"This morning, the principal of BSE reported that eleven more students have randomly stopped coming to school, assuming they have disappeared like all of the other kids..." I put down the newspaper, and watched the kids play in my neighbourhood, wondering if I would ever see them again. The world is so crazy these days. Children, usually top students, kept disappearing randomly.
Before this started happening, everything where I lived was in complete order. You could see a leaf fall on your cat's head eight o' clock in the morning, and witness it again the same time after a year.
That was what made me such a perfect young lady, with every detail in my life happening a perfect way, every single thing. Well, until I met her.
It was the best, no, at least it should have been the best day of my life.
In my smart blouse, I was walking through the charming playground in a confident rhythm, enjoying the soft wind blowing on my face. When suddenly, something huge bumped into me. I fell to the ground, the heavy books in my hand all falling with me.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a tall girl running away. All I remember was that she had long hair, and very, very dirty clothes, that seemed too small for her.
"Hey, you!"" I yelled. But it was too late, she was already out of my sight.
Standing up again, I grumpily rubbed off the mud on my clothes, and walked towards the door of hell.
I sat on the only seat, put in the middle of the room. There was nothing else, except for the walls that were painted completely white, and the very black door that was facing right in front of me.
I waited, my heart thumping loudly, for the principle to call my name. One hour, two hours, three hours...I seemed to have waited for a century, until the heavy door was opened.
The principle was only three feet tall, his tiny feet tiptoeing to reach up for the door's handle. On his enormous face, which was the same size as his body, lay red eyes as tiny as marbles. His great frown made my eyes slip off his face uncomfortably.
Only then did I realize something was wrong. "Excuse me, Mr. Titanic, but you didn't call me."
"The oral quiz is over." He answered without looking at me.
"But, sir..."
"Have a nice day."
"I'm Elisabeth Saunders from fifth grade! My mom signed up for 10:13 oral quiz two years ago! Sir, don't you remember me?"
To my relief, the principle turned around and stared at me, his fearsome eyes sparkling with anger.
"Oh, so it was you messing around with me!"" He roared, making my legs shiver with fear.
"Sorry, sir, but what do you mean?"" I asked stupidly, trying hard to control my tears.
"What do I mean? After all this, you're asking me what I mean?"" He laughed in a cold tone, "I was so foolish to have thought you must be a great representative of our school, so foolish."" He froze for a second or so, like a statue carved by a crazy artist.
"Now get lost! And don't let me see you again!" He yelled all of a sudden.
"Yes, sir." I pushed open the door to hell and ran out of the room, tears dripping of my face.
What happened? How could it be? I knew I would get into the best middle school long before today, long before the oral test, long before I was even born! I don’t understand!
Knowing nothing to do, my legs brought me home. When I reached the familiar doorsteps, I took out the keys and opened the door.
Inside my house, there were huge, cozy sofas facing the TV, where we usually spent our time together. Further on, was our long dining table, with many chairs prepared for all the guests. The twirling staircase led to all our rooms, with photos, paintings, and bookshelf decorating all the empty walls.
I opened the kitchen door, trying to get something to stuff into my empty mind.
Stuck on the fridge was a scribbled note:
Don't worry, Elisabeth. What's important in how much effort you put in, not how much you get as reward.
My heart warmed at once. My mom is always so lovely and considerate, but this is the problem with our family. It's so different to the outside world, which often makes me very uncomfortable. I just hope to have a normal family.
Outside the window, soft clouds floated across the clear blue sky. Birds were twittering on the olive green trees. It was such a great day for any horrible to happen. Well, I shouldn't have had that thought.
Suddenly, I noticed a pair of creepy red eyes staring at me, right out of the window.
"Ahhhhh!"" I screamed, running out of my house. That was the biggest mistake I ever made, because I never stepped into that door, ever again.
I climbed into the tall, cozy treehouse in the edge of my garden, hidden behind the "protecting screen" made of thick row of trees. Sweat dripping of my face soaked all the cushions on the yellow, furry carpet. My heart was thumping so loud, as if it was screaming, and was going to break out of my skin.
What was that thing? Why was it staring at me? Is it still following me? What should I do? All sort of questions stuffed my brain, it felt like exploding.
After an hour of thinking and shuddering, I decided to the outside of that window and see if the red eyes were still there.
