Budding Hope

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Jasmine

I wake, stiff and sore from the uncomfortable sleep. Eliena’s eyes are still closed. She leans against me, her legs curled up on the seat. She shifts and wakes as she too notices the car slowing and turning down a winding, overgrown dirt driveway. Eliena sits up beside me and looks out the window with interest. The driveway is surrounded by rough forest land. Long tuffs of grass grow in the middle of the dirt track, bending down as the car passes over them. I wind down the window, smelling the damp earth and evergreen leaves. The scent of summer fills the air. After five minutes the car enters a grassy clearing. At its centre stands one of the oldest houses I’ve ever seen. The clapboard walls are filled with holes and many pieces of broken plaster scatter the ground. It looks haunted.

“Home sweet home,” I hear Logan say longingly.  

I peer at the house, wondering how anyone could show such affection for a dump like this.

“Where are we?” I ask as Sam drives the car around behind the house and into a large old steel shed filled with bales of mouldy hay.

“About 3 hours south-west of St Louis, Missouri,” Sam replies, straightening the wheels of the car and parking parallel to the shed wall.

Rust covers the steel walls and roof of the shed with a thin layer of gravel spread roughly over the floor. The car shudders to a stop as Sam pulls out the key and pockets them into his dark brown jacket. Everyone climbs out slowly, stiff and tired from the long car ride. I place a foot on the ground, steadying myself against the door. My head swims as I place my other foot onto the floor. I wait for my vision to steady before taking my first step. I fall. My legs crumble beneath me, sending me crashing to the ground face first.

Sam gives a small cry and climbs out of the front seat hastily, “Jasmine!”

He reaches out, trying to cushion my fall but by the time he reaches me I am already sprawled out on the ground with a mouth full of damp gravel. I spit out a glob of dirt and turn myself over onto my back. I look up at him with a wry smile and his shocked face softens.

“Ow?” I say sarcastically.

He shakes his head and leans down to help me up. When he pulls me to a stand I sway uncertainly. He wraps his arm around my waist, walks me around the car and out of the shed, towards the others. Logan stands in the long grass looking at the house with yearning. In his hands he carries several bags of food; eggs, milk, fruit and veg along with several other groceries.

Sam sees me looking at the bags, “I picked up some food on the way here, there won’t be much fresh stuff inside but the freezer is packed.” He says.

I nod and we walk through the waist high grass towards the front of the house. The yard is filled with rocks and dirt clumps and I curse every single one of them as they sending me stumbling, over and over. When we reach the stairs that lead to the veranda I look up in dismay. My legs feel like jelly. Sam sees my distress and lifts me into the air almost without effort. When he finishes climbing the stairs he places me back down. The old wood creaks under our feet but holds steady. He pulls a small ring of keys from the leather string hidden around his neck and pushes one into the door’s lock. He turns it and the wooden door swings outward with a loud creak. Inside everything is bare. There are no chairs, no tables, no benches and no beds. No nothing. Sam and I enter quietly, moving out of the way so that Logan, Eliena and Yvern can come inside also. Eliena and I share looks of uncertainty at the state of the house when I slip on a discarded beer bottle and punch a hole through one of the painted chipboard walls. Logan walks ahead confidently though, leading us further into the old house. He opens a door at the far side of the room and walks inside, his quick steps expressing his excitement. My eyes open in shock when I see what is on the other side of the doorway. It’s an elevator. I look around at the rotting wood of the house then back again at the elevator not able to believe my eyes. The elevator is very simple, with plain silver walls and roof. On the left wall are five silver buttons each labelled with a number. Next to it is a key. A page of small words, written in neat black handwriting, mark what is in each room. G - Ground, 1 - Garage, 2 - Living/Kitchen/Computer, 3 - Bedrooms and 4 - Training