Chapter 5: The Newest Addition“This place is smelly…” The little newcomer said, holding up his fresh pair of pants from the sides to keep the fabric away from his feet. He looked up again and noticed the older boy walking further away from him. “Hey, wait up!” Ian slowed and turned to look at the kid. “Too big, huh?” He asked, glancing to the younger boy’s odd posture. “Your father couldn’t find a smaller size,” DeAundre replied. “That’s okay, I’ll grow into them, won’t I?” He added with a smile. The blond reciprocated with a half grin and continued on down the dim hallway. DeAundre tried his best to keep up with the older boy, but many distractions kept toying with his attention. The young boy eyed the lit candles placed evenly down one wall of the hallway while the other wall had many windows overlooking the surrounding area. The rain pounding down against the moist ground created a steady beat that filled DeAundre’s mind with relaxation. The boy breathed in deeply and, with a sigh, let it all back out. A sudden flash of light and the explosion of electricity striking the damp terrain sent a jolt through the boy. He jumped and hurried to close the gap between Ian and himself. The older boy couldn’t help but find some amusement from that. As far as he knew, DeAundre Coles had been sent to the asylum for his excellence in Science. Even from being with the prodigy for only an hour or so, Ian could definitely tell this child was a genius. It fascinated him that such a dark and dreary location confined some of the brighter and more talented minds, like DeAundre, in all of Lenor. Somehow he found himself wondering just how the city could waste such intellect and talent by locking them away. Other times Ian would reason with himself, saying that by putting the prodigies in one place helped their minds and talents to expand since they were in an environment where it was accepted. He idly recalled when he came to the asylum with his father. Ian arrived at the facility glued to his father’s side—they were seeking refuge. The caring staff welcomed them inside and eventually Ian’s father became the caretaker for the boys and Ian grew up to watch over them; most of the older boys were sent to another facility farther out of town. Ian found that he would have been taken to Lenor Asylum eventually: It turned out he had a blooming talent in Art. No other child’s finger paintings rivaled his own. As Ian grew older his paintings morphed into masterpieces filled with dazzling detail and amazing composition. Some of his finished pieces were placed around the asylum for others to enjoy. However when he wasn’t exercising his creativity on canvas, Ian would be helping out his father by taking care of the younger kids—as he was with DeAundre. When the two stopped beside double doors, Ian glanced down to DeAundre. The prodigy returned Ian’s gaze and cocked his head to the side in curiosity. “Now where are we?” “…You’ll see.” Ian opened the two doors, revealing a colossal three level room. He walked in and wandered to the side to greet the librarian. DeAundre, meanwhile, found himself floating closer towards the middle of the main level, his eyes like giant saucers as they gazed over what seemed like millions of titles and authors. The library was humongous. The staircases straight ahead from DeAundre led down to the bottom level, and two staircases to the side of the middle pair led up to the top level. “This… this is…” “Amazing?” Ian approached the boy from behind, his hands propped behind his neck. “Yeah. It’s pretty nice, isn’t it? But we can’t stay here. I just thought I’d show you where the Library was since I had to tell the Librarian you were here anyway. You can call her Ruth, and if you have any questions she’s the lady to go to, got it?” DeAundre acknowledged with a simple nod, too fixated on the shelves upon shelves of reading material to do anything more. “Wow…” “You heard me, right?” Ian reached for DeAundre’s hand and began to encourage the boy back out of the doorway. “We have to go.” DeAundre resisted slightly. “We have to? Just five minutes. I promise I won’t be longer than that!” The boy whipped out his puppy expression with a quivering bottom lip. Although Ian saw past it, he gave in. He watched DeAundre bolt to the bottom level and disappear around the corner. Ian found himself a chair and sat down lazily, listening to the random proclamations of joy echoing in the open air. He smiled. - - - Two boxes