The Secret Seekers Society and the Beast of Bladenboro

by J. Hickey

  Chapter 8

  The Brunch

  A loud rustling noise awakened Elly from a deep sleep. It was a welcome sound that stirred her awake as she struggled with another of her recurring nightmares. Elly dreamed once again of her dead parents. She sat with them at the dinner table, their eyes void of all life, just mindless shells of her parents. She would talk to them, but they would just ignore her, staring lifelessly at the walls. She always awoke in a pool of sweat, the dream always leaving her with a crippling sense of overwhelming despair and depression.

  There was a brief moment of peace, a second when she had woken up where the dream world and reality fused together into some sort of hyper reality. In that split second, her parents' death was the nightmare and reality would have her awaken at home, cozy and comfortable in her bed. Her brain told her that the loud noise must had been her parents coming home from one of their many trips overseas. Their death, the scary mansion, the beast that attacked them-all these terrible things-were the dream. She convinced herself that when she opened her eyes, everything would be back to normal.

  Sudden relief.

  "Elly, rise and shine." The voice of Patricia Ellingbee brought Elly out of her daze. "You're running late; Hunter and Alistair are already downstairs." Patricia laid out a beautiful yellow dress across the foot of her bed. "I found this darling dress in your closet; it's perfect for the brunch."

  It was no dream. This was her reality.

  Elly recognized the yellow dress. It was the one she wore on Christmas Eve last year for the late-night church service. Afterwards, her father drove them all over the city looking at Christmas lights. She remembered they drove downtown to a giant building called the ‘Water Works.' It was the epitome of beautiful. Every year, the city constructed a huge Christmas tree and a brilliant display of Christmas decorations. Elly's father had told her it was on Christmas Eve fifteen years ago when he proposed to her mother right before the giant Christmas tree. It was a bitter winter, and he swore the only reason his knees had shaken that night was due to the cold. Elly thought the place was magical. That was the last Christmas they would ever spend together as a family. She hadn't worn the dress since, as her mother had packed it away for safekeeping.

  "Are you excited?" Patricia asked.

  "About what?"

  "The brunch. It's the first time you'll get to meet and mingle with the rest of the mansion, including all the new children. It's part of Orientation day," she explained.

  Elly didn't quite understand why groups of children were coming to the creepy old mansion. On the bright side, at least she was allowed to leave the room.

  "Do you feel okay to join in the festivities?" Patricia realized that Elly had spent the last two days in bed recovering from her injuries. She didn't want to push her too hard, despite how very important the day's festivities were.

  "Yes!" Elly shouted, quickly jumping out of bed. There was no way she was going to spend the entire day stuck in the musty old room while her brother and his new friend got to have all the fun. She swiftly slipped into the pretty yellow dress.

  "Oh, let's do your hair up. First impressions are always important." Patricia smiled; she seemed to have more energy than normal.

  "You seem excited," Elly said while Ms. Ellingbee began to curl her hair.

  "Oh dear, is it obvious? This is how I act when I'm nervous."

  "Nervous? About what?"

  "Well, because the big Orientation dinner is later tonight. It's my duty to run it and make sure all goes according to plan. I'm the master of ceremonies for the event, and with all these things going wrong…"

  "I'm sure everything will go great. It sounds like fun."

  "Professor Calenstine doesn't trust anyone else with it. It's a big honor for me." Patricia sprayed some hairspray on Elly's curly red bangs. "Look, you're a doll." She smiled, holding up a hand mirror.

  "So what is a ‘brunch' anyway?" Elly bounced her bangs with her hands.

  "Well, follow me. Like I said, you overslept, and we're late."

  Elly couldn't believe what she saw once the main elevator doors opened onto the main foyer. She remembered the room perfectly-the two beautiful unicorns, the wall mounted with the heads of strange creatures, the two staircases leading up to the balcony where she and Ms. Ellingbee now exited the elevator. That was all the same, but the rest of the room was elegantly decorated to the finest degree. It reminded Elly a lot of the magical ball her mother would read to her about in her favorite fairy tale. Silver and gold balloons with matching streamers decorated the foyer brilliantly.

