by Hope Jameson
She fixed her mind on this Cynthia. Who was Cynthia? She sifted through her memories for someone called Cynthia. No matter how hard she tried, she could not place the name, it was there, but always out of reach. No matter how hard she tried to grasp it, it disappeared like the early morning mist as the sun rose in the sky.
Jill lay on her bed and felt her hunger rise, but the lure of sleep was too strong. She closed her eyes tight and could see the face of the child at the job site. The little girl stood in her mind, smiling and welcoming, arms open looking for a hug.
Eventually, the face blurred into sinister expressions which Jill would not remember in the morning as her tiredness took over. Soon she was fast asleep.
6
The next few days passed in a flurry of activity. Work had begun in earnest on the ground floor and was progressing smoothly and as expected. Jill felt the worry rising inside her as more accidents happened on the work site.
None of the incidents were major, no serious or life-threatening injuries, but the accidents shouldn’t be happening. There was at least one incident every day. A slip here and a fall there, a hammer missing a nail, people tripping on steps, one worker fell and broke a finger. There wasn’thing that kept people from working, but enough happened to make most of the crew question the luck on the site.
Checking in with Amanda the day that Gerry Higginbotham broke his finger, Jill almost didn’t want to hear what the foreman had to say.
“Oh, Gerry’ll be okay. I think he’ll even be able to work with a splint on his finger in a few days.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I know missing work is a big deal to anyone needing to feed their family.” Jill frowned as she thought of what all this could come to if she didn’t find out what was going on.
“It’s not normal to have this many things happen, though, I’ll be honest about that. We go for weeks without even a splinter. We’ve never had to send someone out of a jobsite in an ambulance. Wish I knew what was going on.”
“Well, maybe just a little bad luck or something.” Jill tried to diffuse as best she could.
“It’s nothing to do with luck, I’m sure. I’m going to get everyone together at the beginning of the shift tomorrow and have an extended safety meeting. Get their minds focused on it. That should do it.” Amanda nodded resolutely.
“Yes, I hope so. Um, let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do. See you later.”
Jill started questioning something other than bad luck or not being focused on safety.
She searched the building again, expecting to bump into the little girl again, but she didn’t. There was no sign of her even though Jill was sure that she could feel her presence. She didn’t mention the little girl again to Amanda, since she wasn’t sure how that would be received.
Without understanding why or how, Jill feels that the little girl is connected to this building in some way. She wonders if the renovations are taking away her favorite place to play. Or maybe there’s something going on in the child’s family. Whatever it is, Jill hopes she can figure it out.
A week after work had started, Jill arrived at the jobsite to find the crew staring at the front wall of the building. The words ‘Get out!’ were scrawled on the stonework with spray paint. Jill looked around the grounds as she stood at the front of the house, half expecting to see some kids laughing from behind a bush.
Amanda walked up shaking her head. “Hard to believe, isn’t it? And such strong words. Get out. Hmm. Guess somebody doesn’t want this work to happen.”
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s kids just pulling a prank.” Jill looked at her and shrugged.
“Could be, I suppose. Anyway, we’ll need to get that cleaned off. We’ve got something that’ll do it.”
“Okay.” Jill looked back at the scrawled words again.
“Hey, don’t worry about this. It happens. Normally it’s just somebody’s name or a silly attempt at humor, but this isn’t that unusual.”
“Thanks, Amanda. I appreciate it.” Jill wasn’t so sure this was harmless, but again she couldn’t quite put her finger on where those feelings were coming from. “You know, why don’t you just send everyone home today after the graffiti is gone. And don’t worry, I’ll pay them for the whole day.”
“That’s not necessary, Jill.”
“I know, but I think maybe everyone could use a little time off.” Jill was insistent, so Amanda agreed.
After everyone was gone, Jill stayed on the site and wandered through the rooms. She looked for the trunk full of drawings and letters, but couldn’t find it. She thought she was sure of the room she’d left it in, but it wasn’t where she thought it should be.
“Hmm. I must have circled back and missed some of the rooms.”
She felt like calling out for the girl, but almost laughed at the silliness of that thought. She didn’t even know the girl’s name so how could she call for her.
“Little girl,” she said quietly. Then she said it again, a little louder this time. “Little girl.”
She wasn’t sure what she was hoping to achieve, but the act of calling for the child bolstered her resolve. She said it again, a little louder than the last time. There was no response.
She wandered from room to room calling for the child over and over, expecting to bump into her in one of the rooms, but each one she entered was empty. Her voice rose in volume each time she called out, until she found herself at the front door shouting for the child to come to her.
Jill looked around, hoping that no one was watching her stand at the front door of the old orphanage, shouting. Then she realized that someone was watching her. It was the girl. She was standing on the patchy lawn, to Jill’s left, around forty yards away.
Jill glanced around the massive grounds and back to where the child had been standing. She was still there. Jill stared for a while as her confidence built. When she began to walk towards her, she walked away. She didn’t move quick enough to get away from Jill, however. As Jill walked, she realized that the girl was allowing her to catch up, that she’d be beside her soon.
