Episode One
I looked at the smoldering building in distaste. My father had not told me that I would be arriving upon the scene of destruction. He said it was the one place I would be 'safe' and would feel at home. Even if it meant I couldn't see my father or remember my dead mother, he just had to send me there.
"Alice, you'll be fine at Medenham." My dad had said to me. He had been folding the remainder of my clothes just a couple days before.
"It's not home." I had protested, picking up the clothes he had just placed in my suit case and putting them back on my bed.
"This is a great school, and I spoke to the head master some weeks ago. They are happy to have you at Medenham."
"Going to a school in a different country is not what I call fun." I said, walking over to the window, peering at down town Berlin.
"I know it won't be the same as here Ali, but please don't protest this." He put his hand on my shoulder.
"Remember when we first moved here from the states? You didn't like it here at first, but now you call it home."
"Now it is home. My friends, my family, my dead mother is buried here. How can you expect me to leave all of this?"
"We all have to make sacrifices Ali -"
"Oh yeah and what was yours?" I protested shrugging off his hand and walking to the door."
"I lost a person I dearly love too, you know."
"And sending me away because you blame me is not going to help you get over it."
I turned the knob and opened the door quickly, hoping he wouldn't do anything rasher than what he had already done. Sending me to Medenham was more of a punishment than it was an 'act of love' ………….
My thoughts refocused on the smoldering ruins, my new 'home.' What was I to do now? I heard Charles screaming into his cell phone, trying to get the fire department to come take care of the situation and get an explanation as to what was going on.
I put down the bag in my hand, walking toward the last remnants of what was to be my school. My father had shown me the brochures that revealed the beautiful school that reminded me of 'A Great and Terrible Beauty.' It seemed mysterious enough to me that it was convenient that the school was gone upon my arrival; as if it had sensed my distaste in the idea of moving and burnt itself down. Now, I had the excuse of returning to the flat in Berlin and seeing my friends and family again. My family would be happy but not my father; I don't know if I would be able to take the glares coming from him if I did return to Berlin.
For some reason, he blamed me for the unexpected death of my mother and, in all honesty, I partly blamed myself, too.
I had asked her if we could go on the town one Friday night about three weeks ago. She didn't protest knowing that it was a Friday night and I was on Holiday. So, we got in the car and drove to the local shopping center. We spent hours goofing around and having fun. But, when we got back into the car and began our journey home, something happened that neither one of us really could control. Our car got a flat and my mom pulled over to call a tow truck. As she got out to examine the tire, I saw a car come speeding toward us. I jumped out of the car to warn my mother but slipped in the mud and basically rolled off the edge of the road, hearing metal against metal as I went. As I came to a stop, I blacked out and couldn't remember anything after that. After a thorough examination in Hospital, the police came in, along with my father to tell me that my mother had not survived….
Everything after that day had been awkward; even when I had been in the hospital for two nights so they could monitor me. I had hit my head on a rock when I rolled down the hill; the object that had caused my blackout, and they had wanted to make sure I didn't have any internal bleeding. He didn't visit, he didn't even call me. My grandmother was the one to come and stay with me at the hospital as I wept for my lost mother…
A cold gust of wind caught my hair, tugging it in the breeze, waking me from the horrid memory of the death of my mother. Chills ran down my spine as I realized I didn't hear the voice of my chauffer.
"Charles?" I asked, looking back to see him walking off toward the trees holding his cell phone high in the air trying to retrieve a signal. I shrugged slowly, examining the building slowly. A compelling feeling told me that I should inspect; see what happened. My father had been a fire marshal in the states; I had actually paid attention to some of the tutorial conversations he would have to one of his new-comers about inspecting what was going on before he arrived on the scene. I took a step forward, looking back at Charles who was preoccupied with his phone still. Another few feet and I found myself at a part of the frame that had once been Medenham.
Although the school had burned, it seemed to me that part of the stone structure still stood. Remembering the beautiful pictures, I walked around the frame of the building. I stopped dead in my tracks when I stumbled upon a part of the building that seemed to be entirely intact. It was hidden from obvious eyes because of all of the rubble around it. In front of me there was an oak door, swinging open, beckoning me in. From all the years of dad's non-stop conversations of never entering a building when it had not been secured flashed back to me, but the compelling feeling began to stir a great feeling in me. I wanted to turn around, but my feet kept carrying me closer and closer until I stepped through the door.
My feet kept pulling me towards the front of the room. As I stepped slowly around the burnt rubble all around me I could feel the atmosphere thicken, and it wasn't the smoke floating about. Something in the area began to glow, but I kept walking. I looked around at the glowing room, trying to figure out if what I was seeing where my eyes or just the remnants of glowing embers. My feet stumbled and I fell to the ground, a great light flashing. Before me there was a cross, in which I had stumbled and fell on. It was completely intact, as if the fire had never touched it. The room began to brighten and I could see that even the things in the room had not been touched.
"She has come." A startling voice echoed throughout the room. I looked around frantically, wondering what was going on.
"Hello?" I asked as I felt myself gain control of my body again. I stood slowly, trying not to panic.
"Alice?!" I heard Charles' voice from outside, and then a blunt, ear piercing scream. I turned to look at the oak door as it still swung freely in the wind. I began to run to it, wanting to escape as quickly as possible. I tripped over many objects, getting cut along the way, but I didn't care.
I stepped out into the disappearing sun and ran toward the direction of where I had last seen Charles. It seemed like it took me forever to run around the frame of the building and when I saw the black BMW in sight, I gave a sigh of relief. I stopped running and looked around to see if I could spot Charles in the brush of the forest, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Charles?!" I yelled loudly, hearing my voice echo through the wilderness. I ran over to the edge of the forest, hoping that I would find him somewhere nearby.
