𝓥𝓲𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓞𝓯 𝓜𝔂 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓭

【Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ２】

Scarlett POV: 

Conny and I weren't close yet when I heard that she was getting shipped; my stomach sank. It felt unfair she was too young. We were all too young to be eaten by monsters just beyond the walls. When I heard the distant goodbyes from downstairs, I made a mental note to stay upstairs. I walked up and down the halls. I knew what was gonna happen and I tried to block the inevitable with my steps against the wood planks. Suddenly my eyes widened as my vision blurred white to mark the beginning of the visions I dreaded so much. 

/Flash/  

It was dark. No, it was nighttime at the Orphanage but there was no one around. I opened a giant oak door to see Emma crying over a giant flame. It started to spread on the kitchen spreads and place settings. Her ear was dripping blood and she cradled it tightly. Behind me, Mom swung the door open with a panicked expression. Emma tried to express what happened but her crying limited her ability to talk. 

"Get everyone outside!" She ordered and Emma obliged. Mom reached for the fire extinguisher and sprayed it on the fire but it didn't die down. Panic struck Mom's face as if she realized something and ditched the large booming fire. It was strange to see her scared. She was always level-headed so this vision was odd. From behind me, I heard Emma yell something to Mom. I couldn't understand the first half due to the loud crackle of the fire. 

I flinched at the words, "Ray's still in there!" 

/Flash/

 When my sight returned, I nearly fell over my own two feet. I tried to analyze the vision to find some sort of time frame it could be from. Emma looked different in the dream. Not older but different. Mom looked the same so for all I knew this could be tomorrow or in a few months. My chest heaved up and down. If Ray was gonna be caught in a house fire I had to know when. Yet the more I tried to remember the vision the more my head stung. I lowered myself to the floor and covered my eyes with my hands. Even the dimly lit glow of the hallway was too much for my head. 

Unexpectedly, I felt something wet fall between my fingers. Tears. 

When was I crying? How did I not notice I was crying? I rubbed my wet eyes against my sleeve and tried to dry my eyes. Breathing as slowly and steadily as I could I tried to focus. It didn't work. I couldn't lose Ray. I just couldn't even though I knew he would die at some point by shipment; this didn't satisfy me. My head burned and ached at the patches of dim light that glowed between my fingers. Getting up from the ground I tried to slowly expose my eyes to the light. I squinted at first but it didn't seem as bad.

Where was Ray? Then a horrible thought occurred second. What if the fire is about to happen? I sprinted downstairs to the kitchen and I pushed past some kids getting ready to sleep. They simply brushed me off as crazy. Swinging open the kitchen doors I examined the room. No smell of gasoline or charred anything. It still smelled like our dinner. Ray was sweeping in the corner of the room and he eyed me strangely. "Hello?" 

Without hesitating, I ran over to him to wrap him in a tight hug. I could feel appose but he relaxed after a minute. I pulled away and let out a relieved exhale. "Thank god."

"Okay, I am so confused.-" Ray rubbed his temble. 

"Vision," I explained briefly. "I-I just wanted to make sure you were still okay." He nodded understandably and went back to sweeping the kitchen floor. He didn't question any further which I appreciate. I pulled a kitchen chair and sat down as I allowed my heart to calm. I could feel Ray's gaze glued to the back of my head. It was as if he was examining all of my movements like a hawk. 

Silence fell comfortably but Ray had to break it. "I sent them out." He told me. 

"Sent who?"

"Emma and Norman. They think that they are gonna catch Conny in time." He explained. I had to do a double-take at what he just said. What on earth happened to not telling anyone? Nonetheless, showing them! It was plain stupid and reckless. 

"What? Are you nuts!" I leaped from the chair and got up in his face. "What happened to not telling them? You know it's better if they don't know." 

"I thought differently," He dismissed. I rolled my eyes and a small smile crept on my face. I knew I should've been mad but after my vision, I couldn't bring myself to do so. Even when his sarcastic and idiotic comments were thrown my way.

I tutted to myself, "Well, we can't exactly undo that decision. So tell me genius what do we do when they come back terrified?"

Ray shrugged, "Keep the act up. Emma and Norman are smart so they'd know better than to foolish run to Mom." I had reservations about his ideas. For one, Emma was a mama's girl from day one. She even aspired to be like Mom one day. As for Norman, he was logical but he wasn't cynical like Ray or I. He had a strong morality compass and was prone to call out mis-doings. My reaction of confusion and skepticism was apparent. Ray sighed and pulled a chair to sit next to me. "They will be fine and if they are not we will step in. For now, we will just observe them and play along like we always do. We can't predict how they will act but I think it's for the best." 

I nodded and slumped my head on his shoulder, his body jolted in response to my sudden touch. "I can." I snickered while staring across the room and stared at the dimly lit room. 

His face relaxed and he smirked at me, "And you never shut up about it,"

"Rude," I scoffed back at him.

***

I spent the late hours of the night awake even after Ray went to bed. Wandering around the halls with boredom striking every fiber of my being was better than having a scary vision. I fiddled and doodled on a scrap piece of paper in the library for a few minutes. I crumpled it up when my boredom hit again and flicked off the table with my index finger. Desperate for new things to do; my eyes stumbled on a blank, unclaimed, notebook. I used to love to write stories and songs because I felt that's how it connected to people to most. I never admitted to anyone that I wrote songs because I didn't know how to play an instrument nonetheless learned a proper song structure. My drawings were hung up the most around the house and when I was little I'd draw my visions to the best of my abilities. 

What good will art do in defense of a demon? I thought to myself. Then as if a spark went off in my head; I thought of a brilliant idea. This notebook would be used for plotting and scheming the grounds. Nobody notices when I doodle anymore so it wouldn't be suspicious for me to carry it around. The best hiding spots for Tag would be the first on my agenda. Emma and I were an unstoppable pair when it came to Tag. I had the strength to get me into crazy places that wouldn't leave a trail. I often took the high ground because climbing and carrying heavy things came easier to me. Emma hid in plain sight but was fast enough to outrun anyone. To annoy Norman; Emma and I came up with signals to help us communicate silently. 

Another light bulb. Sign language or Morse codes could help Ray and me. Mom would be none the wiser. I thought. I gripped the notepad and scribbled a bunch of random signals Emma and I used to use. The peace sign is good, a wave of the hand is get down, The swipe of both hands across your chest is run, etc. 

It felt like I had hit a gold mine but I wasn't sure why yet.