As a young girl I would watch the grandfather clock in the upstairs hallway. I would spend my free hours watching the pendulum swing back and forth. I would wait until the big hand would touch the twelve and then hum to the tune our clock would sing out. Every evening my mother would wind the clock, and I would stand near by and watch. The following year, our country went to war. We didn't win. Our country, Kalisp, went to war with our neighboring country, Vexis. The Vex's military strength over powered our own. After many hard battles fought and many lives lost, our country surrendered in fear of loosing our population. When our leaders were executed, a new leader took their place. Many of our citizens continued to fight, some in large numbers and others in small ways. The Vex's didn't like this. There were too many rebels for the government to execute. If they had, a big chunk of our population would have been wiped out. So, instead they found a more gradual way to punish us. The House of Fear. In Kalisp there are 10 villages. In each village there are 30 families or more. Every four years each family must have one volunteer that is taken into custody. All of the volunteers are to take three tests. Only one male and one female pass these tests. This means that the government "gets rid" of the rest. In order to keep the girl and boy amounts equal, a letter is sent to each home with a single letter on it, a M or a F. Once the two volunteers from the village are found, they are taken to The House of Fear. All 20 volunteers must survive one month and those still alive may be released. Our village has never had a survivor. When the first letters were sent out, it called for a female. My parents knew I was way too young to experience this so my mother took the place of the family volunteer. She passed the tests and made it to the HOF, but within the first six hours they found her body in the dining hall, a knife to the back. I lost half of my happiness that day. When you loose a family member in the HOF, the Vex's give you a free turn. Meaning that for one event we don't lose a family member. After eight years the awful truth creeps back up to you. I am running. The dark hallway doesn't help me see where I am. I stop to catch my breath when I see the eyes. Red, glowing, evil. I run. I can hear it coming after me. I am being chased by something. Something that wants to kill me. I come to the end of the hallway. I turn around, my back against the wall. The dark begins to lighten up slightly and I can finally see my pursuer. A man with the face of a clock, one knife in each hand. He throws one at me and it lands into the wall near my head. I scream. When I wake, I am sweating. My breathing is hard and I am wrapped up in the covers. It's just a dream. I am safe from the clock man with a knife. He can't kill me. I burry my face into my pillow and take a deep breath through my nose. My pillow smells like sweet grass. After all, that is what I stuffed it with the night before. I jump out of bed. My feet hit the floor making the boards creek. I walk over to my dresser that holds up a small cracked mirror. In it I see a young girl, barely fifteen. Her hair, thick curly and brown, falls unevenly around her shoulders. Her green muddy eyes stare at her face. She is tall for her age and is slender. She isn't pretty or perfect, but she is me. The dresser drawer squeaks as I pull it back. I glance at the clothes and try to decide what to wear. This is a joke because we only own 5 outfits, all the same color. One uniform for school, one regular slacks and shirt, my pajamas, swim suit and then my dress. All are the dull color of grey. I consider grabbing my uniform, but we may only wear those on a school day. I can't wear my regulars because today is important. We receive the letters today. I grab out the grey dress and throw it on. I consider putting my hair up into a ponytail when I remember how my mother did her hair on the day she left. I brush out my hair so there are no tangles. I leave it down and I just braid a few strands going down the left side. I tie the braid with a small band and let it fall in with the rest of my hair. I don't look like my mother. She was blonde. My older brother was too, but I never knew him. He died in the war. I rush down the small wooden ladder into the living area. My father stands over the wood burning stove probably making breakfast. I smile and grab two plates from a small box in the corner. I set the on the floor and then I grab the wooden bucket by the back door. I walk outside into the yard. We were lucky enough to have a house that backed up to the woods. I run, barefoot, through the trees towards the river. I see a few people walking in the same direction. I know most of them. The river is the only water source that our village may use. We get water for our baths, drinking, and clothes washing. The river is blocked at the ends where they reach the end of our village. We are not permitted to visit other villages. I take my bucket down to the water's edge and go knee deep into the rushing water, the edge of my dress getting slightly wet. I fill the bucket and sit on one of the rocks, listening to the rushing water going past me. Three summers ago, my father took me here to swim. He was chatting with some of the other men while I wandered over to the rapids. My mother had once warned me to keep away from there, but the warning had slipped my mind. I remember walking into the rushing waters, and then slipping on one of the rocks. The current pulled me under and I hit my head on a rock. I was submerged in the water, no one knew where I was. Except him. I remember being pulled up from the water and drug onto the shore. I remember opening my eyes and seeing those dark green eyes. I glance at the rapids and shudder. He saved me from death, and I never found out his name. I never even saw his face. I just saw those green eyes. He had disappeared by the time my father found me. I was out cold. I had a small concussion, but I was fine. I pick up my bucket of water and trek back towards the house. I set it inside. Thern ... 5:38Lottie ... 5:29Marie ... 2:10Joel ... 1:02
"I got the water."
My father looks at me and then at the bucket. "Good, now you can clean the dishes when we finish eating." He hands me a plate of egg and turnip.
"Thanks." I sit down on the floor and nibble on some turnip. My father walks back and forth, ignoring his food.
