She woke up with a horrible headache. She felt like someone had hit her and now she
was wounded. She looked around. She was lying in the cold grass on the shore of a lake. She
stood up slowly. She was aching all over her body and remembered nothing. Her dress was
wet and her hair was tousled. She went into the lake until her knees were covered by the deep
blue and freezing water. When she looked into the lake she saw fear in her dark blue eyes.
They were swollen up because she had been crying. She could see a huge scar on her left
arm. Blood was pouring from it. When she touched the wound to wash it, suddenly she had a
flashback.
She lived in Chester with her family. Her father owned a successful chocolate factory
here. It had a lot of special secrets that others wished to know but her father refused to share
them. He was playing a dangerous game. Last night while they were sitting in the dining room
having supper some people broke in. As soon as they heard the sound of the crashing window
her father shouted “Run!” so the family scattered. Two guys chased her through the nearby
forest. While she was in the forest trying to get away she got hurt. The strong branches and
small limbs scratched her. Leaves got stuck in her long hair. The ground was rugged so she
fell over many times but she kept going. She heard the sound of the breaking branches and
footsteps approaching, she knew that she wasn’t safe. Finally when she got out of the forest
everything seemed so peaceful. It was full moon and there was a small pond with silvery
sparkling water. A small village was lying in the valley. She couldn’t hear the men chasing
her so she thought finally she escaped. She went down to the lake to wash her face. When she
stood up someone suddenly grabbed her around the waist.
‘Tell me, where’s your father?’ the man roared. The girl could smell his stinky, warm breath.
‘I-I-I don’t know…’ she stammed quietly.
The man was still holding her. The other guy looked into her terrified face. He had small
green eyes, pig-like nose and very thin lips. He seemed pretty muscular.
‘Pretty little girl…tell me…where’s your daddy?’ he asked while his face was getting nearer
to her face.
‘I don’t know, I swear.’ she muttered ‘Don’t hurt me, please.’
‘Oh, don’t worry my dear.’ he laughed viciously.
‘Now what, captain?’ the other man asked ‘Shall I let her free or shall we kidnap her?’
‘Not a bad idea’ the man said ‘Not bad indeed. How do you like it, sweetie?’
The girl heard enough. She kicked the two men as strong as he could and started running. The
two men soon came to their senses and they started to chase her. They almost caught her and
the captain managed to cut her with his knife. She didn’t give up although she felt like she
was going to faint. Suddenly she decided to jump into a small bush. Blood was pouring from
her arm but she kept quiet. She heard the footsteps approaching but she decided to stay still.
Suddenly she heard dogs barking, coming towards the bush, but then the sound got further.
When she looked out of the bush she could see the dogs chasing the two evil guys. She
sighed. When the burglars disappeared and the dogs went back to the village she came out of
her shelter. Slowly she went down to the lake where she fainted.
Now that she remembered everything she decided to look around. It was late at night;
the dark blue sky was full of brightly shining stars. It was still hot as it was the middle of
summer. The lake was about half a mile away from the small village lying in the valley. A
fast river crossed both the valley and the village. The small houses were lying in the bank of
the river and there were some houses on the side of the mountain. Just after the village there
was a bald cliff towering with a medieval castle on it. Strangely light was glimmering through
its windows. The girl could feel a magical atmosphere calling her towards the building. She
left the lake and headed for the village. She walked fast so she reached it in 10 minutes.
Everything was a bit weirdly quiet but very peaceful in some way. The small huts
were dark and standing in a disordered way. The river crossed the outskirts and now she was
in the very heart of the village so she couldn’t hear the babbling water. The girl was a bit
frightened of being alone in the dark but nothing disturbed her yet. As she was walking slowly
trough the cobbled street the only noise was her footsteps approaching. She tried to find light
in a window but they were as dark as the night sky and there was no public lighting. Suddenly
she saw a face in one of the windows. The house looked as if nobody had lived in it for a
hundred year. The old, wrinkled woman’s face appeared for a second. Her skin was pale and
had a silvery shine and the old lady was laughing. She only had five teeth. She sat her dark
eyes on the girl and at the same time drew her hand in front of her neck to symbolise death.
The girl was so scared that she screamed out loud and she started to run. She kept running
until she got out of her breath. She was still in the village when she stopped but not on the
main street anymore. She was standing on a small, muddy lane and there was a wooden bench
next to her. She flopped down.
‘Where am I?’ she asked herself. She knew that she needed to get out of there. Suddenly she
heard the babbling of the river. When she stood up to follow the sound of the water she saw
two bright lights coming towards her fast, just like the headlights of a car. She thought it was
about to hit her so she closed her eyes because of the fear and brightness but she didn’t try to
run away. She decided to face death. As soon as the lights appeared the vanished before they
could hit her. Now she was alone again. She was still frightened so she hurried out of the
village to the river. There she was walking on the bank heading for the castle. It was peaceful
again. She looked up to the sky where the silver moon smiled at her derisively.
