Esterville (Book 1)

Chapter 6: Brainwashing

Oliver finds himself sitting at the dinner table, with his hands folded properly. In front of him, is Officer Lawson, pulling out files from his black briefcase.

Like his colleagues, Lawson had a navy blue Chicago Police Department uniform; Oliver catches a glimpse of his golden badge secured on the left side of his breast.

His skin is the color of Oliver's dark hair, but for some reason, the cop's brown eyes seemed to be swimming in yellow.

A tiny light, which bounced on the badge, appeared on Oliver's black t-shirt.

It reminded him of the time he met Amelia.

When his mother was out to buy groceries, an eight-year-old Oliver was in the living room, watching Ghostbusters on television.

He has dressed in his Monsters Inc. pajamas, carrying his withered, brown teddy bear, and sucking his thumb, an old habit when he was two.

It was a cold and rainy day, he thought.

Raindrops drizzled against the cold windows; no matter how loud Oliver turn up the volume, he could still hear the wind crying outside.

Bullets of water patter loudly on the roof, until he hears a loud crash coming from the backyard.

I wonder what that could be? he wondered.

Oliver hastily shuts off the remote, crawls out of the crouch, and walked up to the glass pane door.

Though water blurred his vision, Oliver could see someone sitting in the grass, burying his or her head.

Taking a closer look, he saw the person wearing nothing, but some kind of white dress.

Oliver slid his small hand around the backyard doorknob, then turns it open. Deep down, he wanted to call the police, but he couldn't get his feet to move.

Opening the door, Oliver stepped onto the cold pavement, then checked around for the intruder.

"Hello?" he called. "Is someone there?"

The boy saw a dark figure approaching him, but then pulled back.

Curious, he disappeared into his house, and returned, holding out a half-eaten popcorn bag.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"If you want, you can eat my popcorn."

That when Oliver heard a low grumble: "get away from me."

The boy furrowed his eyebrows.

"But why?"

"Because I am dangerous."

"You don't sound dangerous, are you a burglar?"

"No."

"A rapist?"

"Fuck no!"

Oliver blushed at the foul comment.

"Then, what are you?"

Growling, the tall figure 'walks' up to the little boy.

Its delicate feet glide across the blade of grass, almost like a dancer's. Oliver watched thorns pricking the figure's feet, but strangely enough, it didn't pierce its skin.

When the shadow came close to the boy, Oliver's hands release the bag of popcorn, accidentally spilling the golden kernels on the floor.

As it turns out, the figure is an attractive, dark blond female, who reminds Oliver of Taylor Swift.