He finally sits down and begins to eat. I know that we are both worried. Today we receive the letter that determines which one of us will be going to take the tests. We finish breakfast and I take the plates to the bucket. I wash them with my hands until I think they are clean. We can't spare the money for soap. My father has gone upstairs to put on his suit. I am just drying off the dishes when I hear something slip under our front door. I look over only to see a clean white envelope laying on our wooden floor. I stare for the longest time at the letter. Wiping my hands on my dress I slowly walk over to the envelope that holds our family's fate. I gingerly pick up the letter and I turn it over. It is addressed to the Denim Family. I slowly undo the envelope and pull out the small white card. My hands are shaking as I pull it out. I read the single letter printed on the card. F.
I freeze. I can't think, I can't breathe. All I can do is process a single thought. I might die today. My father comes into the room and I let the card fall to the floor. I slowly look at him. It must have been the fear in my eyes because my father cries. I tremble with fear and sit on the floor holding my knees against my chest. I am to take three tests, if I am so lucky as to pass these tests I am taken to the House of Fear where all of my fears come alive. If I am lucky enough to survive an entire month in my fears I get to come home to my family and we will never have to face it again. Not me or my father. We would become entirely safe. If I don't die today that is. At noon the volunteers must report to the school house and attend the tests. My father smooths down my hair and kisses my cheek. I am shaking like a leaf. He follows me to the school and then hugs me good bye. Not a word was spoken between us. That silence is his good bye. I don't recognize any of the people here. Most of them are older than I or too young for me to see them at school. Only one boy looks around my age, but I have never seen him before. We all file into the gym and find a seat. We are all squished together and the gym has just become extremely hot. I am in between an old woman who looks like she is on the brink of death and a young boy who won't stop wailing. His parents must not have cared about him. He looks to be only about five years old. My stomach feels uneasy. A young woman walks up to a podium that has been set up infront of us.
"Welcome Kal Volunteers," she smiles, "Today you shall be going through three tests. One of Mind, One of Pain, and One of Skill. We shall be starting with the Test of Mind. Any one want to go first?," she scans the crowd and her eyes settle on me, "You look willing to." She grabs my arm and pulls me toward a make shift room.
The room is white, and the only things that occupy it are a table, a chair and a touch screen tablet. She sits me at the table and leaves the room. The tablet turns on and a voice comes from it.
"This is the Test of Mind. Answer the questions on the tablet by touching the correct answer. Good Luck."
I lean forward so I can read the screen. Words appear on it. It says to touch the "Fairy". I see a picture of a boat and a person with wings. I know that the boat is called a ferry. The person with wings must be a Fairy. I tap her and another question pops up. It says to touch the red button. I see three buttons. One blue, one red, the other green. I press the red button. I go through many simple tasks like this. Finally the last question comes up. The tablet reads "shake me". I pause. Shake me? What does that mean? I slowly pick up the tablet and give it a quick shake. A noise comes from the thing and I cover my ears. The lady comes back and takes me away. Back in the gym I can already see that some people didn't pass the first test. The little boy and old woman are gone. Only about fifteen of us left. I am surprised I made it past the first test. I let out a relieved sigh. An older man walks up to the podium. His hair has blue tips.
"Next is the test of pain," He scans the crowd, "I will be injecting you with this," he holds up a vial of yellow water, "Liquid Pain. The timer starts once you are injected. The timer stops when you scream, and then I shall inject you with the antidote," he holds up a vial of purple liquid, "Any volunteers?"
He grabs the boy I saw outside the school. The one that looked about my age. The boy winces as he injects the yellow stuff into his arm. The boy braces himself for pain. After about a minute he frowns, but then it shows on his face. The pain has begun. He holds up for about two minutes but then he falls holding onto his stomach. He curls into a ball, biting onto hand to keep from screaming. Then the five minute marker hits and I can tell he can't hold on much longer. He screams. I flinch when he does. The voice makes me shrivel up on the inside. Will I sound like that? Many people go ahead of me. A little girl screams when the needle goes in, and one older man fell over dead. I guess he couldn't take the pain. The top four scores are up. All are about one minute. The boy who went first has the longest time still. He sits three seats down, his face is wiped clean of emotion. Only three people left to go. I fumble around with my fingers. Finally it's my turn. I am half dragged towards the podium. I barely even notice when the needle injects the pain into my arm. I feel nothing. I judge that the first minute has gone by, and then another, and another. I am completely calm. I wonder why it hasn't hit me yet. Right around the four minute mark it hits me, and when it does, it hits hard! I clutch at my stomach and fall, in slow motion, to my knees. The pain spread everywhere. My head, my legs, and even my teeth hurt to the point of me screaming, but I don't. I must past this test. My vision goes, but I am still awake. It is all dark and the pain continues. This darkness scares me. Finally I force myself to give in. I scream. I don't feel the antidote at first, but then a soothing coolness seeps into my body. My vision is still black so I sit there shaking, waiting for someone to tell me what is going on. I feel a hand on my shoulder and I grasp it. The hand helps me up, and I stand there unmoving.
"Are you okay?" asks the young man. I can't see him, but his voice clues me in that it is him.
"I-I-I can't see." my voice cracks at the end.
I feel another needle go into my arm and slowly my vision returns only it's a little different. All of the beautiful color, the green gym walls, the blue tips of the man's hair, and even the yellow tint of the light, replaced by grey, black, and white. I look around confused as to what has happened. I close my eyes and I can see all of the pretty colors. Red, pink, orange, and my mind finally rests on green. The deep green of the boy's eyes. I am forced to go back to my seat. I keep looking around, hoping to get a slight glimpse of color. After a few minutes I realize that I can only see it in my head. The two final people time in under a minute. I look up to see the final scores, and my heart stops.