Reaching the corner or my garden, I turned around quickly, before I lost my nerve. Ahead of me, was a tall female with long, blond hair. Her definitely-too-small blouse and jeans were covered with so much mud and dirt, that it was hard to see the original colour. Therefore, the most amusing part was her white, pale face with the horrifying red eyes I saw through the window. She stood there as if she was waiting for me to come back, her angry face saying: Hey kid, what took you that long!
Seeing this made me speechless, unable to move a single muscle. I must have looked hilarious, because the Red-Eye-person laughed so much that tears dripped of her face. After the laugh( which was quite a long time for me to stay both confused and embarrassed), she pulled her mask of.
"Mum!" I yelled angrily, "I thought Halloween was a long time away!"
After no time, I realised that my fear was completely gone, and replacing the fear, was anger. Anger that stirred in my stomach like a ball of fire. Therefore, the more I thought, the more I doubted.
"Mum...Aren't you supposed to be... on the plane to the "world most important" meeting...? I asked, hoping she would start jumping up and down, shouting and moaning about how she could forget such a important thing. But of course, that was only another dream that couldn't come true.
"Oh, so mom still hadn't found a job yet?" She sighed, sounding serious.
"Mom...?" I knew something had to be wrong, but I didn't realise it was... that wrong.
"Oh, so I forgot to apologise." She took out a piece of crumbled paper and began to read it. "I'm so sorry to interfere, and make you a little confused. Well, you have to admit, part of it is still because of you're lack of intelligence, no offence. I'm sure you wouldn't mind for me to add some other things, since this is already your worse day of life. Let's sit down and talk." She explained in such a calm way, it made me even more angry.
"Thanks for the apologising, you do sound very sorry." I spat out, trying to calm my voice. "Oh, I nearly forgot to say 'definitely no offence'."
She jogged towards the edge of my garden, making her way through the blocking trees and bushes.
"Hey! Where are you going?"" I ran to keep up with her, "Wait for me!"
To my surprise, she went all the way through the trees, quick as lightning, without stepping on any of the traps I've set. No one had ever done that, no one except from me.
Up to the tree house, she stared down from the wooden window.
"Hey Elisabeth, what are you looking at? Will you come up or not!"
Suddenly, I realised my mind had been dragged of by her, and had been standing in the middle of a trap.
With one tiny movement, I would be pulled up to the treetop, and rapped in the strings.
Looking at her, my heart was filled with hatred and regret. How could I be so thoughtless? This was a trap all the way long.
Standing on the trap, I didn't know what to do. Except for staring at the weird girl, trying to look mean and confident.
"So this is you plan. Tricking me here and trapping on top of a tree. But may I remind you, this is in my garden, and all the traps were set by myself. Do you think I would be stupid enough to set traps I don't even know how to break through?"
Actually, I had never thought about this before. All those time I had been building these amazing traps that even I, myself don't understand. Still, I didn't care. I had to make myself some time. Even though a soft, haunted voice whispered to me what's the point of delaying your death?
Starting this year, I've heard of so many rumours of students being murdered, told that their high grades attracted many jealous eyes. However, all the events and information were like scattered papers that I couldn't connect. How come children kept disappearing? Were any of the cases related? If the children were really murdered, why would someone do that to a top student when it wouldn't do them any good?
But now, everything seemed to come together. Of course! Students had to get rid of all the barriers in order to get into their dream schools!
Wait...
She must have been the girl who tripped me over this morning! That was why Mr. Titanic was acting so strangely and crazily-- because she pretended to be me and messed up my orientation! Gods, that girl did look really similar to me. If I didn't have to deal with the angriness, fear, and excitement all mixed together, I would have called her down from that treehouse, and took countless selfies.
Seriously? You're going to die, and all you care about is taking selfies? She wasn't wrong, you are really dumb. The annoying voice whispered again.
Well, if you’re not going to help me, you'd better shut up.
I slowly lifted my head, and looked up at the strange girl. She was still carrying that wicked smile, as if to say, it's a competitive world out there, kid.
"Aren't you afraid of getting cached by the police? After all, in 21rst sentry, news passes quicker than a flash." I said, trying to make myself enough time for a plan to pop out of my mind.
"I know, my dear. That's why you're not getting out of here." She replied calmly.
That was so helpful, Elisabeth. You just dug your own grave.
Oh, shut up!