of Kleenex later and Alice found that her condition hadn’t improved much. It was late now and her friends below were finishing up a make-shift game of Battleship—Emily could make any game so long as she had some cardboard, a marker, paper, and the inspiration (or will) to go through with making it. Whatever condition the games ended up being in, Alice knew for certain that making board games was not Emily’s true calling. Hannah reassured that conclusion whenever she would point out a mistake in the drawing, followed by a light thwap on the head by her blonde counterpart. “E-four,” Emily stated confidently. The girl—lying on her stomach with her elbows propped and her hands holding her chin—swayed her legs back and forth, waiting for Hannah to make the next move. The brunette eyed her cardboard platform, then looked up to the blonde across the way. Emily grinned. Hannah frowned and raised her ‘battleship’ with a small whimper. “Goodbye, Mayflower,” she said sadly. Emily sat up and snatched the paper ship away from her friend, laughing. “Muahaha, and that is how you win Battleship.” Defeated, Hannah took off her glasses and set them onto a small table beside their bunk before flopping over into the mass of covers. The blonde champion paraded around the small room in a victory dance, chanting silly phrases. Alice watched from up top and, after giggling, fell into a small fit of coughs. Emily paused and looked up to her, “Hurry up and get that bug outta’ here, Alice. A champion cannot be brought down by a cold!” “I’m sorry,” Alice managed, covering her mouth. “Go give it to your friend. I’m sure he can wait it out better than you can,” said Emily, snickering. He probably could, Alice thought. Speaking of which… “He came to see me tonight,” said Alice, softly. “He what?” Emily asked, dropping her champion act. Hannah stayed in bed, listening. “He came by earlier with a monster thing for me to get rid of,” explained Alice as she idly fingered the dream catcher stringed around her neck. “But I wonder how he knew where I was… it was a little creepy.” Emily plopped onto the floor and responded casually, “We saw him, too—in the hallway. He asked where you were and we told him you were sick so he probably assumed you were here, though why not the Nurse’s office, I don’t know.” “You saw him…?” “Yeah. He appeared and fought one of those monster things that you were just talking about; as a matter of fact, it was probably the same one. He disappeared before Ian found us.” “Did Ian see him?” Alice quickly asked. “I don’t think so,” replied Emily, sighing. “Probably a good thing…” “So he won’t be scared to be around you, right?” Hannah finally chided in. She let out a laugh when a stuffed animal bounced off her side. “Be quiet!” Emily cried out, pouting. “I mean that it’s probably a good thing because if he saw he might’ve told his dad or something!” “It doesn’t matter,” said Hannah. “They had the council meeting, didn’t they?” “That’s right!” added Alice. “I wonder if Ms. Morgan could tell me about—” Emily interrupted her. “Forget it, it’s confidential information. They won’t tell us anything.” Hannah rolled over onto her back. “Let’s leave that alone, then. …Hey, Alice, I’ve noticed that a lot of these ghost sightings happen at night. Isn’t it a bit cliche?” “I’ve wondered about that,” Emily said thoughtfully. Alice shrugged and rubbed her nose. “I’m not really sure. I guess so he won’t scare so many people during the day…?” “Not Sipiyu, you silly goose,” Hannah said with a small chuckle. Alice felt her cheeks heat up. Hannah added, “I meant the other ones. The ones he fights. Why don’t they come out during the day?” “I…I don’t know,” said Alice. Meanwhile Emily managed to flop into bed next to Hannah. The blonde then blew out the candlelight. “Bed time, girls,” she said drowsily. Hannah complied with a simple sigh and a ‘good night’ to Alice. “Good night,” said Alice as she sunk back into her cozy haven. She pulled the covers up to her nose and closed her puffy eyes, slowly slipping deep into thought. Hannah made a point. Those things seem to only come out when any of us are in the hallway at night, but why us? Why at night? I wonder if there are more that Sipiyu has to fight off. But wouldn’t he be visiting more often? Oh, I don’t know… Alice found herself drifting off into sleep. Soon all three girls were sleeping to the sound of tapping raindrops. - - - Back in the library, Ian had dozed off in his chair and