I stood there aghast. My eyes were wide. Then I said, “Oh! Nick, I feel so sorry about what you witnessed.” Nick closed his eyes for a minute. A few seconds later, Nick opens his eyes, nods his head and walked away. I reached my hand out. I wanted to stop him from walking away from me, but it was too late. He had already walked into the institution. I looked behind me to look at the garden on more time, but the archway was gone, and now it was just bunch of thorns and bushes. I felt tears coming to me because of the memory Nick had witnessed and told me about. I tried to hold back the tears, but seconds later a single tear ran down my right cheek. I immediately began running inside. I didn’t stop until I got to my room. I quickly opened the door, loudly slamming it behind me. I jumped into my bed, grabbing my pillow and screamed. This institution was getting to me. The horrid memory revealing, the people that took me there and the people that ran this cursed place. After I had screamed in my pillow, I threw the pillow down to the ground and began to feel the tears roll down my cheeks. A few minutes later, I laid down on my bed and cried myself to sleep.
The next morning, I’m woken up by Nick. His sparkles in his eyes were back. I tried to smile, but I couldn’t manage forming one. Nick stared at me with worry. So he asked, “Are you alright?” I wanted to say no, but I managed to squeak out a yes. Nick shook his head. Then he told me to scoot over. I did. He sat next to me on my bed. His back was against the bed post. His hands were in his lap. Nick was wearing a black t-shirt and gray shorts. His left leg was on top of his right leg. He continued to look at me and asked, “What’s wrong, Clementine?” I shook my head again, trying to hide what was wrong with me, but still Nick didn’t fall for it. So Nick grabbed my left hand, holding it tight. He smiled at me with tender care. I knew inside that I should tell him, but I also knew that he would think it was stupid. I turned my head away from his beautiful grin, letting a single tear run down my face. Nick sighed heavily. Then used his other hand and took my chin. He slowly moved my head to look at him. He noticed one of my tears on my left chin so he took his thumb and wiped it away. He repeated his question again. This time I told him. I told him about the institution getting to me, how the institution was getting to me and especially how I hated the people who ran the cursed place. Nick listened without interruption.
When I finished, tears were running down my face. Nick looked at me with caring eyes. I smiled through all the tears that were coming down my face. Then Nick finally let go of my hand. He grabbed a Kleenex from the box on my bedside table. He gave it to me, and I wiped away my tears. Nick smiled. Then he said, “???? ??? ?????? ????????? ???, ?? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ???? Now that we have that figured out, would you like to grab some late breakfast with me?” I nodded my head. Nick slid off the bed first. Then he went to the door, closing it quietly. I went to my closet and picked the first thing I saw. I changed out of my brown shorts and white t-shirt to a creamy colored dress. The dress was sleeveless. It had wide straps. The dress was very plain except for the brownish reddish sash around the waist. The dress’s length went all the way down to the knees. I didn’t care for shoes today so I walked out to the hall without any shoes.
Nick smiled at me again. This time I returned a smile back at him. Then I followed him to the dining hall. I sat down next to him. Our late breakfast came in before we even ordered it. I took the silver cover off the plate. On the plate was my favorite food of all time (for breakfast at least)! There were blueberry pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs and a carton of milk. I may hate this place, but at least they try to keep their captives alive.
Nick and I ate in silence. I finished first and ran off to the garden without even telling Nick. I ran as fast as I could so I could reach the rose. I don’t know why, but I wanted to see the garden again. I was close to the back door until I ran into Berlet. Berlet was practically my bodyguard. The only difference was that he was a complete bully about it. Berlet stared at me like he was about to murder me. Chills ran through my body. Then Berlet asked harshly, “Where are you off to, Miss Rose?” I stuttered, “ Um…I was heading…to um… get some fresh air.” Then I ran past Berlet before he could say anything else. After I got past Berlet, I ran to the stone path. I quickly got to the bushes and thorns. Then I began searching for the pink rose, but I never spotted it. I went back and forth looking for the rose, but found nothing.
Then I heard a voice. The voice came from a girl. Her voice was high pitched. I pivoted toward where the voice was coming from. Then saw her. She had blonde hair. Her hair was put up in two finely done braids. Her eyes were green as the grass at my feet. She had high cheekbones and had freckles on her cheeks and nose. She wore a green gown. The gown had two thin straps. It had ruffles at the bottom of her dress. There was a beautiful, silky, green sash around the waist. Her shoes were greenish yellowish flats. The toe end of her shoes each had three small detailed butterflies. The girl looked like she was five years old. She had her hands behind her back while rocking back and forth on her feet. The young girl gave me a huge smile. Then she said, “Hi, my names Angeline. Are you looking for this?” When she asked that, Angeline pulled out the light pink rose. It had been cut from the bush, but how? I nodded my head. Angeline gave me a sly smile. Then she said tauntingly, “If you want it, come get it.”
Angeline began running away from the bushes and thorns. I needed that rose to get back to the garden; without that rose the garden wouldn’t open. So I ran after Angeline, she was fast. A bit too fast for me at least. She ran through mud puddles, trash and all. I tried to keep up going through the mud and trash, but ended up slipping. I slid to the ground face first in the mud. Angeline came up to me. Her smile was still on her face, but she reached her hand out. I grabbed her hand to get up. When our hands came into contact with each other, it felt like a knife had pierced through my heart. I fell to the ground. The pain was too much. Then everything went black.
My mind was hopping everywhere. Images with Angeline kept popping into my hopping mind. The sly smile, the green dress and the speed she ran. The memory that Nick had witnessed came to mind again. The panther that had killed my mother and gave me one more message before he feasted on her. More images shot into my mind. Then I woke up. My eyes shot open. Everything was blurry. I had entered another memory.
I was in a dim lit room on the ground. I slowly sat up grunting from the pain. I looked around the room. There was nothing in the room other than a door with no doorknob inside and the girl, Angeline. Angeline still had her sly smile on that young face of hers. She nodded her head. Then she pointed toward the door. I stiffly got up from the floor and walked through the door.
Outside the dim-lit room was an office. The office had a desk on the left wall, a podium in the center of the left side of the office facing the desk and in front of me were three people. There was my younger self, that same police officer I had seen from the last memory and Angeline. My younger self wore a different set of clothes from what she was wearing in the last memory. She was now wearing a sleeveless, dark, yellow dress. There were ruffles that ran all down her dress from the waist and down. Her shoes were a plain yellow that matched the dress perfectly. The police officer were the police uniform. He had a name tag over his right breast. The tag read, “Parker”, so I guessed his last name was Parker. In his right hand, he held a coffee cup and in the other hand, he had a half-eaten glazed donut with sprinkles wrapped up in a paper towel. Angeline had the same green dress and shoes on. She had a small smile on her face. Her hands were behind her back she rocked back and forth on her feet. I walked closer to hear the conversation.
