Storm Sisters

Chapter Twelve

~1~

Audra and Aura

The girls waited patiently in their beds after lights-out for the sounds of the orphanage to settle. The walls were thin enough that they could hear the muffled whispers of other girls in adjacent rooms, chatting their late night chatter before drifting off to dreams about alternate lives where mothers kissed their heads and sang songs to help them sleep.

And even long after the chatter had ceased, the girls still waited until every last tick fell totally silent, for they could not risk being caught out of their room after hours by one of the prefects.

At last silence came, and with it, the moment to arise and begin the tempered trek down the hallway, carefully with each step onto the creaky wood floor, lest they be betrayed by the whining of the old house.

Jenessa led the troop, followed by Audra and Aura, and further back Cali. But Ellen stayed behind, either unaware of the girls outing or pretended to be. She was also one whom they had wanted to leave-out of their adventure, and they probably would have preferred to leave Cali behind as well if she had given them an option to.

Illuminated only by the faded blue hues of dim moonlight, shining through the downstairs windows, the girls had to feel their way forward through the shadows.

When they reached the top of the stairs, the sudden pause in forward motion caused Cali to bump into Aura, who in turn bumped into Audra, who bumped into Jenessa, almost knocking her off balance down the stairs.

She glared back at the girls behind her(as if they could even see her), holding a warning finger to her lips, before continuing down the stairs. Regardless of how slowly they applied pressure with each step, the stairs creaked like screaming bullfrogs in the dead silence of the night.

All the doors would be locked requiring a key even to exit, but Jenessa claimed to know of an alternative way out. She lead them past the den and the dining hall, toward the kitchen.

Aura had plans of her own though, and snuck away from to group to seek-out the office of Miss Cuthard, in hopes of finding the key to the mysterious locked door.

It wasn't until after they'd reached the kitchen, that Audra noticed she had gone. "Where's Aura?" she whispered sternly to Cali, whose wide-eyed obliviousness was flabbergasting.

Audra began to head back to search for her, when she noticed a light from a lantern, moving towards them.

Jenessa tugged her by the arm, "We have to go now." She said, leading her to the window that she had propped open earlier that day.

"But I cant leave Aura." Audra protested.

The footsteps rapidly approached. "It's too late.." Jenessa insisted, "there's no time."

Hastily, they squeezed up and out the small square opening of the window. Audra waiting until the last second for some sign of Aura, but with the light of the lantern now flooded into the kitchen, so she had no choice but to push through mere moments before being spotted.

She landed with a thud outside, met with the harsh cold of the night's winter air, and Jenessa frantically rushing her to her feet to flee. As it was evident that the bearer of the lantern inside was moving to the back door to investigate the sound.

"Hurry... she's coming" Jenessa said as they scrambled around the corner and over the gate.

"Is somebody there?" they heard the voice of a woman call out, probably that of one of the teachers.