The House of Love

Ch 2: The Night

Tom didn't say anything about his injuries to anyone that day. He didn't even say anything to Mia when she asked him about it. He was hell bent on keeping it a secret as he knew that Mr. Oliver might do something like this to Mia too, if she knew about it. So he kept quiet the entire day and went to bed in the dormitory after dinner. He couldn't fall asleep right away because of the severe burns that he had acquired all over his hands but, after a while, as the forces of slumber defeated the sensation of pain, Tom fell asleep.
"Hey Tom… Wake up my friend…" whispered a voice, in the dark, which made Tom open his eyes and gasp in utter surprise. Tom could see the face of his visitor in the bright moonlight that penetrated the thin-glass window beside Tom's bed. It was Kyle! Yes, the same boy who had disappeared from the orphanage a year ago! But he was right there now, standing by Tom's bed.
"Oh my god Kyle! Where have you been all these months? We never saw you after… after you ran away!" asked Tom in an excited whisper.
Kyle smiled at Tom, came closer to him and talked in a slow and steady manner and his voice somehow echoed in Tom's ears. "I… have been… in the House of Love…"
"The House of Love? What's that?"
"It is… a place… where… we are loved… cared for… " whispered Kyle in the same mysterious voice.
"Is this House of Love even better than Oliver House?" asked Tom, curiously.
"The House of Love is… nothing… nothing like… this place…" said Kyle and touched Tom's burnt hand. Tom should have winced at the touch, but he didn't. Kyle's hand was strangely very cold and relieving to touch. Kyle stroked his cold hands over Tom's burns and went on to say, "These… will matter… in the House of Love… you… will be… cared for… loved… Come with me…" Tom was taken aback at this proposal and he said, "What? Come with you? How? What if we get caught? Mr. Oliver would kill us… both of us! Run away Kyle!"
Kyle said, "We will not… get caught… everybody is… asleep… believe… me…"
"Okay but…" mumbled Tom, looking over to the person sleeping three beds away from him. It was Mia.
Kyle looked into Tom's eyes and said, "Don't worry… you can… come back… by morning… if you don't… like the… House of Love… and if you do like it… we can… come back… for… Mia… another night…"
Tom thought about it a bit in silence. He really wanted to go with Kyle. If the House of Love was any better than this pathetic orphanage, he would love to go there. But he didn't want to leave Mia here, all alone. Then, he thought about what Kyle just said. He could come back for Mia later. That would be better for both of them.
"Okay let's go", said Tom, at last.
Kyle smiled and walked out of the dormitory. Tom followed. He noticed that Kyle's "walking" was strangely similar to "floating". It seemed as if he was gliding through the air and not touching his feet, even for once, on the floor. Tom didn't think about it anymore and followed Kyle out of the orphanage. He noticed that the gatekeeper of Oliver House was fast asleep on his chair. It seemed as if his slumber was deeper than the deepest points of the vast oceans of the world.
Outside the Oliver House orphanage, on the other side of the road, resided a vast pine forest, which Tom had hardly ever seen before. It was because they were usually not allowed to leave the orphanage premises, at any cost. The only time Tom had seen the forest was when he had first arrived at Oliver House, two years back.
It was, in a word, beautiful. It was a full moon that night. The moonlight penetrated the canopy of the tall pine trees and the silver rays of the magnificent moon washed over the entire forest. It looked as if somebody had sprinkled glitter all over the scenery. Tom was looking around, mesmerized. Finally, when he regained his own attention, he realised that Kyle was walking right into the forest. He ran and followed him, without any further ado.
They walked and walked for about an hour before Tom caught a glimpse of a house. Yes, a house in the middle of the pine forest.
"Is that it?" asked Tom.
Kyle nodded his head in silence and smiled. They walked upto the house and Tom looked at it in awe. It was quite a big house and as they walked through the tall metal gate of the house premises, he could see the bright yellow light that escaped through it's windows. He could also smell the strange but sweet fragrance that surrounded the house and he could hear the chatter of numerous children coming from inside the house. Tom felt a little more confident about his decision and walked towards the front door with Kyle.
It opened up as they approached it and inside, Tom saw at least twenty children, all of his own age, sitting around a huge table, chattering together and enjoying the best meal Tom had seen in ages.
Tom walked inside with Kyle and looked around him. They were in a huge dining hall, which had been decorated with huge paintings and had pillars with intricate carvings on them. He could see a flight of stairs going up to the first floor and a fireplace that held the warmest of fires.
"Aah you must be Tom!" said a female voice. Tom turned to see a woman with a kind smile on her face. "I'm Clara Ryder and this is the House of Love. '' said the woman and walked up to Tom. She took his hands into hers and said, "Oh my god these are horrible… but worry not! I'll make it fine in a jiffy! Close your eyes!" Tom did as he was told and opened them 5 seconds later to see that his burns were nowhere to be seen. He was in complete shock, but he was happy too.
Clara Ryder said "Yeah now it seems okay! Tom, dear, why don't you go and join the children on the table? We have some nice turkey!" She looked over to a man standing behind her and said, "Honey, please take Tom to the table. He seems to be too perplexed."
"Yes, dear." said the man and took Tom to the table. There was a vacant chair and Tom had the feeling that it was meant for him. He sat down and started gulping down the delicious food in front of him. He had never had a meal as good as this one in the past two years and he couldn't control himself. He ate and ate and finally fell asleep on the softest of beds in the House of Love.
The bright rays of the Sun shone upon the years old dry leaves in front of the House of Love, as the night came to an end. The broken doors and windows and the dark insides proved. that nothing had lived in that house for years. There was a large lock hanging from the tall gate and it was surrounded by dead silence. It was hard to believe that it was the same house that had welcomed an orphan boy with warm fires and delicious food the previous night. The long lost laughs of the children of night were long gone and nothing, but silence resided in the House of Love.