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My name is Nicole Smith. Yeah, I know, Smith is a common last name. Everyone says that.
I walked down the Main Hall of Boarding School of Springstown. The slogan was "The perfect place for an education and a beautiful campus." What a lie. Truthfully, it's the dreariest place in the world; at least for me. The ugly orange paint on the walls looks some kind of cottage cheese. Somehow, most of the other kids who go here are the peppiest people ever! I heard a burst of laughter from some cheerleaders on the soccer field. How did they stay so happy all the time? They wore a hideous hot pink and gold cheering uniform that read, "GO, SPRINGSTOWN!" There wasn't even a real sports team.
"Something really isn't right here..." I grumbled to myself as if I had just noticed. I walked up the stairs that lead to the girls' dorm. I carefully removed the key to my dorm room (255) from my pocket. Being the only girl in the school that doesn't have to share my room with other girls must be the only upside to this school, besides the fact that it keeps me away from Labo. He's my uncle, but in my memory I've only been in the same room as him twice in my life. Why? Well, my mom hated him. Apparently they got in some huge fight before I was born. Know something else? He was driving the car that caused the crash that took the lives of my family. It just so happens that he is now the closest family I have.
Most people say the last day of school is the best. Freedom, hooray! But I, on the other hand, am devastated. I'm going to have to be with Labo again! Uncle Labo has a dingy little house in a ratty part of town. My first impression of it was that it was a mess. Dirty clothes were strewn about, papers and broken colored pencils littered the floor, and—I froze—what looked an awful lot like blood was smeared across the kitchen counter. I heard my uncle mutter something beside me, something like “Not again…”
“I thought you lived alone?” I said, one of the first things I ever said to him.
“Eh? Oh, I do. Er… I have a cat. Must’ve been the cat.”
But I never got a chance to look for said cat, because within the hour he had packed me into a taxi and sent me off to a boarding school, where I would stay indefinitely. He even paid extra so that I could stay at school over summer break. I’m still not too sure which place I would have preferred.
I have three days left before I'm out of here for good. Just three lousy days! Normally I would choose any place rather than here, but now I just want to stay! I collapsed on my bed. The whole room was blue, as if the ocean had thrown up all over it. Blue carpeting, blue walls, even a blue ceiling fan! It's not all that bad, but it could have been better. I got out of bed and threw my bag in the corner. Sometimes all you need is a relaxing shower to clear away your thoughts.
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I was eleven years old. I heard the sound of my mom arguing with someone in the living room. Cautiously, I looked around the corner. I could see a mysterious figure glaring at my mom, gesturing towards her stomach and saying things like, "You know what needs to be done... It's for the best!"
"Get out of here, Labo! I don't ever want to see you again." My mom screamed, something I had never heard her do before. I cowered behind the wall as the man yanked open the front door and strode out into the night. Tears were running down my mom's face, and I ran to comfort her.
"Mommy? Who was that?" I whispered. She seemed shocked to see me there, but she answered my question.
"It was my brother... But he's gone now. It's okay, sweetie."
The dream changed.
Labo was chasing me down an interminable dark alley. It stretched out in front of me, monsters lurking in every shadow. People I knew flickered through my mind, watching me... Gawking at me... Labo was gaining on me. I saw his sharp nose towering over his evil sneer as he laughed a menacing laugh. It seemed to echo for hours. He was getting closer and closer... And there, up ahead of me, I saw a wall. A dead end. I desperately looked for a way out; a hidden passageway I could slip into. But there was nothing. I tried to climb the wall but it just tore at my delicate hands. Blood dripped from them as I turned around and faced his gleaming silver eyes. He opened his curvy mouth to talk.
"...beep... Beep... BEep... BEEp... BEEP! BEEEP!" I abruptly sat up in bed and my hand slammed down on the off button. A sharp pain flashed up my arm. I winced and looked at my hand. There was a small cut on my palm. Tt was the exact spot I cut my hand a few minutes ago in my dream! I wanted to take a minute to think about the weird dreams I had, but they were already slipping away. I had no choice but to get out of bed and get ready for class. I went through my humdrum daily routine without another thought. Before I knew it, I was at the door to my English class.
