Corneliuville

Corneliuville Lane

Shade wakes up on top of a made up of bed, in a dark room lit up only by the moonlight and alone. He raises up in a panic and looks around. He can see that the room is mainly empty except for one standing lamp and a dresser. He finally looks down at himself, only to find that he has been dressed in the same white uniforms that he had mocked earlier when he arrived.

    "Aw, man," Shade groan feeling the cloths that are on him and feeling the violation, knowing that someone, maybe the two guards from earlier, had to undress and dress him. Shade stands up and finds a mirror on the wall above the dresser. Even as dark as the room was he can tell his button shirt was not buttoned and he wears a white tee under it, He walks over to his bedroom door and opens it. "Hello?" Shade calls out through the hallway and his voice almost echoes through house, as if it were empty. He slowly talks a few steps out in the hall, seeing two other bedroom doors, both open and both completely empty. He continues his slow pace as he walks down the stairs that lead to the main part of the house. His black dress shoes clack against the homes faux hardwood floors. The living room has the bare essentials of a living room, a sofa, matching chair, coffee table and two small corner tables, each with small lamps on them. He next walks through a dining room with a large, round, wood dining table and six chairs surrounding it. A small light fixtures hangs above it, but Shade does not bother to turn on the lights. He finally comes to the kitchen, which is almost just as bare as the rest of the house. A door that leads to the garage sits on the side wall and the window in it is black with darkness. The kitchen has been equipped with all stainless steel appliances, a fridge, stove, pots and pans and a mixing bowl. Shade is drawn to the door on the back wall, that leads outside.

Shade opens the door, to reveal a screen door, but also reveals the night outside. It also reveals a fog that has rolled into the community known as Corneliuville. Shade stands in front of his door for a moment. As dark as it is, he can't see too much and the fog isn't helping either. He pushes the door open and steps outside. Once outside, Shade takes a long deep breath, inhailing the air.

"Smells like fresh air," he says to himself, "now where the hell did they take me?" As Shade steps into the neighborhood road, he can sees all other houses on his street are dark, like his. He looks up and sitting on the highest hill that he can see within Corneliuville, is a mansion, every window showing light.

From within the mansion, Toban sits in Danon's office, as Danson watches a monitor on his desk."Father, he is out," Toban calls out, wa

tching Shade on a tablet.

"He is curious," Danson says, his eyes glued to his monitor, "deliver his welcoming package."

"Yes, father," Toban presses his tablet screen, then brings up the screen that shows Shade walking up the street, in the fog.

    "Welcome to Stepford," Shade comments as he notices every house on both sides of the street are exactly the same. He suddenly sees the headlights from a car in the distant and can hear it as it approaches. Shade ducks off behind a nearby bush to let the car pass him. As it drives by, a spotlight rotates in circles on top of the car. Shade ducks just in time as the light strikes the bush he is hiding in. He raises up after it has passed. He watches as the car pulls into one of the driveways, a driveway that is on the same side of the street that he lives on. As Shade stands erect, worry overtakes him, for he realizes the car pulled into the driveway of the home that he awoke in.

    "Bed check," Shade says aloud, in a whisper, "and I'm not there." He takes off running back down the street from which he had walked.

In the mansion, Danson and Toban continue to watch screen, Toban from his tablet and Danson from his larger monitor. They watch as Shade has cut into the neighboring wall and appears at the side of his home.