When they were side by side, the little girl took the lead and they ended up at the edge of the woods on the far side of the grounds. The girl wanted something, but Jill wasn’t sure what. So, she followed her into the woods.
It got darker as they moved further into the woods. Jill looked down as the dry twigs and leaves crackled and crunched beneath her shoes. She wondered what kind of creepy crawly things were out here. Trying not to think of that, she kept moving forward.
She looked up to see that the girl was now twenty yards or so ahead of her. How had she gotten so far ahead? Jill tried to pick up her pace and realized that the girl had slowed her pace. She wanted Jill to catch up.
The darkness was disappearing and Jill saw light beginning to seep through in places. The beams of light got wider as the trees began to thin and she could see the sky once more, the light blue streaked with wisps of white clouds. The sky looked like a painting of a perfect morning.
And then she was following the girl out into an open field. “This has to be beyond the boundaries of the grounds. Surely the property doesn’t go this far.” Her mind was racing as she took it all in and considered what she was doing. “I hope this little girl knows how to get back, because I’m not sure I do. Gads, what was I thinking?”
The field was open and covered with long grass. She could feel the heat of the day begin to build as her shirt started to cling to her back. The little girl was standing with her back to Jill and she’d stopped moving. Jill approached her hesitantly, and she didn’t move from where she was standing.
“Hello,” said Jill. “Want to tell me your name?”
The girl didn’t respond, she didn’t even look at Jill.
“Well, I know you are not supposed to talk to strangers, but we’ve at least seen each other before. And you did lead me out here, right? My name is Jill.”
Still no reaction at all from the child.
The little girl stood staring at Jill, who stared back hoping she would break her silence. A few minutes ticked by and Jill couldn’t stand the silence any longer.
“Did you tip the ladder over? You’re mighty strong for a little girl, aren’t you? The man wasn’t hurt badly, so if you were to apologize, I’m sure everything would be okay. You don’t really want to hurt anyone, do you?”
Again, the girl stood in silence with a blank expression on her face.
“I know you didn't mean it, it was an accident, wasn't it? It happens to all of us, you must have been playing and run into it by mistake. Just tell me why you’ve brought me here, please.” Jill’s words were met with silence once more. Her forehead was beginning to furrow, a frown making its way onto her face as she was getting frustrated with this game the girl seemed to be playing.
“Look, I don’t have all day for this. Just tell me why you’re here and I can help you. That’s why you brought me here, isn't it? You want my help. I want to be your friend, just tell me what you need. Just say something, please!”
She still didn’t speak, but she opened her mouth and then closed it again. Finally, she mouthed the same word she’d mouthed the other time. Cynthia.
“Did you say Cynthia? Is that it?”
The girl mouthed the name again. Cynthia.
“Who is Cynthia?”
And the same thing happened again. The girl mouthed the name Cynthia.
“Who is Cynthia? Tell me who she is,” said Jill. “Is that your name? Are you Cynthia?”
Cynthia the girl mouthed again. She pointed at Jill this time.
Jill brought her hand up to her neck, she was sure the girl was pointing there. Did she feel something in her throat? She wasn’t sure. Maybe she was just anxious with this scene playing out this way. She didn’t like that the little girl seemed to be fixated on her neck and she wanted answers that weren’t coming.
The girl started mouthing the name Cynthia over and over. All the time, she was pointing at Jill’s neck.
Jill saw her take a step forward. She wanted to back up and run herself, but she forced herself to stand still and wait. Now the child was walking towards her, slowly. Finally, they were only a few feet apart. Jill backed up a step or two, she didn’t like this. She wanted to be somewhere else, but was being kept here by some force she couldn’t explain.
The girl’s finger was coming closer and closer to her neck. The name Cynthia was constantly on her lips. Over and over, she mouthed the name.
Jill reached out her hand to grab the hand of the child, to stop her coming closer, to stop her from touching her neck. Just as her hand reached the girl, she was enveloped in a chill like she’d never felt before. She was cold to the bone. And then the world began to fade. Before she could do anything else, she fell to the ground and everything went black.
7
Jill was walking through the orphanage. She must have been on the second floor because she didn’t remember any of the rooms. They were older, dirty and sooty. Definitely not like the rooms she’d been in before. The paint was peeling from the walls where there was no fire damage. There were rickety single beds that looked like they’d been through a fire, but were dressed with bedding. She looked up at the ceiling and could see stains where water must have run through, discoloring the off white paint.
Jill realized that she could hear noise coming from outside the room, a buzz of activity coming from somewhere in the old building, the work crew must be here. She walked to the window, but couldn’t see anyone at all outside. The grounds looked different from this vantage point, the height adding something new to the gardens. Jill wondered if possibly she was on the third floor. She felt like she was higher off the ground than she should be.
