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TO SAY IT was an easy night to sleep through was an understatement. Alaina woke up with a terrible feeling stirring through the lower portion of her gut, something telling her that that day wouldn't hold what she hoped for. She gulped, blinking her eyes open as Jack woke up with a yawn on the bed beside her own. She looked over, him recovering from his tiredness and meeting her gaze with raised brows.
"I don't have a good feeling about all this," she muttered as she ran a hand down her face, tiredly swinging her legs off the side of the bed. He frowned with confusion.
"Why? The morning's only just started," he reasoned.
"Because nothing else happened last night," she argued with a shrug of her shoulders while pushing herself to a stand. Jack watched her walk towards the door with a tilted head.
"That's because of what I-"
"Jack," she mumbled with a teasing edge to her tone, turning around to walk the rest of the way backwards. She faced him, a grin forming on her lips. "That ego of yours is taking up all the space where your brain should be," she joked, watching his face fall with offense. She left the room with a laugh.
"That was rude!" She heard him shout out the door.
She yelled back, "That was the point!"
Later that day the girls were all playing outside, even Alaina joining in with them, while Jack resumed his halted gardening out the back. Janice was stuck with Sister Charlotte, having been confined in a wheelchair, so Alaina offered to join Linda. The young girl accepted with a joyful grin, leading her away to the trees she had learnt to climb in her spare time.
They were only together for a minute or two before they saw Sister Charlotte running down from the front of the house to the shed Alaina despised, shouting out Janice's name. Linda shared a horrified look with Alaina before the two blondes began to descend from their positions on the tree branches.
"Quick, Linda," Alaina muttered beneath her breath in a hurry, it coming out in the mist of a breath as she helped the girl down from the tree. The two orphans sprinted to the shed, banging and yanking on the door that supposedly kept their young friend inside.
"Janice, what's going on!" Sister Charlotte shouted as she shoved her shoulder into the door until it popped open. The three girls almost fell into the room, looking around in worry. They quickly caught sight of Janice, the girl in the wheelchair sitting right in front of them, back facing the open door.
"I couldn't get out," the young blonde murmured, tangled hair resting across her face. Alaina and Sister Charlotte shared a concerned look as Linda shuffled closer.
"Are you okay?" Sister Charlotte asked. Alaina gulped, her mind straying back to the days beforehand when Jack and herself were trapped in there. She tried to ignore the fact that she was back inside.
"Did anything happen?" Alaina asked, earning a confused look from the other two girls beside her. She merely ignored them.
Janice wheeled her chair around, finally facing the three. Alaina would never, ever forget the look in her eyes. That one, menacing look staring her right in the face.
"I'm fine," she smiled, but it wasn't Janice smiling. Somehow, Alaina knew, but with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows, she didn't dwell on it. Janice had gone through the unimaginable, so maybe, just maybe, it was a coping mechanism. She knew that it wasn't true, but she chose not to believe herself. Just this once she ignored her gut.
Linda seemed to think the exact same thing, as later that evening while the orphans were getting ready for bed, she sat down with Tierney, Kate and Nancy to talk about it. Carol soon walked in and kicked her out, but as the young blonde was walking down the hallway, she almost bumped into Jack and Alaina.
"Woah- hey, kid," Jack said quietly, quickly steadying the frightened young girl by her shoulders. Linda stared up at him with wide eyes, barely having spoken a word to him since she arrived, but she instantly relaxed upon noticing the older brunette by his side.
"Hey, Lin," Alaina smiled. Linda quickly ran over, hugging her torso. The older girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, are you alright?" She asked softly, rubbing her back in the hug. Jack watched with mild concern.
"Something's wrong with Janice," she whispered into her clothing, "but nobody believes me."
Alaina sighed, looking down as Linda slowly pulled away with a sniffle. "I believe you, I . . . I noticed it too." Jack turned to look at the teen with furrowed brows, only getting it brushed off with a tell you later sent his way.
"I'm scared, Laina. Things chase me at night," the girl cried, two tears cascading down each of her cheeks in the hallway lights. Alaina frowned instantly, drawing the younger blonde into another hug.
"It's okay, we're all scared," she whispered reassuringly, trying to keep her voice strong. From over the young girl's shoulder she locked worried eyes with Jack, his open in alarm. They hadn't been the only ones picked on, which for some reason lifted a weight off their shoulders - even if it was in regards to a girl as young as Linda. "If anything happens again come to our room, okay?"
The girl nodded in her arms before pulling away once more, sending her a grateful smile and a shy wave to the boy beside her before trotting towards her room. Alaina sighed, watching her back with saddened eyes. She never wanted for this to happen - she was honestly happy dealing with it herself. Now the younger kids had been dragged into it, Janice more so than anyone else.
"So, what's going on with Janice?" Jack asked with raised brows as the two teens slowly walked towards their room across the hall. Alaina bit her lip, before gradually explaining the story of the girl in the wheelchair, stuck in the spooky shed all alone. She knew what could have happened, and she knew it did.
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