Gunner's Paradise

A Darker Turn 1.2

Sheldon didn’t know what to make of the situation, so he decided it would be best to get Cindy a new change of clothes. They made a stop by Ralph first. After they arrived at the train station and bought five more bottles of water. Money was already running out faster than he would have liked it to be, the baths were more expensive and the extra cost associated with another person meant their money would dwindle faster.

Sigh, she would have to start paying for herself, Sheldon thought in his head. He didn’t even know what kind of trouble that she was in and what they would have to deal with at best. He hoped it was just something small and that being in this poor area would be enough to be looked over.

As they opened the door to Ralph’s place, he looked surprised to see them back again as he was about to close.

“Ralph,” Natalya said almost as if to shout, “We needed some clothes for our friend as well, but we don’t have much money.”

Ralph looked at the young girl, and before Sheldon could ask about the payment.

“I will give you something that I have had for a while so don’t worry about it.”

He stepped into the back and produced some new clothes; the young lady took them and went to change. She looked better dressed but the bruises still showed and even though Natalya tried her best to help with them, it would need to heal over time.

“Thank you again,” Natalya said to Ralph giving him a big smile as they left.

Ralph sighed to himself when they were gone, yes he thought I can do more for them if they ever need it, even if it left me at a disadvantage, those two are good kids.

It was almost too dark to see now, and their pace had quickened because of this. Cindy had thanked them so many times on their walk back to the School. If they got there too late, they couldn’t claim a spot and would end up with the worse areas. They were approaching the School now with the name Frankford High on the Board.

Cindy fell to her knees, her breathing had quickened. Holding her head, “STOPP!!” the words released out of her mouth.

Making Natalya and Sheldon look back towards her, as Natalya approached to help her up.

She continued, “We must not go there, it is evil.”

“What do you mean Evil?” Sheldon responded not quite convinced , thinking to himself The School didn’t have the best accommodations but everything was fine, was this girl mad? Great, knew we should have left her behind. Besides, even if what the mad girl said was true, he thought they had nowhere else to go.

Standing back on her feet with the help of Natalya, “I get premonitions and the one I am having right now is strong. We must not go there, please let’s leave.” With that, she began to walk in the opposite direction.

“Wait,” Natalya said, “maybe your premonition is wrong. At least let’s stay the night. If you believe something will go wrong, we could position ourselves to be able to leave as easily and quickly as possible.”

Cindy looked at her long with a pleading face, and then finally gave in. “Fine, but I am telling you something bad will happen.”

At the school, they had managed to claim a spot where Sheldon believed would be the safest for them to escape if need be. The two girls lay near each other. Sheldon kept his eyes open, with his back against the wall. He glanced around the room and those that occupied it, looking at any sudden movements. Everyone at this point was either sleeping or their eyes were open just like his and quietly minding themselves. They were many children in this room of various ages. He could see the weight in their eyes and as hours passed and nothing seemed to happen, Sheldon’s eyes grew heavy and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

“Run, don’t look back,” the voice said to him. He saw his house burning his mother pushed him onward.

The surroundings changed as he felt the breeze hitting his face in the car as it sped onward and the impact as it crashed. He looked to the driver’s side, his mother looked him in the eyes, “you can’t stay here anymore you have to live...”

“Run Sheldon, I will be right behind you, don’t look back, just keep running.”

He tripped over the branches as his feet took him at full speed through the forest. Barely any light seemed to enter it, and he was only able to make out a short distance in front of him. He was exhausted, scared, and alone; He bent over as he tried hard to catch his breath.

“Mommy, Mommy?” he called out, but no one was there. The trees swayed in the cold breeze. All seem to be watching him, mocking him, waiting for him to slip, and his own shadow seemed to be moving on its own. In fright, he ran some more until he saw the ending of the forest. As he exited, the light hit him.

                                                                                                 #

His eyes opened, and he gasped for breath to see Cindy holding him tightly in her arms and covering his mouth. “Look.” She gestured with her eyes towards the door.

Sheldon followed her eyes to see that some of the people in their room were gradually being taken away, starting from the entrance by people in robes with some of their faces covered with masks and some revealed by the candlelight in their hand.

Who are these people? He thought and before long he saw her face, the woman from this morning, the woman he despised. They slowly walked out of the room and Sheldon made the motion to get up to follow them.

Cindy held him by his hand. “We must leave.”

Sheldon tugged her hand away as he got up leaving her beside Natalya. He walked past the people inside the room who seem oblivious to what was going on or in a deep sleep. Now at the door, he peered outside into the hall. He heard footsteps thudding and crunching upon broken glass.  The light was slipping and their shadows flickered on the walls the further they went. Sheldon decided to follow them he had to know what they were doing. Slowly he followed them until he came upon two persons guarding the door to what looked like an underground basement of the school and a man being taken in. He wanted to go further but couldn’t as he realized this part of the school was very guarded.

