Lost Souls - Chapter 1
Thunder rumbled through the sky, shaking the insides of two frightened girls. A loud crack followed by several lightning strikes caused the youngest to jump up and run to her sister's doorway. The strobe effect of the lightning flashing through the windows turned familiar toys and other items into scary monsters."Elli? Can I sleep with you tonight?" A tiny voice called out from the doorway, quivering with the rush of adrenaline caused by fright. Under the blankets Elli smiled. To many a younger sister is nothing more than a burden, but for Elli she was an angel. "Come on, we'll make up a story." Elli said, grinning at her sister as she held the blanket up to make an opening. This was almost ritual now as the two girls always ended up in the room together, hiding under a blanket if there was a storm. Neither girl was quite as frightened as they made out to be, using this common fear as an excuse to stick together.
"Yay!" Mia cried as she ran and jumped under the covers with Elli. Story time was Mia's favorite game and Elli was really good at it. As the lightning flashed and the thunder boomed Elli and Mia sat under the blanket armed with a flashlight and two vivid imaginations. All manner of creatures and people came to life under that blanket. Princesses and knights, thieves, trolls, armies, unicorns, horses, and picnics by the sea were all experienced by two young girls sitting on a bed, in a house that looked like every other house on the street. The stories ranged from rough action and adventure, to the simple happiness of sitting on a swing. Sometimes Elli would focus on the romance of a story and Mia would roll her eyes and steer her sister back to fantastic creatures.
Tonight's story used the stormy weather for the setting and the two girls wrote themselves in as princesses and warriors who must save a kingdom. As their story came to life, other worries were forgotten.
"Oh Mia, don't you want some handsome knight to come rescue you?"
"No. I'd rather rescue myself. Use my cleverness to sneak out and then ride off on my wonderful unicorn friend." The girls had a respect for animals that was not often found in children their age. Though they were not allowed to have a pet of their own Elli and Mia often helped the stray animals that stayed close to the park near their neighborhood.
Down the hall parents argued about car insurance, dry cleaning, alcohol and cigarettes. They only noticed the storm enough to raise their voices above it and were oblivious to their two daughters. Daughters that never once climbed into their parent's bed when they felt scared or happy or sad. Daughters that had learned to depend on each other instead of their parents.
That night Elli and Mia slept peacefully together, under an old blanket. The storm slowly died out in the night and left the morning happy and clean. On a day like this all things seemed possible and the world was a wonderful place. Flowers opened their petals to drink in the sunlight; dew sparkled on spider webs like diamonds. Only this day was different for Elli and her younger sister Mia. These two young girls who only the night before had not a care in the world had been dreading this day without even knowing it.
"Elli, Elli, Elli" Mia whispered over and over in her sleep. Her whispers became more urgent and blurred the sounds into one long word. The tone of her voice grew higher and her heart beat crazily. She woke up at the same time her sister did, sweat and fear covering her body. "Elli" she cried, the sound lasting far longer than she should have had breath for. Whispering softly and hugging the pillow where her sister had slept she called out once more "Elli". Mia curled up in the bed wondering what had gone wrong, what had happened to Elli. She didn't need to yell for her sister, to check the bathroom or the yard. Mia knew Elli was gone. And worse, she knew Elli couldn't come back.
"Mia, what's wrong? Why did you yell like that?" A young woman with dark brown hair walked over to the bed. Her eyes were flashing with anger at being woken up early on a Saturday morning. "Why were you yelling?" She demanded, shoving messy hair back out of her face, leaving her large pajama shirt down off one shoulder.
Mia simply looked up at her mom, tears streaming, and said nothing. Her mom yelled at her again "Answer me! Why the hell did you yell like that?" Yet Mia still stayed silent. What was the point in talking if there was no one to listen to you, to really hear you?
While her mom was getting angrier, Mia was wallowing in despair. The one person in her life that was good to her; that loved her, was gone. "Who's Elli?" Her mom asked. Mia looked up in surprise. "Why did you yell out Elli? Is that some kid at school you can't stand up to?" Mia simply stared, her eyes wide with fear. How could her mom wake up one morning and not remember her own child? What did that mean for Elli, and for her?
