Chapter - 2
Class was interrupted by the low hiss of static as the old PA system was forced back to life, the speakers popping and growling like the joints of an old man being woken up from a nap. After several coughs the speakers succumbed to the given command to power on, briefly transmitting the screams of the damned souls in hell, before switching to a more familiar mumble, the buzz of static never fully going away.
Many wore the theories that the pupils and even some of the younger teachers devised to explain "The Tone"; some claimed they wore the souls of students trapped in the PA system by the creepy woodwork teacher while others claimed it was an intercepted signal from World War II, played by the principle for nostalgia, with only a select few knowing the truth. Every time "The Tone" was played, those who knew muttered a small prayer of thanks to the physics teacher, who sabotaged the PA system several years ago, saving the school from being subjected to "The Vengabus" every forty-five minutes.
"The Tone" sounded one final time heralding the end of the school day, its diabolical mumbling quickly drowned out by the hooting and hollering of children as they stampeded out of the school building and onto the chilly street of the town, the late spring sun greeting the exited youths with its warming rays. Once the horde of middle schoolers left the building it began to slow down and disperse, the number of bodies per square centimetre finally reaching a low enough for Betty to slither her way out of the crowd, withought having her lunch squeezed out of her.
Betty never liked the end of day chaos, preferring the solitude of the school library, picturing herself as a lore keeper or historian, exploring an ancient vault of knowledge the secrets of which wore long forgotten; a fantasy that was helped by her recent graduation to seventh grade which granted her access, both literally and figuratively, to the higher and previously unexplored shelves of the library.
She enjoyed spending her days walking amongst the shelves, fingers gliding over the spines of texts the majority of which she knew well she would never read, instead passing the time by mispronouncing the titles she discarded, something she found rather entertaining as she searched for what truly interested her, the magical and the occult, but today was no ordinary day, today was special.
After breaking free of the jabbering mass and consulting her watch, Betty took off at a sprint, already forgetting the unpleasant mixture of body odours and perfumes created by the young crowd and plotting a rout to the local bakery; she had to pick up a cake for her mother's visit and had less than fifteen minutes left to retrieve it.
Her mind conjured images as she ran, she imagined Alice stepping into the house, hands holding bags brimming with gifts and treats, her thin lips pressed into a forced smile trying to mask her tiredness. Betty would run up and give her a tight hug, the thudding of her father's limp growing louder as he too approached, a look of joy painted on his face and a silent apology in his eyes. The couple would hold each other tightly, entire conversations held through subtle touches and glances withought a single word spoken.
At a younger age Betty didn't notice these small details, her attention swallowed whole by the colourful baubles and sweet treats her mother had just brought; "not simply a gift but a deliberate diversion" she thought in retrospect, but as she grew up, she began to notice their silent conversations.
She noticed how her mother would sag in Alexei's arms, how he would sigh as his entire body trembled ever so slightly before hugging his wife tighter, a hand placed on her lower back in support. She noticed how Alice would shake her head in response, face buried in her husband's sweater before pulling back to look at him. She noticed how their expressions would change as they looked into each other's eyes, from forced joy to sadness, from sadness to apologetic to reassuring before finally settling on a sombre smile. All things young Betty noticed and put great effort into pretending she didn't.
Thoughts began to wonder in Betties head, as they often did, taking her from the imagined future into the foggy past, the image of her parents remaining at the centre of her mind's eye, the thudding of her father's gait like the ticking of a clock, counting each year her memories passed by before reaching their desired destination.
Her pace slowed to a jog, then a walk, her brows furrowing as she examined the unexpected memory her mind had presented her with.
"Daddy, where's mommy?"
Asked the young girl sat behind a round table with her father, plates of half-finished lunch pushed aside in favour of the breadbin which doubled as a book holder. Alexei stumbled mid-sentence, the question bringing a lump to his throat.
"Mommies at work dear."
"When is she coming home?"
The lump turned into a boulder, the urge to swallow and the need to respond stuck in a battle that threatened to suffocate the man but after a moments silence, he managed a choked response.
"Next month, she'll come home next month."
"Why aren't you at work daddy?"
