Clash Of Worlds (3 page)

Inside the room were several rows of small beds. The old woman pointed into the room. “Inside.”

The two youngsters looked at each other, a mixture of confusion and fear was edged on their faces.

“Go on,” urged the woman, in a not too pleasant manner.

Reluctantly, the boys began to walk into the room. The woman walked in behind them and closed the door.

“Follow me,” she said and began to walk down the middle of the room.

The two boys hurried after her and the three of them walked, beds either side of them. The boys curiously looked around the room. They began to notice movement from a few of the beds. Inside the beds lay small boys; some of who had been woken up by the old lady and the two boys when they entered. A few of the boys began to whisper to each other from inside their beds.

The old lady picked up on the whispers. “Go back to sleep,” she told all of them.

The boys did exactly what the lady asked of them and put their heads on their pillows. Some even hid beneath the covers, afraid of the consequences should they not obey.

The old lady and the two boys reached the far end of the room. In the corner stood two empty beds. The woman pointed to them.

“Go to sleep,” she said in a tone that offered no argument.

The boys did as they were bid and got into bed. The woman walked back down the room and to the door, which she shut behind her. The sound of a key turning in the door lock could be heard.

One of the boys, who had blond hair, lay on the bed trembling in fear. The other boy, who was in the bed next to him and had darker hair, picked up on the fact the boy was scared.

“Hey are you ok?” the dark haired boy said.

The blond haired boy nodded, although he looked anything but ok.

“I’m Chad, what’s your name?” the dark hair boy asked.

“James,” the blond haired boy replied.

Another boy from across the room whispered over to the pair. “You’d best go to sleep, if they catch you talking we’ll all be in for it.”

There was genuine fear in his voice. Chad and James put their heads on their pillows and closed their eyes, although neither of them slept much that night.

Several weeks passed, then before the boys knew it, several months, and then years. James and Chad were now ten years old and were still in residence at Bel Grave orphanage. They had grown to call the place home, if you can call it a home that is. The boys lived under the strictest of rules in the orphanage. They did their own washing, cleaning and sometimes even cooking. The slightest hint of disobedience was met with severe punishment. Countless numbers of boys had been struck with a wooden cane or whipped with a leather belt as a means of punishment to teach them some manners. The staff kept the boys of the orphanage in line with fear. This brought them closer together, and they thought of each other as brothers because of it. Chad had become a leader of sorts to the boys. He was the oldest after all, if only by a few months. Long after their curfew, the boys would sneak out of bed and cause mischief. They would play games such as hide and seek or knock door run. Knock door run was especially fun when they knocked on Mrs Garner’s bedroom. She was the head of the orphanage and was the old lady who first opened the doors to Chad and James four years ago. Not that the boys could remember that day. It seemed such a long time ago.

One night, after the lights had gone out, the boys slipped out of their beds as they usually would. “Did you get it?” Chad said to Roger, who at six years old was the youngest of the group. Roger nodded and held out a metal paper clip. Chad smiled.

“Yes, Roger!” Chad held his hand up and Roger gave him a high five. Chad took the paper clip and tossed it to James who caught it. “You’re the lock pick, do your thing.”

“Piece of cake,” James replied, who tiptoed his way to the door. James knelt down and stuck the paper clip in the key lock of the bedroom door, which was always locked after hours. James’s tongue came out and pressed over his top lip and concentration filled his young face as he attempted to pick the lock with the clip.

Chad began to get a little agitated by the delay. “Come on, hurry it up!”

James did not appreciate the interruption. “Shut up, I’m going as fast as I can.” Just at that exact moment the lock clicked open. James turned and grinned at Chad.

“Took you long enough,” Chad said with a hint of sarcasm.

The group of boys, ten of them in number, quietly made their way out of the bedroom and headed down the corridor. Chad led the way, being able to see surprisingly well despite the lack of light.

“Come on, this way,” Chad said.

One of the boys bumped into an artificial plant bush that was up against a wall, knocking it to the floor.