A few guards come in and take us away into one of the small classrooms. The room is all grey, and white. I know that usually the walls are a light blue, and the desks are all brown. The four of us sit down in a desk. I take the one in the back left corner, away from everyone else. Thern must be the boy who went first, Marie must be the old woman sitting near the small boy who must be Joel. I stare at a small poster on the wall behind the teacher's desk. It says "To be or not to be". I don't understand what it means. To be or not to be. Joel and Marie are chatting while Thern just sits there with the same expressionless face. He sits only three desks away from me. I need someone to talk to, but I'm not sure if he wants to talk. I stand up and move to the desk next to him.
"Hi," I smile, "My name is Lottie, um, You must be Thern. Good job with the test thingy."
He looks at me, "Yeah. I'm Thern," he sounds hostile, "You did a good job on it too. I mean you did come in second."
I grin, "True, but it cost me my vision of color."
"What?" he looks surprised.
I grit my teeth, "Um, my vision went out around the four minute mark, and I was completely blind. Then that guy injected me with something and then I could see again," I pause, "but with out color. Only grey, black, and white."
He looks at me. "That is terrible. These things mess people up," his fist slams against the table, "They damaged you! Ugh!"
I look at him. He is full of anger. His face looks sad yet his fists say differently. They are clenched together. He looks at me and he softens up. Maybe it's by the way I show I fear him or otherwise.
"I know, but there is nothing we can do." I lower my eyes and stare at the black carpet.
Thern looks down and then gets up. "If you need my help, ever, just ask. Okay?" he walks away and finds a desk near Marie and Joel.
I nod and then go back to my desk in the corner. The man and woman walk in. I flinch when I see the man. Seeing him just reminds me of colorless pain. They walk towards the center of the room and stop. I see that the door has been locked and that there are no guards in the room. I get worried.
"Congratulations Joel Marking, Marie Goodman, Lottie Denim, and Thern Hanaway. All four of you passed the Test of Pain," she smiles, "Now for the Test of Skill."
"All four of you will be put into the same room, you must get to the other door. The first girl and the first boy to reach the door continue on to the House of Fear," he pauses, "You take in what you have on you and nothing else. Follow me."
He leads us out of the room and down the hall. We reach the gym, but it has been transformed. The gym has been set up as a model of the grocery store down the street. There are ropes hanging from the ceiling, some making bridges and such. We are standing on a thick rubber mat. The whole floor is wet. I wonder why, but of course the man has all answers.
"Good Luck. Oh, I forgot to tell you. The floors are electrocuted." he walks away and locks the door behind him.
Marie is the first to grab onto a rope. She walks across the rope bridge and continues on, Joel following her. Thern stands there, looking around at the scene. I start towards the rope but he stops me.
"No. It's too dangerous to go that way."
"We have to," I shout as I try to get around him, "There is no other way!"
He looks at me and laughs, "Follow me."
He walks up to one of the nearby shelves and starts climbing to the top. I, like he asked, follow him. Thern gets to the top and helps me up. I give him a nod of thanks. He runs toward the next shelving and jumps. Lucky for him, he sticks the landing. I try to do the same, but my feet land just on the edge. I slip. I grab onto the edge of the shelf and haul myself up. Thern stands there laughing at me.
"What?" I say as seriously as I can.
"You can't even jump three feet with out almost killing yourself." He laughs and helps me up.
I scowl, "Watch me."
I break away from his arm and run towards the next shelf. I gain speed and jump, a little too far. I land halfway down the next shelf, but I did land safely. I look back and Thern is still laughing at me. I scowl and keep jumping until there is nothing left to jump to. Thern catches up to me and realizes the problem. I look back to see Marie and Joel swinging from ropes, heading in our direction. I have to beat Marie. I just have to.
"Get on my back," Thern commands, "Now Lotts."
I stare at him. He called me Lotts. No one outside of my family has ever called me that. I climb onto his back and ask, "What are we doing?"
He smirks, "Just don't scream in my ear."
He jumps. I hold in my scream and close my eyes. I feel a jerk as he grabs onto one of the ropes that hang from the ceiling. I hang on tight so I won't fall, but I am worried about him being strong enough to hold both of our weights. Thern swings through the ropes with ease. We finally reach on of the shelves and he drops onto it.
"Lotts," he laughs,"You can get down now."
I slowly loosen my grip and climb off of him. "Sorry." I smile.
He laughs, "You're fine."
We run towards the door. I can see it easily now, but I can also see that Marie and Joel are closer than we are. My legs are getting tired from the long run. I don't remember the gym being this large. Thern keeps up his pace and soon I am falling behind. He realizes this and urges me on.
"Come on Lotts, Come on! You can do this!"
I believe him, I can do this. I run faster, catching up with him. One more jump and we land on the rubber mat infront of the door. Thern jumps and makes it. I jump, but I know that I didn't jump far enough. Everything goes into slow motion. I see Thern's smile flip into a frown, I feel myself falling towards the electrocuted ground, and I know that I am going to die. I hear Thern cry out as I hit the ground. I lie there, expecting to feel the electricity, but I don't.
