The Orphanage

The Orphanage Sleeping quietly in his small bed, Danny snored softly as the wind gently rapped the window of his bedroom. The night was still, but something menacing could be felt in the air. An eerie darkness overtook his bedroom, as the moonlight was blocked off by the overhead clouds. Danny’s eyes drifted up from his heavy sleep, and his muscles tensed as he felt something drawing closer. Although he could not see anything, there was something awkward about how the room felt. Suddenly, a small light began to illuminate the room. The bright flash came from under the door of his room, and began to spread into his room. As his eyes adjusted to the light, a flash blinded his eyes, as flames began to engulf the room. Sparks flew and the entire room began to succumb to the growing flames. Screams of his parents could be heard from outside, as the flames drew closer and closer to the trembling boy. The heat scorched his skin, but he was too paralyzed to move. The door was knocked down, and there stood his father and mother. As they struggled to reach the boy, the flames devoured them voraciously, as the ceiling collapsed upon their bodies. Next, the flames approached Danny, and the burning inferno began to consume his body. “Ahhhhhh!” Danny’s ear-piercing scream broke the silence of the night as he awoke in his bed, with sweat drenching his forehead. His heavy breathing and irregular heartbeat began to calm down after he realized it was just a dream. The trembling six-year-old sat there on his bed, and struggled to dispel the fearful memories of his past. Every night, the nightmares returned to him, each more vivid than the night before. The painful images of his burning apartment flashed back in his mind over and over, tormenting him. It had been two months ago since the incident occurred, yet the image was still left imprinted in his head. He had been adopted by a middle-aged couple, who had no other children themselves. James Thornton and his wife had taken in Danny right after the fire, but have recently been getting regrets. “Every day the kid’s woke us up screaming about some stupid dream,” groaned James as he angrily tossed out of bed. “Well, you can’t really blame him. He’s just a kid and he has lost both of his parents,” reasoned Mary, his wife. “I don’t care if he’s a kid! He can’t keep waking us up in the middle of the night like this! It’s ridiculous!” “What do you suggest doing?” ‘First thing next morning, I’m sending him off to that orphanage up in Porter County.” “No, not that one! Haven’t you heard? It’s been all over the news! That place is no good; you just can’t send him there!” “He’ll get used to it! There’s nothing wrong with that place; it’s just an orphanage.” *

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“If you would just sign right there, Mr. Thornton. There you go, you’re all good to go,” spoke a child care agent as James signed the proper papers for Danny’s release to the orphanage. “We assure you he’s in good hands, thank you!” “Like I care whether he’s in good hands or not,” muttered James under his breath as he casually strolled out of the orphanage without bothering to even look back at Danny. Danny followed Ms. Jones, a young lady who worked at the orphanage, into a fairly large room, with several beds sprawled on each side, cluttered with toys and crayons. There were many children crowding the room, the little boys running around throwing their shoes at each other, and girls playing with their decapitated dolls. After showing him to a stained bed in the corner, Ms. Jones left Danny alone. It was then, while watching the other kids play, that Danny noticed the stains on the wall. At first he thought it was just from markers and crayons, but a closer look made him realize that markers could not have made such marks. He could see the splashes of red through the extra coats of paint that had been added as a coverup. Frightened, Danny turned around and gazed out of a window. There in the distance stood a forest, which neighbored the fairly small orphanage. Although the trees were some distance away, the clear outline of something could be seen hanging from the trees. As Danny strained his eyes for a closer look, he could make out the rotting dead corpses that were violently stuffed up into the trees. The frozen eyes of the corpses bulged from its sockets, and Danny could have sworn that the eyes looked up at him. The most terrifying thing was that all of the dead bodies resembled children no older than Danny himself. He wondered if anybody else was seeing these things, but apparently the kids were too busy playing. When he glanced back, the corpses were no longer there. After his scare, Danny sat down on his bed and went back to watch the kids.