"Charles?!?!" I asked looking into the trees, beginning to feel myself panic. Maybe he just went to go look for me, I did just hear his voice yelling for me. I told myself over and over again. I dodged branches and thorns as I walked further into the brush.
I heard a growl from behind me, but I didn't dare look back and see what or whom it was, knowing that it wasn't Charles. I just trudged ahead, hoping that I would find him sitting on a rock, perfectly in good health, talking on his phone trying to get someone to explain what was going on. I stopped, when I knew I was too far into the forest that I could get lost if I went any further. I wouldn't dare turn around and go back, in fear that the thing that had growled would return and try to feast on me. My mind became a whirlwind of emotions and I felt myself falling fast and hard. The ground flew up and hit me all over as I lay there, wondering what happened.
"Charles?" I said slowly, faintly, as I began to black out.
Not again. I thought. No …I have to find Charles. Was my last thought as I began to slip from thought.
"Alice?" Charles asked me as I felt his hand brush under my neck and lift me from… from where?
I couldn't recall anything. I opened my eyes to see his strong face above me.
"Are you alright?" He asked as I felt my feet touch the ground. I nodded slowly as my hands reached up to my head, massaging my temples.
"I think I will be." I said slowly, looking around. We were in a forest, but I couldn't make out where we were. "Where are we?" I asked stupidly.
"We are at Medenham." He said, looking at me. "The head master is waiting for you." He said slowly. I shook my head slowly, something didn't feel right with that sentence.
"Come, we'll take you to the nurse." He smiled faintly at me. We walked slowly out of the brush and into the open. In the distance I could see a neatly structured Medenham.
The glory of this building was overpowering and sent shivers down my spine. Something surely was not right, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. We slowly approached the entrance to the building and I began to focus on the students that were emerging from it.
"Hello." I heard a deeper feminine voice say, and I looked to see a woman with long brown hair looking at me, a student stood at her side. He was tall, seemed to be older, with dark eyes and brown curly hair.
They were curious eyes, and so dark that I felt I could get lost in them. They reminded me very much of the depiction of a black hole. But, they weren't dreary like a black hole; they seemed to have a light in them that I couldn't quite recognize.
"Hello." I said shyly. My eyes shifted to the head master who was looking at my adoringly and I took her extended hand and shook it slowly. "I'm Ali Callahan." I tried to smile, but my head was beginning to throb. I put my head to my hand and winced with pain.
"Oh dear, do you need to see the nurse?" the head master asked. I nodded slowly.
"She took a stumble in the forest just now." Charles informed her. I felt her arms wrap around my waist and escort me into the school.
"We'll get you settled in your room first so you can relax a little. Malachai, get the nurse." She said, and the student that had been standing next to her followed her orders and ran in another direction.
"Your room is on the third floor and has been vacant for some time now." She said slowly as we climbed the stair case. I stumbled and almost fell, but the head master caught me and helped me regain my composure. I could feel all eyes on me as I we ascended the stairs.
"Thankyou head master." I mumbled slowly.
"Please, call me Jeanne." She said, and I looked at her to see her smiling. Never before had I heard of calling a head master by their first name.
"Like I said, your room has been vacant for some time." She continued, looking up toward the stairs. "Both of the students that preoccupied this room mysteriously disappeared or died. One was found floating in the lake, and the other simply disappeared." She informed me. I looked at her in astonishment. Why was she giving me the room; I didn't want some haunted living space that would keep me up all hours of the night.
"It was the only room that is available at the moment. I do apologize." She said as if she had read my thoughts. We stopped in front of a door that was at the end of the long hallway. She took out a key and opened the door slowly. I saw two beds in the room, both empty. The room was dusty from it not being lived in for some time. Near the window I could see a blue vase with the strangest base; it had horns for the feet that held it up.
"Do lie down." Jeanne said, letting go of my waist as I fell on to the bed. "I will go and see what progress is being made to find the nurse."
I closed my eyes slowly, trying to think of what had happened in the forest to make it hurt so much, but nothing came to me. There wasn't even an explanation in my head as to how I had gotten there. I could barely even remember the trip over the straight. It was all blank to me. It was like my recent memory had been next to nearly erased; it was all just a huge blur.
"Are you alright?" I heard a masculine voice ask. I opened my eyes to see the student, Malachai, I think his name was, standing over me. Jeanne had gone from the room as swiftly as she had come in, and I hadn't even heard her.
"Don't you knock." I asked rudely and the guy just smirked.
"Jeanne is getting the nurse for you and she recommended that I come up and make sure that you didn't black out." He said smoothly. I looked at him, wondering what he was thinking.
"Thanks." I looked at Malachai as he wandered over to the window sill and picked up the vase.
"What is that?" I asked curiously. I saw a smirk appear on his face as he walked over, vase in hand. I leaned up, beginning to feel the pain in my head go away. He handed it to me slowly, my hand grazing the underneath of the vase, the part that looked like thorns. I felt pain come from my finger, and dropped the vase onto my bed.
"Ow." I said slowly, examining the cut.
"Oh dear." Malachai said as the blood dripped into the vase. He took a tissue and put it over the cut. "Here." He smiled slightly as his hand touched mine. He held the tissue on my finger for some time before he finally let go of my hand. All I could do was look at him, and sort-of try to tug my hand from out of his grasp.
I leaned back on the pillows and closed my eyes slowly. I felt myself drift into sleep, and just before it took over, I heard someone singing faintly to me.
