Spoiled Secrets

Chapter VII

His heart stopped.

Laurel began to panic as the girl creepily walked closer, but he could not bring himself to scream. Her smile, if possible, began to grow and grow with every step she took, and Laurel could not risk wasting time.

His heart picked up the pace again as he did the first thing he thought of: he got up and launched himself at the girl. Just as she had slammed Laurel into the floor, Laurel jumped at her and she hit the wood planks with a creaky bang. Laurel already knew he had woken up at least a few other kids, and maybe even alerted some maids outside, but he was too panicked to care.

The girl, however, was quick. She got up in the blink of an eye and picked up her knife. Her grinning face turned into that of pure, bloody insanity.

"Come here..." she said, her raspy voice barely more than a whisper. "I want to eat your blood...

GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD!"

Laurel sprinted away as fast as his legs could take him. It was hard to run in the narrow halls of the dorms, and he felt like he might get tripped up sooner or later and she would catch up to him.

Blood pounded in his head like a hammer striking his skull. His lungs worked overtime as every breath helped him make one step farther and farther away from her.

Laurel was never an athlete and had never worked out a day in his life. But right then, he felt like he could run an entire marathon. He just stopped thinking.

All thoughts and fears and memories and common sense all seemed to disappear as his body just took over.

All...that...mattered...was...he...needed...to...live...

The girl chased after him, her maniacal laughter ringing through the corridors and in Laurel's ears. 

Laurel tried to strategize the best he could. His mind had never worked so quickly. He tried to confuse the girl.

Left...right...up the stairs...left...down the stairs...right...make a turn here...try to dodge the knife...

But she was just too fast. No matter how much Laurel pushed his legs, the girl just seemed to get closer...and closer...

As Laurel ran up the stairs, the girl, still on the first floor, hurled her knife straight up at Laurel, but he managed to dodge it. Albeit, very poorly.

The knife pierced through the air and straight up through the side of Laurel's face, leaving a deep cut in his cheek and up through his scalp. He fell to the ground, blood gushing from his cheeks and an agonizing, suffering pain throbbed across his face and neck. The knife fell alongside him with a clattering metal pang. The adrenaline rush stopped, and Laurel was too tired and pained to run any further. But he couldn't just die...

Thinking as quickly as he could, even with the bloody gash across his face torturing him, he ran behind the crates right by the stairwell. Just as the girl reached the top, Laurel had already hidden himself behind the crates and made a protective wall around himself. Through a small hole in one of the crates, he watched as the girl yelled in anger and picked up her knife, confused and outraged at his disappearance. She got on all fours and began to scavenge like a wild animal. She sniffed around, knocked over tables, pulled on the wallpaper, and even bent down and began to lick Laurel's blood from the floor. She smacked her lips together like she was savoring a five-star meal; Laurel almost threw up.

He watched all of this through that small hole in the crates. He allowed himself to catch his breath but with the gash on his face, it was hard to take in air.  He thought, surely, he was going to die. If not by being caught by the girl to finish her job or by succumbing to the loss of blood, there was just no way he was going to survive. But, there seemed to be some adrenaline left, as something in him just refused to let himself die. Laurel had unbuttoned his shirt and tightly wrapped it around his face, trying his best to seal the wound. With no shirt on, his skinny body was now cold and shivering as well.

Laurel watched for what seemed like hours as the girl scoured for him. Every time she got too close to his hiding spot, he tensed up, preparing to die, only for her to give up and begin to search somewhere else. Finally, she seemed to admit defeat, and her manic eyes ever so slightly softened. Relief washed over Laurel as she groaned and went back downstairs. He heard a door open and close, which he assumed was the girl resigning to a room. 

Laurel decided to wait a little longer, just in case the girl wasn't trying to trick him into coming out of his hiding place. But, he heard nothing more.

Before he knew it, it was morning.

He heard the curtains down below open and the maids call out for everyone to wake up. He heard the dorm doors open and groggy children trudge out into the halls. He felt it might be safe to come out now. 

However, he had forgotten how he had looked. One, he was shirtless. Two, dried blood was still smeared across his face, hands, and bare chest. And three, dark circles were underneath his eyes, as he hadn't slept in hours.

The tired orphans seemed to wake up as they stared in shock and horror at Laurel's ghastly appearance, but he didn't care.

As he made his way to his dorm, there was only one thing on his mind:

Farah was right.

Author's Note:

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting in a while! Here is a quick reminder of the characters:

Protagonists: Laurel - our introverted main character; Farah - the spirited secondary protagonist; Meadow - the mature and older sister of the group; John - the plane-loving youngest of the group

Maids and Orphanage Staff: Ms. Clay (orphanage directress), Sylvia, Darwin (the strictest and scariest maid), Kaila (the maid who had been on the speaker on Laurel's first day), Serenity, Everly, Elias, Charlene (the maid who had shown Laurel the ropes), Adelia (the librarian), Elm, Atlas (the pilot who John adores)

More characters will be introduced and play bigger parts! - 12_flossie