The House Named Claurece

Three

               𝕹o one answered, they all just stared at Paul as if he had just turned to stone. Paul wanted to scream at them. It was a simple question! Why couldn't they answer it? The man opened his mouth then closed it, thinking.

              "Please," said Paul. "Answer me."

              The man turned away.

              "Come with me children," he said and began walking toward the gate.

               The children began to follow him, taking nervous glances back at Paul. Paul felt anger rising swiftly through his body. Why didn't they answer him? He watched the children walk away from him, trembling.

               "So you're just going to leave me here? Without even answering me?" said Paul.

               But they didn't stop. They didn't even look back. Past the gates they went, toward the spot where Paul had first entered the past. Paul watched them fade away, then turned back to the house. More of those children could be in there, or an adult. Worth the risk, Paul thought, I want to know more about what happened here with Runcorn.

               And so he set off toward the house, the children and the brown haired man walking in the opposite direction. Paul opened the door, rage not ebbing away. This was the first time he'd ever been in a building that wasn't destroyed. He stepped inside, looking around in awe, anger fading slightly. So this is what a house of the past looked like. Paul closed the door behind him. The entry room was large, paneled with wood, and had a carpet covering the floor. There were pictures and plants filling the room.

              Paul picked up one of the pictures to look at it. It was of the children. He recognized Penelope and the winged boy Archie, but the others were new to him. There was a short black boy who looked like he was glowing from the inside, next to him was a girl around the age of five with long hair that looked like fire. Paul studied the other children's faces. There was a boy who looked like those people from the 1980's, next to him was a girl who had the features of a boy.

              Paul set the picture back down and turned and surveyed the rest of the room. The pictures all held the children and the brown haired man he had met at the entrance. Next to the entry room, there was a dining room, then a kitchen, and finally, a living room. Paul climbed the stairs to a hallway that was filled with doors. The children's rooms. Paul thought. He could make out names on the doors.

            𝔓𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔭𝔢 & 𝔊𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢

            𝔗𝔢𝔯𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢 & 𝔄𝔯𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔢

            𝔓𝔢𝔤𝔤𝔶 & 𝔍𝔞𝔠𝔨𝔦𝔢 

            𝔍𝔬𝔥𝔫 & 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱

            𝔄.𝔅. 𝔏𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯

           A.B. Latter. Who is A.B. Latter? The image of the brown haired man popped into Paul's mind. There was a creak on the stairs below him and Paul froze. Someone was coming. Paul looked around, praying to find a small room to hide in. Girl's bathroom. Paul was panicking. Boy's bathroom. There. Paul dove for the door. He closed it just as the person stepped onto the landing. Paul held his breath as he heard the footsteps pass by. They stopped. Please don't find me, please don't find me. Paul closed his eyes and listened. And waited. And waited. The footsteps moved away. Paul let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding. Then they were coming back. And pacing. Paul's eyes shot open. He couldn't be stuck here forever.

          I have to get out of here! Paul thought. But how? Paul looked around the boy's bathroom. There was a window. Just big enough for Paul to slip through. He ran up to it, praying it would open. And it did, but with a loud pop. The pacing stopped. Paul silently cursed. Everything had been going so smoothly. Paul slid through the window as fast as he could, but then he remembered he was one story off the ground. He jumped just as the bathroom door banged open.

          Paul hit something soft. He opened his eyes to find he had landed in plants. He got up and ran, not knowing where he was going. He slipped into a hiding place just to see someone's head sticking out of the window, looking around, visibly confused. Paul was taking deep, heaving breaths as he brushed himself off. That was a close one. He thought. A.B. Latter and the children were coming back. Paul watched them entering the house. Where had they gone? What had they done?

          What did they say?

          As soon as the front door closed, Paul sank to his knees, breathing hard. That was close. He thought. But what did Runcorn do? How am I supposed to do what high command wants when I can't even get in without constantly looking behind my back? Paul swallowed. What did Runcorn do? Paul began to panic. Don't panic, don't panic! What would Runcorn think?

         What would he think? Even though Paul knew him very well he didn't know what Runcorn would do in this situation. But then a thought accrued to Paul. A thought that he didn't like very much. What if I didn't know Runcorn at all? Paul pushed the thought away and stood up. He had to get inside. He was doing his job. His mom couldn't lose anyone else. 

        𝕴 have to try again, Paul thought. But how? They won't let me in? He gasped. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? Penelope! Penelope had been nice, she seemed like she would understand! But she's a kid, Paul thought, even if I can get to her, she won't be much help getting me inside. Or will she? Paul blinked, looking around. He sniffed. Flowers. Paul didn't know how he recognised the smell. He had only ever seen a flower once in his life and it didn't have a particular aroma.

         Paul slipped out of his hiding place and followed the smell. It led him out of the orphanage grounds and towards the beach. There was a sign just before the beach.

         PLEASE BE MINDFUL OF NESTING BIRDS. THANK YOU.

        Nesting birds? Paul had rarely ever seen birds. There was an occasional crow or raven that had somehow survived the world's burn but other than that, Paul's life had been utterly birdless. The smell of flowers stopped where the grass met the sand. Paul looked around for the flowers but none were found. Probably just my imagination.

        "You're the guy who was at the orphanage!"

        Paul whirled around. It was a girl he had seen from the pictures. Not Penelope, or the fire-haired girl, or the girl who looked like a boy, but the girl who looked almost as delicate as Archie's wings. And she smelled like flowers.

        "I'm Grace, I share a room with Penelope," she said. "Did you really know him? Runcorn?"

        "So what?" said Paul. "I'm just here to get a job done so I can go home to my mom."

       "That's what he said," said Grace matter of factly. "But he had a brother too. Do you have a brother?"

       Paul's face tightened.

       "I had a brother."