Officer Parker glanced at Angeline for a minute. Then he returned looking at my younger self. Parker took a sip from his cup of coffee and a bite from his already half-eaten donut. My younger self stared curiously at Angeline. Then Angeline broke the ice saying, “ Daddy, who is this girl?” She asked rudely, like she didn’t want her here. Her facial expression was obvious though about how she felt about my younger self. Officer Parker glared at Angeline. Then looked toward my younger self and asked, “ What’s your name?” My younger self stuttered for a minute, but then said, “Um… my name is Clementine.”
“Clementine, where are you from because from the looks of it,” Parker chuckled, “you aren’t from the city.”
“I came from Springville.” She answered.
“Where is that?” Angeline asked rudely.
“ It’s… it’s in.. in…I don’t remember…”
Angeline started to laugh harshly. Then she said, “ Wow, you can’t even remember where you were from. That’s just plain sad!” Angeline’s dad glared at her scornfully. His glare said, “ Stop making fun of her...” Angeline closed her mouth quickly. She walked toward the door that blended into the walls paint color. Angeline opened the door, slamming it loudly behind her. Angeline’s father looked at my younger self saying, “ Don’t worry ‘bout Angeline.” Then he walked to his desk and began working on the papers on his desk.
My younger self sighed deeply. Then she walked over to Angeline’s door, knocking quietly. At first there was no response, then Angeline quietly answered, “ Come in.” Clementine opened the door, closing it behind her quickly. In Angeline’s room, there were two twin beds, a small lamp and a desk. Angeline was kneeling by her bed. Her head buried in her arms. She was shaking and you could see there was something wrong happening. My younger self walked slowly up to Angeline asking, “ What’s wrong?” Angeline’s voice was shaking. She answered while her voice got more serious, “ What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! You breathing in my room alive is what’s wrong! My father likes you better than me! You’re a little selfish brat. Getting everything you want since you arrived. My father even let you ride the horsey that he rides everyday to work. You can’t even remember where you live! Why you deserve to just die in a hole. He’s my father and mine only! She screamed out the word “only” and clenched her fists together.
My younger self dived to the other side of Angeline’s room. She grabbed a book that was lying on the desk, throwing it at Angeline. Angeline ducked as the book barely touching the top of her head. Angeline ran to her bedside table. She quickly opened the drawer pulling out a small kitchen knife. The knife had a brown handle with two silver dots on each side. The blade wasn’t serrated, but still looked sharp and dangerous.
My younger self stayed still from fright as Angeline walked closer and closer with the knife. Angeline kept the blade side pointed toward my younger self. Every step Angeline took another step, I was seconds closer to death. Every second she was closer to death, Angeline was steps away from completing her horrendous goal. My younger self was pale in complexion now when Angeline was only inches away. Defensively, my younger self screamed to the top of her lungs, pouncing on top of Angeline also. Angeline’s eyes widened and tried to push my younger self away. She grabbed Angeline’s hair and pulled it as hard as she could. Angeline screamed in pain. Angeline lifted the knife above my younger self’s back right where her heart was. She laughed for the triumph coming. My younger self quickly realized what was about to happen and rolled on her side to the right. The knife came down quicker and plunged into her left side. Then it pierced into Angeline’s heart.
Angeline’s laughing subsided, turning into cries of pain and coughing. My younger self shot up and quickly turned around to look at Angeline. The knife was still in Angeline’s body and her cries and coughing had stopped. So my younger self pulled the knife out quickly and blood began flowing out from the wound. She went to the bathroom, pulling out a roll of toilet paper. She placed the roll of toilet paper on top of the wound. Quickly the toilet paper’s colors changed from white to a scarlet red. She looked at Angeline’s eyes and whispered, “ I am so sorry.” Angeline’s eyes stayed open her mouth was partly open. The blood covered Angeline’s whole body turning her green dress to a scarlet red bloody dress. My younger self looked into Angeline’s eyes one more time. There was one single tear that was running down Angeline’s check.
My younger self stood up with blood everywhere on her legs. She looked down at Angeline one more time. Then walked away and almost immediately she fell to her knees wincing in pain holding he left side. My younger self moved her hand away from where it was seeing blood on her palm. She placed her hand over the injury again and held it there. She walked over to the door, opening it with her free hand. Walking outside of Angeline’s door, Officer Parker noticed my younger self walking out with her hand over her left side and the blood everywhere on her legs. He dropped everything that he was doing and rushed over to her. Officer Parker picked her up swiftly. Then he placed her in the front of the horse saddle. Next he ran back into the building and into Angeline’s room. When he opened the door, he could smell the scent of fresh blood. Officer Parker looked down at the trail of blood and spotted Angeline lying in a puddle of blood with a bloody knife in her right hand. He ran up to Angeline, falling to his knees. Just from seeing his daughter dead, he started to cry.
After minutes of mourning for his daughter, he went outside of the room. He closed the door, locking it with the key. He ran quickly back to the horse so he could ride to the hospital for my younger self, but she wasn’t there. There was a bloody handprint on the saddle. The saddle was twisted a bit to the left toward the road. Officer Parker walked over to the left side of the horse, spotting another bloody handprint. Then he saw specks of blood on the road heading east away from the city. Officer parker made the sign of the cross, praying that the girl would live. Then he stepped into his saddle. He was going to find the girl before it was too late.
I woke up in the same mud. My breathing was hard. My head was spinning. My mind was racing. As questions arose into my mind, the more I thought how terrifying I could do something like that. “How could I have killed someone who was my age?” That one thought stuck in her mind like a dagger… like a knife; just like the knife that killed Angeline. My mind was spinning with horrifying questions. I was thinking about it too much, that I forgot I was still lying in the mud. I looked at the sky and saw the moon just beginning to rise. I must’ve been knocked out for hours.
I moved my arms to push myself outta the mud. Immediately, I was paralyzed with pain running through my whole body. My arms lost strength to stay up. My head slammed into the muddy ground. The sky started to turn black, very quickly. The barely visible stars started to turn black. In the background, I hear a voice. I can’t seem to recognize the person’s voice, other than that it was a guy. He was saying, “She’s over her, James! Grí?gora ! Hurry….” The voice started to blur. I couldn’t understand who this person was. All I knew was there was a James with him. My sight was failing me. I could barely see anything anymore. As my eyes started to close, I heard a voice. A voice that sounded like Angeline, except happier. She said, “ Teehee, it’s all just beginning, Clementine Rose. You’re about to learn more truths then you’ll ever wanna know. Be prepared. Stay strong. Don’t…DON’T give up, because you’ve accepted this journey…now you will finish it.” Then everything went dark.