DeAundre had buried himself deep within a few stacks of physics books. His bright, dark eyes flipped eagerly through the pages of De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. “Nicolaus Copernicus…” DeAundre whispered before closing the old book and moving to open up a new one. A hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks and made him shudder. He whirled around to look into the pale eyes of Ruth, the librarian. “You’re…” She nodded and began to put the books DeAundre had taken out back into their respective places. “I believe it is bed time,” she managed in her trembling, old voice. “Ah, yes,” said DeAundre, who soon moved to help the old woman with her task. “I was just indulging myself in the Ptolemaic system through Nicolaus Copernicus’ words…” “Fascinating,” Ruth replied, her eyes squinting as she attempted a weak smile. “Do you want to hear about it?” “Not if you’re going to just stand there, my child,” she said. DeAundre’s eyes widened. “Oh! I’m sorry!” He immediately put back the books in his hands. He didn’t pick up on explaining the Ptolemaic system to Ruth, though. She seemed like the kind of woman who would listen just to make someone happy, so he’d spare her the boredom. When the two finished, DeAundre took Ruth’s frail and bony hand and shook it gently. “Pleasure doing business with you, ma’am,” he said charismatically. Ruth chuckled in response and patted the boy on the top of the head. “Go wake Ian and tell him to bring you to bed. Never mind if he’s cranky.” The young boy nodded and made his way over to the sleeping blond. Ian managed to curl himself into the seat of the chair with one foot propped on the arm and the other dangling off of the seat. His elbow, propped on his raised leg, helped support his sleeping face while his other arm draped comfortably over his lap. DeAundre took the loose arm and tugged on it lightly, saying, “Ian! Ian, it’s time to go to bed, you know. It’s been five minutes…!” “Mm…as if,” Ian mumbled as he became half aware of his surroundings. A couple more tugs and Ian finally opened his eyes. “Alright, let’s go…” He groaned, pushing himself out of the chair. Once on his feet, the older boy stretched and popped his back. DeAundre took his arm and hurried them out of the library just as Ruth neared to usher them through the entrance and out into the hallway. “Hurry to your rooms, boys, for the night is filled with goblins.” “What?” asked DeAundre. “Never mind,” Ian replied, rolling his eyes. He led DeAundre away and down the hallway leading to the East Dormitory. Ruth smiled as she watched them disappear through the Library doors. She moved to close the entrance and lock it up before wandering back to her desk. She sat down and looked ahead to the library laid out before her. “Is it gone?” Stepping out from the shadows came Sipiyu, and in his hand, another ghoul. A fresh gash the length of a few inches curved up his arm. “There are more.” “More?” heaved Ruth. “That’s terrible, my boy.” Sipiyu only nodded. The old woman eyed the wound on the man’s arm. “You should have that taken care of.” However, just as she mentioned it, the skin began to reconnect itself, closing up and healing over. “…I see,” she said. “Does it hurt?” “No,” replied the man. “You don’t feel pain?” “Sometimes, but not the kind of pain a living being feels.” “I’m excited for these new experiences,” Ruth stated, slowly smiling. Sipiyu progressed down the stairs from the upper level and neared the desk on the main floor. He headed for the closed Library doors, but stopped. “You won’t experience any pain.” Ruth looked to him. “Oh? And why is that?” “You will be delivered into Elysium.” “Why haven’t you?” Sipiyu didn’t respond. He paused for a moment and thought about her question. Underneath his heavy bangs his eyes squinted in anger before he walked through the closed doors and out of the library. His reply echoed within the colossal room before he left completely: “I have business to take care of.” - - - The two boys reached their room. Ian opened the door and let DeAundre in first, who walked in and hopped over onto the lower bunk. He bounced upon it and grinned at Ian. “Is this my bed?” the little boy asked. “Hardly,” Ian mumbled lightly and nodded to the top mattress. “You’re up there, DeAundre.” “Aww, why?” Ian sat down next to the boy, placing his elbows onto his knees. “In case of an emergency,” replied the blond. “I need to be able to get out of bed. Think