Hailey

If you're in doubt, consult your deepest fears...

Hailey swept furiously through the corridors, trailed closely by a now crying Kenny. As she approached the living room, she began to hear arguing voices ever clearer and louder. Suddenly she halted: she could recognize James' voice.

"I swear, I saw it! It's coming right now. We've got to get down before it hits us."

"I don't see a whiff of this said hurricane. It's coming tomorrow, as everyone has kept

saying since a week ago."

"I swear, I saw it..."

"Off with your nonsense, James!"

Hailey quietly entered the living room. The other arguer seemed to be Arthur, an old-fashioned gentleman with what some would call a noble heart. But Hailey thought that he was somewhat snobbish. Anna was there, holding the hands of Michael, Jennifer and Emily, and Henry Cole. Henry Cole was their very own black cook, a lean fellow with brown, gleaming eyes.

"It's not nonsense, I saw it with my own eyes!"

"You're just one person, James. We others could vow to never have seen a single sign of the hurricane approaching right now; yes, it is going to come tomorrow; yes, we will have to retreat; but now there is no hurry."

"No, you don't understand:  it's not..." James couldn't continue any longer. He suddenly noticed Hailey, who stood watching the two with an exercised look of annoyance. Though she was annoyed, she also felt amused: James had been arguing like a child of nine, while Arthur's comments were more suitable for a parent than an equal. An amusing combination altogether.

"What's this all about?" asked Hailey.

They fell silent awhile. Finally Arthur broke the silence.

"James said that he saw the storm approaching through a window. We all looked, but we could only see the clouds."

James answered him fervently. He had not calmed down yet.

"No, but I explained it to you! The clouds mean that a strong wind is driving them. Did you see any end to the clouds in the horizon, Arthur?"

"I did, actually. I saw them end right in the horizon, where sky meets the ground."

"That means that the storm is right behind those clouds."

"Surely such a big storm would look more ominous? It doesn't look like it at all. And we need that night's rest, James. What do you say, Hailey?"

Hailey looked at them both in turn, as if confused. Finally she said slowly to James:

"Show me the window which you saw the storm through." Arthur gave Hailey an annoyed look: he wasn't used to being ignored.

"It's the only window in this living room. You can see it clearly. I've read about this stuff, I know what I'm talking about."

Hailey walked over to the window James had pointed at and looked outside. She could clearly see the clouds James had talked about in the horizon, black bulges blanketing the sky like cancer. At the confluence of sky and earth, just like James had said, the clouds began to fade from view. Something seemed to be driving them onwards.

"That's odd..." she murmured to herself, but the others were listening intently.

"Does it look like the storm?" asked Henry quietly.

"Yes, does it?" added Anna. She must've been curious to find out. They had just talked about it, after all.

Suddenly they saw a bright flash in the distance. Everybody began counting the seconds, awaiting the thunder-crack to arrive. Hailey counted eight seconds.

"5 miles," Henry said with his deep bass voice. It reverberated strangely in the room. 

"No," Arthur said. He was sweating, she noticed. "It's five seconds for every mile. The storm is about one to two miles away," he continued. Fear shone through his voice.

Hailey tried to say something, but just then raindrops began to fall against the window. Hailey leaned closer, trying to get a clearer view of the clouds, but soon it became an impossibility. Rain started to pound the roofs and windows of the Jackson Manor.

"It sure does look like it," she finished awkwardly. "I mean, the storm seems to be coming... somewhat sooner than we expected. Maybe they told about it in the news, but we haven't had the chance to see anyway."

Everybody fell silent. More people began to trickle into the living room: children wandering in, looking for their friends; staff members tending after the children, people just looking for a conversation; people who had heard the arguing. There were now eighteen people in the room, and it truly began to feel a little crowded inside. Hailey found herself in an awkward position: the rest of the folks were assembled behind her like an audience, and she herself stood much like a lecturer preparing for her speech. It would be appropriate to introduce each of the six staff members now present: Anna with her golden locks, Henry with his deep, level gaze and bald, shining head; Arthur clad in a brown tweed jacket, matching the colour of his long hair; a subdued James, a short man with a shaggy blonde beard and hair of the same colour, and in addition to them, two volunteered workers: Julian and Chuck. Chuck had a nickname in the orphanage: everyone preferred to call him Chuck Norris as per the famous film star, and he even looked a bit like him. Usually one could hear cries of "Norris!" or "Fetch Norris!" on daily basis if one worked in the Jackson Orphanage. And scattered all around were the children, too many to count for names. Hailey knew, when she looked at them: she knew she had to give orders. It did not please her in the slightest, and as an after-effect, she began to feel anxious.

"We have received some news. I fear that this means a turn for the worse, folks, and an earlier departure." She cleared her throat.

"It is a fortune that we have everything prepared already, so that we are all ready to go, for James noticed something odd about the clouds earlier. He said that the storm could already be seen in the horizon, although the others couldn't see a thing. Now, it sounds nonsensical, but we could actually see it from the movements of the clouds. Something was driving the clouds, and we could see the line of clouds ending in the horizon: the hurricane is right behind them. We should descend into the cellar as fast as possible in order to avoid the first wave of the hurricane. It will still likely take several hours before the storm is truly upon us, but the 'first wave', so to speak, will arrive in approximately one to three hours. That's the best guess I can make right now. But now we have to deal with this situation fast. Henry, take Nick and Michael. You three, take the supplies downstairs. There's a large room in there, filled with tables and chairs and other wooden furniture. Anna, take the other children downstairs. The rest, take what you don't want to lose in the hurricane. I'll go get the matches."

