Cloud Gazer

Chapter 11 - Nothing is as it seems

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Today was Education Fulfilment, meaning the students must gather in the assembly hall to watch an outdated film projected on the large, greyish wall, featuring young girls in dress similar to Elise. The girls had tightly woven plaits, navy pinafores and spoke about how fulfilling they found their education at Sagamore Orphanage.

The students are required to be fully dressed and in a orderly fashion before being collected by the Head Mistress. Elise was last in line. Her pinafore was wrinkled, her white shirt incorrectly buttoned, and her black school shoes with the leather peeling away revealing the cheap fabric underneath. Elise was not caring about her appearance, her mind was preoccupied on her small glass bottle that laid in the palm of her hand, the capitalised 'DIAVOLDE' name terrifying her, perhaps because she didn't know what it meant, what it's for, and why it was covered up. She thought back to the book cover she found in library, with Richard Senowitz begging for forgiveness on the unstable drugs he produced, and Elise tried to push this thought to the back of her mind. The empty bottle lied in Elise's pocket, and when hearing the click-clack of Mrs. Apan's heels, Elise composed herself to have a calm, subordinate appearance.

"Ladies" Mrs. Apan said with a strong voice before leading the girls downstairs through the winding halls of Sagemore. The projection room was down the far end of the orphanage, far from the bedrooms and the dinning hall as it is not used often. Elise followed silently, watching her damaged shoes worsen with every step, following the cracks of the wooden panelling. The long corridors and large ceilings echoed every movement, amplifying the click-clack, click-clack of Mrs. Apan's gaudy heels.

Each corridor was similar in design, thin windows, numbered beige doors, lights that haven't worked in years, but Elise recognised the next corridor as where she was the night before. She passed the numbered beige door that read "144.b- Nurse Deborah". The door was shut and the lights were off. This was odd was Nurse Deborah was usually in her office, smoking or reading or pretending to do paperwork. Elise thought she might be visiting Anna, but realised she is only able to visit her during her lunch break, raising the question of her whereabouts.

Before pondering any longer, Elise realised she had stopped in her tracks and was further behind the other students, running to catch up but keeping Nurse Deborah in her mind.

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The projection room clearly hadn't been used in a long time, the wooden benches laid out were caked in dust, which rose into the air when the students took a seat, creating a stream of coughs in the darkened room.

Mrs. Apan switched on the main light, which flicked before before illuminating the room with a yellow hue, highlighting the dust particles in the air and emitting a small continuous buzz throughout the room. The students took their seat with Elise sitting at the back next to the exit, waiting in silent for the film to begin.

Mrs. Apan headed to the front of the class to speak to Ms. Ruben, a latin teacher who only spoke on occasion and whose role has become reduced to tech support. Both teachers spoke in whispers about setting up the film correctly, Mrs. Apan frustrated with this was not sorted out previously. After whispering obscenities to Ms. Ruben about her incompetence, the film was ready to begin.

"Alright" Mrs. Apan began. "Welcome to Education Fulfilment. The video we are going to show you are of two great students who loved Sagemore and what we do here! These students went on to do wonderful things so let's hear what they have to say."