"Lottie?," It's Thern, "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"
I slowly sit up, there is an ache in my side from where I landed, but nothing is broken.
"I'm fine," I look at him, "Why am I not dead?" He shrugs.
I get up and walk over to him. Thern opens the door and let's me go in first. I look back only to see Marie's body lying limp on the floor down the isle. Thern follows my gaze and then shuts the door. We made it. They didn't. We are going to the House of Fear. Even there we aren't sure that we are safe."Congratulations Thern Hanaway and Lottie Denim." It's the man with the blue tipped hair, only to me they are a dull grey.
We stand there, breathing heavily as the young woman enters the room. In her hand she has two vials of liquid. She hands one to each of us and tells us to drink them. Thern looks at her uncertain but then drinks. I open my small vial and then I drink. It is sweet and heavy. The effects must kick in because my eyelids start to feel heavy, then I am gone.
I am in a dream. Water rushes over my feet and I smell fresh grass. I am standing in the river back home. Everything is still black and white. My father stands on the bank talking with some fishermen. The rapids are to my right. This is all to familiar. I walk towards the rapids, but this time I am more cautious. I spot a small group of boys about my age messing around near by. I walk into a swift current and just like before I am drug under. My head hits the rock. Just when I think I am dead someone starts shaking me. Shaking me? I am puzzled. I hear someone calling my name. Over and over. I open my eyes and I'm awake. I wake up. Thern leans over me shaking my shoulders. He is shouting my name. I look up into his eyes and I see a quick flash of green, but then they go back grey. I sit up and fake a yawn.
"Lottie, are you okay?" He sounds panicked.
I smile, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You were thrashing around so much and I thought..." he trails off at the end.
"I'm fine," I look away, "Just a bad dream."
He looks at me and I get up, "Don't worry about me, okay."
I look around the room. It is a nice plush space. The bed is a king canopy and the sheets are grey. There is a living space equipped with two white leather couches and a matching love seat. A single window lets the sunshine into the room. Two doors, one must go into the hallway and the other probably the bathroom. Sliding doors are slightly open and I can see a variety of clothing. I wish I could see the colors of everything around me, but can only imagine. "Welcome to the House of Fears," Thern says with a laugh, "So far no one has faced a fear yet. I couldn't find you in the parlor downstairs so I started searching the rooms," he pauses, "I guess you should get dressed and come down stairs. Breakfast will be soon." Thern walks out and shuts the door behind him.
I smile to myself. This is the House of Fear. Isn't so scary yet. Silently, I walk over to the closet doors. I open them and peer into the gigantic walk in closet. Clothes everywhere. Dresses, blouses, slacks, t-shirts, jeans, and others. I wish I could see all of the beautiful colors of the outfits. Having no clue what the others will be wearing, I grab a sun dress that has a floral patter on it and slip it on. I find many racks of shoes and I put on a pair of simple sandals. I walk through a door and into the bathroom. A large tub, huge shower, and three sinks. So beautiful. I walk up to the first sink and I see something that I only wished of using. Soap. I pick the bar up carefully and sniff it. It smells like grass. I wash my hands, my face, and finally my neck. The cool water feels good. Once I am clean, I walk into the long hallway. I follow the hall until I reach a set of long flowing stairs. A grey carpet lining them, but I imagine it to be red. I smell someone cooking. Following my nose, I end up in the kitchen. Three girls stand around cooking. One of them stops and smiles at me but continues with her task. I hear laughing in the room next door so I walk towards it. The first person I see when I walk in is a man, maybe in his thirties, he stands around talking with a few boys. The room has three large couches and a small mahogany coffee table. A fire place brings the room together. A single window looks out into the yard. I wonder to myself if we are allowed to go out there.
"Hey, Hey," A voice calls out, "Who is this lovely creature?"
A young man walks up and throws his arm around me, "What's your name lil lady?"
I shrug his arm off my shoulders and back away, "Name's Lottie."
Thern spots me and simply rescues me from the man, "Back off Loyd. Sorry about him, apparently he has a problem of getting drunk easily."
I smile at him, "Thanks, um, so how do you know him?"
He looks at me and laughs, "Well just imagine him waking you up instead of me and I were you."
I shudder, "Poor you."
He smirks, "Poor me."
One of the girls from the kitchen comes in and shouts, "Come and Get It!"
I stand against the wall while the stampede of sixteen people rush by me, eager to eat. As the last one in I look around for an empty seat and the long table. Thank goodness Thern saved me a seat by him. I owe him one. I take my seat and smile at Thern. The girls bring out the food. We each get one large spoonful of whatever is on the plate. I get scrambled egg, bacon, turnip chunks, a roll of bread, and some orange juice. There was much more, but I wasn't so sure that I could finish it all.
"Okay, so you have all talked and such. Why don't we do a meet round, where we say our name and an interesting fact about ourselves," a little boy says, "I'll start. My name is Johnny and I like the color purple." He smiles and points and the lady next to him.
"Oh my, My name is Rose," she smiles, "I like to play tennis."
The older man next to her speaks up, "Skinner is what you can call me, and I don't care for reckless teens."
The next little girl giggles, "My name is Anne, and I like bubbles."
A girl about my age speaks up, "My name is Angie, and I catch frogs for fun."
