Chapter 3

Sara ran down the hallway giggling as her dog, Mimi, can running after her. She ran all the way down the hall and began to circle around the dog. She knelt down and scratched behind Mimi’s ears, “Shhhh, He’s still sleeping.” She put a finger up to her mouth as to see if the dog understood her. The dog nuzzled its nose in Sara’s neck and she giggled again.

 

Aiden’s eyesight was fuzzy. He was trying to focus in the ceiling fan above him but he just couldn’t seem to figure out what he was actually seeing. There was a knock on the door but before Aiden could answer it, Sara came darting in and slammed herself down on the bed, on top of Aiden. Aiden grunted and winced at the pain that shot up through his stomach.

 

“Good morning, sleepy head!” Sara said with a smile that seemed way too bright for Aiden’s taste.

 

“Yeah, um could you please get off of me,” Aiden pleaded in an irritated tone. He could feel his stomach start to respond quicker than his own mouth. He gasped and closed his eyes.

 

Sara tilted her head to the side and looked around. “Why did daddy, give you this dirty old room?”

 

Aiden popped open one eye and looked around. He hadn’t noticed just how messy the room was until now. There were old books and ripped pages of paper ever. It looked like it hadn’t been dusted in years and the wallpaper was starting to peel off of it. Aiden made a face and was rewarded with another childish giggle from Sara. He rolled his eyes and pushed her off of him. He began to get up and walk to the door before she called out to him.

 

“Hey! Where are you going?” she asked with wide, almost sad eyes.

 

“The bathroom,”Aiden sad coldly before leaving and shutting the door behind him.

 

“Well isn’t he mean in the morning.” Sara mumbled out loud with a pouting look on her face.

 

Aiden wandered around the hallway knocking and opening up doors, trying to the find the bathroom. He really had to pee. Then he heard someone or something rustling through what sounded like tons of papers. He walked down the hall and peeked around the corner, down the staircase. He could only see more steps. He frowned and began to walk down the first flight of steps. When he reached another hallway, he frowned even harder and sighed.

 

“What is this, a maze?” He said aloud in frustration to himself.

 

Without saying another word he began to look around. The sound came again. He froze and stiffened. He was getting closer. He peeked around the corner, only to find more steps. He stomped his foot and grunted in annoyance. He walked heavily down the steps and was greeted by a pair of eyes looking over glasses at him.

 

He froze for real this time and sucked in his breath. That feeling of déjà vu had come back. He had seen this whole place somewhere before. His heart started to pound faster and faster before the man spoke.

 

“Did you sleep well?”

 

“Um, yes. Thank you” Aiden said trying to look at something else and hoping that the man would too.

 

The man gave an audible sigh and began to rustle through his mess of papers again. Aiden sat there for a while before he walked down the rest of the steps and quietly sat himself down in a chair near, what looked like a piano. Aiden eyed the piano before his eyes seemed to grow heavy. He tried to fight the sleepiness but took a deep breath as a sign of defeat.

 

The man looked at Aiden through the corner of his eye and saw him asleep against the piano. He frowned and went to the other side of the room to grab a blanket. He placed the blanket over Aiden and looked him up and down. He sighed and went back to his work.

 

Aiden woke up to the sound of bells and a train’s horn. He looked around. When had he fallen asleep?

 

The man walked over to him and handed him a cup. Aiden looked at the cup for what seemed like five minutes before he finally accepted it and mumbled thank you. The man nodded in response and sat down next to him. It was quiet before the man grunted as he sipped whatever was in his cup.

 

“Welcome to Shadow Town,” The man said warmly despite the frown that always seemed to remain slightly on his lips.

 

Aiden smiled in response and sipped his drink. It was hot and the warmth of it made his stomach feel good. Inhaling the smell, he felt relaxed. It smelled like mint and it made him think of his mother’s favorite scent. His eyes popped out of this head at the thought. His mother! Was she ok? Was she worried about him?

 

Placing the cup on top of the piano, Aiden stood and flustered, “My mother! She has no idea where I am. And Eric! He can’t keep covering for me…”

 

The man sat him down and looked in his eyes fiercely. Aiden gasped and shut his mouth. The man handed him a piece of paper and sat back down. Aiden blinked stupidly at the paper and turned to look at the man. The man nodded and sipped his drink again. Dumbfound by the man’s lack of words, Aiden decided to read the piece paper anyway.

 

I see you have made it Aiden. Please ask your hosts for anything that you may need and feel free to the roam around town if you wish. I will allow you three days to get use to things before I tell you anything else and give you further instructions. Your hosts know very little about what’s going on, so please do not ask them questions about this. Rest well and be aware. This town is dangerous and you could lose yourself if you’re not careful.

 

Best wishes

 

The blue haired girl. She was communicating with him. Aiden let out his breath and hung his head low. He didn’t know how he should feel but this was for real. It had just him. All of it had finally slapped him in the face. This girl really was in trouble and he really was away from home, from everything that he knew. He wasn’t going to cry but he wasn’t sure if he could just wait for her next message. His eyes began to feel heavy again and he passed out once more.

 

The man took him to his bed to let him rest. He sat by the window for some time before he stood to look at Aiden. His eyes traveled over his sleeping figure and a tear slipped down his face.

 

“May you find her soon…”

 

 

Author's Note

Chapter 3