I felt like I was floating. I was surrounded by darkness. I lifted one arm. I lifted the other arm. I knew I was lifting the arm, but…but I felt numb. I couldn’t see anything in front of me. I couldn’t even see my hands. Where am I? Like someone had been watching me, there came an answer. The voice was enchanting speaking, “ Rose, do you know where you are?” I thought for a second. I couldn’t think. It was like my mind was completely gone. I shook my head. The voice answered saying, “Do you know who you are?” I tried to think again. This time a name appeared. I answered the voice speaking, “ Jane Rose Lucy Grove.” The voice jingled with joy.
“ Child, You are Clementine Rose.”
The name slapped me in the face. Then all the memories came to me. The memories I received. The memories of what happened before I came here. Everything came back to my mind. Then the question arose, “Where am I?” The voice answered, “ You are in the clinic. There are three people watching over you and your body, waiting for you to wake up. Your body is on earth. Your spirit is with me. You are in the grove of eternal life. It is a place where you can frolic and run around with happiness, with a price, of course.” I thought for a minute. I could either return to the life of hell, receiving horrible parts of my past or I could just stay here and live without having to know the rest of my terrible past. Then again, there are people waiting for me. Could I just leave them just to have eternal happiness? What was the price?
I opened my mouth to ask, but was interrupted by the voice like she knew what I was going to ask.
“The price is your life. If you choose to stay here, you will die in your body on Earth. Which do you choose?”
“I…uh…I choose…,” what should I say? Then I knew the answer. “I choose to go home.” The voice said joyously, “ My child, I would be glad to send you home,” then her voice got serious, “ There is a troublesome road for you, but you have friends to help you. When you wake up, everything will go back to regular. One thing I will tell you, Clementine, may help you through the rest of your journey. Let the past come to you. The more you reject it. The more pain it will bring you. After the past has finished its story, think about the story, but let it flow out of you mind for a while or you may end up here again.” I nodded. Before I left the Grove of Eternal Life, I asked, “Who are you?” The room began to fill with light. There was a figure in the light. At first the figure was unclear, but soon the figure became a woman. The woman was beautiful. Her hair the color brown, and as it flowed down to the bottom of her feet. You could see multiple ringlets of curls. Her face was flawless. She wore a full-length gown. There was a white sash that tied around her waist that fell downward after the knot. She was barefoot standing on a patch of grass that showed with the light. She smiled widely, “ My child, my name is, Ruhani, meaning spiritual, sacred. I am also known to be called, Angeni, meaning Spirit Angel. Now be gone, my child, I hope not to see you for a very long time.”
My eyes shot open. My breath was ragged. I looked around my surroundings. There were three people sitting in chairs just like Ruhani spoke, but all were alseep. Two were unfamiliar looking, but one was Nick. He was snoozing on the coffee table that was right of the bed. There was another guy sleeping on the head of the bed post. He looked kind of cute sleeping…teehee. His blonde hair was short cut, enough that he could flip his hair like a lot of boys like to do. All I could see was a red t-shirt, but that was all. Then there was a woman. She was asleep on the left side of the bed side. Her hair was a light brown. She was wearing an outfit that told me she was the nurse.
I giggled out loud; one because everyone was asleep, and two because I thought seeing Nick and that blonde boy asleep was quite funny. Next thing I know is the blonde boy shoots up from his sleep and stares at me. His eyes were a hazel color. Not the ugly version of hazel, but a cuter version. His face had a sleepy smile. His complexion was a peachy color. I would’ve kept staring at him, but was interrupted when he spoke.
“ You’re finally awake. We’ve been waiting for you for hours.”
His voice was deep. I smiled at him while saying, “ Who…who are you? What’s your name?” The guy chuckled silently, “ The names, James, James Stark, but most people call me Jack. Call me either name. I’ll answer to both.” Jack smiled a small grin toward me. That’s when Nick woke up. He looked around mumbling in Greek. When his eyes focused on me, he instantly woke up.
“Clementine, you’re awake! You’re alive!” He had a huge smile on his face.
“Yeah, I am.” I answered calmly, trying to not smile because of Nick’s goofiness.
Then the nurse woke up mumbling just like Nick, except not in Greek. She looked at me, gasping. She said joyously, “ You’ve awoken, Clementine. Do you remember anything that happened?” I nodded my head, telling Jack, Nick, and the nurse about the last past seeing I saw, how I lost my strength gave out and slammed down on the muddy ground and how I met the beautiful lady, Ruhani. Everyone listened carefully and quietly. No one interrupted me or asked any questions. After I was done, there was a moment of silence. Then the whole room erupted in questions. All the words were like bees coming toward the last pollinated flower on earth.
I sat there quietly not speaking a word. About a minute later, Jack quite asking questions and stared at me, smiling. I smiled back at him, but only for a few seconds. Soon everyone realized I wasn’t talking anymore and stopped talking. The nurse was the first to speak saying, “Clementine, who is Ruhani?” I thought for a minute. I barely knew who Ruhani was because everything had happened so quickly. I thought about my answer for a few seconds. Then said, “ Well…She’s uh…Ruhani’s name means spiritual, sacred. She’s also known to be called Angeni, which means Spirit Angel. She was in a world called The Grove of Eternal Life.” When I spoke about the grove, the nurse and Jack breathed in deeply. There was something wrong.
“ What?” Was all I managed to ask.
Jack let go of the air he sucked in and answered calmly, “You were in the middle of this world and the afterlife. Ruhani, is the Goddess of death and eternal life. She waits in the dark world, waiting for the soul to find her, so she can show them to the afterlife. I? Theá sas échei glitó?sei . The goddess has spared you. That has never happened. She has never granted someone to live. Did she give you a choice?” I nodded my head. Jack jumped out of his chair shouting in fluent Greek. He had the hugest grin on his face, which was sort of charming. Then Jack ran out of the room slamming the door behind him. You could hear him in the hallway yelling something in Greek. Haha, it was sorta funny seeing Jack like this. A minute or so after Jack’s enthusiastic exit, the nurse, Nick and I burst out laughing.
When the laughing ceased, Nick looked at me so did the nurse. The nurse smiled brightly at me while saying, “Well, seems like everything is alright. Looks like you’re free to go back to your room for tonight. Tomorrow, you’ll actually start class.” I looked at her totally confused. Then I asked, “ Uh…class?”
“Haha, yes, Clementine. In your world, school has already started. So to make everything looks like normal, you have classes from ten o’clock to five fifteen. The library is open ‘til seven p.m. Professors will be available ‘til six thirty. Nick can explain the rest. Oh, and you’ll have to go to the southern wing to talk to Professor Montesclaros. She’ll be your professor that’ll help you understand more about why you’re here. Why you’re having all the weird memory attacks. All that stuff I don’t understand about.”
