Short Story
L.A period 2&3
'I'm almost there. Just need to reach the gate and I'm home free." Alaina thought as she ran for the gates of the asylum. She had to get out of there. There were more cries of pain. The screeching triggered something in her brain. A small voice told her to turn back. She smacked her head and threatened to shut the voice up with a q-tip again. Alaina realized that someone sounded the alarm and a searchlight almost crossed over her when she ducked into the shadows and continued to move forward. She paused at the gate and listened. Surprisingly she didn't hear the buzz of electricity coursing through the barbwire. So Alaina started to climb. When she reached the top of the gate she carefully crossed over the barbwire. Just as she was about to jump down her ankle got caught. That's when she heard the dogs. She wrenched her ankle out of the tangled mess of barbwire. Falling to the ground she saw the guards. She got up and limped as fast as she could into the menacing forest that lay beyond the boundaries of the asylum Alaina had known for most of her life. It was around midnight in the middle of December and Alaina had nothing but the clothes on her back. Her right pant leg was already torn up because of the fence and she was loosing blood.
Alaina had just reached the graveyard when she realized she had also left her medication behind. Sighing she rested against a tombstone. Alaina looked up at the star filled sky. Just then a raven appeared over head. 'The bird of death. And so soon after I break out of the asylum. I wonder, what will come of me now?' Alaina laid down on the damp Earth and drifted into a deep sleep while listening to the demonic calls of the raven.
As dusk approached Alaina thought she smelled something burning. Ignoring the voices arguing with each other in her head she got up and started her long trek through the forest. Although she forgot her medication she was surprised at how under control she was. Half way through the forest Alaina saw a shadow. Then a flicker of light. Fire? Whoever Alaina saw, they were starting fires. The voices in her head told her to go after the shadow. And this time, she obeyed. She ran as fast as she possibly could toward it. She tripped over a root and as she fell to the Earth, grunted. Causing the figure to stop lighting a tree branch on fire and turn toward Alaina. All she could see of the figure were their piercing blue eyes. Alaina got up and started cautiously walking toward the figure.
"Hey! Can you tell me why you are starting fires? You could kill innocent people that won't be able to get out quickly enough." The blue eyed person turned and ran, disappearing into the smoke of the fire. Alaina sighed and ran after them. When in the heart of the fire Alaina collapsed. Smoke and ash contaminated every breath she took. While trying to crawl her way out of the fire she saw another shadow. Only this time it was taller and the eyes were different. The figure started waling in Alaina's direction. When the figure finally reached her they picked her up and started running through the fire without saying a word.
Somewhere along the way out of the fire Alaina passed out. When she awoke violet gray eyes filled with concern were staring down at her.
"Are you alright?" The strange boy had a voice of an angel. He was tall, muscular, tan, with shoulder length blonde hair.
"Uh, yeah I'm fine. Thank you for getting me out of there. You saved my life. I'm Alaina by the way." Alaina said shyly. This strange boy was beautiful. She was compelled to him. He would never go for her though, she was insane, tall, too skinny, pale, had long black hair with green eyes. She thought of herself as plain. The boy smirked.
"Don't mention it. I couldn't just let you die because my sister thought it would be fun to burn down the forest. I tried to stop her but she is just so stubborn. The name's Daniel by the way." Daniel extended a hang to help Alaina up.
"Your sister?" She tilted her head to the side, looking questionably at him.
"Yeah, her name is Molly. She's kinda…. Well she's a pyro." He admitted. There was a little shame in Daniel's voice, which made Alaina wonder how much he actually approved of his sister. Without a word Daniel started walking away.
"Going to find your sister?" Alaina called after him.
"Yeah we have a lot to discuss." Daniel called back over his shoulder. Alaina ran to catch up with him.
"Do you mind if I come with you?" She asked quietly not expecting him to hear.
"Don't you have a family that is probably worried about you to get back home to?" Daniel kind of snapped the words at Alaina.
Alaina thought to herself, 'Wow bi-polar much?' Then said aloud, "Actually no, I don't. I broke out of the asylum last night. So again, may I come with you?"