A strange look crossed the woman's face, but Mia did not see it. She had already buried her face back in the pillow. Her mom turned around and walked out the door. She mechanically walked down the stairs, not really paying attention to where she was going. Slipping her foot off the edge of a step she fell back and slid down three more steps before she could stop herself. Sitting there, foot throbbing, she allowed herself to replay the scene that had just taken place with her daughter. The tears came and she let them. The look of fear and surprise in her daughter's eyes shocked her. And even worse she had let her temper take control again.
"Watch out."
Sara tried to move out of the way, but her husband shoved her with his foot anyways. He walked right by her, showing no concern at the tears on her face or the soft moan of pain that escaped Sara from having fallen only moments before. Watching him walk away from her Sara realized that she didn't love this man. And although he was supposed to love her, she doubted that he truly did. At that moment Sara knew her life had to change, or she would be bound to her hurt and anger for life.
Wiping the tears from her eyes Sara headed back up the steps to her daughter's room. The beige carpet under her feet made no sound as she walked down the hall. Seeing Mia curled in the same position on the bed caused her some alarm, but she wouldn't let herself worry yet. She had made a lot of bad choices in her life and starting now she was going to try to do better, for her daughter and herself.
"Mia, I'm sorry for yelling at you like that." Silence was all she got in response. "Mia, this isn't easy. I'm trying to do the right thing here. Could you respond somehow?" She could feel the anger welling up; the frustration of a life lived on autopilot. "MIA!" She yelled out at the top of her lungs.
Mia halfway rolled over and looked at her mom. Why would she suddenly care? She wasn't a bad mother really; she just wasn't ever interested in her daughters' lives. Or daughter. Mia began crying again.
"Mia, baby, what's wrong? Can you tell me, please? You're scaring me." At that Mia just cried harder. For so long all she wanted was for her mom to act more like a mom and now that she was, it didn't matter. All Mia wanted now was Elli and Elli was far from being found.
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Elli woke with a start. She couldn't say what exactly had woken her. Perhaps it was the absence of sound here or perhaps the nightmare she had been having. Hair stuck to her forehead and neck, held in place by the sweat covering her body. Clear blue eyes glanced around the room nervously, trying to find something that belonged in her realm of knowledge. Sitting still, not even pushing the blankets off her hot body, Elli let her eyes traverse the room. Nothing here was recognizable to her. The walls were blank, the ceiling was tiled, and there was a damp, musty smell. No windows, only a bare bulb hanging in the middle of the room and a door with an opening barely big enough to look into. A bright light was shining from the hallway, spilling through the small window and the cracks around the edge of the door. This provided the only light currently available to Elli, unless she wanted to get off the bed and pull the chain dangling from that bulb. Though she was now awake Elli felt she was not out of her nightmare yet.
The whole room seemed to be laughing at her, this tiny girl trying to figure out things she couldn't possibly know. Becoming more scared in every passing moment she finally jumped off the bed and began banging on the door in a state of frenzy. For now panic had gripped her mind and would not let go.
"Hello! Let me out of here! I want to go home. Please. Where am I? Why am I here? Where's my sister? What did you do with her? Hello, HELLO!" Kicking, screaming, and banging were all mixing together to form a weird rhythm, as if to turn Elli's torment into a mocking song.
Elli stopped her noise immediately upon hearing the echoing thud of footsteps coming down the hall. Panic was turning to fear. The metal door shook as a guard's fist slammed into the bars across the window. "What's all this yellin' for?" His voice was gruff, as though sandpaper were rubbing together to form the words.
"I…I just want to know where I am." Elli almost whimpered, though she did fight the urge to hide under the covers, as she was apt to do when truly frightened.
"That all, eh? Well, why don't you come with me and you'll be told." As the guard began unlocking the door Elli took several large steps backwards.
"Go with you where?" She asked, her voice as quiet as falling snow. The door was slowly pushed open, hinges creaking. Watching the guard enter the room caused Elli's eyes to grow wide, he was even larger than she had thought. Before she had finished looking at him, he had reached out one arm and picked her up. She was thankful he didn't throw her over his shoulder although being tucked under his arm wasn't all that comfortable either.
The hallways of stone mixed with the turns, and the turns blurred with the steps until Elli had no clue of what way they had come or how she could find it again. If she did escape on her own, she would die in a maze of stone. Eventually she shut her eyes and lulled on the edge of sleep trying to forget all the images she had conjured about who or what she might be going to meet.