“Hey, soldier.” Summer greeted him casually, offhandedly; nobody who’d grown up where she had would think of ignoring a soldier, especially one who looked so fresh from deployment. “Welcome home.”
♖Thank you, ma’am.♖ ✒Lawrence started, facing her with a polite smile. ♖Good to be home. ♖
She put her hands in her pockets, standing beside him. “Stilinski,” she read off his jacket. Laughing slightly, she added, “I can’t read the rank insignia so clearly. Do you have a first name? Waiting for someone?”
✒He’d been standing there for five minutes, at the bus stop. This was his home town; he was home, and yet he wasn’t sure where to go. His house? The hospital? No, no he wasn’t incredibly fond of that idea. Yeah… yeah he’d just go to the house. He’d go by the hospital later, as per recommendation; after all, he didn’t like walking with a cane either.
“Hey, soldier.” Summer greeted him casually, offhandedly; nobody who’d grown up where she had would think of ignoring a soldier, especially one who looked so fresh from deployment. “Welcome home.”
She wandered passageway after passageway following the strange smell. Mice began to be more prominent. But those were the only clues she had. “Please, I need you to talk. Anything. I hope you can year me.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering in the renewed silence. “Please don’t leave me alone.” It was hard to even tell how loud she was being now. Was that person still searching, or had they given up?
“Okay, um, you should still probably stay low key. Just in case.” Orchid knew she was close. How close was the question. A small doorway was to her right. A possibility.
“I can’t…
She faintly heard the other girl scream. “Shit.” Something went wrong, she went the wrong way. Orchid opened the door and a strange scent overpowered her. She continued down a darker hallway using a small flashlight to guide her. Her family always made fun of her for being so prepared. “I will find you.”
The darkness, the little noises, the phantom touches, all seemed more overwhelming after that brief brush with humanity. She shivered, more from fear and hope strangling her than from cold. “Please,” she whimpered, “don’t leave me alone.”
“Okay, um, you should still probably stay low key. Just in case.” Orchid knew she was close. How close was the question. A small doorway was to her right. A possibility.
“I can’t do anything in here…
The stairs led to a hallway that turned abruptly back. Orchid moved quietly. There was another door, smaller this time. Were she not looking for it, she would have missed it. “Can you still hear me?”
She couldn’t hear the other person anymore, and panic gripped her. What if that person got caught? What if they were just lying in wait to get anyone who tried to help her? “Don’t leave me alone!”