I was now totally confused. So apparently I have to go to school here, after I’d already been kidnapped, and now I gotta go to school still. Dang it! Nick looked at me with concern, then said, “ Nurse Ethel, you’re incorrect on one thing. Clementine doesn’t have to go to school. She can always just have a tutor…” Yes! A tutor, please! “…And then she won’t have to worry about school and the terrible memory attacks.” The nurse thought for a while. Then she answered, “ Fine, that is acceptable. I’ll have Jack come over to your room every day at three o’clock. Will that be fine with you, Clementine?” I nodded my head in agreement. I looked over at Nick. His expression was really hard to read, but I could sorta tell, that he wanted to tutor me.
Soon the nurse let me leave the infirmary. Nick silently escorted me to my room. It was the first time I’d ever seen him as quiet as this. He opened the door, let me inside and shut it behind me. He didn’t even wave me good-bye. Sigh. It looks like today was just as crappy as my past memory/vision thing. Well at least I’ll be able meet and get to know James. I mean Jack. I slightly smiled at the thought of his name. After thinking about Jack and tomorrows events, I changed into my sleeping clothing. Then I placed my head on top of the pillow, closing my eyes slowly.
It took me forever to even become tired. Thankfully about two hours later of just staring at my clock, I was almost asleep when I suddenly heard the door make a mildly loud noise. I shot up from where I was and hopped outta bed. For a moment, I thought it was another past memory person, but when I saw Jack’s face. I relaxed a bit, but my mind was now filled with questions. Jack put his pointer finger to his lips signifying not to make a peep while the door was open. He softly shut the door behind him. He began walking towards me, making sure not to make too much noise. Jack stopped about two inches away from me. He was very close to my comfort zone. It was sorta awkward, and I wanted to push him away, but at the same time I could feel myself blush. Jack stared at me for a few seconds. His beautiful hazel eyes staring straight at me. Then he walked the bed-side lamp and switched it on. Light partially filled the room; bright enough to see each other faces at least.
Jack was wearing a different shirt from the first time I’d met him. He wore a brown shirt with a black key on it. He wore dark colored blue jeans and was barefoot. Then I noticed a white cloth in his right hand. Was it just a tissue? I couldn’t tell, but I could tell he was trying to hide it. My eyes grew wide. I started to back away slowly. Jack looked at me curiously. Then he asked, “ What’s wrong?” I stuttered, “The…the cloth in…in your hand.” He chuckled, “Clementine, “It’s just a tissue. Before I had come to your room, I grabbed a tissue just in case you needed it.”
“ Why would I need a tissue?”
“Nick left.”
“What?!” I asked shocked.
“ He came by my room. We had fight. Then he packed up a few of his belongings and left. It’s only been a few minutes since he left, but he hasn’t returned.”
“What were you fighting about?” I asked.
“He was ticked off because of whatever happened after I had left. He was yelling so much, it was hard to tell what.”
“ What?” Now I was completely confused.
“It’s a long story, maybe you should sit down.”
I slowly sit down onto my bed. Jack sits directly across from me. He explained to me about what happened when he ran into their shared room. Jack told me when Nick ran into their shared room. He grabbed an empty book bag. Nick began running back and forth from his closet and dresser to book bag. He shoved everything he grabbed from the closet and dresser including undergarments, t-shirts, jeans, socks and a lot of other items. Then he ran to his desk grabbing a piece of paper and writing utensils. He scribbled the whole letter in about twenty minutes. When he finished, he waited for the ink to dry. Then folded the letter up and walked to the opposite side of the desk, where I was sitting there frozen in shock of whatever he was doing. The next thing that happened was a blur; Nick threw the letter at me telling me to give it to Clementine. I asked where he was going, but Nick just stared at me. I got pestered quickly because of him not answering, so I stood up asking the question louder to Nick. Nick mumbled something under his breath. Then his eyes widened, he began shouting something like, ‘Memories! Little Girl! Pink dress! Storms! Winds! Pain….’ He just began shouting at random.
“Then he suddenly snapped out of the weird trance. After a few seconds of being out of the trance, he ran toward his book bag and left. I stood there aghast. I was trying to figure out what happened precisely, but it had happened so fast…”
Jack stopped talking after that last sentence. The room was silent, mostly because we were both trying to figure out what happened. After a few minutes of the silence, I asked Jack, “May I see the note?” Jack stared at me for a few seconds blankly. Then he got the clue and nodded his head quickly. I swiftly took the note from Jack’s grasp. I walked over to my desk, turned on my small lamp and began reading. The note was in a fancy script, Nick’s cursive handwriting. The note said, “Dear Clementine, by the time you are reading this I will have already left. You are probably wondering why I have left. This letter will hopefully answer that question. So here it begins, I left because of the memories. I left because of the horrid memory visions. See after that first memory vision, I had another. It was even worse than the last. I…I couldn’t stand anymore of these visions. I had to make an attempt to stop these visions so I’m leaving. I don’t want to leave. I never wanted to leave, but the memories are getting worse and worse, and I really don’t think I could handle one more vision. I’m dreadfully sorry I left one seconds notice. I’m practically going insane. So because I’m going insane, I must leave and go somewhere else. If I don’t I predict something horrible may have happened if I stayed. Eternally sorry ‘til the day I die, ???????? (Nicholas)”
I re-read the letter several time before I refolded it and placed it on the top right corner of my desk. I stood from my seat, walking away from my desk slowly. When I turned around, Jack was still in my room. He had been waiting patiently for me to finish my business. We stared into each other’s eyes for a minute. The next thing I did was unintentional; I ran to Jack and flung into his arms. He had seen what I was about to do and had willingly held his arms awaiting my next movement before I had even decided on doing it. Right after I was huddled up in Jack’s arms, I began to cry. Tears streamed down my face as Jack slowly rocked me side-to-side not even trying to coax me to stop crying. I even though tears streamed down my face, I cried softly. I whimpered and mumbled words from the letter soft enough for Jack to hear, but I never cried loud enough for the whole institution to hear. The night passed, as I cried for the departure of my only friend at this institution.
When the lights automatically switched on because it was morning, I whispered to Jack asking if he could tell Berlet, that I was going to be late for breakfast this morning. Jack willingly agreed. Then he stood up, while still carrying me, and placed me on my bed. He whispered to me saying, he would be back as soon as he told Berlet and the head boss of the institution, that I would not be out and about today. After that, Jack left. I soon fell asleep, but before I dosed off I saw an image of a boy. The boy was a very handsome young man. He had a short hair cut. His hair color was brown with natural orange highlights. His eyes were an emerald green. His lips were a pinkish color. His nose had one single freckle on the tip of his nose. His cheeks were covered with freckles. He had laugh lines around the top of his mouth. His complexion was a peach color, but a bit lighter shade. His t-shirt was plain and a regular color green. His khaki shorts were a neutral color and nothing more. The front khaki pockets had holes in them, but could still be used. He had no shoes or socks. He was about the age six or seven. He slowly walked up to me, and then I fell asleep.
