Forgotten Photography: The Case Of Maddison Valentine

Chapter 9

Evergreen woke up, dazed and confused, her stomach hurt. What had happened? She took a few seconds to realize she was in bed next to a man.

Oh my god, I can't believe I did this. She thought to herself, in complete disbelief. She slowly slid out of bed, trying not to wake the slumbering mass of crazy as she crept to the bathroom. As she used the facilities, she noticed her face hurt a bit, which was strange. The radiation burns had dulled the nerves in her face, rendering them still useful, but with a lack of feeling.

She walked up to the sink, washing her hands. As she looked up she was met with a reflection she didn't recognize, eyes widening. A smile was carved into her face, explaining the dull pain, and she gasped quietly, covering her hands over her now extended mouth. She tried to stay as quiet as she could, grabbing her backpack and slipping out of the room. As in shock as she was, she had to keep moving, the town's well being depended on it. She snuck around the large house, looking for any rooms that could give her clues, yet found very little.

She felt like giving up when a small twinkle caught her eye, and she walked over to a small stand in the hallway. On it sat a key, and she picked it up gently, examining the tag attached to it.

"The Holding Cells" is what it read, and Evergreen was even more confused than before. Holding cells? Where would those be?

Then she spotted it out of the window, the other building, the ex-prison. She knew what she had to do, and quietly crept down the stairs that lead to the cellar. She made her way out of the house and started heading to the building behind. Her stomach started twisting violently, causing intense pains. What was happening to her?

She almost crumbled when she saw a trail of rose petals, leading directly to her destination. She then understood that was Maddison's sign to continue onward. Evergreen bit through the stomach pains and pushed, marching to the building. She tried to open one of the large doors, but they were padlocked and found an open window with blue roses growing right outside. She climbed through it and took out her flashlight, shining it around the room.

It was a large sitting room with rocking chairs and comfortable arm chairs. She understood this must have been one of the rooms the prisoners would be allowed into if they were docile and medicated. She left the large room, and explored for a moment to understand her surroundings, being careful as to not make too much noise.

She turned a corner, noticing that while things were dusty, the decay was minimal, making her realize that people had been living here. She needed to be cautious, one false move could alert someone lurking around. As she walked, it was dead silent, making her incredibly uncomfortable. Each step she took made a sound no matter how soft her footsteps, making her extremely paranoid that someone could already be onto her.

She then found a large sign that was labeled "Holding Cells" with an arrow that pointed down a large stairwell.

That must be where I need to go. Evergreen thought to herself, descending the stairs.

She was careful of each step, some of them feeling weaker than others, making her nervous. One wrong move and she could end up tumbling down them. She heard noise from down there, and a small glowing light. Someone was down there, and Evergreen paused for a moment. Was it safe to continue on?

Suddenly some blue rose petals started glowing in front of her, and she focused her mind on her mission. Safe or not, she needed to know what was going on. She continued, taking each step carefully, one at a time.

CRACK!

She plummeted into the darkness until she met the ground with a loud thump, bathed in candle light. But before she could get a look at the area around her, she blacked out.