The Garden (Discontinued)

Passage 2

After a few moments, Meisha felt a bit better, although her body still shook when she stood up. She walked back inside, patted Alexander as he continued eating his breakfast, and walked back upstairs where she grabbed a pair a clothes from under her bed. She pulled off her plain gray pajamas and put on one of her more bolder outfits. A brown leather crop top, with a bit of gold cloth covering her right shoulder. She befitted black pants, and tall, chocolate brown boots that reached as high of her knees. A small grey pocket on her left pant leg still held various small tools from several days ago, and gloves, one brown, the other black, protecting her hands. Meisha topped off her outfit with strapping a thin knife around her left arm, and gold-rimmed goggles over her head.

  Mei moved the goggles over her eyes, then walked to her bedroom window. Her goggles, which she had invented herself, did still have some faults, but its ability to zoom in on object had helped her greatly. In this case, she zoomed in on the small hamlet that resided within the Garden. Unnaturally monotone-colored adults started to either walk out towards the main entrance or look out from the windows of their colorful pastel houses. I followed their attention and saw what they were so fixated on. About six kids had all filed out of a traditional school bus parked near the main pathway. As her eyes continued to secretly observe the scene, she spotted a very cliche-looking teacher who was presumably the bus driver, but as soon as the lady stepped foot inside the Garden, her skin and hair color suddenly began to slowly turn into different shades of grey. That's when Meisha immediately recognized the driver. Mei's face, out of habit, turned into a sneer as her eyes followed the 25 year old Eva Hail. Eva's face, turned away from the view of the children, turned into a malicious smile of glee. Meisha gritted her teeth. She had always hated Eva; ever since Mei had entered the Garden. Eva had always taken joy in being mean to her, and rubbed it in Mei's face even more by being overly joyous and generous to the other kids, especially since Eva somehow knew that Meisha hated unfairness.

  Eva suddenly looked up at Meisha, straight in the eyes. Her soulless yet menacing glare, seemingly fully forced towards Meisha's eyes, gave Meisha chills through her entire core. Eva's face changed into a look of sheer pleasure when she saw how Mei reacted to a simple glance. Meisha violently pulled the curtain closed, knowing she lost the battle in that single moment. She sighed, lifting the goggles away from her eyes and setting on over her forehead. She could still hear the shrieks of joy from the children, and her heart sank, as if a heavy weight had been dropped onto it. She knew that those children would be defenseless against the garden, but she could- no, she would help them. She would not let that horrid, deformed, crazed monster get to the children, nor would she let the garden take them either. Not this time.

  A faint soothing voice broke through the excited cries of the children, a voice that could put even the most horrible monster to sleep. Meisha knew that voice all too well. She suddenly started shaking, tears threatening to fall, and she knew why it hurt her so much. It was Lin- No, wait, not Lin. Dust. She wanted to be called Dust now. Mei had to respect her sister's wishes. No matter how much Mei wanted to defy that, she just couldn't resist rebelling against her own sister, even though Dust had done that same thing to Mei.

Her sister that had joined the other children when they were younger, when Meisha had wanted to leave the Garden, yet Dust thought she was being paranoid. Meisha, being stubborn, didn't listen to her, and before she knew it, Dust was gone. Meisha wished desperately that she could reset time to that moment when she first stepped onto that bus that lead to the Garden. She would've grabbed Linnie and ran back to the safety of their mother. No one deserves to be brought to the Garden, no matter how beautiful it seems. But she knew she couldn't do that, she know's that what's done is done and she needs to find a way to help the children. Reminiscing wouldn't help her now. Lin, my Linnie, was gone. She became a new person and became prey to the Garden. But that didn't stop Meisha's heart from sinking lower on the ground when she heard her voice.

  "Alright, children! Come over here and I can show you around. Now, who wants to have some treats?" Dust cooed, forever stuck speaking in a sickly perfect tone.

  Mei heard the children yell in agreement, but she couldn't help but think that it didn't sound like all of the children. Maybe it was the part inside her that thought the kids were smart and would catch on, but she could've sworn that there were more children than the voices she heard. She couldn't help herself, she moved the curtain out of the way slightly and tapped her goggles down her face, landing on her eyes. She focused on the children moving from the bus to the main entrance of the town. Some kids seemed much more enthusiastic than others, just as she thought. The children that were racing towards the garden were two boys and a small girl who looked to be about nine or ten. The two boys were leading while the girl seemed to be dragging behind in a way. Mei shifted her gaze towards the group that was hesitant. The group consisted of a boy and a girl who just seemed to be shy and one girl who didn't match the others. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, but before Meisha could get a better look at them all, they were flagged by the adults. Meisha knew that they were going to try to get the kids to warm up to them, no matter the effect after.

  Meisha's heart broke once more as she saw the children being circled like prey. She knew most of the adults acted joyful and kind, but the garden had full control over them. They may seem like themselves but when it came down to it, they weren't really in control over their actions. The garden was.

  Mei found herself moving her line of sight towards her sister again. Once she realized that she was staring at her forgotten friend, she pulled herself away from the window and moved the curtain back to cover the pane entirely. She closed her eyes tightly for a few moments, then pulled the goggles off her face, tossing them on her bed. She would start her quest to help the children tomorrow, so she could think of a proper plan.