Lights Out

The Big Yellow Chariot of Death (Elli)

The wheels on bus go round and round, round and round, round and round, the wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town. The people on the bus...

If there was to be a vote for the literal hell on earth, Elli was pretty sure this bus ride would be a prominent competitor. Music blared loudly from every speaker, kids ages 3-18 bounced in seats; either jammin' along to the annoying cheery music, or desperately trying to tune it out.

"Eleanor! Eleanor! She's as ugly as a... door" four of the cockiest eleven year olds Elli had ever met croaked their spot-on rhymes in sing-song tones. Elli didn't know why they had chosen to target her today, they picked another victim every day. There wasn't much a 5th grader could say that really offended Elli, but she had to say, they were pretty creative with their rhymes.

Sitting next to Elli, and completely oblivious to the general hysteria going on, was her kinda-best-friend-only-because-she-has-no-other-friends, (KBFOBSHNOF for short) Amelia. It wasn't Amelia's fault she was good at ignoring the noise, it was easy not to hear someone when you were deaf. Amelia was a petite girl, with a heart shaped face, and thin, glossy blonde hair. Amelia squeezed Elli's arm as she moved her hand in a way that Elli immediately recognized as sign language.

"Uh," Elli racked her brain for what Amelia could be saying, "can you repeat that?"

You would think after being friends with a deaf girl for a little under a year you would've picked up on sign language, but Elli just hadn't. It wasn't that she hadn't tried, Elli couldn't count the number of hours she had poured into ASL made easy! Volume One (out of like, forty volumes), but her memory just wasn't good enough to recognize the hand motions in context. Now, she watched carefully as Amelia slowly moved her hands. She flicked her right hand off her nose, then dragged one finger in a horizontal line at waist level.

Elli watched it three times before she spoke, "something, them."

"She's saying ignore them," both girls looked up at a chestnut skinned girl who sat across from them on the bus. She wasn't someone Elli had seen before, she stared at Elli for a bit before rolling her eyes, "oh come on, it's not that hard."

Elli glared at the girl for a couple of seconds before offering her hand, "you must be new here, I'm Elli."

The girl didn't take Elli's hand, instead crossing her arms and looking at the back of the seat in front of her "Leslie, and I've been here for six months."

Yeah, that tended to happen. See, the kids at Smiling Sunrises: Dawn to Dusk Daycare and Sleep Away, were either neglected introverts or spoiled brats with no in between. They were kids whose parents saw sending their kids to the most expensive daycare on this side of the country as a better alternative to taking care of them themselves. A child could be there their whole lives and no one would ever notice them if they didn't speak up, Elli guessed that was the case with Leslie.

Anyone paying attention to that last paragraph probably picked up on the fact that if all the kids at the daycares parents were millionaire deadbeats, then Elli's had to be true. It was a sad fact of life, Mr. and Mrs. Woodbury were Co. Executive Department Chairs of Waste Removal, whatever that was supposed to mean. They burned trash, sponsored landfills, and generally wrecked the earth. They were happy to give their next of kin (a.k.a. Daughter) anything she wanted. Anything that is, except quality family time. The last time Elli had seen them was on her 13th birthday, they had flown in, exclaimed about how much of a woman she was becoming, and left before Elli had even had a chance to say goodbye; of hello for that matter.

The rain started about half an hour before they got into a city, the thick acidic droplets rolling off the bus windows. The closer they to the power plants on the edge of the town, the more clouded the air became. It seemed like everyone on the bus pressed their faces to the glass in the awe of the large buildings as they stretched towards the sky. Everyone except two people. The first one was Elli, and the only reason she wasn't is that she was staring at the second one.

Leslie sat with her knees pressed up to the front of the seat, she had propped open a thick paperback and seemed unfazed by the sights around her.

"Seen a lot of skyscrapers in your life?"

Leslie shrugged, she didn't look up, she couldn't have been more than 12 years old. "my parents live in a big city like this one, they sent me away because they thought the country side would be better for me. At Least that's their excuse."

Elli chuckled, she'd had plenty of experience with excuses, "you know sign language, why?"

Leslie's face darkened, "it doesn't matter," she turned a shoulder to Elli.

"Wait-"

"I said it doesn't matter."

Elli would've asked more, but the bus pulled into a cool-gray parking lot and the talking fizzled down as the ancient superintendent, Ms. Leroy, climbed to the front of the bus.

"Listen up children," she spoke with a sand-paper rough voice, "once we park you can get off the bus, orderly. Form yourself into groups, no more than five, no less than three. Any complaining and we'll pick them for you. Stick with your groups, hold hands or some sentimental thing. Don't wander off." She spoke the last phrase with extra emphasis, giving pointed glares to select children. Then she stepped to the side as the students scrambled off the bus.

Amelia caught her arm, she gave her a huge smile. And signed a word that Elli recognized, excited. Elli led her go ahead of her in line. She let the annoying 5th graders go ahead of her two, and the gaggle of sixteen-year olds glued to their phones. She was the last one off the bus.

"We can still offer you a chance at redemption."

Elli jumped as a strong hand gripped her shoulder, she looked around, but no one seemed to notice the strange man. He wore a baggy brown coat, whiskers peppered his chin. He stared at Elli without blinking. As if in a trance, the man dug through his pockets and produced a small card.

"The hour of darkness is soon at hand, you are born of corruption, but you can still find the light. Find us."

Elli examined the card, it was made out of some type of flimsy cardboard. The back read: 100% Recyclable. Please recycle. We will find you if you don't recycle. The front had some sort of logo involving twisting swirls, the word KnOT was engraved upon it. The O a circle of green arrows.

"Wait," Elli turned back to face the man but stopped. He was gone, the ground where he was standing free of any footprints or scuff marks. As if he had never been there at all.