I pushed open the door and I was surprised to see everyone already seated in the class, ten minutes early. I took my usual seat all the way at the back of the same old classroom, right next to the window. Mr.Shepard was probably the coolest teacher in my school, since he was the only one who didn't wear bright shades of pink on a daily basis. That might be because he's the only teacher that's a man. He had on a pair of black jeans and a crisp white polo with one of those tiny shirt pockets with a couple of pens sticking out of it.
Something about this school that bugs me are the simple things that they teach. The other kids never seem to know the answers, but I've had these things memorized for years. He asked a few simple questions that nobody could answer, while I gazed out the window. Why should I bother?
"Who can tell me what a Conjunction does?"
He pointed at a girl with her hair in French braids.
"Um... Describes a noun?" She said hesitantly. Mr.Shepard shook his head.
"That's an Adjective. A Conjunction connects words, phrases, and clauses."
He turned around and started writing practice sentences on the old chalkboard. I covered my ears as it let out a long annoying squeak. I never needed to do any of the practice work, and why should I? I'm seventeen, not seven. I spent the rest of the class staring out the window at the empty soccer field.
Thankfully, Mr.Shepard didn't call me out for not doing any work. It would'nt have been any trouble to answer any of his questions, but I just didn't feel like it. I was about to duck out of the classroom to relieve my boredom, but just as I stood up I heard an amazing noise.
BRRING! All of my boredom is over! At least for now.
"Class dismissed." Said Mr.Shepard. Before he was done talking, I was gone. Soon, I reached my favorite picnic bench in a secluded corner of the campus. It's under a bunch of leafy trees so it's always shady and it feels like a tiny forest. I didn't have to got to my next class for another half hour.
Digging around in my bag, I found my drawing notebook. Its edges were slightly faded from use. It was only about half the size of a normal notebook, but it had twice as many pages. I'd had this book since I was ten, so a lot of the pages were filled by careless doodles and meaningful drawings along with hate poems and teardrops. I pulled out my pencil, opened the book to a random blank page, and started drawing the evil eyes that haunted my dreams last night.
Labo's evil eyes.
I shuddered at the thought of them, glinting maliciously in the dark alley.
I closed my eyes, thinking of every detail in the eyes. I felt my pencil drawing exactly what I was thinking but I didn't dare to double check. When I'm doing quick sketches based on memories, I keep my eyes closed so I can think clearly about what I'm drawing. If my eyes were open I'd be erasing like crazy.
BRRING!!
I snapped open my eyes and looked down at what I'd drawn. It looked exactly how I'd remembered, if not more intense. More... evil. I carefully scrawled the date under the picture, shut the book, put it back in my bag, and hurried off, late, to my next class. Science.
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"Good afternoon, class." Said Mrs.Trumble. She had beady eyes, a pointy nose, and I had never in my life seen her without a bun in her hair. She was wearing a long dark green dress and black boots, her usual attire. I swear she had the same exact dress in every single color.
"Today we will each come up in turn and say one thing about a particular animal. Are there any volunteers to go first?"
Every single hand went up in the class, except mine, of course. Mrs.Trumble looked around the room and spotted me.
"Why don't you come up first, Nicole?" She said. Everyone else sighed.
Oh, what the heck? I might as well get it over with so I can zone out for the rest of the class... I walked to the front of the class and spun around to find all the other kids looking at me expectantly. None of them looked away or even blinked. I almost forgot why I was standing there.
"My animal is the Arctic Wolf, and they have two thick layers of fur to keep them warm." I said simply in one sentence. I almost had a heart attack when the class stood up and started cheering. THEY GAVE ME A STANDING OVATION FOR ONE SENTENCE. I abruptly sat back in my seat and a few unknown people patted me on the back.
"Excellent. Now, will you come up Nigel?" Mrs.Trumble said, pointing at a boy with short brown hair. By the time he walked up to the front of the class, which wasn't really that long of a walk, I was already in another world completely. There was applause. He sat. A girl with brown hair stood. Her mouth moved. I heard no sound. More applause. In her eyes I saw Labo's. The evil glinting eyes I'd earlier drawn. I was frozen in panic. I blinked and her eyes melted back to their light green color. I imagined it all. But as she walked past me to her seat, I couldn't help but feel intimidated.
