Fan Fiction ❯ Buckles and Beams ❯ The Abyss ( Chapter 6 )

Buckles and Beams

Chapter 6: The Abyss

Aurora could see buildings blur past her vision, which shrank to crumbling storefronts and finally, to a few houses that were dotted between the miles.

Aurora swallowed, pulling enough of her courage together to repeat the question, "Daddy, where are we going?"

"God damn it, I already told you. How many times do I have to repeat myself?! I would think that your Devil's curse would be able to give you the answer, anyway." He grabbed her arm and shook her into silence. He hated it when she asked the same thing twice. Daddy was right, though. She could see the place they were headed.

Daddy had gotten a letter a couple of days ago. It had said it was a Catholic school…Daddy was a Catholic. He thought that the only way Aurora could be `cured' was to drive the Devil from her by force, and this was exactly what the letter had proposed. Mommy had thrown out the letter when she found it in Daddy's dresser, but she couldn't drive the address from his mind.

He repeated it to himself when he ate.

Aurora could see a picture of the place painted across his mind. It was dark and scary, and very far away from Mommy.

14319 Bridgestone.

She closed her eyes against the image, but it plastered itself to the back of her eyelids. The car slowed, and when she opened her eyes, it flowed over to the physical version of her image. Aurora would have screamed or cried, but her throat was dry, and only a raspy gargling noise came out. She barely felt Daddy climb from the car, shut his door, open her own door, and pull her up the front steps. Her mind was disconnected, eyes darting back and forth from the square black rooftop to the sinister silver design over the doorframe.

The red brick building may only have been twenty feet across, but it loomed over Aurora like a bad dream. Daddy knocked, and the sound rattled around in her skull until the door finally creaked open. A smiling young man in a business suit peek from around the corner, and knelt down in front of her.

"Well, you must be Aurora, our newest student. We're happy to have you here." She half expected him to ruffle her hair, but he didn't. His eyes were dark brown, almost black, and his black hair was slicked back into a control-freak style.

"Is that all? Can I go?" Daddy's voice and hard grip on her arm reminded Aurora of his presence, and she ripped her eyes from the stranger to look up at him pleadingly. He did not return her gaze.

"Yes, you've already signed the necessary papers. It is procedure for me to remind you that under no circumstances are you or your wife allowed to return for the girl until the end of the allotted time span, which is three years in your case. If you do not return for the girl at this time, she will legally turn over into our custody. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Both men shook hands, and Daddy shoved Aurora into the young man's grasp. She cried out slightly and reached for his shirttail, but he was down the path and driving away in his car before the weight of the situation hit her. Daddy wasn't going to come back. Not now, not ever. Her body went cold, and her brain froze over. Numbly, she allowed herself to be guided into the red brick building with its black roof and sinister silver designs.