about it, man: If I were on the top bunk I’d make a lot of noise hurrying out of it if my dad needed me.” He looked over to DeAundre. The younger boy nodded in thought. “I understand,” he said, sighing. He hopped out of the bottom bunk and found the ladder leading to the top bunk. Once up on the top mattress the boy buried himself into the covers. “Aah, such a nice bed!” DeAundre chanted happily, closing his eyes. Ian flopped back onto his own bed and propped one foot up. “…You sound like you don’t mind being separated from your parents.” DeAundre opened his dark eyes and stared at the bland ceiling. “Yeah, it’s supposed to be emotionally traumatic, isn’t it?” The older boy didn’t respond. “Well,” DeAundre continued, “I don’t mind. I wasn’t very close to my parents…they were always away on various trips out of town. A girl who lived just down the street from us mostly watched me. She seemed very polite, but…she was the one who reported me. My parents appeared more disgusted than sad, so I was almost happy to leave. The man in black brought me here and you know the story from there.” He turned over onto his side, saying, “So, what about you?” “Me?” Ian asked softly. His eyelids slid down partway. “I wish…nah, never mind.” Ian closed his eyes. He barely heard the movement from above but didn’t pay much attention to it until DeAundre climbed onto the bed with him. He opened one eye. “What?” “Tell me,” DeAundre said. “What do you wish?” Ian watched the younger boy for a moment before he let out a small sigh. “Well, I wish…that I could have known who my mom was. Dad doesn’t talk about her, and when I ask, he…seems hesitant to respond.” “Your father loves you a lot,” replied DeAundre. “He came here to be with you, didn’t he?” Ian thought about it for a moment. Did his father come just to be with him? He always assumed his father was the same as them. “He probably doesn’t talk about your mother because he doesn’t want to upset you,” added the younger boy. “Do you…know what happened to her?” The silence that came afterwards struck DeAundre; maybe he offended Ian. He frowned, “I’m sorry.” “No, it’s okay.” Ian sat up. “My mother died while giving birth to me. My father…I think…tried to raise me on his own. When he found out I was good at art, he knew he had to take me to the asylum, but I always thought he came here because of something he could do, too. I never thought that maybe he left to keep a watch on me…” DeAundre smiled. - - - “Hey…Emily.” The blonde woke up to a pair of troubled blue eyes staring down at her. “Mn…what is it?” Hannah frowned and sat back. She folded her hands into her lap and said, “I have a bad feeling. I can’t sleep.” Emily sat up and rubbed the tangled animalistic mass on the top of her head. “So read a book or something…” The blonde then muffled a yawn, but her brunette friend shook her lightly. “Emily…” The girl looked up and sighed. “Okay, okay. Let’s go check it out.” Hannah nodded and both girls got up quietly. Emily grabbed the flashlight and, after scratching her back lightly, exited the room with Hannah close behind. “This better be worth it,” she mumbled. - - - “Anyway,” began Ian, “We need to go to bed now. Tomorrow you’re going to have—“ “Wait!” DeAundre said, holding up a hand. “There’s someone out in the hallway.” “…Who would…” Ian stood and made his way to the door. He peeked out of the peephole and saw two young girls pass by the door. “…Emily and Hannah…?!” “Who?” “Stay here.” Opening the door, Ian hurried out to catch up with the other two. DeAundre stared at the doorway. “As if,” he mumbled and hopped off of the bed.
Emily and Hannah turned down another corner. “Look, Hannah, we haven’t found anything. Maybe he took care of all of the monsters already.” “I still have this unsettling feeling, though…” The blonde sighed, turned, and walked straight into the chest of the waiting Ian Gale. Emily, flabbergasted, looked up with wide eyes to see Ian staring down at her. “I-Ian!” “What are you two doing out at night again? There’s no reason. Go back to your dorms before you get caught!” “Ian, you’re so mean,” chided DeAundre from behind. Hannah and Emily glanced past the older boy to see a young boy behind him. DeAundre smiled at the two girls. “Hey! I’m DeAundre, and I—“ “—was just going to bed,” finished a scowling Ian. “We all were.” Hannah frowned, but nodded and tugged lightly on Emily’s shoulder. “Let’s go.” Emily shrugged away and glared back at Ian. “We’re here because