Lost and Found

Business as Usual

Chapter 2

          I’m not a morning person. So it’s needless to say, I hate getting up at six o’clock to go to school. But it has to be done. I drag myself out of bed and look to see if Izzy is still asleep. Of course I already know that she is. I throw a pillow at her, and she groans in response.

“Get up Iz! It’s time for school!”

“Who cares? I’m going to sleep.”

“Don’t make me get the water.”

“Quit playing around.”

“5-4-3-2-1” I went to the bathroom and filled a cup with ice-cold water. “I’m going to give you one last chance to get up Iz”

“Go away.” I pulled the covers back and poured the water onto her back. She squealed in response.

“Fine! I’ll get up!” she flipped the covers off the bed and stomped into the bathroom. She has such a bad temper, but it just made me laugh.

          The walk to school was short. We only lived a few blocks away. School seemed especially long today. School was the only time of day when I was separated from Izabella. We were really close and she’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had. People confuse us for sisters, because we do look similar. Her Black and red-streaked hair fell a little below her shoulders, my light auburn and red hair fell a little lower. Her eyes are light brown, and mine are hazel. We do have some significant differences. My skin is ivory, while hers is tanned. Her face is full and mine is…well, not. She and I only have two periods together, first period Gym and Geometry.

6th period Geometry dragged on for what seemed like hours. A note fell onto my desk from Iz. What did you get for #1? I laughed and wrote: We aren’t taking a test. It’s a survey. The note fell onto my desk again. Really? I nodded. I spent the rest of the period arguing with her about the differences between a survey and a test.

          Last period came and I was not looking forward to it. Biology is definitely NOT my favorite subject. My teacher was a total pain. Mrs. Dubois definitely didn’t like me, but I didn’t much care, the feeling was mutual. She gave me extra work and always called me to answer questions. I have no idea what I did to deserve this, but I guess I just have to deal with it for the rest of the year, and then I was free. Last period was the same as usual, being bullied by Mrs. Dubois.

 When school finally let out I met up with Izabella.

“Why are Fridays so long?” she asked.

“Same reason why weekends are so short, it’s just Mother Nature’s way of saying ‘screw you!’” we both laughed.

“Oh! That reminds me, I found a shortcut!”

“When did you have time for that?”

“When you go to soccer practice, it cuts five minutes from the trip.”

“Ok where is it?”

“Down here.” she walked up to a dark alley and smiled.

“I’m not going down there.”

“Don’t be such a chicken. I’ve been down here many times. And I know for a fact that it’s safe.”

“Fine, I’m trusting you.” But I was getting a very bad feeling. The alley was not like any other I had seen in all my life. There were large garbage bins, but instead of trash, they were filled with headstones. I mean, what the hell was that about? I saw at least four black cats, not that I’m supersticous or anything, they were creepy. I swear I almost pissed my pants when I saw a hand lodged into the gate. The remainder of the time spent in that alley went the same way, but Iz seemed not to notice anything, it kind of creeped me out.

          We made it through the alley just fine (Thank God), and it let out to a dockyard. It was eerie, not as bad as the alley, but close. Things were a bit too quiet if you know what I mean. It was vacant, aside from one ship. The ship was enormous, like the ones you’d see in the movies. It was made completely out of varnished pinewood, massive sails with rips at the end, and square openings on the side that hopefully don’t have cannons. If I didn’t know any better I’d say it was a pirate ship. I laughed to myself. My iPod that was once blaring into my ears suddenly cut off. I guess I forgot to charge it last night. I wanted to turn around and go back to our old route. I can take an extra fifteen minutes opposed to this nightmare. A cold breeze sent a chill down my spine. I literally felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Isn’t this place great?” Izzy mused.

“It looks like a scene straight out of a horror movie.”

“I know! That’s why I like it so much!”

“How did you even find this place?”

“I dropped my pencil and it rolled into the alley. Once I was there, I kept going and made it to the house way sooner than I had originally planned,”

“After today, I refuse to take this shortcut ever again,”

“Don’t be such a chicken, it’s not even that bad. Not unless you’re scared of the dark,” as our short conversation ended. The dockyard began to fog. I could barely see my hand in front of my face, let alone Izabella.

“Izzy? Where are you?” there was no reply, but I did hear faint whispering behind me. I ignored it and started to run, but I didn’t know where to go. I decided that it didn’t matter. So I kept running, until I ran into something hard. I don’t know what it was, but I was so dazed, I couldn’t get up. I felt someone’s arm pull me up, it was probably Izzy. My head was pounding now, and something still didn’t feel right. I couldn’t arrange my thoughts because everything around me started fading. I felt my knees wobble beneath me. The last thing I remember is a man’s face. What’s going on here?