Chad turned around unimpressed. “Watch where you’re going, you’ll wake them up.”

“Sorry,” stuttered Chris who was the boy at the back of the pack. Chris was always messing up. He seemed to get caught the most when the boys would get up to no good, and Chris had felt the wrath of Mrs Garner more than anyone else. He always spoke with a stutter and the orphanage staff would mock him in a demeaning manner. The small boy had lost a lot of confidence as a result.

“You sure you know where you’re going? I can’t see a thing,” said James, who was directly behind Chad.

“Yeah it’s this way,” Chad assured him. Chad opened up a door in the hallway, which led to a dining room. He noticed the light switch and flicked it on. The sudden light caught the rest of the boys off guard and they quickly lifted their hands to shield their eyes.

“What are you doing, leave the light off!” James said, clearly worried that one of the orphanage staff may notice the light coming from the room.

“Don’t worry about it, I know what I’m doing,” Chad replied who looked totally composed and calm. “Come on, everyone inside and close the door behind you.”

The group entered the dining room and closed the door. In the centre of the room was a large dining table with numerous chairs around it. The table could easily seat around twenty. In the far corner of the room was where the kitchen was located and that was the direction Chad was headed. Chad gestured with his arm, almost like an army sergeant might command his troops across a battlefield. The group of boys followed him in, making their way over to the kitchen. The kitchen was set off from the back of the dining room. The boys walked through it, their small heads barely making it over the height of the cooker and the grill. All except for Chad, who was an inch or two taller than the rest. Chad spotted the refrigerator and smiled. He quickly rushed over to it and opened the refrigerator door. Inside was a vast amount of treats such as biscuits, chocolate and crisps. These, of course, were for the staff. The boys had never been given treats like this when it was time to eat. All they ever seemed to get was soup or very disgusting mash and peas. However, James and Chad had discovered this refrigerator a few months earlier and the boys always sneaked to the kitchen for treats every few days. The boys were very careful too. They would only take small amounts; just enough to not arouse suspicion. However tonight was different because this time Chad spotted something he hadn’t seen in the refrigerator before. It was a huge chocolate sponge cake.

“Look at that,” Chad said bursting with excitement.

James peered into the fridge and looked at the cake. The pair looked at each other and smiled. Chad took it out and put it on the dining table. All the boys looked on in awe.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Don’t just look at it, tuck in boys!”

And the boys did just that. They grabbed pieces of cake and shoved it in their mouths with their bare hands. The boys began to laugh and giggle as they ate, talking with their mouths full with chocolate smeared all around their lips.

Chad sat on the big chair at the end of the table and just for a moment, Chad felt as tall as a king. “You know boys, this is the life isn’t it?” He said in triumph.

Suddenly the boys heard movement from upstairs as if someone was up and about. Then they began to hear footsteps walking down the stairs.

“Quick turn the light off,” James said to Peter, who was the closest boy to the kitchen door.

Peter was the chubbiest of the boys and it still took him several moments to make his way to the light switch and turn it off. With the light off, the boys frantically looked for somewhere to hide. Roger hid behind the cooker, Peter and his brother Paul hid behind the curtains, James hid underneath the table. All the boys found somewhere to hide apart from Chad, who had to go right next to the dining room door from which they had first come in. If the door were to open, the door would cover him from sight, so he thought that a safe enough place.

Footsteps could be heard from the corridor outside. The footsteps began to get louder and most definitely closer. Chad, who was right next to the door, could hear the sound of steps better than anyone else. The footsteps came to a halt outside the dining room door. Chad could almost feel the presence of someone from the other side of the door looking into the dining room. The boys held their breath as the doorknob began to turn. Chad’s heart began pounding so fast he thought it would break through his chest. Then all of sudden the doorknob stopped turning, and the footsteps began to walk away from the door. Chad closed his eyes in relief, but he dare not move from his hiding place. The rest of the boys remained frozen. Several minutes passed and still the footsteps were nowhere to be heard. James came out from underneath the table.

“Do you think they’re gone?” he asked.