Asked his daughter withought missing a beat, her wide inquisitive eyes piercing his own like twin needles boring into his mind in search of answers. Alexei expected the question, it was a question his mind whispered to him daily, the answer coming swiftly after like a wave of destruction chasing the pressure wave of an explosion. He knew the question well, and yet, despite the pain the answer caused him, he found himself unable to speak it, his lungs refusing to push the air out, his mouth refusing to form the words 'because I can't, so she must.'
From her perched position as the observer entity of the memory, Betty saw the emotional battle raging just beneath her father's stoic face, she saw the flickers of pain and anger in the small, sharp twitches of his nose and brows, in the subtle twitching at the corners of his mouth. He lowered his hand, running it up the metal rod up to the firm rubber sleeve which attached the cheap prosthetic to his thigh, anger and sadness dancing across his face forcing him to turn his head, hiding his struggle from his daughter's piercing gaze.
Betty felt a knot forming in her chest, the thought of having hurt her father so gripping her heart tight in a vice of regret, the child's seeming obliviousness to the effect of her words tightening the knot further still.
The Knot in her chest loosened at the sudden appearance of a dull, throbbing pain in her forehead, pausing her recollection of the conversation and sending the memory swimming as if a disturb reflection on water. Before she could deduce the reason behind the sudden pain, it spread to her nose, shattering the mental image completely and transferring the visual feed from her mind's eye to her actual eyes.
Her eyes failed to clear up the situation as all they displayed was a bright blue sky with several clouds sprinkled across it, stray beams of sunlight dancing around them. Finally, the pain arrived at her bum as it made contact with the concrete, a splash indicating the presence of a puddle which did little to soften her landing. The impact jolted her head forward and placed the culprit square in her sight, it being a wooden power pole which she found headfirst.
For a few moments Betty sat in the puddle, slightly stupefied by the series of unexpected pains, her head rotating like that of an owl trying to ascertain her whereabouts. Part way through the third round of looking about, her head snapped to the right, eyes fixed on a sign stating 'McDuff Bakery' and after a brief consultation with her watch began scrambling to get up, only to have the pain in her head return as the ground rose up to meet her; the muddy puddle having refused to provide proper traction for her shoe.
Like a theatre curtain the darkness rose from Betties eyes, consciousness trying to take purchase before her eyes closed once again, robbing it of any tether to reality. Twice more the process repeated, her eyes remaining open for a second longer with each attempt, the burden of keeping them open growing lighter, reality slowly solidifying before her eyes. A thought rang out in the girl's mind bringing her to full awareness, her body flinching before obeying the given command to rise as Betty remembered she was in a hurry.
Her knees were wobbly and her vision blurry as her body struggled to catch up to her newly racing mind making unsure steps forward, towards the flashing light at the end of the smeared dark alley. Betty stumbled forward, leaning on the walls for support as she tried to blink the haziness away, the dull ringing in her ears growing quitter with every step she took, an odd sence of unease growing in her gut; her senses registering information that her conscious mind was pushing aside.
By the time Betty reached the end of the alley way, her vision had mostly cleared up, her thoughts regained a degree of cohesion and were just about to inform her as to why she was in a hurry, but her subconscious decided to skip the mental que and informed her that she didn't recognise her whereabouts. The realisation made her pause, the knot of anxiety tightening in her stomach as she surveyed the dark night sky above her, the streetlights which lined the road in front of her; their curved sleek forms almost luxurious when compared to the bare metal rods she was accustomed to.
The anxiety began to bubble over into panic when she saw a series of multi-story buildings in place of the small bakery she expected, their tall narrow windows resembling a dozen hungry maws stretching wide to engulf her whole. The girl turned sharply, intent on running back through the alley only to discover a bricked part way through, tears beginning to form in her emerald eyes. She wanted to shout, she wanted to scream and cry and run and hide, but she could do none of that, a pair of bright flashes having caught her attention followed by two loud bangs which made her body stiffen, a choaked yelp being the only sound that escaped her throat.
She stood with her back to the street, her body refusing to obey the desire to turn, her mind desperately trying to find an explanation for situation as well as will her body to move, but all that ceased as a light appeared behind her, casting a shivering shadow onto the cold stone before her.
"A told ya I heard someone ere. Oy you, turn round!"
Shouted a male voice, a wave of cold barrelling through the girl's body as her heart skipped a beat, her entire body flexing in a vain attempt to cease all motion.