"I understand your desire of getting into BSE middle school, but life isn't always a competition. You don't have to pull everyone else down in order to win. Everyone can win together." I debated, making my voice deep and knowledgeable.
"Good, you've reviewed for you life skill test." She stated with a warm smile. It was hard to remember she was my enemy, with her being so kind.
No, I thought, my heart cannot be dragged away by her, that’s what she wants. I have to stay awake.
Her smile faded, and all that was left was confusion.
"Wait, about what you said, 'my desire of getting into BSE middle school', I don't understand."
"You... Don't?"" I doubted, thinking that this was another joke, but the truth in her eyes told me it wasn't.
Suddenly, a bird landed next to my foot. Before I knew, I was up there, hanging on the tree.
I tried to get myself untangled, but the more I moved, the more strings rapped around me. I was upside down, my head facing the ground and my feet up in the air.
I could barely move my head, but that was enough for me to see her moving slowly towards me, the dagger in her hand shining brightly.
She must have seen me staring at her dagger, because she gave me a cold laugh, "You think I'm going to kill you?"
"Well, yeah?" I said, still not thinking of a plan.
"Ha! Seriously? I guess I will kill you then. Unless... You promise to keep this a secret." She marked, and with a slash, I fell down from the tree.
My head felt so dizzy that I could hardly stand up. With great pain, I raised my head and looked at the strange girl. My whole body felt like a huge lump of jello. I was sure that if she was going to kill me, I would definitely not be able to get away with it. I couldn't even be able to move my mouth and say a word.
"So!" she started and interrupted my thoughts, "My first and maybe last question for you-- Are you going to tell anyone about seeing me today?"
"Uh...no...maybe...I won"t...but only if you let me go." The words stumbled out of my mouth.
"Yeah," She giggled, "If I were you, I would think for a second before I say my last words, after all, you would not be able to tell anyone you saw me if I killed you now."
Good job.
I lost my confidence. I couldn't keep continuing trying to be smart. She was too smart. She seemed to read my minds.
"Wait...you said you didn't want to get into BSE School?" I did my best to change the topic.
"Uh...no...what do you mean?" For the first time, she seemed lost.
"BSE School! The best school in the world! Everyone desires to get in that school, which by the way, stands for "Best School Ever". Thanks to you and your followers, students who once had the chance to get into that school disappearing one by one, and were never seen again. Now, on my death bed, I finally found out that they were all murdered by you vicious, cruel fleshers. Not that I had to tell you about this in order for you to understand, but I just want to tell you that I’m not as stupid as you think I am, and I already figured this out on my very own, so you don't have to keep pretending you don’t know anything about this. Mind you, I've got to admit that your acting skills and pretty good though."
"Uh...firstly, I don't understand anything about what you're saying. Secondly, if I've heard you right, I didn't come here to kill you, and I definitely didn't pretend I would kill you because I wanted to get in some stupid school..."
"Uh, actually it's called BSE High School." I interrupted.
"Well, the point is I don't care. I came here to make sure you don't tell anyone you saw me this morning, incase you were going too..."
"But why are you so sensitive about other people knowing you're here, if you hadn't committed a crime or done anything bad?" I debated, finding this chat a bit entertaining.
"Well, firstly, please stop interrupting me." She rolled her eyes, sounding really irritated, "Secondly, I never said I hadn't committed a crime or done anything bad. It's hard to survive on your own when you run out of money, you know."
I suddenly remembered something and took out my phone to check the daily news. All the articles from the newspapers were immediately refreshed in my brain, the ones talking about the teenager who got stuck on the window ledge while trying to rob the bank, and the one who had been caught by the cashier's two-year-old daughter when she cried after the teenager stepped on her hand...
"All the teenagers on the newspapers...they were you?" I found the chance to mock her.
"Oh, stop it. You surely haven't tried to live on your own."She spat out.
"Well, of course. Why would I?" I joked. But as soon as I saw her expression, I knew I shouldn't have said that. "Can I ask you a question? It might be a little offensive."
She wrinkled her alerted grey eyes, staring behind me, and moved her legs uncomfortably, as if ready to run or attack at any second. I sensed her horror, and looked behind, but all I saw were swaying leaves. Suddenly, the leaves stopped swaying, and an uncomfortable silence spread over us, reaching over for my lungs.
"So...Why do you live on your own?" I choked out.
