Alone

Chapter 2

*Present*

There was a fire. Screams. Shouts. Chaos.

"Go! Save yourself!"

"I can't leave you!"

"Theo! Where are you?"

"Run!"

Celesse sat up straight in bed, breathing heavily.

It was just another one of my nightmares.

Ms. Miranda, the most closest and kindest teacher she ever had left, and Celesse watched as her plane took off that morning.

Her teacher had said something about today being her "big day", but nothing special happened.

What did she mean?

Celesse sat and pondered about it. Meanwhile, she heard footsteps approaching, very quickly.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

It's 2 am in the morning, who would be awake?

The door creaked open, and the switch was flicked on.

"Get up! Someone's here!"

"Mrs. Pret?"

An old woman stood at the doorway. The yellow fluorescent light bulb lighted up her ghostly figure. Her hair was tied up into a tight bun. She was about seventy years old, but she had more wrinkles than of those at ninety years, making Celesse think of her as the oldest woman in the world. Though Mrs. Pret was seventy, she was still strong enough to beat up both kids and adults with a rolling pin she brought everywhere in the pocket of her disgusting, checked apron. Celesse wondered how Mrs. Pret was even allowed to run an orphanage.

I mean, it's child abuse right?

"Act as best as you can, so I can get rid of you already! Hurry up, put on your dress! You can't let them see you in a ragged dressing gown."

From the tone of her voice, she sounded very, very angry. But Celesse took no heed to that.

"What's going on?"

"You are thick aren't you? Someone's here to adopt you of course! It's a great thing to happen because it's one less orphan girl to take care of."

She grabbed Celesse roughly by the arm and dragged her through the dimly lit hall. Celesse, barely awake, stumbled to keep up. They walked down three flights of stairs, each step creaking with age.

Finally, they reached the entrance of the building. It was raining, and a tall, young woman was standing in the doorway. Celesse couldn't see her face- she was more like a silhouette in the moonlight.

"Thank you Mrs. Pret."

The woman smiled. She took Celesse gently by the hand and walked out into the rain.

They walked in the alleys that twisted in and out like a maze. The woman did not stop- she seemed to know where she was heading. The roads were rocky and old, and not a thing stirred in the houses. Neuwerside was poor, all the buildings were grey, and filthy, with very little maintenance. Neuwerside was very much like a ghost town.

They passed by some fishermen's houses, that smelled of salt and rotten fish. The houses were full of holes, and the tiles on the roof were loose. It was collapsing.

After half an hour of walking, Celesse found her voice.

"Where are we going?"

"To meet someone."

---

He could finally feel his hands. Wriggling his fingers, he tried lifting his right arm up to his head, to fix up his hair. Nathair tried opening his eyes.

One eye cracked open. He saw two unfamiliar people, one with brown, chestnut coloured, hair and eyes, and a tall, young woman with bright, purple hair and striking violet eyes.

The woman was talking to a man in a white coat.

"He's got only a few hours of life support left. There's very little chance of him surviving."

Another eye cracked open.

"I have a lot of faith in him. He will live, and he will wake up. I guess we should leave now, Celesse, and wait."

"To inform you, we're unplugging the life support in fifteen minutes."

The woman pleaded.

"Just give him time."

Nathair struggled to sit up. He needed to show them he was alive. After all, his mother was waiting for him.

"Look!"

The girl pointed at Nathair.

"He's waking!"

"Doctor, may I have a few minutes to talk to him?"

The doctor shook his head.

"No. We'll check to see if there are still any more problems. In two hours, we'll call you in if he's fine with it. After six months of not moving around and talking, the boy will need some time to come to his senses."

The girl and the woman left the room. Only the doctor remained.

He smiled, not with his eyes, but only with his mouth. His eyes were as black as coal. Cold, dark, and malicious. They stared back at Nathair, full of evil. He looked like he can't wait to sell his ice cream to some kids.

"So, I'm going to have to kill you now, may I?"

Nathair edged back on the hospital bed. He had just survived a coma, on the brink of death, and now some evil ice cream man was going to murder him right then and there on the spot.

He inched back further away into the corner, not knowing what to do and his mind fixed to one thing, the idea of escape.

I know, I know, I stopped at a good part. But hey, comment anything, suggestions too! I'll read them and reply as soon as I can! ^^