Ten more people go before me. I met Ted who eats grass, Lauren who draws gorgeous pictures, Nathan who works at the grocery, Nana who has twelve grandchildren, Loyd says he is drunk, Becky who has been to three other villages, Toby who says he has met our leader, George who collects different colored rocks, Jenni who loves to cook, and Hannah who sews. Johnny points at me. I guess it's my turn.
"My name is Lottie, please call me Lotts. I am color blind." My voice cracks at the end. People stare at me while some ignore me.
"Thern is the name, and I saved Lotts life when we were younger." I stiffen. He pulled that card? I look at him and he just shrugs it off like it was nothing.
"My name is Nancy, and I am afraid of the dark." We all look at her. She stated a fear, in the House of Fear.
"Um. My name is Ben, and I, um, enjoy walks in the park."
"Well I'm the last to go," says a young woman, "My name is Renee and I am hungry. Can someone please pass the eggs?"
After breakfast Thern goes and helps some of the men to gather wood. Apparently we are permitted to go outside, but there is an electric fence that surrounds the whole property. I help with the dishes. Jenni, Hannah, and Rose had made breakfast this morning, and they were the only volunteers to do so while we are here. They welcomed me into their group like I was their sister. Once we put the dishes away, Jenni took me upstairs to my room.
"Are you really color blind?" she asks me once we are seated on my couch.
"Yeah." I lower my eyes.
"Hey, don't be sad. I heard that color blind people can see better in the dark so that might help you."
I smile at her, and she smiles back. Jenni leaves proclaiming that she must go help Nana with something, and I am alone. I venture into the bathroom again and I look at the shower. Only once have I experienced something like this. It was before the war when we lived in our old house. I slip my clothing off and into the shower I go. I turn the knob until Nice warm water comes from the head. I use gel soap and lather my hair. Once the soap is rinsed out I turn the water off and step out. I wrap my hair up into a towel and I wrap my body, too. My sundress has disappeared so I walk in my towel to my closet in the bedroom. I step into the room and find Thern sitting on one of the couches, his back to me. I freeze. He hasn't seen me yet. I move slowly towards the closet, luckily he doesn't see me. I slip in and dress in a simple shirt and jeans. I let my hair down as it is and then I walk back into the room.
"Why Mr. Hanaway! What, may I ask are you doing in my room?"
Thern gets up off the couch and faces me. His face is apologetic. "Gosh Lotts, I'm sorry, um, I didn't know you were in the shower so I waited thinking that you were coming upstairs."
I smirk, "It's fine," I sit down on the couch opposed of him and he sits down, "Would you like to explain yourself? About what you said at the table?"
He looks down, "Um, well I thought since..." his voice trails off.
"It was you that saved me? Why didn't you ever tell me? I mean, all that I knew about you was that you had dark green eyes." I look at him.
"Just be glad I saved your sorry self from a death in the rapids." Thern stands up and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
I shout at him as the door slams, "Never call me Lotts again!"
While drying my hair, I closed my eyes and imagined all of the colors I could think of. Rose red, grape purple, sky blue, and many more. My mind finally rests on green. I open my eyes and march out of my room, down the hall, and into the kitchen. Jenni and Rose are busy putting together as many sandwiches as they can before lunch. Hannah has busied herself with patching a hole in one of the oven mitts.
"Why hello Lotts," Rose smiles, "Would you mind helping us a little? We need more meat from the fridge. Would get it please?" she busies herself with sandwiches again.
I look around and I find the fridge in the pantry. While turning on the light in the pantry, I could have sworn I heard something moving inside the fridge. Carefully, I approach it. I quickly throw open the doors and brace myself for whatever's inside. It's Johnny, and he is crying.
"Lotts!" he cries out.
"Johnny, what happened?" I help him out of the fridge, he is shaking like a leaf.
"I-I-I was getting something to drink, and I had to lean inside to grab the juice box," he sobs, "And somebody pushed me in and shut the door. I couldn't get back out." he really starts to cry now.
"Shhh shhh," I hug him, "It's okay. Why don't we go get you a few blankets so you can warm up? Maybe some hot chocolate?" Johnny giggles.
I scoop him up and carry him into the living room. Only Nana and Loyd. Nana quickly grabs some blankets to cover the freezing child and I order Loyd to go get some hot chocolate. He hands Johnny the drink, and the child smiles a thank you. Nana is covering him in blankets. Once Johnny is settled in, I leave. The first attack has happened, and lucky for Johnny, I found out about it. We all must be careful. I walk to the front door and go outside for the first time since yesterday. I take a deep breath of fresh air and walk down the small cobble stone path. The grass, though a dull gray, I imagine to be a nice green. I follow the path to a gorgeous flower garden where I find Lauren drawing some of the beautiful daffodils that grow next to her bench. Slowly, I walk away, trying not to disturb her. I walk towards the small section of woods that the fence allows. I see a squirrel or two, and a family of birds.
"Hiya Lotts," it's Angie, "I was just on my way to the small creek that runs through the fence. Wanna come?"
I smile, "Sure! Let me guess, frog catching?" she laughs.
We walk together down the path. I notice she is barefoot. When we reach the stream, I am surprised at how beautiful it is. There are frogs everywhere, but none jump into the water. Angie rolls up her jeans and hops down the small bank. I look around to see the electric fence that goes into the water, but before I can shout to her, it's too late. Angie jumps into the water. Her body goes ridged and then she falls, half of her on the bank and the other half in the water. I scream.
