THE ORPHANAGE

Chapter Four

I continued with my laundry, “Martha” a voice whispered in my ears and i turned sharply, “who-who is –is there?” i stammered “Martha!” the voice came out sharp and i flinched, “if it’s one of you kids please stop it, stop it” i turned around and it seemed like the bed sheet were closing in on me, i closed my eyes firmly and i heard screaming coming from one of the kids inside the house and i rushed in.

Leslie was crying as she was itching one of her eyes, “what happened in here? Leslie what’s wrong?” i bent to take a look at Leslie’s face, Leslie pointed to Kalian

“what did you do to her?” i turned to face Kalian who was looking sympathetic, “I poked her in the eye” he answered shyly.

“wh-why would you do that? Don’t you know it’s wrong. Come here baby” i pulled Leslie into hug and patted her head to stop her from crying, “he said to do it” Kalian said as he kept coloring and I arched a brow, “Who did?” my brows furrowed in confusion. “Why don’t you ask him, he’s standing over there” Kalian pointed to the table by the window where the gramophone was placed and i quickly looked in that direction but there was no one there

“Kalian stop saying weird things, it’ll scare the others and no poking of anyone else’s eye, now let me take care of that for you” i reached into a bowl on top of the shelf and brought out a small bottle of eye drop and put a drop in Leslie’s eye before she went back to sit on the mat where they were coloring.

I walked into the kitchen and leaned by the sink before pulling out a bottle of pill from the cabinet, I dropped the pill in a glass before filling it with water, the pill dissolved and I gulped from the cup before dropping it in the sink.

“I might be losing my mind, or it’s just in my head” i said to myself as I closed my eyes and rubbed my temple, i opened her eyes and Dagwood was standing right in front of me.

“s**t! The crayons” I cussed, “I’ll get you the crayons now honey” i proceeded to walk upstairs and he held my hand back.

“He’s not lying, there’s a man standing by the window. He’s terrifying” Dagwood said as he quickly stole a glance at the window before looking at Me.

 Dagwood was brought here because his parent think they gave birth to an abomination, One of Dagwood’s eyes is slightly closed and he claims he could see ghosts but his parents didn’t want anything to do with a child that didn’t fit in with any of the kids In the neighborhood so they dumped him off here.

Dagwood always talks about seeing ghosts walking past the house and seeing angels staring at him in his sleep, sometimes i think it’s just in his head but I’m starting to use his sights to justify what I’m seeing too.

“What did he look like?” i pulled him closer, “he has two horns on his head and he looks really mad at us. He looks like the devil they teach us about in Sunday school” he continued

“And what did they tell you to do in Sunday school if the devil comes to you?” i arched a brow, “ To say our psalms” he answered, “Good boy, now do just that and he’ll run away from you” i pecked his forehead and gave him a quick smile before he went to join the others and then i released the stressful look i was holding back on my face.

The bell dinged and I quickly went to get the door, “Mrs. Fitzgerald” I smiled

“I’m about to take my leave dear, just said to say goodbye and take care of that little bundle of joy in there” she said playfully, “I will, thank you so much Mrs. Fitzgerald you’ve been of great help” I exhaled, “don’t mention it, mind if I steal a minute from your time sweet heart?” Mrs. Fitzgerald asked and i took a quick look at the kids before walking out, closing the door behind me.

“Any problem?” I asked, “Not at all, I just don’t know if it’s me or my Scottish sense tingling but there’s something really off about the cemetery now” Mrs. Fitzgerald explained and I feel pretty confused, “off?” i asked

“yes darling, it’s like there’s this negative energy, th-that’s feeding off of them and causing them to roam around. Their peace has been taken” Mrs. Fitzgerald’s eyes widened and I kept trying to assimilate all that she said

“you mean the spirits of the dead are restless?” I arched a brow, “exactly my dear, I don’t know what you brought into your home but take it out fast before matters escalate. Good bye darling” Mrs. Fitzgerald bade her goodbye with a smile as she walked away trying to balance her steps on one of her legs that is hurting her.

I sighed and walked back in.