Back Talk

Ch7: Welcome Home!

We pulled into some kind of a huge plantation that looked like it had been built in the 1800's. The lush green fields waved in the wind. A crystal-clear pond sat at the far right of the field. Streams of light danced above the murky surface.

"What is this place?" I asked in awe of the beautiful mansion that stood in front of my. It was very tall and victorian castle-y. It was a magestic blue-grey color and seemed very old but had obviously been renovated to look shiner and more modern.

The entire lot was surrounded by lush green grass and bright blue skies. All of the kids tromping around the lawn seemed to be having the time of their life. There was a little fenced-off courner near the front for toddlers and little kids. To keep them from wandering off- no doubt.

What is this place?

"Welcome to Gloria Manor" the boy said just as Jordan pressed a white button built into her car that opened a giant shiny gate with a extravagant cursive G in the middle of it.

As we entered I saw there were huge slews of children from 5 to Mid-twenties. They were all playing games or chatting with other kids. Some were singing on tire swings, others were fishing in the pond.

"OK, well then what is Gloria Manor?" I asked confused.

"Hush, you'll see" Jordan replied. She kept driving on a narrow dirt road deep into the grounds of the estate. The road winded all the way around to the back of the mansion, which was also riddled with children and just as beautiful as the front. The mansion had a 5 car garage; complete with 5 cars plus the one Jordan was driving now.

She took the keys out of the ignition and exited the car, along with the boy.

"Take her to Irina. She can patch her up." Jordan told the boy.

"OK." he replied.

I got out of the car and followed the boy into the mansion. The room I entered I assumed was a laundry room because it was filled with washers and dryers. It smelled like freshly washed clothes. I had missed that smell, I don’t think I've even smelled it since my mother died.

I stopped to breathe it in, he noticed and grabbed my arm. "We need to get you to the ER, now. You could have a concussion."

"I think we just left the ER, smart one." I said sarcastically.

"No, the Gloria ER. It's on the 5th floor." he said leading me to an elevator. He pressed a button that had a big '5' on it. It glowed a bright blue light after he pressed it.

As the elevator began to rise, my headache began to get worse. I leaned against the side of the wall. The box began to get smaller and smaller, closing in around me. I felt like I was going to throw up.

The guy steadied me against himself and encouraged me to keep my head above my heart. "We're here" he said just before a small little ding went off in the elevator. The ding began to ring all throughout my head.

He guided me out of the elevator and into a bright white room that was slightly bigger than the 5 car garage. It was filled with cots and medical equipment.

"Is this where you do tests on monkeys?" I asked weakly.

"No," he chuckled. "But this is where we help our residents when we can't rely on government hospitals."

"Our residents? You make it sound as if I'm checking into a 5-star hotel."

He laughed, "We do our best." He took me down the aisle of the cots until we reached the very end. A young girl who looked about 16 stooped over a desk fiddled with some blood samples. She had just below shoulder-length black curly hair with 5 deep red streaks. She wore dark eyeliner and dark eye shadow as well.