‘It’s your fault!’ she said to the moon ‘Yeah, I’ll blame it on the full moon. I usually get crazy
at this time. This is just one of these occasions.’ she tried to comfort herself.
She reached the end of the village in a minute. There she decided to go back to the road so she
turned at the corner of a house.
‘Woooah!’ she shouted as she faced a beautiful black horse. It was very calm although the
girl could have frightened it. The horse nodded its head and got closer to her ready to take
her up and ride away. She seemed to understand the horse so she jumped on it. She was a bit
frightened as the last time she sat on a horse was when she was about 7 in a funfair.
‘Go, my dear!’ she said softly ‘Go to the castle, could you?’
The horse started to run so she had to grab its hair strongly to keep herself on it. The wind
played with her hair and she was no longer afraid, she enjoyed it. Perhaps the horse felt the
change, too, because it started to run faster. She felt happy. She closed her eyes and felt
everything with her other senses. She became on indeed with the horse. She could feel the
strong wind with her skin, the smell of the hay with her nose and the speed with her body. She
wanted the ride to be never ending, but she felt that the horse was slowing down and it was
more like climbing than running. Suddenly they stopped. Ah she opened her eyes she faced
the huge wooden gates of the castle. She got off the horse and let it go free.
‘I shall go inside and look for somebody.’ she said to herself while she opened the heavy
gates. As she entered the hall, dust was stirred up so she started coughing. She could only hear
her voice echoing in the ancient castle. There were spiders’ webs everywhere. Just in front of
the girl there was a huge staircase made of marble with a mahogany handrail. As she couldn’t
see anything downstairs she went upstairs. There she turned left and entered a small room
at the end of the corridor. It had no glass in the window just the window shaped hole carved
into the tough stone. There was a beautiful four-postered bed, a small table and a golden
framed mirror. First she went to the bed and found a beautiful dark blue dress on it. It was
an evening dress. It was made of silk and lace and it looked like it was worth a fortune. She
was very much surprised but decided not to touch it; instead she went to the table. The moon
was shining directly at the desk and there was a violet envelope in the middle of the silvery
shine. “Devinee Holloway” she read it on the envelope.
‘But that’s my name!’ she exclaimed and opened it quickly.
Dearest Devinee,
I didn’t mean to cause you trouble. I’m so sorry, really I am! I guess you don’t know what
I’m talking about, but let me explain. They threatened my family and tortured me. It was
unbearable but I decided not to speak. I wanted to protect you, like a best friend should, but
they took my mother. They said they would kill her unless I told them where to find you and
your family. I’m truly sorry, Devinee, but I had no choice. They promised me not to hurt any
of you.
With lots of regret and sorry,
Christine
xxx
She was shaking and crying by the time she finished the letter. She couldn’t believe it! Her
best friend betrayed her. Those men tortured her! She must take revenge and she can’t rest
until it’s done. She went to the window and threw out the message. Tears were streaming
down her face.
‘Good bye, life! You did this to me but I won’t jump. I’ll live till I take my revenge! Be
ready! I’ll find you and defeat you!’ she shouted into the cold air.
As she went back and left the window she glanced at the dress again. She went to the bed and
put it on. Somehow it fit her perfectly. She felt like a princess. She turned around and swirled
in the room free of care. Finally she walked to the mirror and looked at herself, but instead of
her own reflection she saw a monster. It was a little bit like the old lady but it had two horns.
‘Come on! I’ll find you! You cannot escape destiny. The hour is close. I’ll be waiting!’ the
monster growled and disappeared.
Now it was Devinee’s own reflection in the mirror and she looked frightened. She left the
room in a hurry but then she slowed down. She was walking on a moonlit corridor. It was so
long and empty that somehow she could calm down. She felt like a mythical princess again
living in a beautiful castle who just sneaked out to meet her Prince Charming. After a long
walk she arrived at a door. When she opened it she was very surprised: she found herself in a
perfect baroque ball. There were golden ornaments on the walls and a huge crystal chandelier
hanging from the ceiling. The room was filled with many elegant people and music filled the
air.
‘Here you are! I’ve been waiting for you!’ a handsome young man appeared and took her
hands. She was a little bit surprised but she followed him to the dance floor. The man was
like Devinee’s imaginary Prince Charming. He was handsome and careful and was dancing
perfectly. It seemed like she had been enjoying herself for hours at the ball with Arthur
(because that was the man’s name) when suddenly she heard the monster’s voice inside her
head.