In my dream, I remember most of it. It started with seeing me as my younger self crouched in a dusty corner in a deserted inn called, The Sleepy Willow. My younger self was in the same clothes from the last memory. The same sleeveless, dark, yellow dress, though it was ripped, dusty and stained with dark blobs of Angeline’s dried blood. My younger self’s face was dusty and her expression was filled with horror. Her hair was tangled and sticking out everywhere. Her hair was sticky with dried blood also. My younger self shivered in the corner of the inn.
The next thing I remember in the dream was I saw a boy. The same exact boy I saw before I fell asleep. Oh sugar and blackberries, this isn’t a dream. It’s another memory.
The next morning, I’m woken up by Nick. His sparkles in his eyes were back. I tried to smile, but I couldn’t manage forming one. Nick stared at me with worry. So he asked, “Are you alright?” I wanted to say no, but I managed to squeak out a yes. Nick shook his head. Then he told me to scoot over. I did. He sat next to me on my bed. His back was against the bed post. His hands were in his lap. Nick was wearing a black t-shirt and gray shorts. His left leg was on top of his right leg. He continued to look at me and asked, “What’s wrong, Clementine?” I shook my head again, trying to hide what was wrong with me, but still Nick didn’t fall for it. So Nick grabbed my left hand, holding it tight. He smiled at me with tender care. I knew inside that I should tell him, but I also knew that he would think it was stupid. I turned my head away from his beautiful grin, letting a single tear run down my face. Nick sighed heavily. Then used his other hand and took my chin. He slowly moved my head to look at him. He noticed one of my tears on my left chin so he took his thumb and wiped it away. He repeated his question again. This time I told him. I told him about the institution getting to me, how the institution was getting to me and especially how I hated the people who ran the cursed place. Nick listened without interruption.
When I finished, tears were running down my face. Nick looked at me with caring eyes. I smiled through all the tears that were coming down my face. Then Nick finally let go of my hand. He grabbed a Kleenex from the box on my bedside table. He gave it to me, and I wiped away my tears. Nick smiled. Then he said, “???? ??? ?????? ????????? ???, ?? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ???? Now that we have that figured out, would you like to grab some late breakfast with me?” I nodded my head. Nick slid off the bed first. Then he went to the door, closing it quietly. I went to my closet and picked the first thing I saw. I changed out of my brown shorts and white t-shirt to a creamy colored dress. The dress was sleeveless. It had wide straps. The dress was very plain except for the brownish reddish sash around the waist. The dress’s length went all the way down to the knees. I didn’t care for shoes today so I walked out to the hall without any shoes.
Nick smiled at me again. This time I returned a smile back at him. Then I followed him to the dining hall. I sat down next to him. Our late breakfast came in before we even ordered it. I took the silver cover off the plate. On the plate was my favorite food of all time (for breakfast at least)! There were blueberry pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs and a carton of milk. I may hate this place, but at least they try to keep their captives alive.
Nick and I ate in silence. I finished first and ran off to the garden without even telling Nick. I ran as fast as I could so I could reach the rose. I don’t know why, but I wanted to see the garden again. I was close to the back door until I ran into Berlet. Berlet was practically my bodyguard. The only difference was that he was a complete bully about it. Berlet stared at me like he was about to murder me. Chills ran through my body. Then Berlet asked harshly, “Where are you off to, Miss Rose?” I stuttered, “ Um…I was heading…to um… get some fresh air.” Then I ran past Berlet before he could say anything else. After I got past Berlet, I ran to the stone path. I quickly got to the bushes and thorns. Then I began searching for the pink rose, but I never spotted it. I went back and forth looking for the rose, but found nothing.
Then I heard a voice. The voice came from a girl. Her voice was high pitched. I pivoted toward where the voice was coming from. Then saw her. She had blonde hair. Her hair was put up in two finely done braids. Her eyes were green as the grass at my feet. She had high cheekbones and had freckles on her cheeks and nose. She wore a green gown. The gown had two thin straps. It had ruffles at the bottom of her dress. There was a beautiful, silky, green sash around the waist. Her shoes were greenish yellowish flats. The toe end of her shoes each had three small detailed butterflies. The girl looked like she was five years old. She had her hands behind her back while rocking back and forth on her feet. The young girl gave me a huge smile. Then she said, “Hi, my names Angeline. Are you looking for this?” When she asked that, Angeline pulled out the light pink rose. It had been cut from the bush, but how? I nodded my head. Angeline gave me a sly smile. Then she said tauntingly, “If you want it, come get it.”
Angeline began running away from the bushes and thorns. I needed that rose to get back to the garden; without that rose the garden wouldn’t open. So I ran after Angeline, she was fast. A bit too fast for me at least. She ran through mud puddles, trash and all. I tried to keep up going through the mud and trash, but ended up slipping. I slid to the ground face first in the mud. Angeline came up to me. Her smile was still on her face, but she reached her hand out. I grabbed her hand to get up. When our hands came into contact with each other, it felt like a knife had pierced through my heart. I fell to the ground. The pain was too much. Then everything went black.
My mind was hopping everywhere. Images with Angeline kept popping into my hopping mind. The sly smile, the green dress and the speed she ran. The memory that Nick had witnessed came to mind again. The panther that had killed my mother and gave me one more message before he feasted on her. More images shot into my mind. Then I woke up. My eyes shot open. Everything was blurry. I had entered another memory.
I was in a dim lit room on the ground. I slowly sat up grunting from the pain. I looked around the room. There was nothing in the room other than a door with no doorknob inside and the girl, Angeline. Angeline still had her sly smile on that young face of hers. She nodded her head. Then she pointed toward the door. I stiffly got up from the floor and walked through the door.
Outside the dim-lit room was an office. The office had a desk on the left wall, a podium in the center of the left side of the office facing the desk and in front of me were three people. There was my younger self, that same police officer I had seen from the last memory and Angeline. My younger self wore a different set of clothes from what she was wearing in the last memory. She was now wearing a sleeveless, dark, yellow dress. There were ruffles that ran all down her dress from the waist and down. Her shoes were a plain yellow that matched the dress perfectly. The police officer were the police uniform. He had a name tag over his right breast. The tag read, “Parker”, so I guessed his last name was Parker. In his right hand, he held a coffee cup and in the other hand, he had a half-eaten glazed donut with sprinkles wrapped up in a paper towel. Angeline had the same green dress and shoes on. She had a small smile on her face. Her hands were behind her back she rocked back and forth on her feet. I walked closer to hear the conversation.
Officer Parker glanced at Angeline for a minute. Then he returned looking at my younger self. Parker took a sip from his cup of coffee and a bite from his already half-eaten donut. My younger self stared curiously at Angeline. Then Angeline broke the ice saying, “ Daddy, who is this girl?” She asked rudely, like she didn’t want her here. Her facial expression was obvious though about how she felt about my younger self. Officer Parker glared at Angeline. Then looked toward my younger self and asked, “ What’s your name?” My younger self stuttered for a minute, but then said, “Um… my name is Clementine.”