"Put the light down ye blind bastard, can't you see it's just a kid!?"
Stated a lower, more gravelly voice as its owner slowly approached the shivering child.
"Are you alright, poor thing, ya must be chilled to the bone, here put this on."
The voice continued from behind Betty as a heavy fur lined coat wrapped around her, its warmth almost burning as she realised just how cold she really was. She grabbed the soft lining and pulled it tight around herself, rational thought slowly returning as her fear began to subside, her eye catching the glint of a golden badge peaking from underneath the coat flap stating: L.I.C.E.
"Careful Brian, they could have a knife, or a bomb!"
Shouted the younger man, clearly annoying his colleague as the latter responded with a snort and an eye roll.
"Jim could you kindly fu-shove off, just go home you're done for the night."
Brian barked back, stumbling mid-sentence as he glanced at the child currently wearing his uniform coat, and decided against the use of profanity.
Jim spent no time debating the given order and promptly walked away while mumbling something under his breath, but Brian paid it no mind as he turned and kneel before the girl, pushing his hat up with a thumb revealing a small patch of white hair.
"You're a police officer, right?"
Asked Betty before he could get a word out.
"I am, I'm officer Brian and what's your name?"
"Betty Hauser, it's nice to meet you officer."
"A pleasure to meet you too Betty, tell me, what were you doing here this time of night?"
"Nothing officer, I just woke up here a few minutes ago."
Then after a moment's hesitation she added.
"I don't even know where here is."
"Well that can't be good, come along, let's get ye down to the station, it might be a bit smelly but at least it's warm there."
Brian Grunted as he stood back up, a hand placed on the girls back, gently guiding her out of the dark alley and onto the brightly lit street, his head angled slightly away from the child as he quietly muttered.
"What sick fock leaves a kid out on the street at night."
Brian returned to the small cubicle where he had deposited Betty, a look of pensive deliberation creasing his brows as he looked for a spot to place the large cup of hot coco he brought withought having it teeter dangerously on a stack of papers or drown in sandwich wrappers. After several moments of him scouring the table for an empty space, Betty decided to resolve the matter by simply taking the cup from him with a muted smile, the five small marshmallows bobbing up and down in the steamy liquid as she took a small sip.
"Ah, Thanks."
Said Brian, his cheeks turning beat red, briefly scolding himself for not thinking of that seemingly obvious solution, before setting down a stack of papers before the girl then added.
"I brought some documents that I need you to fill out, they'll help us track down your folks."
"Thank you."
Quietly responded Betty while dragging the stack of papers onto her lap and immediately beginning filling it in with one of several pens she had uncovered amid the stacks of papers on the desk before her. Her eyes moved slowly across the pages, the text growing blurry and hard to read as tears welled up in her eyes, worry building in her mind as she imagined how distraught her parents must be, how upset her mother is; her much anticipated family visit ruined by her daughters absence.
Tears fell onto the yellow pages, carefully written answers becoming smudges as the girl wiped the droplets from them. In an effort to distract herself, Betty began criticizing the paper as she filled in the blank spaces; how some pages had many questions while others had only a couple, how the stack of papers didn't seem to shrink no matter how many pages she turned over, "why is this even one paper instead of a computer?" she wondered aloud.
She questioned the stylistic choices of the questionnaire until her tears finally began to dry, her mind fully returning to the present and noticing an oddity, the questions wore much more pointed than before and far fewer per page; 'Did Alexei ever change his name?' asked one, 'Does Alice have any relatives nearby?' enquired another.
Having answered all the avalible questions, Betty turned to the final page of the stack only to find it blank, but before she could process the oddity, she heard Brian approaching from a neighbouring cubicle.
"How's progress on the report kido?"
Asked Brians head as it popped up from behind the cubicle wall.
"I think I'm finished."
Mumbled the girl before raising the stack up towards the officer.
"Ooh let's have a look."
Responded the head, its eyes widening in interest, an arm appearing next to it to accept the papers before both disappeared behind the thin divide of the cubicles, a series of grunts and hums the only indicator of the officers work as she examined the newly filled document.
"Aight kido, follow me."
Stated the officer after several minutes of investigating the document, his bushy white brows pressed tightly together, his gaze darting from place to place careful to avoid the inquisitive emerald eyes of Betty.