Carly
XIX
Complete and utter darkness. No light. No hope. No life.
Nothing.
Nothing but the empty desolate place, that the Dark One called home.
I shuddered. I didn’t even know who he was yet he still sent shivers of fear up my spine.
I had never met someone so devoid of light and warmth. He was the complete opposite of Harrison. He was colder than ice and darker than a shadow.
Obviously I didn’t see him. But I felt him. I felt his evil. I felt his soul.
So the reasons he would have to save me, well, I had no clue. I was waiting for Harrison’s call. Maybe he had discovered something. I hope so.
I hated doing this kind of work on my own. So I was kinda relying on Harrison’s detective skills. So not that much. But in fifth grade he found out who stole my lunch.
Though I don’t give him a whole load of credit for that, as he just went to the grade bully and saw her eating my cookie.
So it wasn’t exactly a Sherlock Holmes kind of mission.
But other than Darryl, he was the best I got. I didn’t want Darryl or Jake to be involved, because that would lead to more mess.
And with the final report card coming up Jake has enough work to catch up on. And the whole thing with Darryl and his mum, well that can’t be easy.
I felt another unexpected pang of sadness for Darryl. And with my sadness also came my hunger.
I went downstairs to look for a snack.
Hilde was sitting in the living room watching another modeling show.
But what interested me the most was her bowl of marshmallows and broken pieces of chocolate. A weird, yet delicious meal. And more importantly, just what I was looking for.
“Hey Hilde!” I said, while eyeing the bowl of chocolate and marshmallows. “What do you have there?”
“No, Anne!” She said, without looking up. “This is mine! Go get your own!”
“Urgh!” I groaned. I leaped on the sofa and snatched the bowl away from her. “Haha!”
Hilde snatched the other side of the bowl and tugged at it. Hard.
Soon the bowl was snatched away from me. I sat on the floor, in extreme sadness.
“Now go get your own snack!”
“Fine!” I said, realizing my defeat. It was such a shame, as it looked so good.
Sighing, I made my way into the kitchen. On the table lay an empty bag of marshmallows. Next to it laid seven empty chocolate wrappers. And next to that lay a note.
It read:
Next time go get your own snack! And you should be thanking me! I made you healthy! Go eat a banana or something! Hahahahaha!
-Lots of love,
Hilde
Urgh!!! “HILDE!!!!” I screamed. Sometimes I wanted to choke that girl!
“What’s up, Carly?” She said, a voice implying zero guilt or deception.
“I’m gonna KILL you!” I said, racing to the living room.
“You do that!”
“Gladly!” I heard the sound of giggling and the slamming of a door.
Just great! She probably ran outside in fits of laughter. Well I got a surprise up my sleeve!
I snuck out through the back door, and raced to Hilde’s best friend, Mary Ann.
I rang the doorbell, while simultaneously hopping from one foot to the other.
Mary Ann opened the door. Her fuzzy black hair was all pinned up in a bun that complemented her hazelnut brown skin, which was darker than Harrison’s, but lighter than Darryl’s.
She studied me with ice blue eyes. “Hey Carly.”
“Hey Mary Ann!” I said. “Is Hilde here?”
“Um..no.” She said, still looking at me funny. “Why’d you ask?”
“No reason.”
“Isn’t she at your house?”
“No, I can’t find her!”
“Hang on, let me call her,” She whipped out her blackberry, pressed a couple buttons, and placed the phone on her ear. “Hello?...Hey Hilde!...Where are you?...At your house?...Okay...Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either!...He did not!...Seriously?...No way!...OH MY GOSH!...Oh no he-”
I had been bouncing up and down, but when Mary Ann mentioned that Hilde was at the house I froze. Literally. Oh no she didn’t!
I didn’t stay to hear the end of the conversation.
Instead I raced to the house. I rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for someone to answer.
Eirik opened the door. “Ah!” he said. “Salve Carly!”
I muttered a hello back.
I raced to the living room.
Hilde looked at me and said, “Bye Mary Ann! Gotta go.” She cut the call. “Hi Carly! Did you enjoy your daily exercise?”
“As a matter of fact, I did not!”
Hilde smiled devilishly at me. “What a shame!” She exclaimed in mock horror.
“Hilde.” I growled warningly at her. “I’ll give you to the count of three. Ette..To...Tre.”
I opened my eyes. Hilde had vanished, in her place lay a note.
I opened it. It was a smiley face. Urgh!!! Sometimes! That girl can be absolutely impossible to manage! A smiley face, how could she?
“HILDE!!!” I screamed, sounding very much like a guy from a movie about chipmunks. I didn’t care. “I”M GONNA KILL YOU!”
Darryl
XX
“...Well Darryl, your recent tests and quizzes lead us to believe two things,” said Mrs. Kaminski, “The first is that you cheated, I know! Quite astonishing and you’re all ready in Honor’s Class, so there is no need for you to cheat. Or someone to cheat from!”