"Elisabeth Saunders, hands on your head, you are under arrest. You have the right to stay silent. Anything you say right now can be used against you." The police ran out of the bushes and held up their guns...
I looked at the police, horrified and confused. What have I done wrong? Or was is because that girl reported me in order to have someone she could blame her faults on?
The two muscly police were six feet tall, standing in front of the thick bushes. They lowered their guns down, probably thinking we stupid children didn't deserve their handsome movements. To my surprise, one of the police walked toward that girl and locked her up with handcuffs.
The other one came to me, and smiled thankfully, "Thank you for reporting, Elisabeth. I'm Billy, and that's Bob. You have done us a great favor. Would you come to the police station with us? It won't take long. We just need to ask you a few questions."
I was stunned by his words. I never reported that girl, it must have been a mistake. And what did he mean by calling that girl Elisabeth Saunders?
"I never reported her, and she isn't a criminal." I tried to convince the police, feeling terribly guilty. "Elisabeth Saunders is my name."
Billy laughed softly, "I guess you guys have the same name then. And don't be modest, you just texted us a few minutes ago. Good that we were just passing your neighborhood, otherwise I'm not sure if you would get out of here alive. She did murder a lot of teenagers, you know."
Elisabeth shot me a look of hatred, her eyes nearly as red as before, just as she was pushed into police car. I got on after Elisabeth, thankful that I didn't have to sit beside her. She really looked like a murderer now, her eyes shining with anger and hatred.
"Elisabeth, I know it's hard, but you need to belief me. I really didn't report you, and I know that although you did do some things that you shouldn't have done, you're definitely not a murderer." I pleaded to her.
"Yeah, right. I should have killed you instead." She clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles standing up, and fiercely pulled her hands apart. The firm handcuffs clicked with a loud metal sound. The sound echoed in my ears, causing enough fear and gilt to swallow me up.
I looked down at my dusty shoes, trying to avoid eye-contact with her. "I'm...I'm sorry." I murmured softly. Sweat soaked my clothes.
Outside the car's windows, which were covered with dust, there was a blurry thing that looked like pile of mud. As the car moved on, it became bigger and bigger. Soon, I realized it was a dirty, old structure that seemed as it was abandoned by the engineers before it was even finished yet.
If the police weren't leading Elisabeth there, I would never believe that was a police station.--In front of my eyes, was a low, muddy cabin that didn't even have a roof.
Slowly, I moved my heavy feet and walked toward the mysterious place. Lowering my head, I walked through the door. Immediately, A smoky smell ran through my mouth, pulling my lungs apart and making me cough out loud. I covered my nose and mouth with the handkerchief my best friend gave me.
There was no furniture in the room, except for a meter-wide cage that was locked. Strangely, there was no dog inside. A chubby man wearing a police uniform stood next to the cage. He was three feet tall, which gave me a thought that he’ll fit perfectly in that cage. On his familiarly enormous face, which was the same size as his body, red eyes as tiny as marbles shone at me with dissatisfaction, making me wonder what I did wrong.
Something about that cabin made me feel very uncomfortable. The air seemed like it was thickening up to a huge chunk of poison, making it impossible to breathe. Before I realized anything, Elisabeth and two police were already standing next to the "dwarf".
"Officer Titanic, this filthy little beast in already under our arrest." Billy said proudly, grabbing hold of Elisabeth's hands. He stood straight, lifted up his chin, and raised his eyebrow like a hero that saved the world.
"Ha! Good job. I knew you would succeed in this extremely dangerous case." The so-called police officer complimented, but when he opened his eyes wide and suddenly realized he was talking to the police's knees, his attitude had a 180-degree-change. "SINCE WHEN DID I TEACH YOU TO NOT RESPECT YOU BOSS?"
"Oh... I'm... so sorry, Officer Titanic. I didn't mean to... I..." Billy stumbled over his words as he kneeled down, in front of the officer.
"Good boy." The officer said, patting the police's head with his enormous hand.
The scene of a weak lion kneeling in front of a angry baby was so funny I was having a hard time not to laugh out loud.
Behind them, Bob was struggling to keep Elisabeth still. She rapidly fell backwards, bumping her back against him, savagely stabbing him with her metal handcuffs. The police loosened his grab with a sigh of relief. Immediately, Elisabeth shook him off, and stumbled forward. Unfortunately, she forgot to look down and tripped over Officer Titanic.