"No, no, no," My eyes begin to tear, "h-h-help! Help! Anyone? Help!" I scream at the top of my lungs.
I hear people running towards me. Nathan, Loyd, and Thern come running up. They see her body.
"What happened?" Nathan demands.
His harsh voice scares me, "I, she... Wanted to catch frogs, but the water. She got shocked." My words are scattered but by the look of his face he understood what I and Nathan go and retrieve the body. Thern stands with me. I am shuddering and crying. He makes no move to comfort me. I am glad he doesn't. Sitting in the grass calms me, and Thern sits as well. Nathan and Loyd carry Angie's body back to the house. I watch as they go by. I put my face in my hands and curl my knees to my chest. I can't do this. I know people were going to die, I just wasn't expecting to be there with them when it happened.
"Lottie," Thern scoots closer and wraps his arm around me, "I'm sorry. For everything."
I push him away. My eyes are red as is my face. I get up and run towards the house. I find myself back in the kitchen with Jenni and Rose. They look they have been crying a little too. All nineteen of us join in the living room. Renee stands infront of us.
"Today we have lost our dear friend, Angie. We will always remember her as the girl who caught frogs. I believe we all have the right to know how exactly she died," Renee looks me dead in the eyes, "Lotts would you mind?"
I get up. As I reach the front of the group, I feel eighteen pairs of eyes watching me. I speak, "Angie had invited me to go frog catching down by our creek that runs through the yard. When we arrived she rolled up her jeans and jumped in. Just as she was hitting the water I saw that the electric fence ran right through the water. She died of an electric shock." my voice cracks at the end.
"Thank you, Lottie," Renne chokes out, "We will all remember Angie."
As everyone breaks up, Thern finds me and accompanies me back to my room. I don't want him here. I don't want to see him. He opens my door for me and I walk into my room. I find myself in the bathroom brushing my hair. Thern stands at the door watching me. Tears still flood my eyes and my hands shake as I brush my hair. I carefully braid a single strand down my left side and let it fall. I find myself pushing past Thern and entering the living area in my room. Slowly, I walk around the room, taking in all of the designs on the wall. Flowers of all kinds. Imagining them in color lifts my mood but then it drops when I see a picture of a frog on my wall. I pull the frame off the wall and smash it on the ground. I sit on the floor holding my knees, my face down. I cry and sob. Thern stands there, still by the bathroom door, watching me as I cry. He doesn't comfort me, he doesn't speak, he just watches. I wish that Joel had beaten him to the door, but then again, Thern wouldn't have saved me if that had happened. Maybe I should have just failed the test. I run my fingers through the carpet and I find a large shard of glass. I lift my head up and watch as my hand gets cut on the sharp edge. It doesn't hurt. I have been through worse. My blood runs down my arm and drips to the floor.
"Lottie," I look up to see Thern kneeling infront of me, "Why did you cut you hand?"
He grabs the glass from me and throws it behind him. I sit there staring at him. Thern grabs my hand and forces my palm out flat. I see small chunks of class in there, but I still don't feel the pain. Pulling out a pair of tweezers, he carefully picks the glass out of my hand. My facial expression never changes, even when it did hurt.
"I'm taking you to Hannah," Thern pulls me up, "Maybe she can sew you back together."
I follow him down the hall. He turns left and right. We finally come to a door. Thern knocks and Hannah answers. He shoves me inside and sits me on one of her couches.
"Can you stitch her hand?" he asks, "It's a glass cut."
She sits down next to me, "May I see?"
I hold out my hand and she smiles, "That is an easy one. You don't need stitches," she laughs,"You need to clean it and bandage it. Come with me."
She takes me into her bathroom and shuts the door behind us leaving Thern on the couch.
"Here we go," she pulls out a small red bag, "This may sting a little."
She holds my hand over the sink and pours a clear liquid over my cut. I bite my lip. She was right, it does sting. Hannah gets out a thin bandage wrap and carefully wraps my hand. She looks at me and smiles.
"That Thern guy, he isn't that bad of a looker." she giggles.
I sigh, "I guess he isn't that bad."
She looks me in the eye, "I think he likes you."
"What?" she cover my mouth with her hand. I did say it a little loudly.
Hannah lowers her voice to a whisper, "Well, he saved your life when y'all were little, he had to find you before breakfast, he was overly concerned with your cut," she raises an eye brow.
"Oh Hannah," I stand up and walk back into the living area, "Thanks for fixing my hand."
"No problem." she says with a wink.
Leaving Thern, I walk into the hallway and wander to the right trying to find my way to the stairs. I hear someone behind me and I guess Thern must be following me. I wonder about what Hannah had said. Maybe he does like me, or maybe she was just wrong. Then I hear it. The ticking of a clock. I freeze in the hall. The person behind me stops as well. I slowly turn around to see who it is and then I scream. My dreams have become reality. The man stands there. He wears a soft grey suit and black shoes. His skin is pale, but this isn't what scares me. It's the fact that his face is a clock and in his hands are two knives. He walks towards the and I back up. His hand raises, the knife hovering over me. I run. I dodge him and run down the hall, turning which ever way. I hear him running behind me. I run, panting, trying to find a way to escape. I reach a dead end. I turn and my back is against the wall. One of his knives whiz by me head and lodges into the wall only a few inches from my head. The clock faced man creeps closer and closer until I can feel his breath on my face. He raises his hand that holds the knife. I close my eyes. The knife comes down, and I jump to the left. The knife catches my leg and lodges itself near my knee. I scream. The pain. It is worse than the liquid stuff they gave me. The clock man disappears. My leg bleeds heavily and I scream continuously. I hear some one running in the hall and I see a grey figure approach me. I smell booze.