‘It’s time!’ it said ‘Come, I’m waiting for you impatiently.’ And it repeated itself a million
times.
‘Sorry, I need to go.’ Devinee told Arthur and started to search for an exit desperately. The
words of the monster echoed in her mind. After minutes of searching she found a door and
went trough it. She entered a corridor similar to the previous one. As she was hurrying along
it the voice of the monster became louder. Soon she arrived at a wooden door. As she opened
it she was facing the scary monster. It was standing at the end of the room in front of two
similar doors.
‘Finally,’ the creature said ‘you’re here to make a choice. Do you see these doors?’ it asked.
Devinee nodded slowly.
‘Which one would you choose?’
‘I don’t know.’ she answered ‘Where do they lead?’
‘You’re a very smart girl, Devinee!’ the monster grinned ‘Now I’ll tell you where they lead,
but I won’t tell you which is which. One of the two doors leads to the perfect place to live,
where you’ll be happy forever. The other leads you to the greatest treasure. I can’t tell you
that you’ll be happy with it because it’s up to you, but it is very important. That’s all I can
say. You were brave so you got the chance, but now it’s your turn.’ it said and disappeared.
She looked confused. Now which door should she take? What should she do? She closed her
eyes and listened to her heart for a second, the slowly she walked to the left door.
‘I want the greatest treasure.’ she whispered the opened the door.
The sudden bright light blinded her. When she opened her eyes again she found
herself in a hospital bed. She was aching all over her body and as she looked at her body she
saw it was bandaged.
‘Can you hear us, honey?’ a nice lady asked. Only then did Devinee realise that four people
had gathered around her.
‘What happened?’ she could only ask.
‘You were in a coma for six weeks, Devinee. I’m your doctor. You and your family had a car
crash. Another vehicle crashed into your car from the back. Only you were sitting on the back
seat. You were hovering between life and death, but you’re back with us now.’ The young
doctor said ‘Do you remember now?’
‘Yes.’ She whispered.
‘Good. We’ll let you rest.’ The doctor said and he and Devinee’s family left the room after
kissing her.
‘Thank you, monster.’ She whispered into the air smelling of chlorine and fell asleep. She was
on her way to recovery.
Written by: Emese Kajli 10. B
Erőteljes női hang duruzsolása tölti be a kocsmát, táncol a zongora billentyűin és a gitárakkordokon, végül felröppen a levegőbe és bekúszik az alkoholtól bódult hallgatóság fülébe. Tűzvörös ajkak, hófehér bőr. A vörös koktélruhából kibuggyannak a mellei, formás lábain fekete tűsarkú. Megsemmisítő pillantás. Maga a tökély áll a színpadon. A zongorista tizedszerre is belekezd a dalba, de a bódult közönségnek fel se tűnik. A nő hangja varázsol. Lelép a színpadról, a világos fröccsök kilöttyennek és a ragacsos padlóra csöppennek. Ujjait végigfuttatja a férfiak vállán és ördögi mosolyt küld feléjük. Az egyik részeg vendég feláll és imbolyogva közelít felé. Odaérve összeér a kezük, fémes csillogás villan fel, a férfi azonban továbbmegy és távozik. Az utolsó pillanatban még egy gyanús vigyor suhan át az arcán szinte észrevehetetlenül. Az énekesnő a pulthoz sétál és egy koktélt rendel. A szünetben felerősödik a zsibongás. Az önmagukat megtartani is alig bíró vendégek türelmetlenkednek, artikulálatlan kiáltások hagyják el a szájukat. A nő leteszi a pultra a poharat és lassan visszasétál a mikrofon mögé. Int a zongoristának, az pedig jazzes dallamba kezd. A zene újra betölti a kocsmát, bár már aligha jut el a fülekhez. A cigaretta füst körbevonja a halványan megvilágított színpadot. Távolról hallatszik a Big Ben zúgása, ahogy elüti az éjfelet. A dalnak vége. Pár nehezen kivitelezett taps felhangzik a közönség soraiból, ahogy az énekesnő köszönetet mond és lelép a színpadról. A helység sötét sarka felé veszi az útját, ahol gyanús alakok a sörüket kortyolgatják. Mindössze egy villanás és a három férfi néma csendben, holtan borul az asztalra. Megvillan a tőr. majd eltűnik egy pillanat alatt. Semmi nem változott a kocsmában. Ugyanaz a zaj, ugyanaz a bűz, ugyanaz a romlott légkör füstje. Pár köteg pénz is előkerül az áldozatok zsebeiből. Az énekesnő a kijárat melletti fogashoz sétál higgadtan és belebújik a kabátjába.
