The air outside was ghostly still, as if the wind itself was enveloped in fear. Thick afternoon heat settled against my skin; shrills of summer cicadas echoed in the distance. My eyes drifted towards the looming sandstone building before me; it's exterior embodying perfection. Framed with manicured hedges and green grass. In stark contrast were its front doors, forged with heavy metal bars and flaking paint. Containing all the unknowns of Lone Pine behind them.
The school's emblem leered all the same above. Featuring the same pine trees that were on the transporter's uniforms. They were painfully familiar, but just out of reach to my memory.
In the meantime, the blonde woman had slid out of the front passenger seat. Wrenching my door open as she passed, stomping towards the boot.
Though the path ahead of me only led in one direction, I hesitated to exit the car. My nerves buzzing with a primal fear.
'Get out.' The woman threw my bags into the dirt; sweat drenched her blouse.
Clambering out of the car; a tired sigh escaped me. My bags were now covered in grime, turning my hands to mud as I gathered my belongings. Eventually making my way to the top of the stairs after her. She jammed her fingers against an intercom. Its worn buttons sticky. Forcing a crackled voice to call out from beyond the fortress's walls.
'Yes? What is your name and the purpose of your visit today...?' Another woman spoke, her tone laced with boredom.
'Stace, it's a new student. You should be expecting him.' It took a moment for the woman to reply. Sensing this strangers' eyes rake over me through the small camera.
'Right, Tristan Edmond. Come through,' Mechanical whirling began behind the door, allowing its lock to pop open. 'God, I am too busy for this...' the intercoms voice drifted away.
'Go already,' the blonde prodded my shoulder, 'You've bought this on yourself.' She turned on her heel, making haste back towards the car. Her task completed.
Mustering a brave front, I forced my feet to move through the doorway. Slipping inside the belly of Lone Pine; and to whatever came next. Unable to look back on the outside world behind me as the door clicked shut.
⁂
Cold light danced across the polished marble floors of the reception, casting a bleak aura. The space was sparsely decorated with a few couches; the magazines on coffee tables untouched to time. It felt oddly staged.
A television on the far-left wall played a promotional video. Forever trapped in an endless loop. Lone Pine's emblem crossed the screen with fanfare, before it faded to a young well-groomed man. His navy suit designer, complimented with a silken green tie and golden wattle in his pocket. His welcoming smile was suspicious in nature.
'Welcome to Lone Pine State High School.' A platinum watch glittered on his wrist. 'We here at our facility know that parenting in this age can be difficult. Children more than ever are exposed to drugs, violence, social media and suffer a lack of life skills. However, there is a way forward...'
A throat was cleared across the room, snapping me away from the video. At the room's centre, protected inside a steel box, was a petite woman. Wearing the same green blouse as the transporters, her auburn hair neat.
'Over here.' She beckoned; her brow heavy in annoyance. With no choice but to comply, I approached. 'Drop your bags. They'll need to be searched after the paperwork.' She motioned towards a ledge on the counter, where I handed over my belongings. She opened a small window, dragging them inside her cage.
'Hey, what the hell is this place? Why am I here? No one's told me anything...' The woman seemed annoyed at my questions. Flopping down in front of her computer, dancing her fingers across a keyboard. A name tag on her collar read, Stacey.
YOU ARE READING
When the Sun Sets on You
General Fiction'Remember that the sun is watching over you always.' From the view of a grassy hill, Tristan Edmond looks down the end of his life as he knows it. Labeled as a dangerous arsonist, with little to no choice, Tristan is shipped off to Lone Pine. A Ther...