He was positioned in a squat hidden in the shadows, why were they not waking up and why were they not struggling, he thought.

This answer came sooner than he would have like as he heard inaudible chanting and a piercing scream that resonated through his body. It was then drowned out swiftly by the dull playing of music. A piano? It sounded extremely eerie and offkey.

Sheldon’s expression changed as the shocking realization hit him; he had heard this piano being played before. It was like this almost every night. He had discarded it as an amateur playing.

However, tonight it was far more ominous since it now dawned on him why this music played at this particular time. The sound of the screaming felt like it had not been fully drowned out, and it sent a shiver down his spine. From the shadows, he recognized what seemed like a patrol that was shifting towards him. Realizing the danger of being spotted, he hurried back cautiously to where he left Cindy and Natalya, knowing that he had to make haste to leave while making sure to be as quiet as possible.

When he got there he found Cindy looking at him with a sad face “I told you didn’t I?”

How did you know? He wanted to ask, but there was no time. He woke Natalya shaking her vigorously.

“We have to leave,” he said to her, whispering. When she finally got up, he took her hand and looked at Cindy as she put the bag on her back and they left as they had planned before.

” What’s going on?" Natalya asked, still in a dazed from now waking up.

Sheldon didn’t bother to answer. He just kept her hand-holding while walking and walking as fast as he could take his legs even when they were outside. The night sky was somber; it hid the stars behind a layer of black as the moon’s dim light barely pierced through the veil, making it hard to see anything visible. Sheldon stumbled in the night, tripping as he went. His pace increased rapidly, blankly, without any true purpose. The only thing that stopped him from running was the fact that he may make them stand out. He was going so fast; he didn’t realize that Cindy was having a hard time keeping up.

Natalya pulled her hand away forcefully. “Sheldon answer me!!”

Cindy stopped behind her as if trying to hide and kept her head lowered and remained silent.

“She was right, she was right, she was right!” Sheldon said frantically.

Clinching his fist as his hands told a story “They took people from where we were, I saw them and when I followed, it was as though they were in a trance. They didn’t resist, they didn’t fight, and when they entered that room I heard the scream as it was drowned out. I know what they are doing isn’t right!” Sheldon’s eyes darted around to see if they had been followed.

“We can’t stay here!!” he held Natalya’s hand again, almost on the verge of tears, and pulled her along with him. This time, she didn’t resist him and just went along as Cindy followed behind until they ended up in what used to be a small kid’s park. The bush had grown wild here, the benches were mostly broken, and the one remaining swing had seen far better days.

Sheldon sat on the closest bench as he tried to calm his mind and think about what he could do next. How did Cindy know, and what did that woman used to meet Natalya for? The same questions kept popping in his mind constantly, over and over.

Before he could speak, Cindy broke the silence looking at him with sad eyes. “I was afraid to tell you about my premonition, but if I didn’t I felt that something bad would happen to us soon...so I had no choice but to tell you.”

“I don’t want to scare you or for you to look at me differently but I can see the future. It is not always clear, but once the path is kept, it remains the same. The majority of people in that room that we left have been sacrificed to Malrano. Those that aren’t sacrificed are eaten and...”

“Enough!” Natalya said, “I don’t want to hear anymore.” Her eyes turned to face the next direction.

Sheldon looked at them both but he didn’t know what to say, all three of them sat in the park quietly until it was morning.

The sun rose to disperse the dark. Cindy got up, “I... am... sorry...I did not mean to create any unnecessary trouble, if it’s best then I should---“

“No!” Tears came slipping down her face to the ground. Natalya shifted her eyes from the ground to her, “You didn’t cause us trouble, I knew what was going on but I didn’t want to address it because it was the only way to keep us safe.”

“What do you mean?” Sheldon said as he looked at her.

Natalya looked at him long “I should be the one to apologize to you Sheldon; I was trying to keep you safe as it was the only place we could have called home. I thought what I was doing would be fine so long as we could find a way out of it.”

Sheldon looked at her not knowing how to respond as he was confused but he had to know. “What did that Old Hag want you for?”

Natalya half hugged herself as she flicked her hair. “She promised that she would keep us safe but in return, I had to take care of someone when I came of a certain age,” she said shifting her eyes around. “That’s why she kept feeding me. It wasn’t for me out of generosity it was to keep me looking well.”

Sheldon gritted his teeth, he felt stupid he didn’t know anything and he couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t protect her, even although he wanted to.

There was a long silence again.

“Cindy,” Sheldon said softly as he looked away from the park, “what do you suggest that we do?”