For the rest of the presentations I was careful to only look at people's feet.
One of my best abilities, besides drawing, is to be able to pay attention to nothing and make time go by super fast. It's so useful. I can be entertained by a small flaw on the white wall, or even a piece of lint moving swiftly across the floor. It's awesome. That's why when the bell went off it seemed like only a few seconds had passed since the girl with the brown hair looked at me with Labo's eyes.
BRRING!
This time I slowly walked towards the door, being careful to let Labo-eyed-girl out before me. She turned left so I turned right and took the long route to the cafeteria for lunch. A few people walked briskly ahead of me, and I couldn't help wonder why they didn't take the short way to the cafeteria if they were in such a hurry. This school makes no sense at all. I sighed. Why can't my life ever be normal?
I walked into the cafeteria and stood in line. I grabbed a tray and started down the line. I looked at all the meat and grimaced. How can people eat meat? Don't they know what animals are put through before they're turned into food? I am a proud vegetarian. I put a platter of fruit on my tray, along with some salad and green beans.
I scanned the room and easily found an empty table. I walked over to it, put my stuff down and sat. At this school, you couldn't distinguish groups like the jocks, nerds, preps, or anything like that. It was all so peaceful yet so chaotic.
I finished up my lunch in a matter of minutes, avoiding people who tried to make small talk. This was the same old routine. Every day I would duck out early and take a walk by the lake. It wasn't very big, but it was still calming. Tiny moss covered pebbles surrounded it, completing the serene image. The lake's surface was always so peaceful, but not the way the lunchroom was peaceful. This was actual peace. I lay down at the lake's edge and closed my eyes.
It was at that moment when I started feeling sick. My stomach felt like it was being hit by a hammer. I clutched my stomach and I dashed towards my History class. I bashed into the door, surprising Mrs.Clavo, who was probably grading papers. She looked over her glasses at me curiously.
"Nicole? Are you alright?" She said, a bit of alarm in her voice. I shook my head, exasperated. I clutched my stomach. Weirdly, I had felt perfectly fine just minutes ago.
"Well, I'll excuse you from the rest of your classes today. Go immediately back to your dorm and get some rest. I hope you feel better!" She said. "Oh, and feel free to stay in tomorrow if you don't feel up to your classes. I groaned in pain and dashed back to my room, where I quickly changed out of my uncomfortable uniform and collapsed in bed. I didn't wake up again that day.
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I was dreaming again. This time I was walking down a pebbly beach. I heard footsteps thundering behind me. I turned to see Labo's menacing eyes. I started walking faster but he kept up with me, just a few steps away. Now I was running. Ahead of me I noticed the beach turn into a cliff. I teetered at the edge. I spun around to see Labo an inch away.
"Goodbye, Nicole." He said. He pushed me off the cliff. I plummeted through the air, screaming my head off.
"...beep... Beep... BEep... BEEp... BEEP! BEEEP!" I carefully pressed the off button this time and climbed out of bed. Although I was feeling better, I was reluctant to go to my classes. Remembering what Mrs. Clavo told me, I stayed in my pajamas and poured some cereal into a bowl for breakfast.
Then a thought struck me: today is my last day here! I quickly opened my little blue drawing book and sketched a quick list, which I often did to keep track of everything going on. Usually, I wrote pros and cons of skipping my insanely easy classes. This morning, though, I made a list of pros and cons of graduating.
PROS
I'm leaving this horrid place!
Everyone here is way too happy 24/7
No more schoolwork :)
CONS
I'm going to be with Uncle Labo.
Uncle Labo is insanely evil!
No more schoolwork :( (Jk!)
Lying in bed, I mindlessly doodled in my blue book. After a while, I got so bored I decided to go to math class. It would be the last class before the end of the day and the end of my high school education. Even though I was late, I walked slowly to class. I was the last one into the room, but Mrs. Bow didn't seem to care. She was about 4 ½ feet tall and she wore a day dress that was a bright shade of yellow.
