![]() AnnaA Chapter by Mikael Malmberg![]() Despair is the strongest weapon.![]() At exactly 8:45 AM, their only clock had stopped working. They spent the dawn trying to figure out how to fix it, finding none. When all seemed to be explored at least twice, they finally dropped it and began to do whatever they thought would pass time the fastest. It was mid-day, a full day after they had descended down into the confined space of the storeroom. Had it really been only one day? The time had gone by, crawling on all fours, as if it wanted them to suffer down there. Could it be James? What if they were all being punished for his sake? That was absurd. They had done nothing to deserve this. They took care of orphans, were benevolent towards them, generous and caring. So why was the storm sent to harry them? What had provoked such a reaction? Who had provoked it? There was no way of telling day from night downstairs: it was the same light at every hour. They still heard the storm upstairs, though not as clearly as on the day before, but it was enough to say that it would not do any good to venture out of the door. There was another thing about the door that worried them, too. No sounds penetrated through any longer. Now they only heard echoes, some rumbling, the ground shaking above them whenever a lightning sprung down from the skies; enough to know that something was going on. Truth was, she wanted to open the door and see what had become of the manor. It was a tunnel, after all, safe from wind, lightning and rain. She could climb up, scout some and maybe get some fresh air, and descend back into the storeroom. Heavens knew that they needed some fresh air down there. It was like living in a house made of feces; the pots and jars they used for daily necessities were nearing their limits, and the smell just couldn’t be ignored. It made them all halfwits. When she had talked to Hailey about it, she had told her to never go up there. That was horribly stupid. She thought she could defy Hailey’s order just for the terrifying smell alone. There wasn't like to be anything dangerous upstairs; nothing that could come down into the storage, at least. She needed to ask Hailey about it. Ask until she relented. Perhaps she'd go up there on her own. Anna found her by a pile of crates, sitting on a wooden chair, holding a piece of wood in one hand. "Upstairs has fresh air. It'll sweep down here the moment I open the door. Just see it this way; we're all tired of the smell of sweat and s**t and piss in here. Some fresh air would change it. Can you see it this way?" Hailey looked up from the piece of wood, bored. A flash of anger appeared on her face, but vanished instantly. "No. There could be rubble up there. Tell you what, the storm's already leveled my mansion: if you go up there, all of that rubble will crash down here. See how you like it under all that." "How about breathing, then? Just open it for a few seconds. Let the stinks flow out, and the fresh air rush in." "No! You can't open it. You just can't. The scraps are piled up behind that door, or in its vicinity; if you open it, they will drop on our heads. And you'll be the first one to go." Hailey was about to continue when Anna literally snapped. She turned a pair of boiling blue eyes at Hailey, her hands balling up into fist, rising and falling in tandem with her ragged breath. Anna whirled around violently and reached the door with a few long, ferocious strides. She put her hand on the handle, but turned to Hailey at the last moment. "And I happen to remember that we closed the door upstairs. That means no scraps behind this door." Then she pulled the door open. Hailey trembled and whispered: "But I forgot to close it." The horrible tide swept over Anna and swallowed her in an instant. She
didn't even have time to scream before being impaled, crushed and finally
suffocated by nails, chunks of wood and pieces of broken glass. And when the
tide crashed onto the floor, everybody in the storeroom who hadn't already
noticed the argument suddenly came crashing awake. Screams filled the air... © 2013 Mikael MalmbergFeatured Review
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2 Reviews Added on March 4, 2013 Last Updated on April 1, 2013 Author![]() Mikael MalmbergHelsinki, Helsinki, FinlandAboutI write on-and-off, but writing is a permanent interest for me. There's never going to be a time when I won't be interested in the art of writing, the arrangement of words, their style and rhythm and .. more..Writing
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