Chapter#2

Under the City

By thelazyWriter

CHAPTER#2

It was Ms.Downright, the caretaker, thin and frail with fierce eyes and olive brown hair. She took care of the children at the shelter and I met her when I was 7 or 8. Also, she meant business, she wasn’t someone you could mess with.(I have to admit I was always scared of her but now she’s much less terrifying)

“umm..nothing I was just taking a walk down the street”

“you’re not the type who takes walks, please promise you haven’t stolen anything or caused any more trouble, I’m honestly not asking for more trouble.”

“I had gone for a breather, and where will I steal from the shops are closed!?”

She didn’t entirely believe me, I could see it on her face, but she went back to her little room anyway.

I climbed onto my bunk and tried to sleep. I mostly stared out of the window and waited for the sun to rise. Every Sunday my brother has an off day so my brother, Mark and I go down to the mall so we don’t completely cut off from the outside world.

We get candies for the kids and then pass around one milkshake from the same shop every Sunday, and I collect all the tissue papers from all our visits (which is really pointless)

Mark fell off his bunk as usual my alarm clock .My brother , Brian , threw a fist at him and they got into a fist fight again. I pulled them apart dodging a few punches and getting elbowed really hard in the ribs I squelched and this caught their attention and they stopped and started examining me, like as if they could help me  I got up with some effort and help. Mark spat at my brother blaming him and my brother walked away into the bathroom. Marks lip was bleeding. His brownish hair was in messy tufts today and he was staring out of the window. We both walked downstairs and the kids were exclaiming about their small candies and they kept the candy wrappers, Mark looked at me half grinned and stuffed the bread in his mouth.

We left soon after breakfast which was a slice of bread each. Lunch was an alienated thought, we knew if we asked Ms. Downright she wouldn’t have enough and she would be unnecessarily embarrassed. Mark had found an empty shed a few days ago, so now we would loaf around in that shed which had weird symbol all over the wall, like someone was attempting to write English but all their words came out like a mirror image.

Mark was almost the reason I resisted killing myself. He always smiled at me even though his life had been much harsher than mine. He had changed so much since the first time I saw him but he always had a scar across his neck, and he wore mostly black.

We stayed in the shed until my brother came to fetch us, he worked at a small pizzeria and he said he was the garbage guy but me and Mark new he had to pick up the hot charcoal he always smelt like burnt bread and pizza dough, his hands were black with soot and do all kinds of other odd jobs and he was given money every week.

We had bought an old car from a second hand dealer (after my brother saved for 8 years) but we never used it because we can never afford gasoline. Even in our dreams. The only time we used it was when the smallest kid's(Andy's) dad had been to the shelter at 1am in the morning holding an empty bottle of whiskey which he threw over Andy's head. //There is still a huge scar that covers his head//There were screams and it required mark and my brother’s complete strength to drive the man  out . I made sure the kids were safe so I locked them and myself in the car until morning. I still remember Andy’s head bleeding into my arm and how he didn’t even have a clue and that was the first time I cried. No one speaks of that day. Mark took 2 weeks to recover from that incident. That man, I vividly remember had grey eyes and a hunchback,he limped and was smelt worse than a sewer.That incident shook me.Andy doesn’t remember that day and no one dares to remind him.

My heart clenched as I thought of it. It was raining heavily but I continued to walk slowly,like time stopped. I veered out of control and my head slammed onto a stop sign.

My head pressed itself and knotted itself over and over again.

I heard whispers.

“She’s dead,”

“no ,she’s blinking her eyes”

“then lets kill her”

The figure held a knife to my neck. Blood flooded my veins . It felt like fire inside me. I hit the man and kept hitting him till he fainted . I saw more figures I knew them Mark and Brian. This place smelled like a rat hole .

Someone held me by the neck ,I screamed so loud my lungs twisted inside my ribs trying to break free.

I woke up in a room. White curtains swayed across the windows, I wanted to open the windows but I couldn’t move. There were belts strapped onto my whole body and every muscle in my body resisted movement.