"Yeah I guess. But I'm going to apologize in advance for my sister's behavior. She can sometimes be a bit of a hard head." With that they walked off into the forest looking for Molly. The silence was making Alaina nervous. So she decided to join in on the conversation the voices inside her head were having. After a couple minutes of mumbling to herself she finally caught sight of Molly.
"She's over there." Alaina said while pointing to a dark figure leaning against a tree stump. Daniel ran over to his sister while Alaina followed slowly behind.
"You could have gotten this poor girl killed! What were you thinking? I'm taking you back to school with me. And don't even think about sneaking out again. You hear?" He snapped at her. Every word Daniel said made Molly cringe.
"Where do you two go to school?" Alaina asked quietly.
"Willow Creek reform school." Molly spat the words at Alaina then turned to Daniel, "She isn't coming with us is she?"
"Yes she is. She broke out of the asylum last night and has no where else to go. You are also going to give her some of your old clothes that don't fit you any longer. I might even ask Randy if she could bunk with you. Now while you will be figuring out her wardrobe I will be out buying her school supplies. So unless you want me to just drop you off there and let me take everything over. I suggest you get up and introduce yourself." Daniel then stomped away as Molly raised and held out a hand. Alaina took it gracefully and shook hands with the girl, who just hours before had tried to kill her.
"Please excuse my attitude, I've just had a tough week. I didn't mean to kill you either. My name is Molly. And you are?" Molly prompted for Alaina to continue.
"I'm Alaina. I am truly sorry if I cause any trouble between you and Daniel." Alaina looked Molly up and down. She was blonde like her brother but had a short pixie like hair cut. She was tall, skinny, and pale. But clearly younger than Daniel. Then her eyes, they were bright blue and it seemed they could look into your soul.
"No it's fine. Well, we better be off." Molly called over her shoulder as she stated walking the way Daniel had gone. Alaina followed silently behind. They emerged out of the forest in front of what seemed to be a jail. Molly spotted Daniel talking to someone by the flagpole and started after him. When they walked up the conversation Daniel had been having with the man stopped and all three of them turned to look at Alaina.
"So this is her?" The voice had surprised Alaina, it seemed that a female voice came out of a male body. "Hello, I'm Randy." He-she? Extended a hand and Alaina shook it.
"Hi I'm Alaina." Alaina introduced herself in a tone that said 'I'm only partially insane.'
"Daniel told me that you wanted to enroll here at Willow Creek. Is this correct?"
"Yes, well I spent my entire life at an asylum so I have no school supplies. And as for my parents…" Alaina trailed off and looked at the ground. "They died three years ago. So I have no one to actually enroll me. Is that a problem?"
"No not at all. Daniel and Molly will take care of you. Daniel," Randy directed her attention to Daniel. "Take the poor girl shopping for cloths and school supplies. Molly, you and I need to talk about your disappearing act today." Randy turned and walked away with Molly following close behind. Daniel turned toward Alaina.
"Ready for a shopping spree?" Daniel asked with a huge smile on his face. Alaina nodded and walked toward a red BMW in the school parking lot.
When at the mall, Alaina felt like a child in a candy shop.
"Is there any kind of dress code?" Alaina wait for an answer from Daniel.
"Yeah it's black on black during school hours. All your binders, notebooks, and book bag must be black also. You may wear anything on weekends and after school. We have socials every Friday night. Girls must wear red dresses that go below the knee. Students can't leave campus without special permission. So on further note, lets get this party started." Daniel looped his are through Alaina's and started toward Dillards.