“Clementine, where are you from because from the looks of it,” Parker chuckled, “you aren’t from the city.”
“I came from Springville.” She answered.
“Where is that?” Angeline asked rudely.
“ It’s… it’s in.. in…I don’t remember…”
Angeline started to laugh harshly. Then she said, “ Wow, you can’t even remember where you were from. That’s just plain sad!” Angeline’s dad glared at her scornfully. His glare said, “ Stop making fun of her...” Angeline closed her mouth quickly. She walked toward the door that blended into the walls paint color. Angeline opened the door, slamming it loudly behind her. Angeline’s father looked at my younger self saying, “ Don’t worry ‘bout Angeline.” Then he walked to his desk and began working on the papers on his desk.
My younger self sighed deeply. Then she walked over to Angeline’s door, knocking quietly. At first there was no response, then Angeline quietly answered, “ Come in.” Clementine opened the door, closing it behind her quickly. In Angeline’s room, there were two twin beds, a small lamp and a desk. Angeline was kneeling by her bed. Her head buried in her arms. She was shaking and you could see there was something wrong happening. My younger self walked slowly up to Angeline asking, “ What’s wrong?” Angeline’s voice was shaking. She answered while her voice got more serious, “ What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! You breathing in my room alive is what’s wrong! My father likes you better than me! You’re a little selfish brat. Getting everything you want since you arrived. My father even let you ride the horsey that he rides everyday to work. You can’t even remember where you live! Why you deserve to just die in a hole. He’s my father and mine only! She screamed out the word “only” and clenched her fists together.
My younger self dived to the other side of Angeline’s room. She grabbed a book that was lying on the desk, throwing it at Angeline. Angeline ducked as the book barely touching the top of her head. Angeline ran to her bedside table. She quickly opened the drawer pulling out a small kitchen knife. The knife had a brown handle with two silver dots on each side. The blade wasn’t serrated, but still looked sharp and dangerous.
My younger self stayed still from fright as Angeline walked closer and closer with the knife. Angeline kept the blade side pointed toward my younger self. Every step Angeline took another step, I was seconds closer to death. Every second she was closer to death, Angeline was steps away from completing her horrendous goal. My younger self was pale in complexion now when Angeline was only inches away. Defensively, my younger self screamed to the top of her lungs, pouncing on top of Angeline also. Angeline’s eyes widened and tried to push my younger self away. She grabbed Angeline’s hair and pulled it as hard as she could. Angeline screamed in pain. Angeline lifted the knife above my younger self’s back right where her heart was. She laughed for the triumph coming. My younger self quickly realized what was about to happen and rolled on her side to the right. The knife came down quicker and plunged into her left side. Then it pierced into Angeline’s heart.
Angeline’s laughing subsided, turning into cries of pain and coughing. My younger self shot up and quickly turned around to look at Angeline. The knife was still in Angeline’s body and her cries and coughing had stopped. So my younger self pulled the knife out quickly and blood began flowing out from the wound. She went to the bathroom, pulling out a roll of toilet paper. She placed the roll of toilet paper on top of the wound. Quickly the toilet paper’s colors changed from white to a scarlet red. She looked at Angeline’s eyes and whispered, “ I am so sorry.” Angeline’s eyes stayed open her mouth was partly open. The blood covered Angeline’s whole body turning her green dress to a scarlet red bloody dress. My younger self looked into Angeline’s eyes one more time. There was one single tear that was running down Angeline’s check.
My younger self stood up with blood everywhere on her legs. She looked down at Angeline one more time. Then walked away and almost immediately she fell to her knees wincing in pain holding he left side. My younger self moved her hand away from where it was seeing blood on her palm. She placed her hand over the injury again and held it there. She walked over to the door, opening it with her free hand. Walking outside of Angeline’s door, Officer Parker noticed my younger self walking out with her hand over her left side and the blood everywhere on her legs. He dropped everything that he was doing and rushed over to her. Officer Parker picked her up swiftly. Then he placed her in the front of the horse saddle. Next he ran back into the building and into Angeline’s room. When he opened the door, he could smell the scent of fresh blood. Officer Parker looked down at the trail of blood and spotted Angeline lying in a puddle of blood with a bloody knife in her right hand. He ran up to Angeline, falling to his knees. Just from seeing his daughter dead, he started to cry.
After minutes of mourning for his daughter, he went outside of the room. He closed the door, locking it with the key. He ran quickly back to the horse so he could ride to the hospital for my younger self, but she wasn’t there. There was a bloody handprint on the saddle. The saddle was twisted a bit to the left toward the road. Officer Parker walked over to the left side of the horse, spotting another bloody handprint. Then he saw specks of blood on the road heading east away from the city. Officer parker made the sign of the cross, praying that the girl would live. Then he stepped into his saddle. He was going to find the girl before it was too late.
I woke up in the same mud. My breathing was hard. My head was spinning. My mind was racing. As questions arose into my mind, the more I thought how terrifying I could do something like that. “How could I have killed someone who was my age?” That one thought stuck in her mind like a dagger… like a knife; just like the knife that killed Angeline. My mind was spinning with horrifying questions. I was thinking about it too much, that I forgot I was still lying in the mud. I looked at the sky and saw the moon just beginning to rise. I must’ve been knocked out for hours.
I moved my arms to push myself outta the mud. Immediately, I was paralyzed with pain running through my whole body. My arms lost strength to stay up. My head slammed into the muddy ground. The sky started to turn black, very quickly. The barely visible stars started to turn black. In the background, I hear a voice. I can’t seem to recognize the person’s voice, other than that it was a guy. He was saying, “She’s over her, James! Grí?gora ! Hurry….” The voice started to blur. I couldn’t understand who this person was. All I knew was there was a James with him. My sight was failing me. I could barely see anything anymore. As my eyes started to close, I heard a voice. A voice that sounded like Angeline, except happier. She said, “ Teehee, it’s all just beginning, Clementine Rose. You’re about to learn more truths then you’ll ever wanna know. Be prepared. Stay strong. Don’t…DON’T give up, because you’ve accepted this journey…now you will finish it.” Then everything went dark.
I felt like I was floating. I was surrounded by darkness. I lifted one arm. I lifted the other arm. I knew I was lifting the arm, but…but I felt numb. I couldn’t see anything in front of me. I couldn’t even see my hands. Where am I? Like someone had been watching me, there came an answer. The voice was enchanting speaking, “ Rose, do you know where you are?” I thought for a second. I couldn’t think. It was like my mind was completely gone. I shook my head. The voice answered saying, “Do you know who you are?” I tried to think again. This time a name appeared. I answered the voice speaking, “ Jane Rose Lucy Grove.” The voice jingled with joy.
“ Child, You are Clementine Rose.”