They kept busy to what they were doing. Surprisingly, none of them had even seen Danny come in. Danny felt something strange about the kids, as they were oblivious of everything around them. Gathering his strength, Danny got up and walked to a boy reading a book. “Hey, my name is Danny. What’s your name?” Danny forced the words out of his mouth. He gained no response, so he asked again. This time, the boy’s head slowly came out from the book, and faced Danny. Dilated pupils dark as night pierced into Danny’s own eyes. The boy’s skin was a pale blue color,and his face had a deformed shape. “I’m not sure. I forgot. It’s been so long, you know?” What do you mean?” Danny questioned. “Every day they make us see things. Terrible things. Now it’s finally our turn to play with them. You look new here. I don’t think you’re ready to play with them yet. No, get out of here. Get out of here!” The boy trembled as his eyes held an expression of fear that could not be captured in words. With a look of terror on his face, Danny ran back to his bed, and wondered what the kid had meant. Eventually, the repetitious children made him doze off. *

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Danny opened his eyes, and looked around the room. Strangely, all the kids were gone. It seemed like it was just him in the room. However, when Danny got out of bed, he saw them. The dead bodies of the kids littered the floor – pools of blood drenching the beds. The most disturbing thing was how the kids were beaten. Their bodies lay intact, but their heads were smashed brutally until there was nothing left. Danny’s eyes could not stand to look at such a grotesque scene – heads bobbing in blood and children lying massacred on the floor. As he jumped out of bed, scared to look around, he heard a sound from the hallway outside. It sounded like a heavy object smashing into the wall. “No, please don’t! No! Stop!” The screams of children could be heard, followed by a cackling laugh. Danny reluctantly peered outside the room, and stared in horror at what he saw. A small girl was whimpering against the wall, crying excessively. Her face was splashed with blood, and Danny could hear footsteps coming from down the hallway. Ms. Jones appeared from a room, and in her hand she carried a large mallet. Blood dripped from her hands, and she had a wide grin across her face. “There you are! Come on, come here! Don’t be afraid.” She approached the weeping girl and grasped the mallet firmly in both hands. Danny could not stand to witness what was going to happen. He ducked back in his room, and all he heard were the girl’s final screams and the blood smearing across the walls. When he ran back into the room, he found that all the windows were barred shut and there was only one door leading outside to the hallway, which was the one with Ms. Jones right outside. “Oh, Danny! Where are you?” cried the sickly voice. The demented Ms. Jones stepped inside the room, still wielding the blood-soaked mallet. At that moment, her eyes locked on his and a hideous smile appeared on her face. Her skin was pale blue and she no longer looked human. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were stained. Her eyes were red, and had an evil gleam. The mallet swung in her hand, and she prepared to strike it into Danny’s skull. His fragile head would easily be crushed, and he had nothing to fight back with. She came closer and closer, as Danny stood shocked by what was going to happen. Finally, he managed to build up some courage and dashed past Ms. Jones. As he ran past her, she swung the mallet, barely missing his head. Danny rushed for the door and left Ms. Jones following him. Danny continued down the hallway and found the stairwell leading downstairs. As he looked down the stairs, he saw a dead corpse at the bottom. Her body was twisted and her neck was cracked. As Danny took a closer look, the body disappeared. Danny scrambled down the stairs and rushed onto the first floor. While catching his breath, Danny froze as he noticed a silhouette at the end of the hall. There stood a man dressed in all black, wearing an expensive suit and carried a long wooden cane. In front of him lay a whimpering little boy. The man grabbed his cane and drove into the boy’s skull, oblivious of the blood staining his clothes. The rooms to the side of him were all quiet, and Danny did not dare peer inside the rooms. He took a moment to marvel at his heinous deed and then faced Danny. He casually began to stroll down the hall and began to approach Danny, placing a firm grip around his cane. The man resembled Ms. Jones, sharing the same pale blue skin and cold dark eyes. “Don’t bother, you can’t escape from here. You see, sixty years ago, the caretaker of the orphanage was a lonely, troubled man. At one time he had money, a car, house, everything. However, he was robbed of one thing – his love. His wife urged him to come visit the kids here and help them out. However, the kids took a disliking of the rich man and his wife. One day, while the wife came to bring the kids something she baked, they decided to pull a prank on her. They scattered some marbles at the top of the stairs, and the poor woman was unable to see them as she came up. She fell back