Chad put his ear to the door and tried to listen for any movement outside. “Seems so.”

Everyone came out from their hiding places. The looks on the boys’ faces were a mixture of relief and fear. They knew they dare not get caught, for to get caught would mean dire consequences. Chad felt the tension within the group and tried to raise spirits.

“They’re gone, nothing to worry about!” Chad opened the dining room door to show them they had nothing to fear.

The look on James’ face changed from relief to that of utter horror in an instant
Chad behind you!

Behind the door stood an old man, Jack, the orphanage night man. He quickly grabbed Chad. “Come here you!” the night man barked as Chad tried to fight his way free. The rest of the boys screamed and frantically ran for cover. A few more of the night staff ran in and rounded on the boys.

Mrs Garner, the old woman who was the head at Bel Grave Orphanage now entered the dining room. “Get them, get them all, we’ll teach them a lesson!”

Peter struggled to break free from one of the male members of staff. He managed to get himself loose for a moment before one of the other staff members slapped him hard in the face knocking him to the ground. James stopped running when he saw Peter fall and stood there frozen. Mrs Garner quickly seized on him grabbing him from behind. To be fair, though, James didn’t put up much of a fight. He had the stuffing knocked out of him by seeing Peter brutally knocked to the floor.

Chad and Jack the night man’s scuffle had worked its way into the corridor outside the dining room. Chad, who at ten years old was several inches smaller than the old man, was surprisingly holding his own. During the pairs grappling, they both fell to the floor and Chad tried to crawl away. Jack grabbed his legs but struggled to keep a firm grip. Jack became enraged by his inability to stop Chad.

“Come here you little bastard!”

Chad threw a punch, which landed on Jack’s chin, which rocked the old man slightly. Jack dove on Chad and stuck his hands around his throat. Jack began to squeeze down as Chad struggled for breath. In a fit of rage, Chad pushed Jack off him, launching the old man several feet into the air. Jack crashed into the corridor wall with a massive thud. The man stayed down clutching his back. Even Chad seemed surprised by his feat of strength. He picked himself up off the floor and ran.

Several hours had passed and Chad was nowhere to be found around the orphanage. The staff had searched high and low, in every room, the basement, the loft, but they found nothing. Chad had not left the premises, though. The orphanage was in a state of lockdown. Every exit was electronically locked and there was no way out. All of the boys were lined up in the assembly hall. Mrs Garner stood in front of the boys like a school headmaster would stand in front of her pupils. The boys stood frozen, like rabbit’s stuck in headlights, nervous and afraid. Mrs Garner began to walk up and down, eyeballing the boys as she did so. Several of the staff stood all around the boys, including Jack, who held his right hand to his back, clearly still in pain from his earlier confrontation with Chad.

Mrs Garner began to address the boys, walking with purpose wall to wall as she did so. “As you are all well aware there was a little incident earlier on tonight,” she said with a sinister tone in her voice. “You are all ungrateful little brats. Naughty boys that need to all be taught a lesson!” Mrs Garner focused most of her attention on James throughout the lecture. “I will, however, give you one chance to save yourselves,” she carried on. “The ring leader of this night of mischief is still hiding somewhere. I know one of you know where he hides.” She again focused on James. “If any of you have any knowledge of that meddlesome boys whereabouts this evening, any knowledge at all then I invite you to step forward.” She peered right into James’ eyes. “If no-one fails to do so, you leave me no choice but to punish every single one of you.” Mrs Garner gave a slight grin.

The boys began to get really scared, some of them began to breathe heavily and others began to sweat relentlessly. James remained calm, but he felt several of the other boys eyes lock onto him, for they knew that James knew where Chad chose to hide. James did not speak, though, so Mrs Garner acted accordingly. She knew how to make James talk. She also realised that James wasn’t afraid of her. She knew however that James was very protective of the other boys, so she decided to call the youngest of the group Roger out to the front of the assembly hall. Mrs Garner reached into a cabinet that stood against the wall behind her and took out an old wooden cane. Roger started to cry.