The name slapped me in the face. Then all the memories came to me. The memories I received. The memories of what happened before I came here. Everything came back to my mind. Then the question arose, “Where am I?” The voice answered, “ You are in the clinic. There are three people watching over you and your body, waiting for you to wake up. Your body is on earth. Your spirit is with me. You are in the grove of eternal life. It is a place where you can frolic and run around with happiness, with a price, of course.” I thought for a minute. I could either return to the life of hell, receiving horrible parts of my past or I could just stay here and live without having to know the rest of my terrible past. Then again, there are people waiting for me. Could I just leave them just to have eternal happiness? What was the price?
I opened my mouth to ask, but was interrupted by the voice like she knew what I was going to ask.
“The price is your life. If you choose to stay here, you will die in your body on Earth. Which do you choose?”
“I…uh…I choose…,” what should I say? Then I knew the answer. “I choose to go home.” The voice said joyously, “ My child, I would be glad to send you home,” then her voice got serious, “ There is a troublesome road for you, but you have friends to help you. When you wake up, everything will go back to regular. One thing I will tell you, Clementine, may help you through the rest of your journey. Let the past come to you. The more you reject it. The more pain it will bring you. After the past has finished its story, think about the story, but let it flow out of you mind for a while or you may end up here again.” I nodded. Before I left the Grove of Eternal Life, I asked, “Who are you?” The room began to fill with light. There was a figure in the light. At first the figure was unclear, but soon the figure became a woman. The woman was beautiful. Her hair the color brown, and as it flowed down to the bottom of her feet. You could see multiple ringlets of curls. Her face was flawless. She wore a full-length gown. There was a white sash that tied around her waist that fell downward after the knot. She was barefoot standing on a patch of grass that showed with the light. She smiled widely, “ My child, my name is, Ruhani, meaning spiritual, sacred. I am also known to be called, Angeni, meaning Spirit Angel. Now be gone, my child, I hope not to see you for a very long time.”
My eyes shot open. My breath was ragged. I looked around my surroundings. There were three people sitting in chairs just like Ruhani spoke, but all were alseep. Two were unfamiliar looking, but one was Nick. He was snoozing on the coffee table that was right of the bed. There was another guy sleeping on the head of the bed post. He looked kind of cute sleeping…teehee. His blonde hair was short cut, enough that he could flip his hair like a lot of boys like to do. All I could see was a red t-shirt, but that was all. Then there was a woman. She was asleep on the left side of the bed side. Her hair was a light brown. She was wearing an outfit that told me she was the nurse.
I giggled out loud; one because everyone was asleep, and two because I thought seeing Nick and that blonde boy asleep was quite funny. Next thing I know is the blonde boy shoots up from his sleep and stares at me. His eyes were a hazel color. Not the ugly version of hazel, but a cuter version. His face had a sleepy smile. His complexion was a peachy color. I would’ve kept staring at him, but was interrupted when he spoke.
“ You’re finally awake. We’ve been waiting for you for hours.”
His voice was deep. I smiled at him while saying, “ Who…who are you? What’s your name?” The guy chuckled silently, “ The names, James, James Stark, but most people call me Jack. Call me either name. I’ll answer to both.” Jack smiled a small grin toward me. That’s when Nick woke up. He looked around mumbling in Greek. When his eyes focused on me, he instantly woke up.
“Clementine, you’re awake! You’re alive!” He had a huge smile on his face.
“Yeah, I am.” I answered calmly, trying to not smile because of Nick’s goofiness.
Then the nurse woke up mumbling just like Nick, except not in Greek. She looked at me, gasping. She said joyously, “ You’ve awoken, Clementine. Do you remember anything that happened?” I nodded my head, telling Jack, Nick, and the nurse about the last past seeing I saw, how I lost my strength gave out and slammed down on the muddy ground and how I met the beautiful lady, Ruhani. Everyone listened carefully and quietly. No one interrupted me or asked any questions. After I was done, there was a moment of silence. Then the whole room erupted in questions. All the words were like bees coming toward the last pollinated flower on earth.
I sat there quietly not speaking a word. About a minute later, Jack quite asking questions and stared at me, smiling. I smiled back at him, but only for a few seconds. Soon everyone realized I wasn’t talking anymore and stopped talking. The nurse was the first to speak saying, “Clementine, who is Ruhani?” I thought for a minute. I barely knew who Ruhani was because everything had happened so quickly. I thought about my answer for a few seconds. Then said, “ Well…She’s uh…Ruhani’s name means spiritual, sacred. She’s also known to be called Angeni, which means Spirit Angel. She was in a world called The Grove of Eternal Life.” When I spoke about the grove, the nurse and Jack breathed in deeply. There was something wrong.
“ What?” Was all I managed to ask.
Jack let go of the air he sucked in and answered calmly, “You were in the middle of this world and the afterlife. Ruhani, is the Goddess of death and eternal life. She waits in the dark world, waiting for the soul to find her, so she can show them to the afterlife. I? Theá sas échei glitó?sei . The goddess has spared you. That has never happened. She has never granted someone to live. Did she give you a choice?” I nodded my head. Jack jumped out of his chair shouting in fluent Greek. He had the hugest grin on his face, which was sort of charming. Then Jack ran out of the room slamming the door behind him. You could hear him in the hallway yelling something in Greek. Haha, it was sorta funny seeing Jack like this. A minute or so after Jack’s enthusiastic exit, the nurse, Nick and I burst out laughing.
When the laughing ceased, Nick looked at me so did the nurse. The nurse smiled brightly at me while saying, “Well, seems like everything is alright. Looks like you’re free to go back to your room for tonight. Tomorrow, you’ll actually start class.” I looked at her totally confused. Then I asked, “ Uh…class?”
“Haha, yes, Clementine. In your world, school has already started. So to make everything looks like normal, you have classes from ten o’clock to five fifteen. The library is open ‘til seven p.m. Professors will be available ‘til six thirty. Nick can explain the rest. Oh, and you’ll have to go to the southern wing to talk to Professor Montesclaros. She’ll be your professor that’ll help you understand more about why you’re here. Why you’re having all the weird memory attacks. All that stuff I don’t understand about.”
I was now totally confused. So apparently I have to go to school here, after I’d already been kidnapped, and now I gotta go to school still. Dang it! Nick looked at me with concern, then said, “ Nurse Ethel, you’re incorrect on one thing. Clementine doesn’t have to go to school. She can always just have a tutor…” Yes! A tutor, please! “…And then she won’t have to worry about school and the terrible memory attacks.” The nurse thought for a while. Then she answered, “ Fine, that is acceptable. I’ll have Jack come over to your room every day at three o’clock. Will that be fine with you, Clementine?” I nodded my head in agreement. I looked over at Nick. His expression was really hard to read, but I could sorta tell, that he wanted to tutor me.