I nodded trying to look as if I cared.
“The next thing is that you have been hiding your true genius! You might skip ninth grade!”
Now she got my full attention. “I’m sorry Mrs. Kaminski, but did you just say that I might have to skip ninth grade!”
“I did.” Mrs. Kaminski beamed at me, as if it were the greatest thing in the world. A few months before it would be. But now I have friends and powers! My life couldn’t get any better! mum’s in jail! I no longer live in fear of going to a children’s home. FTK was the best place on Earth! I had friends! Well a friend. But Sanjit was the best friend I ever had! Sure there was Carly, Harrison and Jake. But they accepted me as a person not a friend, and besides they had their own drama without having to worry about me.
“But...Mrs. Kaminski, what about my friends?” I asked.
Mrs. Kaminski looked surprised. “Uhh...well you can still see them after school and during lunch, can’t you Darryl?”
“I...I guess so,” I told her, still not completely sure. “Can I see my grades?”
“Why of course!” Mrs. Kaminski guided me to the secretary’s desk. She clicked a few buttons, typed a few keys and then showed me my grades. My eyes skimmed down the screen. She was right. My grades were perfect. And since we’re now doing gymnastics in P.E….Well, I didn’t have much trouble in that.
“Um...Thanks for showing me, Mrs. Kaminski.” I said.
“You’re very welcome, Darryl.” She replied with a huge smile.
I exited the room as fast as I could without running. I don’t know why but tears flooded my eyes. My vision became blurry, but I didn’t stop until I got to a tree in the woods. I raised an arm and missed. I blinked furiously, trying to clear the tears from my eyes. The second time my arm hooked around the tree twice and stayed. I shortened my arm and reeled myself in.
Once I reached the top I let my emotions come forth. I didn’t cry loudly, instead I silently wept, tears streaming down my face and my shoulders shaking a bit. I cried for a good six minutes and nineteen seconds.
When I was certain my little -well, kinda big- episode was over I slowly walked back to my old apartment, shaking my head the whole way, as if to clear it of tears.
Yellow police tape went around the whole building. The residents currently staying at a four star hotel. Police swarmed the b
uilding like bees. They were side-by-side with Private Investigators. In fact I think I saw an FBI guy, but with the number of security officials I couldn’t be sure.
I sneaked around the building trying to look for a way in. It wasn’t easy. But I finally noticed the giant noble fir. It’s branches were an inch away from my old room. And from the looks of it they hadn’t bothered to search my room. I silently thanked God for the building directors decision to not cut down the great tree.
I placed a foot on a branch, crouched down and used the branch to propel me up a couple of feet. I repeated this technique over and over until I got to the top.
Luckily my window was still about an inch open. I took a couple of junk metal, screws and wires, and started making a robot spring. When I finished a few seconds later, I stretched a hand to place it under the window. It was a tight fit but it worked. After that I let the robot do the work.
It slowly uncoiled itself and it’s arms and pushed up. Slowly the window creaked open. It creaked loudly.
“Did you hear that?” I heard a deep voice say.
“Hear what, Jay?” asked a woman.
“I could’ve sworn I heard something coming from the kids room!”
“Well get off your lazy behind and go check it out!” shouted the furious woman.
“Okay, Okay. Relax Anna!” Jay said.
“GO!” yelled Anna.
“Sheesh!” I heard him mutter. But I couldn’t laugh. Instead I stretched and grabbed the robot, reeling him to safety. I scrambled skywards in the dense canopy leaves.
“It was just a squirrel!” I heard Jay shout to his partner.
“Well, get over here!” Anna replied. “ I think I found some money!”
Jay scrambled over, excited to see the money. I quickly hooked a hand to my old iron bed and pulled myself in.
The iron leg of the bed hit a floor nail and ripped a board out. I hesitated, waiting to see if someone had heard. It was all good. I sneaked silently into the room and inspected the board. I noticed a bit of green sticking out. I pulled it. It was a dollar bill. A hundred dollar bill!
I turned it over in my hand and stared at it in disbelief. I stuck my hand in the hole. I touched a bunch of papery stuff. I pulled my hand out. A bunch of dollars came out.
There were more hundred dollars, some twenties and a couple of tens. I put the hundreds back in their place and tucked the twenties and tens in my pocket. I placed the board over the stash of money and crept out the window.
I crawled down the tree waiting for a break in security. When it came I sprinted all the way to the FTK. I raced up to my room. No one was there.
I took the cash out of my pocket and stuffed it under my mattress. I breathed a sigh of relief and went downstairs.
Today was T-night. That meant you had a choice of tortillas or tacos. I always chose beef tacos.
I was sprinkling some cheese on top of my taco when Sanjit came over.
“Urgh!” Sanjit said, turning his nose up at my beef taco.
“What?” I asked.
“Your choice of food...It stinks!” He replied, backing away like Jake does when he sees a French textbook.
