Whispers After Dark

Chapter 18

The water stretched endlessly in all directions, and there was no land in sight. Panic welled up inside me as I struggled to stay afloat, my arms flailing, desperately trying to keep my head above the water. But the more I fought, the more I sank, feeling the weight of the water pulling me down as my body grew tired of the efforts for survival.

Looking around in despair, Emily's head bobbed in the water nearby. I swam towards her as fast as I could, my limbs heavy and exhausted. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. Her eyes popped open, and she gasped for air, her small hands gripping mine. The terror in her eyes grew and she spoke inaudibly. Her mouth moved but I couldn't hear what she was saying. She touched me but I couldn't feel her.

Wincing her eyes, she screamed indistinctly. I held her close in my arms to make her feel safe, but she pushed me away, treading farther away into the water. The current separated us, eventually pulling me down into its dark abyss.

Studying time had become more relaxed than in the previous weeks. The children were allowed to talk amongst themselves and do their worksheets together. Roy sat at his desk, monitoring the progress of each child so no one was fooling around too much, which he would then separate the children off-task and continue to keep a watchful eye on the rest of the children.

Holly had become more talkative during breakfast and studying time. Our ages were close to each other so it was easier to connect with her than talk with a younger child who only had games and football on his mind.

We worked in solitude but every now and then, I'd catch a glance at her seated next to the window. I guess she looked cute when she was focused on her work.

Her golden-brown wavy hair was styled in a ponytail, catching the soft glow of the light blue sky that illuminated half her face. The faint freckles sprinkled across her nose that glittered, like stars under the moonlight.

The moment she noticed my gaze set on her, we made eye contact. Her eyes, were deep blue like the ocean, with a spark of light, like she had just solved her question. With her head bent over the worksheet, her brows furrowed in concentration and an attempt to succeed in solving the question, I didn't want to admit it, but she looked adorable.

She looked at me amidst her confusion in her worksheet, looking for a break from the never-ending problems from Roy. Her face formed a smile that graced her eyes. It was infectious enough for me to reciprocate the expression.

It didn't feel right, rubbing my anger off onto her the other day. She had done nothing wrong, and I was overreacting towards her. She didn't seem to bear any resolve towards my hostile behavior but it didn't change the fact that I felt horrible for what I had done. I didn't want to bring it up, but I needed to apologize.

I set my mind to more pressing matters. We needed to escape from here. Ignoring the fact that Emily didn't want to leave, I needed a plausible plan to get out of this orphanage at least.

From setting fire to the grounds to stabbing Mr. Chamberlain, my ideas were too violent for an escape. There needed to be enough time to put a considerable amount of distance between us and the orphanage, so it would take some time to track us down. Nevertheless, I gave up on my efforts to devise an escape route. I wasn't in a major rush anyways.

Erasing the escape doodles on my worksheet, I began to complete my worksheet, fairly late compared to the other children.

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It's like someone had put the time in rewind. Physical activity time was the same as the previous day before I had gone and ruined Emily's day. The girls gossiped and gasped like usual, the older boys along with Benjamin and Elliot tackled each other with an American football, and the smaller children chased each other around.

Holly sat next to me, near the girls, and we talked more and more, forgetting my outburst at her the other day.

"Roy doesn't sound like that!" she exclaimed, while giggling, holding her stomach to stop herself from rolling over.

"Are you laughing? Why are you not doing your work!?" I yelled, mimicking Roy's deep low-toned, and clear voice once again, staring at her with a mocking angry face. She succumbed to the humor and rolled over laughing. I joined in and we looked silly as some of the other children began to look at us from all the noise we were making.

All our laughter made me want to go to the toilet. I excused myself from our conversation and laughter and walked over to Mrs. Chamberlain. I could still hear her faint chuckles as the joke died off at the moment.

"Can I use the restroom, please?"

Mrs. Chamberlain had no reason not to let me go. I wasn't going to do anything suspicious this time anyways. She nodded me off and I was on my way.

The journey was a mindful one. I wanted to do something to make it up to Emily. She seemed more annoyed than usual. Maybe she really did like this place a lot.

Was it really all that bad? Was leaving this place necessary? I know no place would be a perfect home, but if Emily was happy here, surely there were some things I could overlook.

I shook my head. This was wrong. They were trafficking drugs for God's sake. The children were getting roped into it and staying here would only risk our lives further. After all, if they ever got caught, the children could get convicted as well. Emily would get convicted. I would get convicted. Staying here wasn't an option.

As I exited the orphanage to go back outside, it was different. Much quieter than it was before. Walking past Mrs. Chamberlain I noticed Holly standing closer than where we were sitting. Her cheery attitude had changed and she was back to her fidgeting and zoning-out self. Drying my hands on my pants, I began to sit down on the grass again.

"Wait, Charlie."

Already half-sitting, I looked up at her from my awkward position. I was confused about what she wanted to talk about standing up. "Yeah?" I asked puzzled.

"Can I talk to you somewhere else?" She hadn't looked up from the ground since I had gotten back.

"Ummm, sure," I reluctantly agreed.