Billy obviously had his guts scared out by that scene. He stared at them in shook, not moving a muscle. I was starting to thing he might have gotten a heart attack, when Billy suddenly started shaking his head, as if he had just woken up in the middle of nowhere. After some seconds of craziness, he put his hands in front of his mouth.
Poor Bob must have been fed up with him behaving like a statue again. He walked towards us with a great effort, picked Elisabeth up by grabbing to a tip of her T-shirt with two of his fingers, moved her away from Officer Titanic, and let go of his garb. She hit the ground with a "thump" loud enough to wake the dead.
While Elisabeth was struggling to get up, Bob put his hands carefully around Officer Titanic's waist, and slowly lifted him up, but the second the officer stood straight, he toor the police's hands away, cleaned his shirt rejectingly, and savagely shouted, "DON'T YOU DARE PUT YOUR DIRTY HANDS ON ME EVER AGAIN! I DON'T, NEVER DID, AND NEVER WILL NEED ANY OF YOUR HELP! YOU FOOLISH LITTLE CREATURE!"
Bob's face turned red and lowered his head, forcing in his laughter. Billy turned normal again and seemed relieved that he hadn't done anything. Controlling his temper, Officer Titanic turned his head and saw Elisabeth on the ground, trying to get up by pushing her hands against the bloody floor. He walked towards her in a rapid speed for someone with such short legs, and grabbed her shirt, imitating the police's movements. Therefor, I thought I was watching a new-born baby trying to copy the movements of a professional actor. Officer Titanic was using all his strength to pull Elisabeth up, but apparently he wasn't doing a great job. His face was so purple I felt scared looking at it. His clenched to that piece of cloth tightly, his knuckles standing up, but nothing happened, Elisabeth was still lying on the floor as if she was part of it. For the first time, Officer Titanic seemed to notice three pair of eyes staring at him onwardly, and shouted out quickly, "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? COME AND HELP!"
Billy unlocked the cage, and opened it to it's widest length. Bob quickly ran to him, bended Elisabeth's hands, and threw her into the cage like a bowling ball.
"NO! STOP!" I cried while running there, but it was too late. The moment Elisabeth landed in the cage, he slammed the door in her face, breaking her nose, knocking her neck and making her unconscious. Thinking back, I do have to admit she fitted in the cage just right, as if it was tailor-made, although I wasn't in the mood at that time.
Before I could react, the lights went out and rain poured in. Accompanied by their screams, the three of them ran outside for shelter. Not before long, they disappeared in the dark.
I scuttled to Elisabeth, anxiously shaking the cage. "Hey! Elisabeth! They're already gone!Wake up! Please!" My tears hit the ground hard, blending into the mud. For a moment, I thought she was dead. I became the murderer now, taking away innocent people's lives. I would never forgive forgive myself for that.
Right before I cried out loud and embarrassed myself for the one-hundredth time, I heard a tiny squeaking noise. As it became louder and louder, I realized it was coming from the inside of the cage.
"Thank gods! Elisabeth, are you OK?" I stared at her curled up body, wondering what she was trying to say. I shook the cage again, but it still wouldn't open. Elisabeth moved her body slowly, to a state in which I could see her face. It was covered with blood and bruises, giving me goose bumps. She looked at me as if to say, Hey kid, what are you waiting for? Open the door!
I shook the door again, only to tell her I couldn't open it. To my surprise, she rolled her eyes, and looked at me like was the biggest idiot in the world. Then, she just looked at me, as if waiting for me to suddenly figure it out.
"What?" I humiliated, "You try then!"
Elisabeth sighed disappointedly, slowly and carefully unfolded her arms, reached out for the cage's door, and gently pressed the red button on it. The door automatically opened, and the clown's fist from the back of the cage pushed forward in lightning speed, making Elisabeth fly out of the cage.
"Oh. That was easy." I grinned.
That night, we slept in the roofless cabin. I washed Elisabeth's face with the finite medical devices we had, which really weren't much, unless you considered mud and rain great medical devices.
I looked out the door, but the police were still nowhere to be seen.
"Don't you think this is a bit too easy?" Elisabeth groaned.
"Well...no? I prefer it easier." I looked at her strangely.
