Run and Hide

Chapter Fourteen

As my eyes opened, there were three young boys staring at us. "Ms. Selma would like to speak with you." Leaving Nate on the couch, I walked to the front office. "Come in, have a seat." She smiles, closing the door behind her. "As your temporary guardian, I must go over some ground rules for you and your brother." Ms. Selma drops a big blue book on the glass desk.

"Page thirty-two, section seven. Read the first six rules, then write what each one means to you." Setting a pencil and piece of paper in front of me, I started reading.

Children may not talk back to their superiors. If a child has a problem, they may express their concerns on pen and paper.

Beds must be made to Little Whispers standard before attending breakfast.

Children must complete their list of chores for the day before they can participate in any activities or free time.

No fighting, bickering, or yelling in the house. The courtyard is available if children cannot resolve their issues. We condone violence, it helps meet the child's emotional behavior and needs.

If the rules are broken in any way, the child/children who witness it will choose their punishment accordingly.

I reread the last two rules repeatedly, my brain did not want to believe it. Writing down my interpretation of each rule, I handed it back to Ms. Selma. "Attention children of Little Whispers, I will be doing a random check of all bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets. Be sure it is up to standard, thank you."

As Ms. Selma turned off the loudspeaker, her smile faded. "Go find your bed and read section two. It'll give you information on bedroom etiquette and what is expected. Also, go over the rules with Nathan." Thanking Ms. Selma, I left to go find Nate. When I realized he wasn't where I left him, I headed upstairs into the boy's room. "Nicole!" Nate yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks. He had a huge red mark that covered half his face, the two boys in the room had to be responsible.

"What did you do to him?" I asked, shielding Nate behind me. "He broke a rule, we witnessed and punished accordingly." I balled up my fist and waved it in the air, "what rule exactly?" I asked angrily. The youngest boy nervously stepped back a few feet, the oldest came closer. "He didn't follow suit. Beds and organization must be done a specific way, and he didn't follow procedure."

While calming myself down, we walked to the bathroom. Laying a cold washcloth on Nate's face, I smiled at him. "It's going to be okay; we should figure out the whole bed thing, huh?" I studied the beds. Each sheet was tucked in at a specific angle, the comforter perfectly straight across the bed.

Unfolding the sheets, Nate and I carefully tucked each corner in. Laying the top sheet just right, we topped the bed with a large dark green comforter. "We need to go over the bedroom rules, why don't we have a seat and read together?"

Sitting the blue book in my lap, we turned the pages to section two. It had a detailed description and diagram of what is expected. Nate and I studied the diagrams, I wanted to make sure we weren't going to break any rules while we stayed.

Once we went over the rules of the bedroom, Nate followed me to my room. He helped me make my bed, I organized the nightstand and dresser. "Everyone, come to the dining room for lunch, Ms. Krona made a delicious soup and garlic bread, along with lemon cake for dessert." Each child walked single file down the hall and in line for lunch, Nate and I followed behind.

Once we were served our food, Ms. Selma stopped us. "Nicole, you will sit in the seat at the end, Anthony, please raise your hand." The little boy raised his hand, he was on the opposite side of the table. "That is where you will sit during breakfast, lunch and dinner." Even though we weren't right next to each other, I was relieved to see that I could keep an eye on him.

Nate was trying to make friends. I watched him be a goofball, making other children laugh and talk with him. I smiled, making sure he knew I was right there if he needed me. As I looked around, I noticed most of the girls were staring, talking about me. "Did I do something wrong? Break a rule?" I asked, wondering why my name was coming out of their mouths.

As Ms. Selma left the room, they came in closer next to me. "Do you even know where you're at?" One of the girls said, watching the door. "Little Whispers, just like you." The group of girls shake their heads, "you really don't know, do you?" The girl said in a nervous tone.

"Have you heard of Penny's Precious Home For Orphans?" I nodded my head, remembering the horrific events that happened. "Penny lured and drowned the children in the community bath, then tucked them in as if they were still alive. I could never get that case out of my head, and now it's etched into my brain again." My stomach felt sick, lunch was no longer on my mind.

"Ms. Selma is Penny. After she murdered the children at the orphanage, Penny vanished. Did you notice how similar they look?" I nodded my head, noticing the resemblance. "When it's nature hour, we'll talk about it some more." Silence fills the room as the doors pop open, Ms. Selma smiles while holding two pieces of white paper in the air. "Adoption ballets are in... two lucky children have been selected to be adopted."

"Our lucky children are Isaac Billings and Mary Edwards. Tonight, they will leave to go home with their new loving families." Sobbing from a little girl in the corner, I knew it had to be Mary. I could see the fear in her eyes, Ms. Selma just kept smiling. "This is a good thing, Mary. Someone wants to love and protect you for the rest of your life." There was something going on that I didn't know about, but I felt like I needed to.

"Clean up and head out to the courtyard for a while, I need some time to think." Once all trays were cleaned and the tables were wiped down, everyone ran outside. "Follow me," a girl says, pulling me under the jungle gym. "I could use your help with a project I'm working on, but I need to know you won't say anything to Ms. Selma."

From what I could tell, Ms. Selma wasn't a good person. If she was Penny, and if Olivia wanted to stop her,  I would help immediately, no questions asked. "What is the project you're working on?" I asked, wondering about the possible future ahead of me.

 "I've been working on a way to free everyone in the orphanage, but I can't do it alone." She starts to explain, I nodded my head. "What can I do to help?"