"Oh my. Lotts, what happened?" It's Loyd. He sounds drunk.
Through my small screams I manage to say, "Find Th-Thern."
Loyd stumbles in a run and goes down the hall shouting for help. The searing pain overwhelms me. I am losing too much blood. My vision goes blurry and I feel extremely dizzy. I see a few figures running towards me. Their voices are slow.
"Lottie!" one calls out.
"Loyd what happened?" asks another.
"I don't know. I just found her screaming with a knife in her leg." says a voice that must belong to Loyd.
"Lottie! Lottie! Say something is you can hear me! Please!" it's the first voice.
"Ow." is all I can manage.
I slowly open my eyes and I see three things. Blood, People, and a pair of green eyes looking down at me. Thern reaches his hand to my face a touches me cheek. Pain hits when someone pulls the knife out. I scream and thrash about but Thern holds me down steady. He tells me to keep looking at him, and I do. I see his eyes. They look worried. I see that dark green. Is it from memory or for real? Another pain comes when someone pours a cold liquid into my gash.
"Keep looking at me Lotts. I know it hurts but they are making it better okay?"
I nod. Thern's hand brushes my cheek again and I close my eyes. He yells at me again. I open them again and keep looking at him. Someone sticks a needle through my leg again and again. I clench my teeth together to keep from screaming. Water is poured over my leg. It sooths the pain only for a brief second. Thern picks me up carefully and takes me down the hall. I finally close my eyes, and he doesn't yell at me. We get to my room and he lays me down on the bed.
"Thanks." I smile slightly up at him.
He sits down next to me and smirks, "Better be glad Loyd found you."
I smirk back, "Oh yes. Definitely!"
"What happened?" Thern's voice has become serious and that smile has faded.
"I was chased. By a man. With a clock face," I pause to take in his reaction, "And he had two knives. One he threw at my head, and the other, well you saw." I lower my eyes and stare at my hands. They tremble slightly.
"Are you okay?" he sounds serious, but I can't help but laugh.
"So you ask if I'm okay when I've been chased down a hall by a clock faced man, a knife was thrown at my head, and one went into my upper leg. No, I'm not okay, but thanks for asking."
Maybe my sarcasm was a little too harsh or maybe he took me seriously, Thern gets up and starts to walk towards the door.
"Don't leave me." My voice sounds small, "Please."
He keeps walking and leaves, shutting the door behind him. Immediately I feel like someone is watching me. I try to get up and walk back to the parlor. Leaning against furniture, I manage to make it to the door. I turn the knob and push. The door doesn't budge. I rattle the knob and push and pull, but it's locked. My leg starts hurting so I lean up against the door. Tired, I lean me head back and shut my eyes. Something makes me open my eyes. I focus on the closet doors. They slowly open. I freeze. The Clock Man stands in the opening. I slowly get up and try the door again. It is still locked. Panicking is not an option, but it seems like the right thing to do. The man doesn't have knives so I feel slightly safer. As he slowly walks towards me, I feel a scream building up in my throat. He is just inches away from me when the clock man reaches out and touches my face. I scream. My hands curl up into fists and I punch the first thing that comes to mind. His face. Bad choice because his face is a clock. I rub my hand. My leg hurts from the movement but it reminds me that I'm not dead. I kick, with my good leg, the man in the shin. When he cries out, the sound reminds me of a clock tolling three o'clock. I try to bang the door down with the strength that I have but it doesn't work."Help! Help! Thern! Anyone! Help!" I shout out.
The clock man comes up behind me and grabs the back of my neck and squeezes hard. He picks me up like I was a rag doll and slams me onto the ground. I scream out in pain. The clock picks me up again, but this time his hand is on my throat. He holds me up high, his hand blocking me from getting any air. I claw at his pale hand, unable to make a sound. My legs flail around not even kicking him.
"Lotts? Hey, Lots? Are you okay? I-I heard you scream. Everything okay?" It's Jenni.
I can't speak, I can't yell. She doesn't know I'm in trouble.
"Okay, I understand. I'll bring you some soup later." she walks off.
There goes my last hope. My vision gets splotchy and my head hurts. The man throws me to the floor and stands there. I breathe in and out, getting oxygen to my brain and heart. He kicks my stomach. I wanna barf. Maybe if I throw up on his shoes he will run away. The clock man picks my up by my shirt and throws me against a wall. I slowly sit up. The clock faced man slowly pulls something out of is suit. I look to see what it is. A small revolver. He cocks it back and points it at my forehead. I shut my eyes and wait for death. I feel the cold tip of the barrel on my forehead. After a minute the barrel slowly drags down my face and lands in my lap. I open my eyes and look down. His hand and gun lay in my lap. I scream. Just his hand. Just the gun. I look up and I see Thern with a blood covered sword and the clock man dead on the rug. Thern throws the sword to the ground and looks at me. I am shaking, tears drizzle down my cheeks. The clock faced man is dead, his hand is on my lap, and my stitches have reopened. Thern walks over to me and picks up the hand. He hands me back the revolver. I put it on the ground and slowly stand up. I look from the dead man to Thern and then to the sword.