Daniel and Alaina had spent the whole day shopping for clothes and supplies. They even stopped at Walgreens to order more of Alaina's medication. When everything was done they went back to Willow Creek. As they approached the school, Alaina smelled burning flesh. She wondered if Daniel smelled it also. She noticed his grip tighten on the steering wheel and his jaw clench. He smelled it too. This meant something terrible. Molly's name came to mind. Was she okay? Did Randy upset her so much Molly set her on fire? They hadn't even come to a complete stop when Alaina jumped out, and started running toward the smell. The smell got stronger until she saw Randy burning at the stake. The sight was horrid but Alaina couldn't look way. Finally she smelled blood and followed a trail only to find a decapitated Molly. That's when Daniel arrived. He instantly dropped to his knees and started sobbing. Alaina went to him and dropped to her knees also. She sat there for a moment, not knowing how to comfort him, she got back up and walked over to Molly's body and examined her head. There was a note stuck in her mess of hair. It read:
"Two have gone to another world. Three shall soon join them. Females have destroyed the world. By noon Friday three more shall meet the dark fate of the two today.
Alaina called to Daniel. "Hey, uh, I know right now isn't really a good time but you might want to come look at what I found." Daniel slowly rose and walked over to Alaina. Taking the note in his hands, Daniel read it.
"This cannot be happening. That S.O.B is going to pay for this. I will hunt him down and decapitate him myself." With that said, Daniel stomped away. Alaina sighed and walked over to where Randy was. Sitting there, Alaina cried and argued with the voices in her head about what she should do. Around two in the morning Daniel came to retrieve Alaina. Picking her up he took her to his room so she could rest. While she was asleep Daniel paced his room thinking about how to track down the person who killed his sister. He couldn't believe Molly was dead. Now he was alone in the world. Daniel looked over at Alaina, in his eyes she was a sleeping angel. He felt a strong attraction toward her and wondered how obvious it was. It has been only twelve hours and already he loved her. 'Does she feel the same? I have to protect her. Although I wish I could have protected my own sister.' Daniel leaned against a wall thinking about the note. Who were the other three going to be? Still leaning against the wall, Daniel sat down and fell asleep.
An alarm sounded at 5:30 AM and Alaina jumped off Daniel's bed and slammed herself up against the wall. Daniel woke up with a start and glared at Alaina. Taking a deep breath Alaina looked at him eyes full of sorrow, and whispered "I am so sorry about Molly. Maybe I should just leave and go to a women's shelter." Daniel looked up at her with tears threatening to over flow his violet gray eyes.
"No, you're going to stay with me. You can stay in my room. I'll get another bed. Now hurry and get ready or we will be late for class." Daniel rose and walked out into the hall. When he reached the end of the corridor he saw someone lying on the ground. Running up to the person Daniel gasped. It was a girl, who had been shot in the head. Daniel saw a note pinned to the girl's shirt. He grabbed it and ran back to his room. As he stepped over the threshold he almost ran into Alaina. "Read this." Daniel said breathlessly to Alaina.
"Um okay." Alaina replied curiosity plain in her voice. The note read:
"The third has joined the first two. To another world they will be doomed. Soon my task will be complete. When two more meet the dark fate. You better protect her Daniel. For she is bait."
Alaina's breath caught at that last line. She glanced at Daniel who was pacing across the room. Alaina sighed and opened the door. When she did a girl fell from the top of the doorframe with a noose around her neck. There was a not pinned to her shirt, in big black letters is said: #4 YOU'RE NEXT! Next thing she knew Alaina was flying backward into Daniel's room. She crumbled to the floor as she did a masked figure came crashing in. As Daniel tried to fight them off one of the voices told Alaina to run back to the woods. She turned to the window and yanked it open. After pushing the screen out she jumped through the window and ran as fast as she could toward the forest that lay beyond her. Déjà vu hit Alaina like a ton of bricks but she continued forward.
After two nights she was worried Daniel had lost his life just to try and save hers. That's when she heard a noise behind her. Ready to meet her fate Alaina turned slowly to meet the killer. When she was able to see who it was she breathed a sigh of relief. "Daniel!" Alaina ran toward him throwing her arms around his torso.
"Alaina are you okay?" Daniel asked his voice filled with concern.
"Yes, yes I am now." First Alaina and Daniel were hugging. Then out of no where they were kissing. Suddenly Alaina's eyes snapped open. She was sitting straight up in a gurney back at the asylum. Looking around Alaina yelled in frustration, "All that was just a dream?!" Sighing Alaina leaned back against the hard pillow. Ready for another day at the asylum.