"That's not what I'm saying. The point is, don't you feel a little strange? Why would they let us escape that easily? Unless..." She persisted.
"Unless what?" I asked, already annoyed.
"Unless this is a trap."
"Oh...well...it is what it is, and I'm definitely not staying here to wait till whatever you say happens. Not like you, I still have work to finish and books to study. I've already waisted a whole afternoon on this stupid trip, and won't waist one more second." I frustratedly stood up and walked toward the door.
"Elisabeth, wait." She called, "You should give yourself a rest and enjoy the day, since you never stop working."
Elisabeth sighed and turned her head away, "I was once a hard worker like you, assiduous and stubborn, until university, when I looked back into my childhood and saw me stuck in my room while all the beautiful moments happened outside. Right, I did go to great schools throughout my whole life. So what? I worked the whole way and never even enjoyed a singe moment of my life. That's why I came here to make sure you wouldn't have to regret for anything I have to now."
She looked up at me, and I saw great pain in her eyes. But I was too stubborn at that time to have listened to anything she said. "Yeah, right. Like I will let you succeed in dragging me out of BSE High School's new-student list." I grunted, and ran out of the door, thinking all about how I would finish my homework. Elisabeth scurried after me, her footsteps heavy and unstable.
It was still raining heavily outside. My cloths soaked quickly, but I didn't care. I followed my intuition through narrow paths, since it was so dark I couldn't see anything at all. If anyone was there, they probably would have seen a psychosis running crazily in the rain, while the stupid and creepy thoughts crawling up my skull escaped their eyes.
Suddenly, my feet hit something hard, and I tripped, rolling sideways, until my head bumped into the wall. I felt a strong burst of pain that tackled through my skin and cracked my head open, blood spilling out fiercely. I wanted desperately for my mind to go buzzy, and to fall into deep sleep, far away from all the pain and darkness. Unfortunately, the pain kept me awake, and made me more conscious than ever. I opened my eyes, but the blood leaking down from my head blocked my view. Even the insane rain couldn't seem to wash it away. I tried to focus on the heavy raindrops pounding on my body, but that just dragged my to the pain caused by the cruel rain beating my wound.
After what seemed life years. I felt a weak grasp on my legs, and I was dragged slowly away. The grasp on my legs loosened and the dragging stopped after every five seconds, as if I weighed tons. Were I going to get killed? I thought. Never mind, I can't do anything about it after all.
Ten minutes past, and I suddenly realized the rain was gone. The person that dragged me here must be an obsession, I thought, waisting so much time and energy on bringing me to a dry place just to kill me. I lied still on the wet, icy floor, waiting steadily for the tip of knife to send me to infinite peace. However, I was disappointed again. I felt a warm and soft towel gently rubbing against the solid blood on my face. The wound stung me like a sting ray’s tail, and I groaned with a soar throat. The rubbing stopped, and I realized my face felt much better, as if it was released from frozen slime.
I opened my eyes, and and was relieved from the point that I could actually see. I was in a small and dark room that looked like it was used to store rubbish. There was a broken sofa with million springs sticking out of the top in the middle of the room. The floor was covered with mud and garbage. I couldn't decide what the original color the walls were, because they were all covered with crumbled old newspapers that had turned yellow.
I turned my head painfully and saw a skinny old man. He seemed to be smashing dark-colored plants in a cracked bowl, with a thick stick, and mixing them all together. Despite his skeleton-like arms, torn clothes, and the mud all over him, he had a kind and admirable face. Huge brooding eyes, a prominent nose, and thick hair gave me an idea of how handsome he was before he turned...well...old and clumsy. Now, his face was covered with dirt and wrinkles, his eyes were filled with anxiousness, his nose was frozen, and his hair had turned all white, but he was still a gentleman.
A current of cold air blew through the huge gap from where the door should be, I shivered and coughed loudly. He looked at me and let out a smile, "You're finally awake. I was so worried. You tripped over me and bumped your head on the wall. It scared my guts out when I saw the deep crack on your head!"
"Here, don't move. This is going to hurt." He tipped the smashed plants onto the towel, and wrapped it around my head. I yelled, and squeezed my hands. Sweat dripped of my head.
"Don't worry, you'll feel better tomorrow."" He wiped the sweat off my face, and covered a thick quilt over me. "Now, get some sleep."
He started singing, the charming lyrics sinking into my heart, healing my wound, and I drifted to sleep.