Soon the nurse let me leave the infirmary. Nick silently escorted me to my room. It was the first time I’d ever seen him as quiet as this. He opened the door, let me inside and shut it behind me. He didn’t even wave me good-bye. Sigh. It looks like today was just as crappy as my past memory/vision thing. Well at least I’ll be able meet and get to know James. I mean Jack. I slightly smiled at the thought of his name. After thinking about Jack and tomorrows events, I changed into my sleeping clothing. Then I placed my head on top of the pillow, closing my eyes slowly.
It took me forever to even become tired. Thankfully about two hours later of just staring at my clock, I was almost asleep when I suddenly heard the door make a mildly loud noise. I shot up from where I was and hopped outta bed. For a moment, I thought it was another past memory person, but when I saw Jack’s face. I relaxed a bit, but my mind was now filled with questions. Jack put his pointer finger to his lips signifying not to make a peep while the door was open. He softly shut the door behind him. He began walking towards me, making sure not to make too much noise. Jack stopped about two inches away from me. He was very close to my comfort zone. It was sorta awkward, and I wanted to push him away, but at the same time I could feel myself blush. Jack stared at me for a few seconds. His beautiful hazel eyes staring straight at me. Then he walked the bed-side lamp and switched it on. Light partially filled the room; bright enough to see each other faces at least.
Jack was wearing a different shirt from the first time I’d met him. He wore a brown shirt with a black key on it. He wore dark colored blue jeans and was barefoot. Then I noticed a white cloth in his right hand. Was it just a tissue? I couldn’t tell, but I could tell he was trying to hide it. My eyes grew wide. I started to back away slowly. Jack looked at me curiously. Then he asked, “ What’s wrong?” I stuttered, “The…the cloth in…in your hand.” He chuckled, “Clementine, “It’s just a tissue. Before I had come to your room, I grabbed a tissue just in case you needed it.”
“ Why would I need a tissue?”
“Nick left.”
“What?!” I asked shocked.
“ He came by my room. We had fight. Then he packed up a few of his belongings and left. It’s only been a few minutes since he left, but he hasn’t returned.”
“What were you fighting about?” I asked.
“He was ticked off because of whatever happened after I had left. He was yelling so much, it was hard to tell what.”
“ What?” Now I was completely confused.
“It’s a long story, maybe you should sit down.”
I slowly sit down onto my bed. Jack sits directly across from me. He explained to me about what happened when he ran into their shared room. Jack told me when Nick ran into their shared room. He grabbed an empty book bag. Nick began running back and forth from his closet and dresser to book bag. He shoved everything he grabbed from the closet and dresser including undergarments, t-shirts, jeans, socks and a lot of other items. Then he ran to his desk grabbing a piece of paper and writing utensils. He scribbled the whole letter in about twenty minutes. When he finished, he waited for the ink to dry. Then folded the letter up and walked to the opposite side of the desk, where I was sitting there frozen in shock of whatever he was doing. The next thing that happened was a blur; Nick threw the letter at me telling me to give it to Clementine. I asked where he was going, but Nick just stared at me. I got pestered quickly because of him not answering, so I stood up asking the question louder to Nick. Nick mumbled something under his breath. Then his eyes widened, he began shouting something like, ‘Memories! Little Girl! Pink dress! Storms! Winds! Pain….’ He just began shouting at random.
“Then he suddenly snapped out of the weird trance. After a few seconds of being out of the trance, he ran toward his book bag and left. I stood there aghast. I was trying to figure out what happened precisely, but it had happened so fast…”
Jack stopped talking after that last sentence. The room was silent, mostly because we were both trying to figure out what happened. After a few minutes of the silence, I asked Jack, “May I see the note?” Jack stared at me for a few seconds blankly. Then he got the clue and nodded his head quickly. I swiftly took the note from Jack’s grasp. I walked over to my desk, turned on my small lamp and began reading. The note was in a fancy script, Nick’s cursive handwriting. The note said, “Dear Clementine, by the time you are reading this I will have already left. You are probably wondering why I have left. This letter will hopefully answer that question. So here it begins, I left because of the memories. I left because of the horrid memory visions. See after that first memory vision, I had another. It was even worse than the last. I…I couldn’t stand anymore of these visions. I had to make an attempt to stop these visions so I’m leaving. I don’t want to leave. I never wanted to leave, but the memories are getting worse and worse, and I really don’t think I could handle one more vision. I’m dreadfully sorry I left one seconds notice. I’m practically going insane. So because I’m going insane, I must leave and go somewhere else. If I don’t I predict something horrible may have happened if I stayed. Eternally sorry ‘til the day I die, ???????? (Nicholas)”
I re-read the letter several time before I refolded it and placed it on the top right corner of my desk. I stood from my seat, walking away from my desk slowly. When I turned around, Jack was still in my room. He had been waiting patiently for me to finish my business. We stared into each other’s eyes for a minute. The next thing I did was unintentional; I ran to Jack and flung into his arms. He had seen what I was about to do and had willingly held his arms awaiting my next movement before I had even decided on doing it. Right after I was huddled up in Jack’s arms, I began to cry. Tears streamed down my face as Jack slowly rocked me side-to-side not even trying to coax me to stop crying. I even though tears streamed down my face, I cried softly. I whimpered and mumbled words from the letter soft enough for Jack to hear, but I never cried loud enough for the whole institution to hear. The night passed, as I cried for the departure of my only friend at this institution.
When the lights automatically switched on because it was morning, I whispered to Jack asking if he could tell Berlet, that I was going to be late for breakfast this morning. Jack willingly agreed. Then he stood up, while still carrying me, and placed me on my bed. He whispered to me saying, he would be back as soon as he told Berlet and the head boss of the institution, that I would not be out and about today. After that, Jack left. I soon fell asleep, but before I dosed off I saw an image of a boy. The boy was a very handsome young man. He had a short hair cut. His hair color was brown with natural orange highlights. His eyes were an emerald green. His lips were a pinkish color. His nose had one single freckle on the tip of his nose. His cheeks were covered with freckles. He had laugh lines around the top of his mouth. His complexion was a peach color, but a bit lighter shade. His t-shirt was plain and a regular color green. His khaki shorts were a neutral color and nothing more. The front khaki pockets had holes in them, but could still be used. He had no shoes or socks. He was about the age six or seven. He slowly walked up to me, and then I fell asleep.
In my dream, I remember most of it. It started with seeing me as my younger self crouched in a dusty corner in a deserted inn called, The Sleepy Willow. My younger self was in the same clothes from the last memory. The same sleeveless, dark, yellow dress, though it was ripped, dusty and stained with dark blobs of Angeline’s dried blood. My younger self’s face was dusty and her expression was filled with horror. Her hair was tangled and sticking out everywhere. Her hair was sticky with dried blood also. My younger self shivered in the corner of the inn.
The next thing I remember in the dream was I saw a boy. The same exact boy I saw before I fell asleep. Oh sugar and blackberries, this isn’t a dream. It’s another memory.
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