The House Named Claurece

Eight

         "𝖂hen are you leaving?"

         That was the fifth time this week that Latter had asked that question.

         "I'm leaving once I'm done," Paul responded.

         "And when is that?"

         "Once I've decided if the children are going to end the world,"

         Latter sighed.

         "I'll never get you out of this place will I?" he said.

         "Trust me, we both want me out of here as soon as possible," said Paul.

         "What do you get when you leave, besides an earth that's not ruined?"

         The question caught Paul off guard.

         "Huh?"

         "You heard me Paul," said Latter. "What will you get when you leave this place? Besides a not ruined earth?"

         Paul studied him.

         "My mother."

         And with that, Paul walked from the room. If A.B. Latter asked him that question again, he would not have an answer. All he had was his mother, his home, and his job. He used to have Runcorn. And before that, he used to have his father.

         Paul barely remembered his father. He had gone when Paul was little, around six or seven. Paul had heard him and his mother arguing in the kitchen the night before. Paul distinctly remembered his mother shouting; "Why are you leaving us Mark? Why are you leaving?" Then, just before an eleven-year old Runcorn had pulled him away, Paul heard his father shout; "I'm not leaving you! I'm doing my job! I'm going to live with my true-" Runcorn had closed the door at that moment. Ever since, Paul had wondered what and where his fathers 'true' was. Was it that important to abandon his wife and kids? What was his job?

         "Leaving soon?"

         Paul jumped, he had been so lost in thought he had not heard Penelope walking up behind him.

         "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said.

         "It's okay," Paul pulled a smile.

         "Can you answer my question then?" Penelope asked. "About leaving?"

          "I don't think I'll be leaving soon," Paul said honestly. "I thought the little talks with you and the other children would help this a lot more, but I feel like I've only moved a couple inches towards my goal."

         "And what is your goal?" Penelope asked, intrigued.

         Paul sighed.

         "It's the same as Runcorn's," he said. "It will always be the same as Runcorn's, until I'm done with this job."

         "Are you done with this job?"

         Paul laughed.

          "I'm nowhere near close,"

         𝕹owhere near had never been such an understatement. Paul felt as though he had no chance of getting this job done. He didn't know what to do. Quite often, he found himself wandering back to the thought What did Runcorn do? And every time, the memory of Runcorn running from flames flashed through Paul's head. What had really happened to Runcorn? Had he really died? Had Runcorn really failed? Runcorn wasn't the type to fail. Paul had known that for ages. So why, why, did Runcorn fail that one time? And died? Paul was confused. Very very confused.

         One day, Paul thought it was mid-June, when he was watching the children from afar, the ground seemed to shake. Paul brushed it away, thinking it was one of the children. Probably just testing out their powers. He thought. But which one? He quickly racked his brain for all the children's powers. It could either be Grace, the daughter of Mother Nature, or Archie, a forest sprite. But they didn't seem to be using their powers at all. None of them did. A.B. Latter appeared at Paul's side looking scared.

         "We need to get the children out of here now," he said, his face pale.

         "What's wrong?" asked Paul, turning to him. "Is everything okay?"

         "Did you feel that earthquake?" Latter asked.

         Paul nodded.

         "The children need to get out of here," he repeated. "Help me."

         Paul nodded again.

         "What do I need to do?"

         𝕿hey had reached the beach when the ground shook again. One of the children screamed.

         "It's going to be okay!" Latter yelled to them all. "We're going to be fine!"

         Paul heard the doubt in his voice.

         "Where are we going?" Paul asked, catching up to Latter with a shaking Penelope hot on his heels.

         "Somewhere far away from here," was Latter's response. "Somewhere safe."

         "Where's safe? What will the townspeople think?"

         "We'll deal with that when it gets here," said Latter and he plowed forward, shouting at the children to keep up.

          Paul glanced back at the orphanage and stopped. It looked like it was about to fall, its walls were crumpling and the trees Archie and Grace had so preciously nurtured were bending, some already fallen. Paul turned to see that the children and Latter were already far ahead. Paul ran forward, opening his mouth to call out to them. That's when the Fort Bragg Orphanage fell.

         Paul gasped, his eyes shooting open and immediately stinging. Smoke and debris were clustered around him. A steering pain shot up Paul's leg. When he looked down at it, he coughed in shock. It had been crushed. Then he heard a yell of help. A child's yell. Terrence.

         "HELP ME!" Terrence yelled. "I'M STUCK! I CAN'T GET OUT!"

         Paul struggled to push the piece of wall off his leg.

         "I'M COMING!" he yelled back. "HOLD ON, I'M COMING AS FAST AS I CAN!"

         Paul pushed as hard as he could but the piece of wall didn't seem to budge.

         "HELP ME!" yelled Terrence at the top of his lungs. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

         "I'M COMING!"

         Paul pushed more desperately, the pain building up through his leg and into the rest of his body.

         "HOLD ON, I'M COMING!"

         The pain was blinding. Dark spots were forming in Paul's eyes as he pushed at the wall. Someone tall came into his range of vision and pushed the wall off his leg. The dark spots diminished as Paul fell back, panting. The person came into his vision again and a strangely familiar voice asked;

         "Are you okay?"

         More of the dark spots disappeared. Paul could see the person better now.

         "R-Runcorn?"