In my dream, I saw my father walking alone the forest where we used to go camping. I yelled and ran towards him, tears dripping off my cheek. But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t reach him. We seemed to be in two different worlds. I screamed, pleading him to wait for me, but he didn't seem to hear. I kept running through the day forest, twigs and tree branches scratched my face and tripped me over millions of times, but I didn't care at all.
After what seem as years, my once-lovely father said in a cold tone, not even turning his head, "I'm so disappointed in you, Elisabeth. You could've been great and gotten into wonderful schools, but you choose not to. I don’t want to see you again."
His words stabbed me firmly in the heart. I wanted to catch up with my father and make him tell me what he just said wasn't true, but my body betrayed me
Suddenly, I woke up. It was still dark and cold outside, so I decided it was early in the morning. I sat up with a great relief, but still worried about last night's dream.
My dad disappeared many years ago. The newspapers said he was murdered by some crazy students, but I never believed that. He must still be out there somewhere. I looked out the huge hole of the house, and stared at the darkness, pausing for a long time. If somehow he saw me now, what would he think? He did so much for me, and wanted so much for me to be a perfect girl, and yet I let him down.
I looked down at the golden watch on my wrist. The antique was so beautiful, yet it was soaked by melancholy. The golden watch is the only thing I have from my dad, handed down from our investors and given to me when he left home...for the last time. I treasured the watch all these years.
A loud coughing sound broke the silence. I turned my head slowly and realized that I wasn't the only one awake. The old man was huddling in the coldest corner of the room, his pail face filled with pain. The oded smell drew me eyes to the wet and dry blood surrounded him.
I gently touched my forehead, but surprisingly realized there wasn't much pain anymore, well, compared to last night, and the towel definitely stopped dripping blood. The blood must've came from him.
I slowly stood up, my head still dizzy from last night's bump, and rushed towards him, careful not to hurt any of my bruises. (Which I assumed was a hard job.)
He was still coughing out blood. "I'm OK, it’s only pneumonia."He choked out when he was my anxious face. I pulled out my handkerchief, and softly covered his swollen mouth with it. He looked at me with his admirable eyes.
"I'll go get you some medicine." I called, my heart broken. He brought up the painful memory, where my baby brother lied on the bed, dyeing of pneumonia.
Although it was still early in the morning, the sun was already up. However, that didn't make it any easier for finding the way out of this place--There were thousands of crossroads jigsawing across each other. Every one of them looking exactly the same.
While I was still deciding on which route to take, a sharp voice burned behind me, "Hey, you! Don't move!"
I turned around, and was terrified by the fact that it was Bob and Billy again. They were in their normal clothes, raising their guns at me again, and showing the exact same movements. Only this time I wasn't impressed.
"Hand over your money and valuable belongings!" Billy shouted, trying to look brave.
I was relieved by the fact that my bruises and wounds camouflaged me well, and the dumb police didn't seem to recognize me, but then, I was also super angry.
"Are you guys robbing me?" I scolded.
"Well, yeah. What do you think?" Bob answered as if it was the most obvious question ever.
"Aren't you police?" I barked, my whole face turning red.
"Uh..." Billy sounded as if he was looking for the right words, but Bob cut him of.
"We are, but how do you know?" He asked suspiciously.
I opened my mouth wide, but nothing came out. I think Bob was going to figure it out if Billy hadn't saved my life.
"Ha! Of course she knows! Look at my muscles!" Billy snickered, and raised his arm to show off his muscles.
I laughed out in relief, and looked at the police again, remembering they didn't mean any good.
"So...Where were we at? Hmm... right, where's your money?" Bob asked again.
"You're not gonna get it." I stated, still angry.
"Well...we're gonna see about that."
They came up to me, and started fishing through my pockets. I tried to back up, but Bob just kicked my legs when I did that, making me land on the solid floor. I'm sure he broke a few bones. After a while, Billy held up a twenty-dollar cash and sniffed it with his nose.
"You call twenty dollars nothing?" He snickered, and foisted the money into his "wallet".
"Hey! Give it back! That's the pauper’s medicine-money!" I yelled, and stood up, running towards them. My anger prevented my legs from wobbling. However, the moment I reached Bob's "wallet", Billy just kicked me to the floor again. I rolled sideways, struggling to get up.