and dismantled her neck, while the kids laughed, assuming she was just hurt. When the husband came, he saw her dead body sprawled at the base of the stairs, and looked at the laughing kids smirking at their little hoax,” explained the man as he came closer to Danny. “The man killed himself with grief, but he refused to leave the kids of the orphanage unpunished. He returned and massacred all of them, and swore that he would kill every kid that walked foot inside this orphanage again. They have taken by greatest joy, and I will make all of them suffer! Now get over here!” The man rushed at Danny and swung his cane. Barely missing, the cane struck the wall and left a large dent. Danny rushed back to the stairs and decided how he would get out of here. Again, the dead body appeared sprawled upon the floor. Danny couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man. Suddenly, he heard a shrill scream and Ms. Jones emerged from the shadows. She held her mallet in her hand and dove at Danny. Danny raced down the stair and found himself in the basement of the orphanage. Exhausted from running, he decided to take a breath and ran inside a small closet. He closed the door behind him, and began burst into tears. Unexpectedly, a cold hand grasped Danny’s neck and slammed him against the wall. The grip tightened around his neck, and he could hear a knife being drawn. The coarse fingers wrapped around Danny’s mouth, as he felt the tip of a knife push into his neck. Without thinking, Danny bit his teeth into the stranger. Although, a bitter taste covered his mouth, Danny did not hesitate in rushing out of the closet, and started running down the hall. He came to the boiler room, where an old and bulky furnace hissed, and released steam into Danny’s face. Surrounding the boiler were barrels on which Danny made out the words HIGHLY FLAMMABLE. From down the hall, the man with the cane emerged from the walls and made his way towards the boiler. “There you are! Nice to see you again, my friend! Now, let’s finish our earlier business, shall we?” The man drew his cane, and reached Danny, who was whimpering in a corner. The hissing of the boiler grew louder and louder, and the room became uncomfortably warm. Danny stood trembling in front of the boiler, as the man struck his cane. At the last second, Danny moved out of the way. Just as he did this, the cane got stuck in the boiler. The man frantically tried to pull it out, but the cane would not come out. The man desperately tried to retrieve his weapon, but was unable to. Forgetting that it was wooden, the cane caught on fire, and the flames spread to the fame. In a giant flash, the man burst into flames. “Ahhhh! Get over here!” The walking inferno stumbled and crashed into one of the barrels. By this time, Danny had already broken into a run towards the stairs. The boiler expanded and the man cast a look of terror as he stood staring at his mistake. However, by the time Danny reached the stairs, he heard a scream behind him. When he turned around to check, a huge ball of flame engulfed the entire building. The flames consumed everything in their path, as the building began to come down. Memories flashed back into Danny’s mind, as his nightmares finally became reality, and the growing inferno eventually caught up with him, causing Danny to collapse. *

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A large pair of hands carried Danny out of the debris and smoke, as the fire was being put out. The fireman carried Danny away from the burning building and into a nearby clearing. Danny slowly regained consciousness and looked at his savior. He had his helmet and mask on, so Danny could not see his face to thank him. As Danny was gently placed down on the grass, the fireman took off his mask. “Thank you so much! Thank you!” Danny embraced the man who had saved him from the nightmare. However, it was only then that Danny saw the fireman’s face. His cold, dark eyes burned into Danny’s skin, and the pale blue skin glowed in the moonlight. The fireman reached into his pocket and pulled out a blood-stained mallet.