Leaving Redwood

• Sarah Castle, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2013

Blue eyes. Two bright blue eyes draped with thick dark hair were staring down at me as I lay on the cold, hard ground. "Are you alright?" she asked me in a timid voice. "I think so. My head hurts. Who are you? Where are we?" I replied. "Lacey, Lacey Roberts, and I don't know where we are. The last thing I remember was walking home from school then... nothing." She trailed off. A cold hard feeling of dread slowly washed through my body as I struggled to recall the last thing I had done. I had been roaming the streets with my friends, but I had left them to go to the bathroom and then it just stopped. I sat up slowly with every muscle in my body screaming in protest and ran the back of my hand over my pounding head. It came away sticky and wet with scarlet-red blood. Lacey was watching me closely; "Here," she said, handing me her black jacket with shaking hands. "Use this." I took it from her gratefully. I didn't want to ruin her coat, but all I had was a thin white t-shirt. She smiled reassuringly at me with her ruby red lips. I tentatively wiped the gash on my head, wincing in pain with each stroke. "So where are you from, Lacey? Do you know why this is happening?" I asked her. "I live in Redwood. I go to St. Heather Academy for Girls. I'm guessing you go to Hamilton High, because it's the only guys school for 100 kilometres? And no, I don't know why I'm here and I'm freaking out!" She shrieked. I took her trembling hands in an effort to calm her down. "Hey," I told her. "It'll be okay Lace, alright?" She swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, I do go to Hamilton and if you go to Heather's then it makes sense that I haven't seen you before." I stood up and gave her jacket back to her before I walked around the small room we were trapped in. There was only one door, no windows, no furniture. I tried the handle; Dead bolted with a key. "So it looks like we are stuck in here at least for the time being anyway," I stated. She nodded again as I strode back over to her and sat down beside her. "So what's your name?" Lacey asked. "Scott Baker," I replied, holding out my hand to her. She grinned and shook it warmly. "It's very nice to meet you Scotty. Well, kinda." That's when we heard the click and snap of a door unlocking. Lacey's hand gripped mine tighter. "Scott," she murmured as the door flung open revealing our captor.