The Feeding Ground

William

On the morning of the twelfth day since Adelaide disappeared, Will awoke to a scream followed by a loud metallic bang. He shot out of bed and ran downstairs. He paused only for a moment on the steps to quickly assess the situation; the shocked-looking maid, the dust pan on the floor, and the girl collapsed in the foyer. It was Adelaide. Addy had come home. He would have been brimming with ecstatic relief if it weren't for the fact that she looked horrible. She seemed exhausted, barely alive, her dress was filthy and torn all over and her shoes were caked with dirt. He ran to her and took her in his arms. Her breaths were shallow and she looked as if she was going to pass out. "Wake my parents", he told the maid. She nodded and took off up the stairs. He wasn't far behind her, intending to take Addy in his arms to her room, put her in her bed. The sun had just come up but his parents were already stirring from the noise. Once the maid came to them they were wide awake and rushed down the hall. His mother immediately burst into tears at the sight of her and was inseparable from her side. His father said, "I'll call the doctor", trying to hide the quiver in his voice, that he was getting choked up with emotion, and quickly excused himself.

It took a couple of hours for the doctor to arrive. In that time, Adelaide hadn't said a word nor moved a muscle. It was like the most she could do was breath. Her family feared for her health, that maybe she had barely made it back, just to die in her bed. Once the doctor arrived and began his routine, there was silent tension in the room. A simple question waiting to be asked: will she be ok? The doctor looked up at the three, the mother, father and brother, and delivered the news. "She seems to be perfectly healthy aside from severe exhaustion. No broken bones, damaged organs, not even a cut or bruise. There doesn't seem to be any neurological issues either. She just needs some rest and she should be fine", he said. "Are you sure?", Will asked, concerned, "She looks..." "It looks worse than it is, son", the doctor replied promptly, "Your sister will be fine, physically at least. I can't promise her mental safety ".

It took her three days to wake. When she did, she immediately started to cry, clinging to her mother like a small child. She hugged her father and brother tightly after she'd calmed down. There was a question hanging in the air. It was hesitant to be asked. Will finally broke the tension, "Adelaide, what happened?". She looked up at him with those big brown eyes, as if she was seeing a ghost. Her eyes flicked back down to her hands, which were firmly clenched in the sheets, and began the telling of the night she disappeared and what followed. As her story went on, Will could see his father's face slowly slipping into a grimace, and his mother, her face becoming overcast with growing despair. They didn't believe her. They thought she was going nuts. They're realizing that their daughter is just as much lost now as she was before she was found. Off to the asylum with Addy. But Will didn't feel that way. He believed her. Because he felt it too. The distortion of time and space in those woods was undeniable once you'd felt it.

When she'd finally finished, concluding with the agonizing walk home, Will quickly broke the heavy silence that filled the room. He turned to his parents and said, "Addy probably needs some more rest. We should leave her be." They nodded as he ushered them out of the door. They did not resist, they probably wanted to discuss this somewhere else anyway. Once they'd disappeared down the hall, Will slipped back into Addy's room and quietly closed the door behind him. "What are you doing?" Adelaide innocently inquired. "Listen", he started in a hushed but serious tone, "Mom and Dad don't believe you, they think you're crazy and they're going to try to send you to the asylum". "What? Slow down what are you talking about?" she asked, exasperated. He took a deep breath and looked her in the eye, taking on a softer tone he said, "I'm sorry Addy. They think you've gone insane. I mean, the time difference doesn't make any sense. You claim you were gone for one night... Addy, you were gone for eleven days." He could see the frustration welling in those sad eyes of hers. Ever since she got back her eyes have been sad. They weren't always sad. She looked at him, her jaw set, her eyes searching his. "It is insane but I believe you. I felt it, when I tried to search the woods for you, I felt what you described." Tears slid down her cheeks as a smile broke out across her face. Relief. She was relieved. He was going to help her.

The next day Adelaide was up and seemingly back to normal, except for some clumsiness, which was reported to the doctor right away. She kept dropping things, broke a few glasses and a plate. She was never known to be so clumsy so it was suspect that she may have had some brain damage while she was gone. According to her story, Will saw no way that could be the case but of course the adults would not agree so he kept his mouth shut. He had to figure out a way to keep them from sending his sister to the asylum. From what he knew of it, it was a terrifying place to be sent and there were rumors that some patients were subject to treatment akin to torture. That was not a place she belonged and the only way to keep her from being sent there was to prove her story to be true.

When Will broke the news about Liza to Adelaide she just about fell apart, crumbling to her knees in fits of sobbing while her brother held her. "I heard her, Will", she cried, "I heard her calling my name. I ran looking everywhere for her. She sounded like she was in trouble, in pain-" she choked. She took a deep breath and continued, "She sounded so close but I couldn't find her". Will sat with her on the floor of her bedroom as she pulled away, finally calming down. Silence filled the room as they both became lost in thought.