"Hello, Nicole! I was told you weren't well, I'm glad you're okay!" She said with a toothy smile.
I walked to my seat and saw a dozen smiling faces pass me. What kind of people are happy to be in math class? I guess I was one to think that, seeing as I ditched a perfectly good excuse to not go to class. I took my seat and the lesson Mrs. Bow was teaching turned into a drone.
Later, I would be leaving this school, but I would be going with Labo. There had to be somewhere I could go instead of going with him! I could duck out before school ended and run. Run where? Labo's the only family I've got.
Anyways, I would get lost out there. I wish I had a cell phone. I asked Labo for one. He said, "What use would a 17-year-old have for a phone?" I should have said, "So I can get away from you, psycho!" But, no. Instead I mumbled, "To talk to friends..." Uncle Labo got all crazy on me and started saying things like 'Kids these days!' and 'What has the world come to?' But, anyway, who could I call? The police? I can imagine that now.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"School ends today!"
"Okay, is there an emergency?"
"Yes! I have to go live with my crazy uncle!"
"Please do not call 911 unless it's an emergency. People with real emergencies are calling and you are holding up the line."
"No, wait! I-" CLICK.
That would end extremely well! Not...
BRRING!
That was not an idea, sadly.
"School is dismissed!" Exclaimed cheery Mrs. Bow. "Goodbye kids!"
The trip to my room to pack up my belongings seemed to go by way too quickly. Much too soon, I was ready to leave. I dragged my feet as I walked to the front of the school. Girls wearing pink blouses hugged eachother cheerfully, making plans to see eachother over the summer. Guys wearing black jeans and shirts with popped collars high-fived. Everyone was happy, except for me.
'Lighten up,' a voice in my head told me.
'Shut up,' I told it back.
Then I spotted Uncle Labo. I saw the same pointy nose and curved sneer that had haunted my sleep for the past two nights. His favorite color must have been black; his clothes and shoes were black, matching his jet-black hair. He even had a black sports car, freshly waxed. It's one of those super expensive ones. You would think he could afford to buy a huge mansion or some deodorant! But I guess not, because he has his messy little house and he always smells like onions.
Yuck.
He spotted me and smiled in what I thought was a sinister way. I grumbled under my breath as I walked towards him. Everyone gawked at me as I ducked into his passenger seat and fastened my seat belt.
'Great.' I thought.
Uncle Labo cleared his throat. I looked up at his heavily tinted sunglasses.
"What is your name, young lady?" He demanded, pushing down the rim of his sunglasses and revealing dazzling silver eyes.
I blinked up at him, confused.
"I'm Nicole, don't you remember? Your neice..." I said. How could he even be related to my mother? She had auburn hair and eyes to match. She was everything he wasn't...
He slightly nodded his head.
"Well, Nicole, I am Labo."
I nodded. I guess he thought we needed to be reintroduced after almost six years without contact. But seriously... what kind of name is Labo in the first place?
"We will be spending the summer in a summer facility in which I work." Labo said.
Why is he talking like that? And what in the world is a summer facility? Does he mean a camp?
"You may think it fun." He said when I didn't respond.
'Great.' I thought to myself for the second time today. When I again did not respond, he grunted and we pulled out of the parking lot. For a few minutes I sat there, listening to some weird music on the radio and dreading the unknown ahead of me. Pretty soon, I'd fallen into a coma-like sleep on the black leather passenger seat in Uncle Labo's car.
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I slowly opened my eyes to see I was in a wooden cabin. Uncle Labo must have carried me into here. I lifted my head and looked around. Labo was nowhere to be seen.
'Maybe he went to get me food.' I thought hungrily. Nope. I saw a bowl of untouched oatmeal on the dresser next to me. A copper spoon lay next to it. My stomach growled. I eagerly got out of bed and picked up the bowl. It was slightly warm cinnamon oatmeal.
'Yuck. Cinnamon.' I thought.
'Ah, well. At least it's food.'
