Anomalous

2-Mysterious Happenings

We walk in, and instantly, a short lady with frizzy ginger hair greets us.

"Hello dear, you must be Autumn! Glad you could join us, I'm Juliette!" She says, excitedly patting my hand.

"If you guys are a family, then who is she?" I whisper to Nox.

"She's...kinda like the fun aunt. She's also the one who handles the financial stuff. She'll help you with your little camp problem." He whispers back.

Juliette grabs my arm. "Come on sweetie, I'll show you your room."

She pulls me through the lobby, and we turn down the hallway on the left. We pass a vending machine, the pool, and fitness centre.

"Will you be comfortable on the 2nd floor? That's where everyone else is," She says, pulling me into an elevator.

"Uh, sure, that's fine." I say quietly, since we're already on our way to the 2nd floor.

We step out of the elevator, and she points down the hall.

"The last room on the right, 208, is free. Make yourself at home!" She gets back in the elevator, leaving me to wander down the hall with my duffel bag.

Seriously, how is there electricity? There weren't any power lines on the side of the road, and these kids seem like they don't want to be found. How is Juliette paying the power bill without anyone knowing where they are?

I shake the thought away, and open the door to 208. This is pretty cool, it's literally like staying in a hotel, except with no room service.

There's two double beds with a bedside table in between them, a mini fridge, a chair with a lamp, a dresser, a TV, and a nice bathroom.

Not bad, certainly way better than my room.

I unpack the little clothes I brought, put the hairbrush in the bathroom, the sneakers by the door, and the pen on the bedside table. I lean the baseball bat against the bed closer to the window, then I flop down on it.

How did they know my name? How did they know where I lived? Why me? And...are those footprints on the ceiling?

I stare up at the ceiling. I can definitely see the outlines of a trail of footprints, walking across the white ceiling.

I sigh. I guess it's just another unanswered question.

I hear a knock on the door. I sit up, and walk over to open it.

"Hey, how's it going? Getting settled?" Gray asks.

"Yeah, uh, do you still have those extra clothes and stuff you told me about?" I ask awkwardly.

"Oh! Yeah, come with me," He says, leading me into the elevator.

To my surprise, we go to the 3rd floor. My impression of this place was that floors 3 and up were not used.

Once we're out of the elevator, Gray leads me down the hall of the right.

He opens the third door on the left.

"These are clothes from kids who've lived here in the past, who've grown up, and left." Gray says this in a bit of a sad tone.

I look at him, and then I start looking through the folded stacks. Instantly, I see a burgundy quarter-sleeve. I sling that over my arm, and keep looking. I grab a pair of black capris, some black sandals, a grey cable knit sweater, a pair of boots, a white and grey tie-dyed tank top, and a pair of comfy looking black yoga pants.

"You can always come back later if you're short of clothes. Oh, and here's the toiletries." He says, pulling open a drawer in a big dresser.

I rifle through the mix and matched tubs, tubes, compacts, and bottles. I grab a nice-smelling face wash, a toothbrush, some toothpaste, some shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.