It was a Friday afternoon, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and all was well in the outside world. It was almost the weekend. ‘Just one more day’ Quire kept repeating to herself over and over again. She finishes up her last task which is deep cleaning the bathrooms of the T.D.S.F halfway house. She dumps out the dirty water in the sink, and then proceeds to clean the sink. She stands back in the doorframe and admires her handiwork. Quire enjoys the little things, she likes seeing progress made, even in an unflattering environment.
As she turns to leave the bathrooms she runs into one of the halfways houses headmasters, Miss Goodman. ‘Good afternoon Miss Goodman’ Quire greets her with a warm welcome. ‘Mhmm.’ Miss Goodman responds by brushing off Quire without even as much as turning her head slightly to acknowledge her. She doesn’t even break her stride down the hall. She just keeps going. Quire wasn’t entirely sure why everyone who stayed here, be it patient or worker, were always so off putting to her and her sister, Quentin. But they were, and in a sense, they were the only family she’s ever had. She doesn’t know her parents, or really anything else except this building and the people in it. As far as she’s ever been able to tell, her and her sister were the last ‘new’ patients admitted here.
She checks her watch and it reads 3:33 pm. She’s got twelve minutes to make her seminar. She turns to walk down the hall leading to the staircase up to the classrooms where her session will start. But there’s no one in the hallway, or stairwell leading to the room. Quire doesn’t think much of it, or even particularly notice that fact and heads to the room. She takes her spot in class which is situated at the back half of the room. As she sits down she notices that it’s only her, and two other people in the classroom. One was a guy named Jimmy, who she had shared lunches with back when they were really young together and the other was a person she doesn’t recognize. ‘Where were the other people?’ she thought to herself. The lights go out, and a projector turns on. A cartoon starts playing, full on rubber hose style, with no music to accompany it. The only sound that encapsulated the room was that of the projection playing this particular scene. It showed two people. They were seemingly a couple, arguing. They were arguing in a field full of dancing children. The arguing couple looped continuously while the children either left, grew old and turned to skeletons around them. The arguing halted while it stopped at a black screen which read; WHY! It then resumed to the couple arguing but they themselves were old and morphing into skeletons while different looking children filled up an entirely new park. Dancing around them. The couple eventually got tired of arguing. Walked to a nearby bench and sat down on it. Fully converted to skeletons. It then halted again and another screen came up which read; FIN!
Quire wasn’t entirely sure what she watched, or what it had to do at all with life management skills. But before she was able to continue her train of thought the door to the classroom had slammed shut, and behind it was a man in a doctor's outfit.
“NOW, CAN SOMEONE HERE TELL ME WHAT THEY JUST WATCHED?” Exclaimed the man. But no one in the room answered. “MAYBE I DIDN’T SAY IT CLEAR ENOUGH, CAN SOMEONE HERE TELL ME WHAT THEY JUST WATCHED?” Asked the man again, but again it was to complete silence. Quire was kind of just in shock as to the past few minutes in general, but she also wasn’t one to raise her hand if she didn’t have something to contribute. The man approaches the kid at the front of the class, the one Quire didn’t recognize. Leans in, and looks him in the eyes. He whispers something in his ear, and the kid passes out at his desk. The singular light flickers off and then on again but now it’s only Jimmy and Quire in the room. The other kid is nowhere to be found and the man is sitting in his place. Jimmy doesn’t seem to notice that the other kid is gone, but instead responds to the man's question. “It represents life, or rather, the bad aspects of what life can be.” The man turns to Jimmy and says, “Very good. Jim. Very good. But there is more, perhaps Quire can elaborate a bit more on your thoughts? Hmmm?” Both he and Jimmy turn back to face Quire almost in perfect unison. Quire at this point knows she has to say something to this man. Otherwise whatever happened to that kid could happen to her. But now she's even doubting if that kid was there in the first place. “It represents how if you’re not too careful, the bad things can swallow you whole and before you know it, it’ll be too late.” She says lacking confidence in anything right now. “Hmmmm, Interesting interpretation Quire. I like your train of thought. Good, Good. Class dismissed everyone.” The light flickers on and off one more time, and with the final flash the man is gone, and that strange kid is back in his seat. Waking from his slumber.
Quire gets up and leaves the room as quickly as she can and begins to head back to her and Quentin's room. She checks her watch which reads 8:45pm. ‘Five hours?’ She thinks to herself. She rushes down the empty and locked down halls to find her room. She opens the door and finds it just as she left it earlier in the morning. Except Quentin was nowhere to be found. Instead she finds a note on her nightstand. A note addressed to her but in her Sisters handwriting. Quire sits on her bed, turns on the lamp and opens the note. The note reads;
Quire, tHis note has been a very long time coming. But I'm afraid we’re both at the agE where it’s time we go our separate ways and experience the world outside of this place. PLease don’t come looking for me. I’ll be fine, and so will you. It’s what our parents thought when they decided to give us uP and it’s what I think now. Good luck. Your sister, Quentin.
Quire knew from the get go that something was completely off, her sister would never write something so foreign. She notices that a couple of letters within the letter are a bit more bolded and deeply drawn into the paper. Four letters that only spell one thing. Help. Without hesitation she grabs a small backpack of useful things and goes to leave their room in search of where her sister could have possibly gone. But she finds the door out is now completely sealed shut, seemingly without any way out.
THERE WE HAVE IT! SANCTUM CHAPTER 2! From the soon to be releases “Eye Candy” a collection of short stories written by me! Along with some rad art contributed by some rad artists. I’m sorry for the radio silence as of late, I’ve been sick as heck and also in the process of moving in with my super lovely girlfriend. It’s not back to regular rotation. So tune in next week! For a new chapter of thrills and chills!
Thanks again as always,
Vinnie
June 21st 2022
I loved all of this! So creepy yet you have to continue reading to see what's going on! And I loved how the word help was in there... I didn't even noticed till the end.. I thought it was spelling error... loved it