Awoken - chapter one

Chapter five

Five

DAILY GLOBE

Lift Plummets into the Afterlife

By Cameron McKillen.

Today's tragedy has left a community feeling bewildered and distraught. At 8.15am on Tuesday September 15th, an event occurred which has bemused officials, with no explanation as to how it occurred. The high-rise offices on Berkley Road, in the heart of London, held the scene of a monstrous accident that resulted in the death of four people, all of which are yet to be identified.

An elevator, last seen on the 21st floor, plummeted at a record speed to the lobby with no warning. Its occupants had no way of escape and we can only assume how terrifying this experience must have been for them. It took fire fighters forty-five minutes to prise open the doors of the lift and help the people inside. It wasn't clear at the time how many people had lost their lives but the rescuers remained hopeful. Bystanders watching through the large open windows that surrounded the lobby spoke to the news crew: 'I could see so much smoke and rubble, the whole wall surrounding the lift was demolished. All you could see was the top half of a large metal box.'

Sky News were the first media channel on the scene. The employees of Ryland Maintenance reported that there had been no problems with any of the lifts and two weeks prior to this tragedy all lifts had been serviced to an excellent standard. Police are still unable to determine the cause of this horrific disaster.

The cries of a small child trapped helplessly within the steel metal enclosure could be heard by the fire fighters once recovery was under way. Fire-fighter John Simms was first on the scene and had this to say: 'All we could hear was a little child crying for his mother. Repeatedly my colleagues and I could hear the child yelling for his mummy. This spurred us on to work as hard as possible to retrieve the child and get the other people to safety. Once we had successfully prised the doors apart, we could see the dim red power light engulfing the lift. It was all a little hazy at first. The bodies of the victims were piled on top of one another. It was immediately clear that two of the occupants were dead; an elderly woman and a young man in his late twenties. One woman in her sixties, who was lying nearest to the lift doors, appeared to be suffering from multiple and critical wounds, including both of her femurs protruding awkwardly from the skin on her legs. The child we had heard screaming was a little boy, still secured in his pushchair, lying on its side. He appeared to be about two to three years of age and seemed unharmed apart from some minor scrapes and grazes. There was a young woman lying unconscious beside the pushchair and the boy was frantically trying to grasp her hand, so we determined that this was his mother.'

Having since been taken to hospital, it is said that the young boy is doing as well as could be expected; his cuts and bruises were surprisingly minor and with time they should heal. I regret to inform my readers that the woman presumed to be his mother was not as fortunate and she passed away shortly after arriving at hospital. It is reported that she suffered facial contusions, had broken several ribs, broken both legs and a hip, and that the impact had caused an irreparable bleed in her brain. After numerous efforts to save her life it was eventually clear there was nothing more the doctors could do for her. This is an immensely tragic event and my heart goes out to the families of the people who were lost. The two survivors of this unfortunate incident will never forget the impact today's events have had on them.

Letter 6 of 15

Dear Miss Jane Wells,

I regret to inform you that when you placed Beau in our care, we were unaware of his status. He has continued to present problems for me, my husband and the other children who reside here and I honestly don't believe this arrangement can continue. On numerous occasions, Beau's odd behaviour has been unexplainable and he refuses to talk about it. I can't imagine how he is feeling and to be perfectly honest, I don't believe I am supposed to. He is clearly very troubled and an impending bad influence on the family. I asked for permission to baptise Beau and on two occasions your office agreed that if Beau had no problems with it, it was possible. Beau has shown no desire to conform to our religion which saddens me. I was hoping that bringing him closer to God would enable him to cease his questionable behaviour. His desire to play practical jokes has become tiresome. This is a house of respect and honesty but Beau seems to grasp neither. If you could get back to me as soon as you can, it would be much appreciated.

Mrs G. Hanne

Letter 13 of 15

Dear Miss Jane Wells,

I unhappily write this letter. Beau's disruptive behaviour has become too hard to handle and I have four other children that need my time and attention. His behaviour at times is very strange. I really don't think this is the family for him but I do wish him all the luck in the world with the next family he is placed with. Hopefully they will be more equipped for his needs.

Sincerely,

Mrs Lucile Jones

Letter 9 of 15

Dear Miss Wells,

For your files, I am sending you a transcript of Beaus interview with the child psychologist, Dr Fathom; I hope it helps in getting him reassigned.

Kind regards

Janey Humphreys

DOCTOR'S OFFICE

_____________________

Date: - May 11th

Time: - 3.13pm

Patient: - Beau Milner, aged thirteen.

_____________________________________

Dr Fathom: "Beau do you understand why you are here?"

Beau: "I have a pretty good idea."

Dr Fathom: "I was wondering if I could ask you some questions today. Would that be okay?"

Beau: "Why not? It isn't like I haven't been in this position before."

Dr Fathom: "Can you tell me what happened?"

Beau: "What happened was nothing to do with me."

Dr Fathom: "Just explain what happened."

Beau: "I was sitting in the living room. We had just finished dinner and Mrs Merchant was washing up in the kitchen. I was doing my homework on the sofa when I heard the noise. I looked up and all the furniture was upside down, stacked in the middle of the room. Then in walked Mrs Merchant and blamed me...(patient paused)...and once again I got sent back."

Dr Fathom: "What furniture exactly Beau? Be specific."

Beau: "There were the six dining chairs, the dining table, the coffee table, the TV bench, the footstall and the shoe rack by the door, I think."

Dr Fathom: "And how did you get all this furniture stacked up so quickly?"

Beau: "Have none of you listened to a word I've said? I had nothing to do with it! I'm thirteen for Christ's sake. How could I be strong enough to lift and rearrange a whole dining room set in the space of five minutes with no one hearing a thing?"

Dr Fathom: "I think we should calm down for a second Beau. All we want to know is why you did it. Were you not happy at the Merchant's house? Has it been difficult adjusting to your new school?"

Beau: "I really don't see the point in this! It's the third time you people have asked me these questions and I've told you all again and again that I didn't do it!"

Dr Fathom's evaluation:

This patient appears to be relying heavily on his emotions. It seems that he creates situations in order to get the attention he desires, but if he receives an unfavourable reaction, he fabricates a lie as an explanation. I recommend further studies.

I am fairly sure that Beau genuinely believes he isn't responsible for these happenings, but with no other presentable explanation, he clearly is responsible, so I think it best that he resides at this facility until we can get to the bottom of his problems. I will be conducting another question/answer session with Beau Milner on the 23rd of next month. As his social worker, Miss Wells, I do hope that you can be present to view his progress.