Prologue
"C'mon Lou!" Seven-year-old Karen yelled to her friend from across the Moon Mountain Vineyard property. "Wanna see where my Mom and Dad make the wine? It's really cool." She clapped her hands together, green eyes shining and brown hair with blonde streaks tumbling over her shoulders.
The eight-year-old Lou was clearly intrigued. Even though he was still considered young by any standards, Lou was nothing short of a genius. "Sure." He smiled broadly, adjusting his blue and orange baseball cap over his untidy brown hair. Karen led the way to a tidy and good-looking brown shed. It had just been built last Summer, and it was still in considerably good shape, considering the typhoon and the blizzard it had withstood.
She opened the door, and led Lou downstairs. "Shush." She warned him, her voice almost too low to hear. "If my parents or the vineyard assistant John hears us, we'll get in big trouble."
"Alright," Lou nodded, excited by the prospect of the adventure. Karen pulled a match out of her pocket, and she lit a large candle to show Lou around the cramped basement of the wine cellar. It took both of her hands to hold the wide candle up.
Downstairs, Karen attempted to explain to Lou what her family did to make the wine. "This huge machine," Karen gestured to the two wooden machines that occupied most of the small downstairs room. "These two, actually, make all of the wine. Grandma does this. She calls the secret recipe 'Doorway to Heaven'."
"Okay,"
"Can you keep a secret?" Karen whispered after a moment's hesitation. She was smiling mischievously, and with the light reflecting off of her face, she looked even more mischievous and cunning. No doubt she was up to no good.
"Yep. Why?" All the same, Lou replied strongly in the affirmative. He absolutely adored the younger girl because of how much courage she had.
"Hold on." Karen, obviously deciding she could trust Lou, ducked behind the bottom of one of the machines. She came out from under the machine with a filthy glass bottle that was chipped on the top. It must have been an old baby food jar.
"What are you going to do with that?" Lou inquired skeptically, even though he was fairly certain he knew what her reply would be.
"This," Karen said, filling the small bottle with wine, and she drank the sip eagerly. "You try. It's real good, Lou."
Lou stared blankly at her. Drink? Underage? His parents had warned him about his friends trying to persuade him to do such things, but he never expected it to be Karen. "Please Lou? Do it for me." Karen pleaded.
"Well, alright." Even though Lou knew it was wrong, he couldn't deny Karen anything. She could ask him to jump off a bridge and he would. Karen cheered, and refilled the bottle, handing it to Lou. Feeling uncomfortable, Lou sniffed it, expecting an acrid smell to fill his nostrils.
It actually didn't smell too bad, and if Karen could do it, so could he. He wouldn't let a seven-year-old girl one up him, no matter how close the pair was. It was only one tiny little sip. Karen tugged anxiously at her jean shorts and white tee. What was taking Lee so long?
Lou drank it quickly, almost as fast as Karen had. It tasted sour, and Lou cringed. Karen smiled, thinking about how wonderful Lou was to her.
Lou's vision blurred, and he leaned on the wooden rack of finished wine. What had possessed him to do something so stupid? Karen must have already built up endurance to that much wine. Karen snatched the bottle from Lou, just as he almost dropped it. She ran outside to get him water from the well. It was almost sundown. Surely Karen's parents and Lou's grandpa would notice they were missing soon, but she couldn't bring Lou back in the state he was in.
Poor Lou. Karen was gripped with fear. I'm sorry, Lou.
She handed her dazed friend the water, which he drank with out any encouragement. He gasped.
"I'm so sorry Lou!" Karen began to cry, sobbing onto her arm. "I really am!" She sobbed.
"Gimmie a minute. Gimmie a minute." Lou said, his thoughts slowly beginning to clear. He had been lucky it was only a little sip. Sadly, Lou knew he was going to have to strengthen his resolve for when he was around Karen. She had a way of twisting him around her fingers. He was breathing deeply. He exhaled slowly.
"I'll be fine, Karen." Lou comforted her a few minutes later. Karen continued to sob. "Karen, I'm fine." Lou repeated firmly, trying to convince her as much as himself.
"Are you sure?" Karen's face was blotchy and her eyes were bloodshot. Lou nodded.
"Yes. But we'd better go back now before anything else happens." Thoroughly spooked, Karen agreed. He stood up shakily, keeping one hand on the wall for support. His head was pounding, but other than that, he seemed to be alright. Karen brushed the tears out of her eyes, admiring Lou's courage. She would never ask him for something like that again.
The wine shed was dark, even with Karen holding her candle firmly between her hands, determined to do something right. Karen led the way to the door, feeling guilty even though Lou insisted he was fine. She opened the door.
Or, at least tried to open it. The door was locked shut. Terrified, Karen grabbed the knob and shook it, as though that would help. Lou looked up. "What's wrong?" He asked, watching her terror.
"We're locked in!" Lou pressed his ear to the door. There were crickets chirping outside, confirming his fears. He too tried the door. It wouldn't budge. "It's nighttime." Lou stated blankly. "No one will hear us until morning, unless the adults figure out where we are."
"Oh no! We're gonna die!" Karen cried, overly dramatic as always.
"Is there any other way out?" Lou questioned, calm in the face of spending the night in the shed. Karen shook her head.
"No. Grandpa built this place perfectly." Karen sighed. She slumped to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest.
"Let's go to sleep then. They'll find us eventually, I guess." Lou yawned, sitting against the wall as well. Within a few moments, Lou had fallen asleep, snoring quietly. Karen, on the other hand, was restless. There had to be another way out.
She began to feel her way through the room, leaving the candle by Lou, since it was too heavy to drag around with her. Maybe there was something she could do to calm her nerves.
Across the room from the door was a large silver machine. Next to it, was a bucket of water. Intensely thirsty, and not caring where the water had been, Karen made her way towards it. Leaning on the wall, Karen lifted the bucket up.
In the dim light, Karen hadn't noticed that part of the wall was rotting away. She was leaning on that very spot, and the wall broke through, making Karen spill the water all over herself.
Lou heard the crashing, and saw moonlight streaming in through a good sized whole in the wall. "Karen, you found a way out!" Lou hugged her, getting himself wet too. Karen, still somewhat shocked from falling through the wall, blinked in surprise.
"Lou, wait, we have to hide the hole. Grandpa will kill me if he sees it." Karen whimpered, frowning. Lou nodded. "I guess I'll just have to put the bucket in front of it for now. John'll help me tomorrow." With a nod, Lou led Karen back to her house, where his grandfather met them to take Lou home.
Just before he left, Lou whispered, "I'll come back, okay? Wait for me. It'll be soon."
Neither Karen nor Lou knew it, but this was the last time they would meet each other for a very long time.
A/N: How was it? I wrote this a while back and finally got a chance to update. I'm a bad KLS, I know… Anyway, please R&R! KLS