Chapter Three

Days flew by after that night, and I realized today was the day I had to go to Clacton to meet up with Hannah. My stomach knotted at that thought. I was surprised I could keep this a secret from my people for this long, and I wondered what my people would think of me if they found out I had left. It was the afternoon, and my people were at the cleaning station of the cave; we all had wooden buckets full of water and soap mixed with soggy clothes. My forearms were getting sore as I scrubbed the dirt off the clothes. Alea was beside me doing the same, and I could see beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks as her eyes concentrated on the bucket.

It seemed like Andre and Signey forgot about their argument with me a couple of days ago. I didn't apologize or anything because shame and embarrassment stopped me. I continued to wash the clothes; Alea quickly glanced at me. "How's it going over there?" She asked. "This is definitely a workout for sure." I sighed. "You're so right about that, and that's why I love this part of the day. There's nothing better than a good workout." I chuckled at her comment; I'd prefer to lie in bed and do nothing. No responsibilities, and especially no clothes to clean. Just me and my slightly comfortable bed. I told Alea this, which cracked a laugh, "I knew you'd say something like that."

We went back to washing clothes; I thought about the trip to meet up with Hannah. Again, my stomach knotted tightly. Then I tried to dismiss those thoughts from the worry of Alea seeing my obvious anxiety, or even worse, Andre or Signey. I shouldn't let them know about this, or else my plans would be completely destroyed.

It's been a few hours after cleaning the clothes, it's close to reaching night, and my people and I are eating food around the campfire. Miss Mallory didn't have a story for us today, so the campfire was filled with chatter and nothing more. We ate around the campfire for a few hours before finally heading to bed. I lay on my bed and pretended to be asleep for a few minutes until I heard everybody was sleeping. Then I would make my way out of the cave and towards Clacton. Soon, the area was silent, snoring, confirming me to get ready. I slowly lifted my head off of my pillow, along with the blanket. Then, I got up and cautiously walked over to Alea and the others. Every second, I looked back at my people as I wore my winter clothes.

After what felt like minutes of putting my winter clothes on, I started to go to the hallway, which was still dimly lit by the lined-up lanterns on the wall. Every second, I turned around to the end of the hallway. At the back of my mind, something would tell me that somebody would wake up, which gave me unspeakable anxiety. Finally, I made it to the door and was greeted with about twenty clothes hugging the door tightly. I was overwhelmed at the sight and began to unlock every lock; some locks were like complicated puzzles that had to be solved more than once, taking more of my time and allowing anyone to see me. A bead of sweat full of nervousness rolled down my face.

After what felt like an hour, the door was finally opened. The bitter cold of the night entered the hallway and hit my face. I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the trip back to Clacton, and before I could make it out of the door...

A voice called for me.

"Clovius?"

My head snapped to the end of the hallway, and my eyes widened. To my surprise, Alea was at the end of the hallway. Looking at me with worry, her long gown softly dragged across the ground as she approached me. "What are you doing?" She asked. My jaws tensed up as I thought of something to say; a half-believable answer was the best I could come up with.

"I was just getting something I had lost in the woodlands." I stared at her face, waiting for her to change her worried expression. But my nervousness grew worse when her face didn't change; it made me know she saw right through me. "You're lying to me, aren't you?" She muttered.

A giant ball formed in my throat, with rushing anxiety followed. What was I going to say? If I said no, she would've seen right through that. If I said yes, I would confirm I was lying to her. I thought for a moment about what to say; I felt defeated after realizing there was no escape from the situation.

"I was... and I am sorry." I shamefully answered.

"Where are you going then?" She asked. I hesitated to answer but did anyway. "I'm going to Clacton to meet up with Hannah," I replied. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything about it, Alea. I just..."

"No, it's okay." She muttered, cutting me off. Her voice began to sound shaky, and she turned her head to hide her face. "It was probably hard for you to trust me to keep a secret." I wanted to correct her, say that it wasn't that I didn't trust her. But before I could say anything, she turned around. "I will cover you until tomorrow morning. If you aren't back by then, Andre and Signey will start searching for you, so don't take too long."

"Okay, I'll do my best to be back before the morning," I assured her; she made her way down the hallway.

"Alea," I called; she stopped and turned around.

"Yeah?"

"I am grateful to have you as a friend," I said.

Tiny flames from the lanterns danced on Aleas emerald eyes, and a satisfied smile formed on her precious face. "Of course, Clovius. I'm always here for you, and don't forget that." She walked out of the hallway, disappearing from my sight. I turned back around and faced the door. I held the doorknob. I took a deep breath and made my way out of the cave and into the night's bitter cold.

The dark silhouette of the woodlands stood before me; every tree stretched into the pitch-black sky. The snow glowed softly to the light coming from the moon. I began to walk into the woods, squinting my eyes to see what was in front of me. My winter coat would sometimes get caught on the tree branches, sometimes tripping on the tree roots that bulged out of the ground. The cold quickly seeped into my jacket, biting my skin. I pushed for my pace to go faster.

I made it to the hidden door at Clacton; I lifted my nearly frozen hand up to it and knocked. I stood in the cold, my bones shaking uncontrollably. Every part of my body was numb; the cold during the night was no joke. Finally, Hannah opened the door. She wore her winter coat, and her hair was pinned in a nappy bun.

"Clovius, I'm so happy you're back!"

I walked into the village; the neighborhood was slightly dimmed, with an orange light coming from the lanterns that decorated every house. "There's no way I would miss this opportunity to see you again, Hannah." I smiled. We hugged for a moment and then proceeded to Hannah's home. She approached me and said, "C'mon, we have to get ready for the special occasion."