Those with assignments departed after a while, and those with no such obligations began to wander around, searching their minds for things they wanted to save. Arthur just looked at Hailey, though. As she was about to leave, he walked up to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Do you think there would be torches down there?"

Hailey whirled.

"Yes, of course. It's an old cellar, Arthur, you should know it. I wonder why you even have to ask such a thing."

"Just curiosity. I didn't know that about the cellar before. So there are hallways lit with torches down there..."

Arthur trailed off, now seeming to be talking to himself instead of Hailey. As for why he had asked, Hailey had an idea. If her memory served her, Arthur had once said that he feared the dark; he had even given a name for it. A mental condition, he had said, called nactophobia or something similar. But she couldn't recall it completely, so she went to fetch the matches. Eight packages according to her memory, and all were where they were supposed to be at. That made a hundred and sixty matches. Enough for the storm, she thought as she grabbed and cupped the tiny packages into one nimble hand.

When everyone had gathered what they needed(Henry and the boys were carrying the boxes filled with cutlery and canned food downstairs), Hailey counted their number and then led everybody downstairs. The stairs hadn't been tended to in years; there were several cracks here and there, and an incredible amount of dust. It flew off into every direction you could possibly imagine whenever someone descended a step, and so the cavalcade walked down the stairs into the cellar, releasing an astonishing amount of dust and grime as they went. It clung mainly to their clothes, unfortunately, so that everybody had to clean their raiment at the doorway. The doorway, the metal door standing by it looking out of place, led into a large, candle-lit room. There were also torches on either side, lit and illuminating a large area. They were better for illuminating large areas, as they lit up a larger area than a dozen candles ever could; they also only required one match instead of the three or four a dozen candles would.

While the others were still looking around their new, temporary home, Henry was checking on the furniture's condition like an expert at least; they were dusty but sturdy, ready to serve for a few more years yet. There were plenty of them just lying around, three large square tables around which up to eight people could dine; three on the sides, and two on either end; there would even be some space left over. There were wooden chairs piled on top of each other at the far corner, but Henry left them alone for the moment. He went to check on the candles.

The old storage room had a plenty of room for everybody to find their own little corner. Space was found even for the children: in the far corner of the room, which had been cleared out specifically for that purpose. Bedrolls had already been placed on the ground, and the kids now bounced on them bare-feet or nudged sleepily back and forth. A couple of them stood or sat looking at the door leading out into the dark, unlit corridors, wondering what lied beyond. And Anna was reading the Bible out loud. She was in the middle of the story of Job, when suddenly one of the children raised his hand. Anna finished her sentence and turned to look at the child, looking warmly upon him. Michael had his hand raised, which now quivered under that gaze. Anna didn't notice it, but some of the children were pointing jeering stares at him.

"Yes, Michael?" Anna finally said.

"I just thought to ask what's... uh, what's beyond that door."

He pointed at the cellar door which led into the manor catacombs. Anna answered without even looking that way, managing a light tone.

"Just darkness and corridors, Michael."

Suddenly she got an idea.

"But I've heard tales about the catacombs, Michael."

"What kind of tales?" asked Michael with sudden interest.

"Scary tales. They say there are bad things in there. Things nobody wants to know about."

"What kinds of things?"

"You might hear about them later on," she said, thumbing her lip thoughtfully, "but only if you, in turn, promise to go to sleep nicely right now. That means all of you."

She looked at them until their protests had been silenced. Then se turned away and smiled at her own ingenuity. The children would not enter the corridors until she told them the story, at least, and at least they wouldn't do so afterwards. Although it wouldn't hurt to be sure about it, not when you were talking about children: they were at times more unpredictable than madmen. She would have to ask Hailey whether the door was locked or not. In any case, now was the best time to do it, as the children were asleep and only adults were still awake.

Author's Note

Finished chapter.

Reviews

[CreativeStroke]

"We've to get down before it hits us." This is in your second paragraph and is missing the word 'got'

"Arthur trailed off, now seeming to be talking to himself instead of Hailey. As for why he had asked, Hailey had an idea. If she remembered correctly, Arthur had once said that he feared the dark; he had even given a name for it. A mental condition, he had said, called... nactophobia? Well, it wasn't that important. She went to fetch the matches; eight packages, if she remembered correctly. That made a hundred and sixty matches. Enough for the storm." In this paragraph you repeated the phrase 'if she remembered correctly' very close together. My suggestion would be to change the wording in one of those areas.

Other than those two easy fixes I thought you continued strong with this second chapter.
Your characters are continuing to develop nicely and your story is starting to gain momentum as you go along. I am really enjoying it!

[Mikael Malmberg]

Thanks for the feedback!

I fixed those placed you mentioned.

[Felicity's Eve]

This is great! I'm very intrigued now... :)

I am eagerly awaiting your next chapter. ^^

[Mikael Malmberg]

Actually, your comment gave me an idea.

This might be a good cliffhanger. Thanks for the idea! :D

I'll begin writing the third chapter now.

[Felicity's Eve]

It did...? o.O

I mean...of course it did! ^^

Lol I'll be waiting :)

[Nienor Niniel]

And now the character conflicts begin. :D I can't wait to see why James is so worked-up and why it's only he who is upset.

[Mikael Malmberg]

You'll find out later today. :)

[Nienor Niniel]

Excellent chapter. :)

[Mikael Malmberg]

Thank you, Nienor.

I am writing the third one at this moment, and I think that the preview-version shall be up and done before I will head to sleep. Thank the heavens for a holiday!

[Nienor Niniel]

Hello,
If I could point out a grammatical error:

"A couple of them stood or sat looking at the door leading out into the dark, unlit corridors, wondering what lied beyond."

'Lay' should be used instead of 'lied'.

Keep up the good work with this story. :)