"Let's go!" Billy happily called, but Bob just slapped his head, pushing him down.
"Seriously? How did you become a police?" Bob mocked him, and then turned to me, letting out an evil laugh, "We're not finished yet."
"What...what do you mean?" I coughed out, knowing I lost again.
"A pauper, is it?" He snickered, and walked towards the dirty house. Billy followed him.
I crawled along, terrified and guilty about the fact that I gave the poor beggar that had saved my life away.
When I got there, they were already searching through his house. The police picked up everything visible, went over them carefully, and tossed them aside after they finished. The house was even messier than before, with everything scattered on the floor. I tried to stop them, but it wasn't easy with all my wounds. They just pretended I was invisible.
Finally, they found a small green hat filled with coins under the sofa. Bob obviously wasn't very happy about that. He shook the hat, listening to the tiny clattering sound.
"Is this all you have?" He asked the beggar.
"Please don't take it!" The pauper cried out, "It's all I have left! Do you know how…how hard it was to save all the money..." He broke into a sob.
That made me even angrier. I stabbed Bob with a broken piece of glass he threw on the floor, the sharp edge sank into my hand, but I didn't care. Bob roared in pain, and tossed me to the other end of the room. I landed hard on the solid ground and the garbage on it, breaking a few ribs. Something extremely sharp penetrated my back, coming out of my stomach.
I could hear the pauper shouting "Leave the kid alone!", and Bob yelling back "HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" The words after that blurred, and I lost my conscious.
When I woke up, the police had already gone away, and I was the only one left in the house. The broken piece of glass sticking out of my stomach was gone, replacing that was a clean, wet towel rapped around my waist. I tried to sit up, when I realized how badly injured I was. Pain stung my skin, blood soaked my skirt, even my feet were covered with bruises.
"Elisabeth, you're awake! Oh my, you scared me again!" The pauper cried out, and I realized he was standing by the door.
"I'm fine." I choked out, but my soar throat betrayed me.
"Here, drink some water." He worriedly handed me a paper cup filled with warm water. I wonder where he managed to find it?
I have to admit he's a good listener. In the afternoon, while I talked about myself, and explained to him everything that happened to me in the past two days, he just listened carefully and calmly, without saying a word. (Except for the coughing part.)
After I finished, he waited a long time until he finally talked, probably making sure he wouldn't burst into a cough when he talked. "That was quite an interesting story, but do you know where the other Elisabeth is now?"
"Yes, she's in a treehouse, hidden behind the bushes of my garden."
"That's a safe place." He complimented.
I sighed, "Well...I wanted to say...my brother...he died of pneumonia." I stopped, and there was a long and uncomfortable silence.
"I don't want the same tragedy to happen on anyone else." I whispered so gently that even myself couldn't hear what I was saying, so it wouldn't turn into a cry, but I'm sure he heard.
His eyes were filled with sorrow. I carefully took the precious watch off my wrist, as if it would break at any second, and handed it to the pauper. For some reason, I didn't hesitate at all.
"Go to the doctor, and stop the coughing." I smiled warmly.
"No, I can't." He argued, "This is the only thing your father's left you."
"Take it, please. I can't afford to see anyone die because I didn't choose to save him."
"Bless you, child."" His eyes were filled with gratitude.
"You said..." He broke the silence, "You said you wanted to get in BSE Middle School. Well...my brother is the school's principle."
I looked at him in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know. We haven't been in touch for a long time, that's why. But maybe, maybe if I took a picture of you and send it to him, it would be a little easier."
"Really?" I still couldn't belief my luck.
"Of course!" The pauper answered.
He fished through the basket at the corner of the room, and pulled out something that looked like a camera.
"It's such a waist to throw these useful things away. I simply replaced the screen, and it worked just right."
He faced the camera at me, and pressed the tiny red button, making a loud "click" sound. I smiled, showing all my teeth.
A cold wind blew in, when I suddenly realized it was already dark outside. "Oh no! It must be very late! I need to go!" I freaked out, and waved at him before I stormed into the darkness.
"Be safe!" I heard him call behind me.
The night was closing in, which made it even harder to choose which way to go. I decided to take the path that lead straight forwards.
"Stop immediately! You have been arrested!" Came the words that trickled up my skill. I turned around, and saw the two police holding Elisabeth.
The pauper was standing behind them.