"What do you mean by special occasion?" I asked. Hannah turned around and told me, "Once a year, the people of Clacton gather all around and have a huge festival; it's a way for us to have fun and enjoy everyone's company. And tonight, I'm taking you with me." A rush of anxiety filled my stomach. "This is a good idea? You know I am an outsider, and if someone sees me with you...." I was cut off by Hannah giggling at my obvious concern, "Don't worry about that, Clovius. I'm sure you'll blend in; everyone in this village keeps to themselves since something bad happened here." She looked forward and spoke softly, "People lock themselves in their homes now on this day, so you have nothing to worry about."

Puzzled at what Hannah was saying, I asked, "What happened to the village?" Hannah remained silent, never answering my question but continuing her walk home. "Let's hurry; the festival will end after midnight, so we don't want to hang out here too long." I silently followed her.

Hannah approached the door and slid the keys into the lock; before she opened it, she muttered, "Clovius, please don't tell my mom about what I said about the village not being the same after something bad happened, Okay?" I nodded my head, "Okay, I promise." Hannah slid the door open and walked in; I followed and was stopped by her. "Could you wait out here for a moment? I didn't tell my mom that I was taking you to the festival with me, so if she finds out, our plans will surely be ruined." I wasn't looking forward to staying out in the cold for longer, but at the same time, I wanted to spend time with Hannah. "Fine, I'll wait." I sighed. Hannah smiled awkwardly and thanked me; she closed the glass door and vanished from my sight. I dug my hands into my pockets and began to wait; the neighborhood was much quieter. The silence started to buzz in my ears, and the cold began to numb every part of my body even more.

Minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Hannah telling me it was okay to come in. My impatience grew the longer I stayed outside. Eventually, I felt the need to walk inside the house and be in the warmth. I contemplated if it was a good idea, but I convinced myself it was the best option. So, I opened the glass slide door and was greeted with the comforting sensation of warmth. My body felt like it had melted and no longer had to deal with the brutal cold. I decided to stand as close to the glass slide door as possible. I looked around the living room, and from what I could see, neither Hannah nor Cora could be seen. I wondered where they could be, possibly in another room, but doing what? Then, I heard a faint voice of someone yelling in the room at the far side of the house; it wasn't Cora's or Hannah's voice. It sounded like the voice belonged to a man, possibly in his fifties. The voice was old and raspy, like this person smoked a pack of cigarettes daily. I listened intently to the noise and heard Cora's voice underneath all of the yelling. It sounded like she was trying to calm this person down and that Hannah was trying to calm him down too.

Before I could hear anything else from the room, the door shot wide open. An old man walked out of the room; he was short and heavy. He wore a dirty gray jacket, and his stomach poked out of his white tank top covered in beer stains. A robust smell of fresh beer traveled from across the room and into my nostrils, his gray beard touched his chest, and some leftover saliva hung on the hairs on his beard, his face sagged with wrinkles. Cora and Hannah followed him out of the room, speaking with him, trying their best to calm the old man down. The man glanced in my direction and snapped his head back when he noticed me near the glass slide door. His eyes locked on me like a fly stuck on the tape. My body tensed up, my face whitening. The old man opened his mouth, revealing multiple rotting teeth and one missing in the front.

He spoke with a scratchy southern accent, "That's the outsider y'all been talkin' to, ain't it?"

The old man pointed his dirty finger toward me, "I knew it! That girl don't look like she from here." Cora said to the old man, "Mr. Whitlocks, you don't have to do this." He continued to stick his finger at me, shouting that I was the outsider; I remained frozen as the man taunted me. "I knew y'all were doin' some shady stuff 'round here. The officers will love to hear about this." He forced a raspy laugh and turned around to head to the front door. He swung it open, and before leaving, he said, "Y'all better enjoy y'alls last night of freedom; the officers will tear this place down to arrest y'all, traitors." Before Cora or Hannah could say anything, he slammed the door shut.

The room was silent, Cora, who looked overwhelmed by the whole experience, walked to one of the sofas and sat down, resting her forehead on her hand.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"I don't think you are in the position to ask questions right now, Clovius. Now tell me, what are you doing here?" She snapped an upset gaze at me as she waited for an answer. Before I could say anything, Hannah jumped in and said, "Mom, please don't get mad at Clovius." Cora looked at Hannah, "Oh yeah? Why's that? Somebody knows that we are interacting with an outsider now; who knows what will happen to us now?" Hannah remained silent, and the room was back to being nothing but quiet.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come." I looked at the floor with shame, "All this happened because I came; I'll leave now." Cora nodded her head, "Good." I turned around and opened the door. "No!" Hannah shouted, but before I heard her, I was already outside.

I walked out of the patio and headed for the door at the end of the neighborhood. Tears formed in my eyes when I realized that'll probably be the last time I would be able to come to Clacton. I made it close to the door and reached for the doorknob.

"Clovius!" Hannah shouted; I turned around and saw her running towards me with tears in her eyes. "Hannah?" I said, "What's wrong?"

She made it to me even more, and tears rolled down her face. "What do you mean what's wrong? This is what's wrong!" I remained silent.

"I don't want you to leave me, Clovius! I don't!" She sobbed, "Even if this is our final time together, I want to make the most of it." Hannah grabbed onto my hands, and she looked deep into my eyes. Making my heart beat hundreds of miles, "Please, go to the festival with me." She asked. I felt my face heat up and my palms sweat. I stumbled over my words, but eventually, I said.

"Okay, let's make the most of this night."

Hannah's face brightened, and she hugged me with a warm hug. Her positive energy radiated like the sun, and I felt it too.

We then headed out of the neighborhood and to the festival.