something’s scaring Hannah. She can’t sleep, so we’re just checking things out to make sure everything’s okay.” “And what do you think you can do if something isn’t okay?” Ian asked, hands on his hips. “You’re just girls, there’s nothing you two can do even if you did find something. If you don’t leave, I’m reporting you both to Ms. Morgan.” “You coward,” Emily ground out. Ian returned her glare, but the scream from Hannah interrupted their mounting argument. They all turned around to see what Hannah was afraid of: A ghoul approached, sliding itself closer towards them. It trailed a path of a slimy goop-like substance. The odor was atrocious and foul; Emily wanted to puke. “What…is that?” She asked, covering her mouth afterward. DeAundre studied the beast with his dark eyes even as Ian stood in front of him protectively. “How can it move? It’s got no eyes…” “Whatever the hell it is, it’s coming straight for us!” Ian yelled. Hastily he grabbed Hannah and Emily’s sleeves to tug both girls back behind him where DeAundre stood. “Run!” But they all stood in fear. “Th-There’s…” DeAundre started, pointing in the direction towards his and Ian’s room. Ian looked and saw a second ghoul approaching; they were trapped between the two mangled beasts. Emily and Hannah clung to one another as Ian breathed out a curse under his breath. Suddenly DeAundre shoved Emily and Hannah to the side as one ghoul leaped for them. “Watch out, Ian!” he yelled, rolling to the side. Ian darted to the side, barely dodging the beast. The second leaped out afterward and attached its grotesque self to Ian’s front. “Augh!” Ian yelped, falling to the ground with a loud thud. Emily and Hannah both shrieked. The blond struggled with the monster before kicking it off of him with a harsh thrust of his heel. The entity flopped back onto the ground and gurgled out a sound of protest and anger. “Run, Ian!” screamed Emily. The boy scrambled to his feet to run after the other two, but the first ghoul collided into his back. Wincing, Ian hit the floor again. DeAundre looked from the horrible scene to the figure running toward them in the distance. A girl around the same age as Emily and Hannah came running in their direction—in her hand, a clutched dream catcher. Alice hurried closer. When she saw the ghoul thrashing away at Ian’s back, she stopped in her tracks. “Sipiyu!” She yelled. The ghoul was suddenly off of Ian and up against the nearby wall with a blade deep in it’s neck. Blood spurted from the fresh wound. Ian trembled, trying to recover his composure. Alice ran over to him to help him up and out of the way as another ghoul rushed towards them. Ian was about to shove Alice away when a larger black figure dove past them. The ghoul stopped as if it ran into an invisible wall before something shoved it back. The black figure materialized more, revealing Sipiyu in a crouched position. DeAundre stared in wonder as Alice and Ian rejoined him and the other two girls. “So this is where they were,” Sipiyu whispered. He popped his knuckles in several places as a wicked grin crept across his face. Alice looked to her dream catcher; it pulsed with a bright glow. “I think there’s more…” The man’s grin widened slightly. “Good.” Two more ghouls appeared; just as Alice said—there were more. They crawled along the floor, emitting disgusting sounds. In total there were four now, with three of them now ready to ambush Sipiyu. He didn’t mind. The three leapt out and slashed onto the figure’s body. Their claws dug in deep into his dead skin and thrashed away, spilling and squirting blood onto the floor. Alice covered her mouth in horror as the goblins cut at Sipiyu’s body. The ghost, however, only equipped his second cleaver and in one swooping motion cut through the three ghouls on his body. They fell in several bloody masses, plopping onto the floor in small pools of blood only to leak more. Sipiyu then knelt down to one of the twitching forms to snap it’s neck—but the hand of the ghoul snapped up to embed its nails into his own neck. Alice, moving quickly, grabbed the dream catcher and pulled apart the strings, hoping the ghouls were weak enough to send away. Before the claws of the ghoul could strike Sipiyu, they burst into millions of white particles. Sipiyu’s dark eyes watched the other three beings dissipate into a single white mist before it slowly faded away. Alice breathed a sigh of relief and looked to Ian who was being held up by Emily and Hannah. The back of his asylum shirt was ripped, revealing red welts on his skin. At least he’s not bleeding, thought Alice. She then looked to Sipiyu who was retreating down the hallway. She gasped and ran after him. “Wait!” she said, reaching out for his hand—but missing. He stopped. “They were after you.” Alice blinked.
