Oreo

Four: The Old Lady

The next morning we made sure the kids had plenty of food on them, and since I'd heard about the Amberton Bombings, I warned them. ‘One last thing; you’ve got to run now. Run as far away as possible, then keep running, because Amberton gets bombed today. When the bombing stops, if you can, return to your underground home, because they won’t expect any survivors here.’

‘But vhat about you? How vill you get home?’ asked Axel, holding his older sister’s shaking hand.

‘We’ll be fine, don’t worry. We’ll figure out a way.’ Reo answered. I bent down and kissed the baby’s forehead, then told them all, ‘I’ll be praying for you.’

Rosalie’s worried expression turned to a sad smile. ‘Zank you.’

And with that we left.

Reo and I ran right through the village before the sun had risen and reached the old manor. ‘The only way we’re gonna get home is by sorting out this ghost thing.’ I decided.

‘We’ll have to be fast.’ Reo added. The door swung open to admit us and we hurried in, going straight in the direction of the ghost room.

‘Ghost, we need to talk to you!’ yelled Reo at the empty bedroom. Her spine-tingling scream rang in my ears but we could not see a glimmer in the air that might show us where she was.

‘Show yourself!’ I barked. There was a screech in reply but she still hadn’t appeared. Then, without warning, the bed picked itself up and flew across the room with such force it smashed a part of the wall. ‘She’s a Poltergiest – a spirit that can interact with human objects!’ I realised. The dusty dresser hurled itself toward us.

‘RUN!’ Reo yelled, shoving me out the doorway so that I narrowly avoided the dresser’s foot.

‘Are you OK?’ I asked as we bounded down the stairs, pursued by shards of furniture.

‘I’m fine!’ he said, sprinting beside me. Once we escaped the house, we kept on running, all the way out of Amberton until we were safely away from malevolent ghosts and the danger of bombs. Amberton was just a smudge in the distance and we crossed a long field to another village. A sign we soon discovered explained that this town was known as Regsville. Hoping to find some idea of how to return home (though we knew the chances were very slim) Reo and I searched the town to no avail. It was a pretty place with a town hall, a cafe and a small grocery store, but no portal home.

So we walked out of the village and turned right, into a lush forest so that if the soldiers came they would not see us but we stayed around the edge so that we could keep a firm eye on Amberton. Quick as a flash, the pretty thatched homes and all their people had been evaporated, their innocent souls lost to the war like so many others would be. I clapped my hands together and held them to my heart as I whispered a prayer for all the old inhabitants of my town.

‘Do you think they made it? Axel, Rosalie and Kai?’ Reo whispered. If cat-humans could cry then he sounded on the verge of tears.

‘Come on.’ I said, ignoring the question and grabbing his arm. ‘Let’s keep going.’

We were deep, deep into the forest when a quake of the ground and a deafening roar warned us that Regsville had been disposed of, as easy as that. This terrifying realisation spurred us on and soon we were leaping through the trees together, like predators chasing prey; but really, we were the prey.  You see documentaries, and you read about it in History, and you’d rather be asleep than listening to your teacher drone on about World War 2, but once you’re there, the ice that eats up your hope, the unrelenting thud of your heart in your throat as you believe that every breath will be your last, is just inexplicably awful.