I laughed and we headed over to our table. Two other guys, Matt and Jerry, were already tucking in to their tortillas.
“Hey Darryl,” said Matt without looking up from his meal. His long red hair covered his face as he ate.
“Hey Matt.” I replied, “Hey Jerry.”
Jerry brushed back his short black hair and nodded at me. “S’up.”
I could tell they didn’t want to be disturbed, so instead I focused on my meal. I took a large bite. Cheese and beef fell on my plate. Jerry raised his eyebrows, his brown eyes were like, where’s your manners, kid? Embarrassed by my mess, I tucked a handkerchief in my shirt before continuing. Matt’s green eyes looked amused.
I hurriedly finished my meal and rushed upstairs. I opened my Lord of the Rings.
Bill Ferny's price was twelve silver pennies; and that was indeed at least three times the pony's value in those pans. It proved to be a bony, underfed, and dispirited animal; but it did not look like dying just yet. Mr. Butterbur paid for it himself, and offered Merry another eighteen pence as some compensation for the lost animals. He was an honest man, and well-off as things were reckoned in Bree; but thirty silver pennies was a sore blow to him, and being cheated by Bill Ferny made it harder to bea-
“Light’s out!” A voice called. I reluctantly folded the top of my page and closed my book. Guys started entering the dorm.
“Goodnight Sanjit!” I called.
“Night.” He replied.
“Night James.” I said.
“Night.” James called.
“Good night Tom, Good night David, Good night Huntley, Good ni-”
“Darryl?” Sanjit said.
“Yeah?”
“SHUT UP!!”
“Oh. Okay.”
I wriggled into a comfortable position and closed my eyes. My last thoughts were of the money that lay safely beneath me.
I awoke the next morning to the theme song of Spongebob. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I crawled out of bed.
“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! Yello-”
I spotted a tuft of dark brown curls sticking out of the sofa. I walked over. A small kid, about six-years-old, sat in the big chair. He had olive skin and green eyes. A bowl of coco pops sat in his lap. A big white smile was planted on his face. He was obviously the youngest guy here.
I decided to introduce myself. “Hey.”
He looked startled. “Good Morning!” He answered, “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“Not at all!” I lied. “What’s your name?”
He smiled and told me.
“Why hello, Carlos! I’m Darryl.”
“Hi Darryl.”
“How old are you?”
“Six!” He responded with a huge grin of accomplishment.
“WOW! Aren’t you a big boy!” I said in a babyish voice.
Carlos’ eyes twinkled and his smile took up most of his face. I grinned at him.
“He’ll be gone by tomorrow.” I turned towards the spiteful voice. It was Sanjit.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“All the cute young ones get picked, the rest of us stay here until we’re legally adults.” Sanjit walked over to the couch. “A face like his...He’ll be adopted upon the morrow.”
I secretly agreed. Carlos’ bright, intelligent green eyes and perfect olive skin...He’d be an easy pick.
“What does he mean, Darryl?” Carlos’ voice shocked me out of my thoughts. I adopted my kind, child-speak voice.
“He means that you’ll be picked to go to a nice family and have lots of candy!” Sanjit rolled his eyes. I frowned at him.
“Will you come too?” Carlos asked.
“Maybe,” I lied.
Carlos seemed happy with my answer and returned to his Spongebob. Sanjit walked back up the stairs. I called after him.
“Sanjit, wait up!” He stopped but didn’t turn. “Why are you so bitter?”
“You know why!” He responded. “Kid just got here and in a day he’ll be whisked away.”
“True,” I said, “But why do you have to be so mean about it?”
“Because,” He said, turning around. “Kids like him, they live a happy life full of adoring parents and they get anything they want. Kids like me stay in places like this until we’re finally kicked out on the street. It’s not fair.”
“Wait. I don’t mean to be nosy but...well...how did you land in here?”
Sanjit froze and for awhile I didn’t think he’d respond. Then he said, “My Mom was a scientist. She wanted to help a lot of people. But one of her experiments went wrong and she died in a fire. Dad and I escaped, but she didn’t. My dad’s been bitter ever since.
“He got depressed, started drinking, then he beat me. With a belt. Over and over. Until once he went to far. I phoned
the police, but by the time they got there he was gone. They found him a few weeks later in the woods. All torn up and bloody. Bears. I’ve been here ever since.”
“When? How long ago was that?”
“Six years.”
“Wow.” I gasped. A six year old kid dealing with that kind of stuff. I involuntarily shuddered. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Sanjit actually looked amused.
“What?” I asked.
“I was lying.”
“WHAT!?”
“None of that stuff really happened! I was found on the doorstep in a box with Sanjit written on it. None of those things really happened!”
“Grrrr!” Sanjit laughed and skipped away. I swung at him and missed. I was going to try again when I noticed my rumbling stomach. So with one more frustrated growl, I walked down to the kitchen to make myself a bacon sandwich.