She exited the room an almost yelped in surprise as a young boy ran past her almost knocking her down in his haste.
“Hey, what are you doing up here?” she shouted after him, but he was already around a corner and gone by the time she got her words out.
She tried to follow him but he was too quick. As she rounded the corner she could see him disappear around another, but she was rooted to the spot. Ahead of her was another little boy, he had dirt on his face and had obviously been crying from the streaks down his cheeks. Jill knelt down and held out her hand to try and comfort him, but he walked past her and into one of the rooms. It was as if he hadn’t even seen her.
Jill was about to follow him into the room, when she heard noises coming from downstairs. Deciding to investigate that, she found the stairs and followed the uproar. As she was taking her first steps down the stairs, a little girl was coming up. Then another little boy passed her as he followed the girl.
Each time a child passed by, her uneasiness grew. In fact, she felt like she was about to panic. Something was very wrong and she couldn’t put her finger on what it was, let alone try to fix it.
She finally reached the first floor and she stood there just looking all around. There were no more children, but the interior was different than she remembered. She was definitely on the ground floor, but the walls were not the same. There was carpet that hadn’t been there yesterday, or today, she wasn’t sure what day it was.
“These walls are dirty. The paint is faded. There’s furniture, too, along with the carpet. None of that was here before.” Muttering to herself, she tried to think to possibly keep herself from freaking out at what was going on. She wasn’t sure what was happening.
She turned around and looked down the long hallway. An older woman with gray hair pulled into a messy bun was walking up the hallway toward her. She was pulling a little girl behind her by the ear. Each time the girl squealed, the woman would slap the back of her head. Tears were flowing down the poor child’s cheeks like rivers.
The fright continued to take over and Jill walked away from the scene. In any other situation she’d try to help the girl, but at this moment she had no idea what was going on. She knew she couldn’t help and she didn’t want to be here.
“Gosh, I really want to help you, but something tells me I have to get out of here. Oh, please help me, God, I need to get out!”
She walked the other way to see a man, middle aged with a bushy moustache, shouting at a young boy. She could not hear what he was shouting, but she could see the spit flying from his mouth as he screamed. Jill tried to shout at the man, but she couldn’t make a sound. Finally, she ran from this scene, too, trying to find the door.
She reached a large hallway and thankfully she remembered it. But then it was different, too. There were pictures on the walls when there shouldn’t be anything. This floor was supposed to be bare and empty.
All Jill knew at this point was she had to get out. She started running toward the place where the door was supposed to be—or at least where she thought it was. In her rush to get out of the building, her feet got tangled up and she fell. As she was struggling to get up from the floor, she saw her. It was the same little girl who’d led her out through the woods and into the field.
She was standing beside a little boy, roughly the same age. The two of them were obviously being scolded as they both had their heads hung in shame. There was a woman standing in front of them shaking her head and wagging her finger. She was shouting at the two, though Jill can’t hear what she is saying.
“I should be able to hear this. I’m close enough to them. It’s deathly quiet in here. Why can’t I hear anything?” Whispering to herself, she felt the terror rise in her chest again. In her haste to get out, she’d focused on that task and the alarm had been pushed aside. Now it was eating at her again.
The woman looked at the boy and her features softened. She almost smiled. The boy raised his head and looked towards the girl next to him and he opened his mouth to speak. Before he had a chance, the woman’s look darkened and she grabbed
his arm and pushed him away. She pointed to the stairs and he ran as quick as he could. When her back was turned and now focused on the girl, he turned and stuck his tongue out at the woman. Then he was gone.
Jill could see a look of resignation slip across the little girl’s face. She got back on her feet as the woman slapped the child across the cheek. She froze in place and her mouth hung open in shock. She couldn’t believe the woman had hit this young girl. The second slap got Jill moving again. The third hit was when she picked up her pace and the fourth hadn’t yet struck the girl when Jill pounced towards the woman.
Her world shifted as she flew towards the evil woman. The air chilled to an unbelievable level in a split second. The rage beat in Jill’s chest along with the fear. And suddenly, everything became a blur.
Jill roused and raised her head. Trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind, she realized that she was curled up in the tall grass. There was no pain, no discomfort, nothing to show that she’d been dumped from one world into another.
Looking up to get her bearings, she saw a crowd of children standing in the field. The grass was long, as she remembered. The place was doused in familiarity. She watched as the children milled around each other, ignoring the girl who had been slapped by the teacher. Even from this distance, Jill could see that the girl was upset and holding back tears.
The boy who’d been in trouble with the little girl, walked out from the group of children and over to Elise. He said something to her, but Jill can’t hear what it is, it is as if there is cotton wool stuffed in her ears. After all her experiences with these children, she knew not to expect to hear anything they said.
Trying to read his lips, she squinted and concentrated but she still wasn’t able to tell what he’s saying. The other children are standing back, watching. The boy looked around to them and words of support come, inaudible to Jill, but she can see that he is bolstered in his mission as he gets what must be encouragement.
