the right of “mine”. Once again I hopped up on my tippy toes and looked inside. There was a blonde haired girl skipping around the room swinging a doll around. She was humming something that sounded familiar but I could place my finger on what it was. Spinning on my heels I continued my search for Chris. I realized that there was still one more logical room for me to check, the one that was across from where I was. Silently praying that he was in this next room I peeked through the bars. Lo and behold there he was in the fetal position in the furthest corner.