Secrets of ValleyPoint

Leona

November 12, 2009

    It was a breezy day in mid November.  I was taking a stroll through the park.  Leaves of reds, oranges, and yellows crunched under my boots.  The chilly Autumn wind blowing against my face, my hair wisping through the air.  My fingers pale and cold, though slightly warm from the cup of hot chocolate in my hands.  The sun was out and the sky blue.  You could smell the snow in the air, winter just around the corner.  The park deserted like it had been for years, since poor Lucy Crownover went missing.  Who would take a poor little girl,  everyone wondered.  I made it to the other end of the park just hitting the intersection between Sherrip Lane and Lotus Avenue.  Along this street were few buildings.  Their was the Pheasant Rose B&B ran by old lady Willow,  Mr. Gilmore and the Sunny Cross Newspaper stand, the old Sanrico gas station owned by Greg Tomason, and the pawnshop where my oldest and dearest friend Rosetta Sionne was working.  You see ValleyPoint was a small simple country town where everyone knew everyone.  I walked down Sherrip Lane, passed the railroad tracks, over the old Crawley Bridge, took a left on Merrifield Drive and went home.  I was the third house on the right, passed the McMurphy's and Fowlers, across from the Sherwoods, Harrisons, and Old man Witherman. 
"Hello there Leona."  Mr. Witherman waved to me.  I turned with a smile and waved back.  It seemed he was having trouble getting his trash out again.  I hurried over to him.
"Do you need some help with that?"  I said as I stepped on the sidewalk in front of him.  He looked at me with a smile as he sat the bag back down.
"If you wouldn't mind dearie."  He wiped the sweat from his forehead.  I heaved the bag up and into the big trash can with a grunt, it made a thud as it hit the bottom.
"Not a problem, anything else I can help you with?"  I asked looking around at his yard, the grass and weeds had overgrown again, the gutters were stopped up from the rain storm last week.
"Looks like Robert needs to come clean up your yard, I'll make sure to send him over when he gets home from school."  Robert, my thirteen-year-old younger brother, helped Mr Witherman with outdoor work as the poor man was in his eighties.  In return Mr. Witherman helped us with groceries in the house since my mom worked all the time.  She became a workaholic after our dad passed away six years ago to make sure we could stay on our feet.
"That would be wonderful, oh that reminds me-"  He opened the back of his rusty deep blue pickup truck.  He pulled out a couple bags of groceries and handed them to me.
"-these are for you."  I hugged him.
"This really means a lot, thank you."  I headed back across the street.  I sat the groceries down on the porch and unlocked the front door.  I picked up the groceries and proceeded to go inside.  I Walked into the kitchen and put the groceries on the table and prepared to put them up, when I heard a knock on the door.  I left the kitchen and went down the hallway, past the stairs and to the door.  I opened it only to see Henry McMurphy at my door.  Henry was one of my best friends.  Not only did we grow up next door to each other, but went to the same school as ValleyPoint only had one school, we were the CrimsonValley Tigers. 
"Hi Henry."  I said letting him through the door.  He strolled in carrying two glass bottles filled with milk.  He handed them both to me.
"Milk man ran."  He said rubbing the back of his neck.  I just nodded and smiled.
"Help me put up groceries please?" I asked, smiling.  He smiled and pointed out a hand for me to lead the way.  We walked into the kitchen and I put the milk in the fridge.  He put up the eggs and cheese as well, whilst I put away the canned vegetables and soups.  Afterwards we sat at the table playing cards.  I heard the front door slam.
"In the kitchen, Robert!"  I yelled down the hallway I heard him clammer up the stairs to the attic bedroom we shared to put away his backpack and jacket.  After a couple of minutes I heard his footsteps grow louder as they came down the stairs and to the kitchen.  I stood up and gave him a hug.
    "How was school?"  I asked, stepping back and ruffling his hair.  He smiled with the answer good before he ran to the pantry to grab an afterschool snack. 
"Can I play?"  He asked walking back over to the table with his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 
"After you go mow Mr. Witherman's yard and clean out his gutters."  I said sitting back down.  He just nodded, taking a bite out of his sandwich.  Once he finished it he sprinted out the door, I giggled.  We played cards for a bit longer before Robert came racing back in the house.