I gobbled it up hungrily. Geeze, how long has it been since I've eaten? Stomach full, I took in my surroundings. There was one small window with long black curtains draped over it. Two old lamps were standing on separate sides of the rooms. The door was brown and had a gold doorknob that looked like it needed to be polished. I dashed to the door and after a few failed attempts of trying to open it, I decided it was locked from the outside. Weird. I turned around and noticed another, smaller, door with a brass handle. I pushed it and the door slid open, revealing an old fashioned toilet, a locker-room shower, and a marble sink. There was a gigantic mirror hanging above it. The black tiled floor was cold under my bare feet.
A lamp was placed on top of a dresser in the corner of the room. I turned on the lamp and light flooded the room. My hand reached out automatically and I pulled open the door of the dresser. Inside it was a folded towel rack, 20 white towels, scented shampoo, conditioner, soap, and some clothes and shoes that were my size. I thought it was weird for a second, but then I remembered who took me here.
I grabbed a fresh pair of shoes, a towel, a change of clothes, and the soaps and shampoos. The towel rack easily stood next to the shower, so I hung up the towel I got out. Eagerly, I turned on the shower water for a minute and warm water squirted out evenly. Carefully closing and locking the door behind me, I took a nice long shower, washing every inch of my body until I was squeaky clean and comfy.
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I stepped out of the warm water and onto a fresh white towel. The mirror hanging on the wall was fogged up to the point where I couldn't see my own reflection. I felt like a ninja. I put on the clothes I set out earlier and hung out. For a few minutes, I stalked around the bathroom, admiring a chance to feel epic. The mirror defogged and the fun was over. Sighing, I hung up my towel to dry and walked back out to Cabin 5. Light flooded into the room and I noticed a couch and old phone in a dark corner of the room that was pitch black earlier. I walked up to it and picked up the phone. A dial tone rang in my ear. The thought struck me that I had nobody to call. I slammed it back down, unsatisfied. Humph.
My jaws parted in a huge yawn and I felt my eyelids drooping. How can I be tired when the sun just rose and I woke up only 2 hours ago? I shook my head, trying to get rid of the sleepy feeling, but I sent myself staggering across the room. Giving into my weariness, I collapsed on my bed and fell instantly to sleep.
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I woke up to see light streaming in the windows, the black curtains fluttering in the slight breeze. Either I slept for 24 hours, or 5 minutes, because it looks around the same time. The sun wasn't too high in the sky, and the temperature was in the low 70s. I felt content just lying there. Ten minutes had passed when I began to feel restless. So, I got up and stretched. Boredom overcame me and I danced around the room singing random songs by Alan Jackson and Toby Keith. I collapsed in a heap on the floor, my chest heaving. I made a remix to Fireflies and two remixes to You Belong With Me.
I stopped moving altogether when I heard footsteps coming. Not the footsteps of my uncles (sloop, slop, sloop, slop.) but of someone else, someone younger and with newer shoes, if any. As they came closer, I swayed to the rhythm (pitter, patter, pitter, patter).
I almost choked when the footsteps stopped abruptly. There was a sharp rap on the door, but I was glued to the spot in panic. Crouched on the floor, I crawled to my bed. I halted when I heard two female voices from outside my door.
"Are you sure there's a human in there, Esther?" Said the first voice.
"Positive!" Said the second. That one must be Esther.
"Then why isn't she opening the door?"
"Maybe she's scared."
"Why can't I smell her?"
"Remember last year, when I smelled the humans hiking up?
"Yeah..."
"Then I told the council and they didn't believe me 'cause they couldn't smell it?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, they told me I have a gift of super powered smelling senses. So believe me when I tell you there's a human girl inside Cabin 5."
"Ugh. I'm a failure. That's it. I couldn't smell a human if she stood in front of me."
"Now hush, Daysi. Go into the cabin. Come on."
'What do they mean by that...' I wondered.
All of the sudden, two girls appeared in my room. They both had jet-black hair and I could have sworn they were twins, because their features matched indefinitely. One of the only ways I could tell them apart was the fact that one of them had a black tattoo of 3 stars in a triangle next to her right eye. The strangest thing was that their eyes were silver. I could have imagined the whole thing...
"There she is! Now I smell her."
"Yeah. Hi, welcome to camp Fanglore. Why are you here if you're a human?"
I couldn't stop myself. I let out a bloodcurdling scream.
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