Dark Friends Read Free Page A

ear. She sat up, hearing the rain on the roof, like a thousand tiny feet tap-dancing.
                  “C’mon, there’s not much time.” The small voice insisted. Amelia blinked and saw a small girl in front of her, probably no more than seven years old. Amelia didn’t recognize her. “Who are you?”
                  “I’m Allie. C’mon, you haven’t seen everything yet.” Allie grabbed Amelia’s hand and half-pulled her out of bed. Amelia went along, wondering what she hadn’t seen yet that could be so important in the middle of the night. Allie led her out of the dorm and Amelia’s heart pounded as she entered the hallway. If they were caught, a harsh punishment surely awaited both of them. Allie led Amelia fearlessly down the hallway going away from the laundry room, towards the rest of the facility. Amelia’s breath caught in her throat as they suddenly emerged outside in the freezing rain; she hadn’t realized how close she always was to the outdoors, she hadn’t been outside since her arrival. Amelia followed Allie towards a tall building across the courtyard and the girls burst through the entryway, eager to be out of the rain. Allie’s small, cold hand gripped Amelia’s' and she led her up a winding staircase that never seemed to end.
                  “Where are we going?” Amelia was exhilarated and confused.
                  “We’ll be there soon, I promise.” The girls finally reached the top and Amelia was stunned. She could see the entire orphanage and its surrounding countryside. There was the housing buildings with the obvious section of laundry room jutting out, there were also two small, squat building that were churning out great billows of black smoke, and there was the tower that they were in. The most modern styled building was the receiving building that housed the counselors and faced the main road, some five hundred yards from where Amelia now stood. Amelia had never realized the entire layout of the orphanage and she wondered how Allie had ever discovered this vantage point.
                  “Why did you bring me here?” Amelia asked, turning towards Allie. The girl was gone. Amelia looked down at where Allie’s small hand had been holding her own and she only then realized that she was holding her own hand.  She looked down at the courtyard and thought she could see Allie’s small figure running through the rain, towards the dorm buildings. Amelia sighed and made to leave when she noticed a field beyond the laundry room, one she hadn’t noticed before. There were small protrusions in the earth at linear intervals and Amelia wondered what the field was used for. Perhaps the staff was growing crops out in the field. Or perhaps it was a cemetery. Amelia couldn’t be sure at that late hour what she was seeing, so she resolved to go back to bed and uncover the truth at her leisure.
                                Chapter 2              
                  Per the State’s requirements, orphans had to be given a basic education. Every Fall, a stiff government employee showed up at Lisson Orphanage and administered a standardized test. The kids were not expected to do well, only to demonstrate that they could perform basic reading and arithmetic. Though Ellis loathed the perceived intrusion on his territory, he was powerless to deny the government representative. The assessment was undoubtedly of much more than just the children's education, it was of their condition, though that part was unofficial.
                  Once the ten through twelve year olds were seated in the lobby, the government employee passed out the tests and read the instructions. The kids were clearly nervous of taking the examination and more than one pencil fell on the floor as their hands shook. Many of them could not perform basic academic functions and once Ellis discovered the