Remnant (Book 1)

Chapter Twelve

"Ethan, come on!" exclaimed a young girl with a giggle. I followed her through the worn building, moldy and dusty. Faded sea green wallpaper taped the walls and windows with fog aligning them. The lights were bright and rustic. Other children, diverse races and distinct ages were laughing.

Colouring. Playing. Happy.

The little girl and I were happy too.

Happy.

Her orange dress covered in white hearts flowed as she ran through the corridor of the building, along with her black hair.

We ran through the long hallway and with every step we took, the floorboards creaking.

We passed each adult that stood in the hallway, talking to each other. They were talking to each other as they held children by their sides. Those children were wearing formal outfits and held suitcases and bags. I stopped abruptly to look inside a room with two children and two adults. I hid behind the doorway and peeped through.

"We are so excited that you are taking these two children, they are definitely one of the children who have been here the longest," the woman sitting at the table said with glee. Her arms were crossed and she wore a very formal outfit as well. The two children held suitcases and were sitting down on very tall seats, not even close to touching the ground. The two other adults stood behind them.

"Well, they are just dolls," one of the adults commented, a woman. She bent down and spoke to the little boy and little girl. "We have a surprise for you in the car. Are you ready?"

The children smiled and giggled in excitement, "Yeah!" they both exclaimed in unison. The other adult, a male, laughed then picked up the little boy and held him in his arms, struggling to do so.

"Well, I guess we better get going." The woman picked up the little girl and the woman sitting at the table giggled. Until then, I realized.

Oh.

The adults that carried the children walked towards the door. I gasped and hid behind the door, breathing in. They walked out with their footsteps reverberating throughout the hallway.

I sighed.

The little girl I was running with grabbed my hand suddenly, scaring me. When standing next to her, she was a few inches taller than me.

"Hey, don't do that!" I whispered, angry. She hushed me and pointed at a door down the hallway.

"There's something scary on the TV. Come on!" She whispered. A shine caught on her golden heart necklace as I talked to her. She held my hand and tugged me out of my hiding spot, forcing me to move. I gave my gaze away from her necklace.

We started to move, but the sound of heels hitting against a wooden floor crept up behind us.

"Children, what are you doing? It's dangerous to run in the halls," the woman said with a soft, belligerent tone. A weird mix. I turned around and stood there with shame, holding my head down.

"Sorry miss, but we were just going to watch the TV," I responded, giving my answer. She nodded.

"Well, no running. Understand?" We nodded our heads. "Be safe children." She walked away and as soon as she was far enough, we ran towards the door at the end of the hallway, forgetting her rules. Other children around us followed. The sound of footsteps followed and we ran into the room, sounding like a herd of animals galloping towards their destination. We were greeted with the smell of mold.

Not a pleasant smell.

The TV was on and children of different ages and races sat there, brainwashed by what they were watching. We sat down on the ripped rug and the ones behind us did as well. The girl next to me hushed me and we looked at the TV. A man in a formal suit sat at a pristine table. A backdrop of blue and white swirled around.

"America is suffering some damage from the destruction. The president and the government have kept silent as well as the CDC. They deny all obligations of us falling against the other nations, and at the president's speech last week, he stated that everything is under control," the man said. Murmurs started to stir around me, but I kept silent and looked at the screen, hooked by the man's words.

He cleared his throat and the kids around me stopped to listen to what the man had to say.

"Uh, sudden report. It seems that The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, or NAEHCY, has filed many police reports against missing children that have disappeared in the last few days. Across the nation, many orphanages and children's homeless shelters have experienced missing children of a variety of ages, mainly around the age of 10.

"The government claims they know nothing and that they can't do anything. The government says they will not investigate and leave it to the police, but the authorities haven't done much about it either. If you know any info, please notify others and government, if possible," the man finished.

He went off to speak about another story completely unrelated to what he was talking about.

Children started to murmur again. I sat there with confusion and fear.

But I'm ten. Will ... I disappear?

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I saw it was the girl, looking at me with concern.

"Ethan, are you alright?" She asked. I shook my head if I was being honest.

"We are the same ages as them. I'm scared."

"Don't be. As long as we are together, nothing bad will happen to us," she replied. I nodded. She grabbed the golden heart locket around her neck then unhooked it, putting it around mine. The cold metal hit against my collarbone, forcing me to grab it and captivate it in my hands to make it warmer.

"This is my necklace. I want you to have it. If you ever feel scared, open it and you'll see a picture of me in there." I looked at the heart through my hand.

I nodded back at her with a smile.

Thanks.

All of a sudden, the TV turned off and we all looked to see that the woman, the one that scolded us in the hallway had turned it off. We all groaned.

"Miss, we want to know more," an older kid asked anxiously. She shook her head.

"You children will be fine. Now, off to bed. It's time to rest. A trip to the aquarium will take place tomorrow," she reassured. All the children cheered except me. I sat there with a blank expression and confused. The kids got up and merged together, pushing to get out of the door. Some of them hit each other just so they could get out, but I did nothing.

I sat there, the only one left in the end.

The girl grabbed my wrist and pulled me up.

"Come on, we're going to the aquarium tomorrow!" she replied excitedly. I got up and walked towards the door sluggishly, looking back at what the man on the TV said.

Ten years old...

Looking back, I saw the woman had a worried expression on her face, almost crying. I wanted to go back and hug her and to assure that everything would be alright, but the girl already pushed me out the door. We walked down the hallway behind the others to our rooms to sleep.

I held the locket in my hand and looked at in on the way there, thinking back on what the little girl said:

If you ever feel scared, open it and you'll see a picture of me in there.

A trip to the aquarium tomorrow was something reassuring, and I was up all night, excited to go there...

Too bad I never got the chance to.