Ian and the others headed to the Nurse’s office. Emily held onto him as Hannah and DeAundre led the way with a single flashlight. “That white mist…” DeAundre started, “What was it?” “I don’t know,” replied Hannah. “But it’s the result of when Alice breaks the strings on her dream catcher, I saw.” “Yes…” the young boy agreed. “I want to ask your friend Alice about that…” “Let’s get Ian to the nurse first,” said Emily, pulling the blond boy along. Ian winced and panted heavily, limping along with the rest of the group. Inside, he felt glad they were safe from harm. And somehow, he knew, Alice would be okay with that man.
“What do you mean?” asked Alice as she walked around to face him. Sipiyu eyed her for the moment. “…They’re trying to attack you because of that item.” Alice curiously lifted the dream catcher and examined it; the strings were slowly weaving back together. “This thing?” The man only stared at the dream catcher. Alice looked to his eyes again and could see a flicker of hatred pass through them. She sighed and started walking ahead. “Do they want to kill me…?” The ghost’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he followed after the young girl. “It doesn’t matter.” “Oh…hey, I have a question.” Behind her, Sipiyu only remained quiet. When she stopped, so did he. “…Why do those things only come out at night?” “They also appear during the day,” replied the man. “I never see them.” “…Entities are weaker at daytime. I can get rid of them on my own so you don’t encounter them,” explained Sipiyu. Alice turned around and looked up at him with her chocolate brown eyes. The two watched each other for that passing moment until Alice realized something else. “Hey, Sipiyu…why do you have a barcode on your shoulder?” His lips parted to speak but then he paused. “Did you come here before you died…? Is that why you’re here?” The man’s fists clenched slightly. Alice frowned and walked towards him, but he suddenly vanished. Alice gasped and looked around for him. She was afraid she may have upset him, but then a pair of larger hands pressed on her back and ushered her down the hallway. She felt the chills travel up her spine but walked along awkwardly back to her room. When she came to the door, she opened it and waited before going inside. “…Thank you, Sipiyu,” she muttered, then walked in and closed the door. Once inside Alice leaned back against the door. On the other side, Sipiyu leaned against the door as well. Many thoughts raced through his mind as he stood there. The events of the night passed before him. He looked down to his hands and stared at them, then up to the wall opposite of where he was. A deep urge within him sparked and traveled through his body. His hands rose. …And then the ghost promptly sneezed. I’m getting…sick? - - - “So I see,” said Veyerus. He pulled away from a bubbling pool of lava and faced towards a large book propped open to an empty page. The white figure’s dainty hand reached for a feather pen and began to jot down various scribbled words. “What are you writing?” asked the smaller goblin. It hopped up to peek over the small desk to see what its master was inscribing. Veyerus pressed a hand down onto the goblin’s head and shoved it away. “None of your business, but I have discovered something.” “What’s that?” Veyerus sighed. “The ghouls only know to go after the dream catcher…” he tapped his finger onto the desk fervently. “But those kids are going to end up knowing too much—perhaps we should do something about them.” “Like what?” The goblin asked, tilting its head. “I’m going to let the ghouls focus on them,” Veyerus stated simply, his eyes softening as he began writing more into the large book before him. “Isn’t that usually forbidden…?” “They’ve interfered,” said Veyerus, dipping the pen into a jar of red liquid. “So I suppose it’s okay for me to play back.” After finishing up his writing, the white figure smiled and set the pen down. He then stood and walked away. The goblin watched and once Veyerus was out of its sight, it hopped up onto his chair and looked at the book. “This…this is…” The paper read as: Pancake Delight.
“…A recipe?!” |