"Where did you get that?" I point at the bloody weapon.
"I found it hanging on my wall with a note. The note said one simple word." He looks away.
"What was the word?" I lean against the wall.
Thern looks at me, "Lotts."
I close my eyes, "I owe you one. Actually two."
He smirks, "You better pay up soon."
I smile. Thern scoops me up and sets me on the bed. I shake my head.
"What?" he laughs."Can you take me down stairs? I feel safer around people." I laugh.
He carries me down the hall. We pass the knife in the wall. I grab it as we walk by. I finger the blade. Once down stairs, Thern sits me on the couch by the window. I see that Renee is crying. Rose sobs silently with Hannah. Jenni just sits there. I look at Thern. He walks out of the room. Jenni looks at me.
"It's Johnny." Hannah blubbers.
I shake my head in disbelief. "No. It couldn't have happened. Not Johnny." My voice cracks at the end.
Loyd, Toby, and George carry the small body upstairs. A simple white sheet covers him. Lauren walks in, as white as a ghost. Silent tears stream down her face. My own tears have started to fall. Slowly people start coming into the parlor. All eighteen of us gather around. Renee hasn't moved to the front so I start off.
"We have lost someone today. His name was Johnny. His favorite color was purple. That poor little boy, so innocent, not even ten years old. Lauren, you were there. Would you mind sharing with us? Please?" I hoped I sounded kinder that Renee.
"Sure," Lauren walks to the front of the room, "I was out in the garden, drawing some of the flowers that grow out there. Johnny came by and watched me. He played around one of the butterfly bushes. I was drawing a picture of him when I heard him scream. I rushed over to the large rose bush where the scream came from. I couldn't see him, but I saw the blood drip down from the bush." she starts crying.
Everyone gathers at the dinner table for dinner. I help Rose, Hannah, and Jenni serve the food. No one talks at dinner, no one even ate lunch. We lost two people today. Both of them were two of the nicest people I have met. The first day is over. Only twenty nine more days like this to go. I can't even start to imagine what horrors we will have to face tomorrow.
As I wake up the following morning I feel like someone is in the room. As if I could just feel their presence. I sit up to find Jenni asleep on one of my couches. She lays there in a simple green night gown and her hair is in a small bun. A thought hits me. Hold on, I can see what color her night gown is. Green... All green. I slowly get up and walk to the window. I stare out into the world. I can see the green in the trees, grass, bushes... I gaze at the only color, hoping that it won't go away, leaving me in a dull gray life.
"Morning Jenni," I say as I see her slowly sit up. My eyes still look out the window.
She yawns and rubs her eyes, "Morning."
I smile. "Sorry, um, I was scared last night. Something was growling in my closet." she runs down to the kitchen while I take another shower. I use orange smelling shampoo and lather it up. Once I rinse it out I jump out of the warm shower and dry off. My hair is still wet as I skip down the stairs in my simple jeans and shirt. The shirt is dark green. I dance into the living room and stop short. Only seventeen pairs of eyes stare up at me. All of the faces are spooked, or frightened. Even Loyd's.
"Where is Thern?" my voice trembles slightly. No one answers me.
I run. Up the stairs, down the hall and into his room. The bed is made, there is no one in the bathroom. There, on the couch, is a grey shirt. I pick it up. A small smear of something is on the front. I can only hope it's not blood. I rush into the hallway and run right into Hannah.
"Lottie," she says, "You okay?"
I show her the shirt, and she doesn't respond, "Hannah. Please tell me that is not a blood stain."
Hannah lowers her eyes.
I grab her by the shoulders, "Where is he ?!"
"Lottie!" I hear him. He sounds muffled, scared, in pain.
"Thern ?!" I shove Hannah out of my way as I rush down the hall towards his voice.
"Lottie, help I'm trapped in here ! Lottie!" and then I see him.
A large hour glass. Sand slowly trickling to the bottom, right where he stands. Already, the sand is up to his knees. A bloody gash in his left shoulder, probably given to him by his captor. Thern looks up at me. His eyes, green like the forest. Pulling the knife from my belt, I smash into the hour glass, freeing him. The sand pours everywhere as he stumbles out. Skinner and Nathan rush by me, tackling Thern to the ground.
"Stop! Stop," I cry, "You're hurting him!"
Renee pulls me away from the scene and locks us both in her room.
I fight against her and tries to get passed the door. She shoves me down on the couch.
"Lottie, look at me!," I look at her, "He was possessed. Thern attacked Rose! We put him in his room, all tied up. He freaked us out, okay? We didn't put him in the glass. He isn't the same anymore. Thern is dangerous!"
I shake my head, "No. No. He isn't."
Renee sighs and I leave her room. I see Nathan and Skinner drag a tied up Thern into his room. Thern looks over at me. His eyes scream to me, "Help me!" but I can't. It's one against sixteen. If I help then I'll be tied up. Ignoring him, I wander down stairs finding Nana. She tries to comfort me, but I cannot helpbout think of Thern.
(HI ! I've been working on this for a long time and I just wanted to know what people thought and if I should finish)