  The giant buffet tables downstairs were stocked with more food than Elly had even seen in her life. There was roasting pots of six different soups, and a giant salad bar with all the fixings. She counted ten different kinds of breads, herb-roasted chicken, pickled bologna, bacon-wrapped scallops, and so very much more, even exotic dishes she had never seen before. The wonderful scent hit her nose the very moment the elevator doors opened.

  Elly knew that where there was food, there would be her older brother, stuffing his face with the delicacies. It didn't take long for her to spot Hunter, who stood next to one of the buffet tables with Alistair and a girl who looked about his age. They were eating heaped plates of food and laughing, except for Hunter, who was a bit red in the face and fidgeted with his hands behind his back.

  Elly hadn't wanted to wear her yellow Christmas dress until now. Everyone she saw was dressed up for the occasion. Hunter was even wearing his suit, which he seemed to have already grown out of. His sleeves lay a bit too high on his arms, and his pants showed a bit too much ankle. She figured Patricia must have forced Hunter to dress up. Elly knew he hated wearing a tie. The adults were all dressed up as well. The women wore elegant gowns, varying in colors, and long velvet gloves.

  Elly found Uncle Joe standing next to Margot and Alistair's father, Ben. She knew Uncle Joe hated dressing up as well. He was the only adult in the group wearing blue jeans. At least he was wearing a plain, solid black dress shirt and tie.

  "Everyone looks so pretty," Elly said as they made their way down the stairway and into the heart of the party.

  "As do you, my dear. Now go meet some new friends. Everyone from the mansion is here, so there are plenty of new people for you to meet!"

  Elly made her way through the swarm of strangers, all of who appeared to know who she was, which was a bit unsettling for Elly, as she had never seen any of these people. How on Earth did they know her? They stared and whispered secretively. They weren't obvious about it, but Elly could tell. She felt the hidden fingers pointing at her, the eyes watching her, and she knew what they were talking about. Her parents, the plane crash, how they were orphaned here at the mansion. She did her best to ignore them and pressed on.

  "Uncle Joey!" She found her uncle first, who she hadn't really gotten to see since his arrival. Uncle Joe smiled brightly at the sight of his niece finally up and walking for the first time since he got there. He picked her up and swung her in his arms like a princess.

  "Glad to see you finally decided to wake up, lazy butt," he teased.

  "Elly, you look adorable," Margot said, smiling. "I love yellow-reminds me of summer."

  "Thank you." Elly blushed. "I like your dress too. It's beautiful."

  Margot wore a long black gown and a thin veil that partially covered her face with black open-toed shoes to match. Elly thought she was the prettiest grown-up of the bunch.

  "Not too shabby of a food spread, aye?" Benjamin offered Elly one of the many cookies and brownies towering on his plate. Elly obliged and picked a caramel-covered walnut brownie, taking a huge bite.

  "Now make sure you get some real food too. There are a lot healthy choices in that buffet," Joe added. "You're not allowed to eat just cookies and cakes for lunch, like your Uncle Ben does."

  "He's my uncle?" Elly asked through her mouthful of brownie.

  "Well, he's the closest I have to a brother, so yeah."

  "Great culinary rol
e model," Margot said, chuckling.

  "Hey, all I'm saying is, give me the choice between cake and carrots, well… cake will always win." Ben crammed an entire piece of cherry-glazed double chocolate cake in his mouth. He gave a goofy smile, barely holding all the cake in his mouth, making Elly laugh.

  "He told me last night that his wife doesn't let him have sugar in the house. So he makes up for it here," Joe explained. He then pointed out Hunter at the other end of the buffet table. "Go say hi to your brother and your new friend Alistair."

  "Okay." Elly smiled and danced her way playfully through the maze of people toward them.

  "She seems to have gotten her energy back." Ben wiped away the excess of chocolate frosting from his chin.

  "We were pretty worried about her that first night-it was touch and go," Margot explained, sipping on her white wine. "You couldn't tell from today that she almost died two nights ago-that little girl is resilient."

  "It's in her blood." Joe smiled.