"Ready to play?"  I asked, though we could not play for too much longer as it was getting darker.
"Wendy got out again."  Wendy, named after his late wife, was Mr. Witherman's Basset Hound.  She tended to sneak out through the garage when no one was looking.  Henry and I stood up and walked outside with Robert.
"Alright, Robert, you look around the neighborhood, Henry, go check out Crawley Bridge, and I'll take the railroad tracks."  I stated and we all went off in our seperate directions.  I walked down along the tracks looking through the trees for her, but could not see anything.  Darkness finally sat in, the only light coming from the full moon and twinkling stars above.  Out of the shadows stepped a tall well built man.  I stopped mid step in meer shock.
"Are you lost darling?"  The man asked.  Taking a step closer.  I took a step back with a deep breath.  I could not make out any of his features through the darkness.  I took another step back, as he stepped forward again.  My breath hitched in my throat, do I just stand still or should I run?  I thought to myself, my mind racing with thoughts, anxiety causing my body to shake.  He took step after step walking towards me.  I started backing away, tripping over the tracks.  I hurried to get myself up and started running.  I could hear him just continue to walk behind me, a train coming down the tracks caused the ground to shake.  I then tripped in a gopher hole and fell once again.  He stepped up beside me as the light of the train showered over us, enabling me to see him clearly.  Dark brown hair, deep blue eyes and a clean shaven face with a wicked smirk.
"Sorry darling."  He apologized before hitting me with a nice sized rock causing everything to go black. 
I awoke in a dark room, absolutely no light.  I felt something touch my shoulder, making me jerk away.
"It's okay."  I heard a girl whisper beside me.  I heard bare feet pad against the floor.  A light turned on and the room sprang to life.  A small pastel yellow room with a single bed, wardrobe, toilet, and sink laid before me.  The girl who had spoken earlier was still there.  She had to have been no older than 18 similar to myself.  Her long red hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.  Her face to perfection with small freckles that covered both her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.  Her vibrant blue eyes popped with the yellow sun dress she wore.  A knock came from the door.  Two more girls stepped in, both around the same age as the first girl and I. 
"This is Victoria and Marie, and I'm Sandra, how about you?"  She asked.  Victoria was a petite girl with black hair and vibrant green eyes.  She dressed in dark washed jeans and a lavender sweater, Marie almost the same height as me with Honey blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, She wore a long sleeve white top and a pale green knee length skirt. 
  I did not speak, but stood up to match the girls' height.  They all smiled and came closer.  I began to cry, looking around.  All the girls shrugged, fear creeped up my spine.  Victoria and Sandra grabbed my hands, and Marie grabbed my shoulders leading me out of the room I was in.  We stepped into a small White room with a dining table and a small cornered kitchen.  There were three more doors along the wall of the door we came out of.  We went into each room and they all looked the same but with different colors.  One was pastel pink which belonged to Marie, another baby blue that was Sandra's, and the last was the same lavender as Victoria's sweater which I only assumed belonged to her.  They led me back out to the dining table where food was prepared.  A turkey roast with potatoes and carrots.  Marie showed me to a seat, then sat next to me.  Victoria and Sandra sat across from us.  They started eating, I could not eat anything though, the fear making it far too difficult to stomach.  Once they finished they picked their plates up, washed them off and put them away.
"Are you not hungry Leona?"  I shook my head, staring at the blank wall in front of me.  Victoria picked up my plate.
"Well we will put it up for later just in case, alright."  I did not say anything.  I heard the tupperware snap, the fridge opened and closed.  I heard a click and a door opened, my head whipped around to a wooden staircase I hadn't noticed before.  I froze in fear as the man who I'd seen by the railroad tracks walked down them.