Parallel [ONC 2020] // Shortlisted

Chapter Five

Ricky continued her search for hours but came up with nothing, there appeared to be no other documentation relating to our particular phenomenon. She tried her hardest to find something that may be of some use, but not even her rather strange machine could help us. The only thing they succeeded in finding had been my name on the school database, though not as Harriet Longdale. Instead, my name had been changed to Harriet Radovich.

Both of them thought it to be reasonable, but I found it to be insulting. Being a Longdale mattered where I came from, regardless of how other people may have seen us. We were important, our name was known by all and to have that erased, it felt as though they were erasing who I was, who I had always been.

"We'll have to go to the village library in the morning, they'll have more books on ghosts and wormholes then we do. Perhaps a little more on the village and house as well," Ricky said as we walked down the hallway.

"I never thought we'd spend so much time in a library," Mitch added.

"Me neither."

I followed them down the hall and through a door that led out onto the grounds. We moved across the grass to another building that had been constructed, but it was larger and in no way resembled any part of the house I knew. The grounds had been reduced vastly because of this new structure, and I didn't know what to make of it. Surely, they could have built something that resembled the house, so it did not appear out of place.

"They had to build other buildings since your house wasn't big enough. Most of the classrooms are in the other buildings, as is the dining hall."

"It's scandalous. This was our family home, not a place for people to do with as they please especially if it is such an eyesore. Father would never have allowed such a thing it is imposing and worst of all cuts off the grounds. Whoever ordered such a thing to be built should have thought about the damage it would have on such a beautiful area."

"It's too late now. The building was built about thirty years ago when it first became a school."

I didn't say anything, there was nothing more I could say. Over one hundred years had passed since that night we were supposed to attend the theatre and in that time my home had been defiled. Mother worked hard to ensure the grounds and the house always looked its best for parties and visits from her friends in high places. Now the grounds had been cut in half by a building that stood in a straight block and added nothing to the location.

Our house should have been preserved, not destroyed.

We walked across the grass that remained and headed into the other building. It didn't have the same feel as home and it certainly didn't look the same. The walls still showed their brick and were painted an off-white colour. The carpet was a strange green colour that looked as though it either needed replacing or washed. There were clear cabinets along the walls full of paper, but none of it made any sense to me. Some of the paper spoke of events and others appeared to be related to a lesson.

Mitch veered off to the left and we followed him, stepping through a set of double doors and into a large open space full of tables. Ricky gestured one of the tables and I sat down whilst they reminded standing. It seemed rather rude of them to not take their seats alongside me.

"You stay here, and we'll go and get dinner. The less social interaction you have, the better. People will start asking questions if you go up to them and start talking, they'll definitely think something is up and the last we, or specifically you, need is someone asking questions before we can answer them," Ricky said.

I nodded and let them leave but watched them walk to a short line of people on the other side of the room. There were very few people around so I doubted I could have gotten myself into too much trouble and no one seemed particularly bothered with me since I was sitting on my own. I understood where they were coming from, though, I wasn't entirely sure what they were serving constituted as food.

"This'll be your first meal in over one-hundred years. You must be starving," Ricky said as she placed a plate in front of me.

"I don't think this is food," I said.

"It's a burger. In layman's terms, it's beef in between two pieces of bread with some cheese, ketchup and salad," Mitch said.

"So, if you were to have beef and salad with a bread roll, it's basically that but put together."

"Sounds disgusting."

"Just try it, you might be surprised."

"We're so going to have to give you an education on all things modern, you have a lot to catch up on."

"I don't want to catch up with anything, I don't plan on being here long enough to get used to any of your rather strange customs and lack of manners. As soon as we find a way to get me home, I'm leaving. I don't want to stay here any longer then I have to."

Mitch and Ricky exchanged looks and said nothing. Had I said such a thing to Mother and in such a way, I most likely would have been told off but Mother wasn't around and frankly, I didn't care all that much. They both spoke as though I would be around for weeks, long enough to learn and understand more about what England would become when my family were no longer around. I didn't care for any of it. I wanted to go home as soon as I possibly could.

They needed to accept that. 

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A/N - Chapter Five is here! We're 5000 words in out of a possible 20,000 so PROGRESS!