The landscape blurs as it passes by. Endless golden plains swallow the heavenly blue in the distance. Overhead, the wires droop down, and back up again. Then they plunge downwards once more and bounce up yet again. A never-ending cycle.

Looking above at the wall, the clock reads a bit after three. Slouching into my seat, my forehead falls on the table. I shut my eyes and all I see is the slight red tinge of the suns glow on my eyelids. The wind rushes fast by the carriage, I can hear it; under the wheels, and between the rails. I imagine how it would feel to stick my head out the window, how free I could be. But these windows do not open.

I am going to go far away, to a new home. That’s what they told me. A paradise in the distance.

A girl sits on the other side, looking out the other window. I recognize her as one of the other children at my old home. One of my sisters. Her face I know but not her name. She is just “the brunette”.

Neither of us have ever spoken to each other. Not even during the past three hours. And it’s only been just the two of us, with the entire carriage to ourselves. But that’s not at all strange, no one ever really talked to me back home. It never bothered me though, I’m fine being alone. I’m fine with watching my own life play itself out.

The brunette is the opposite of everything I am. If I were the night sky, then she would be the stars.

As the train slows to make a turn, the sunlight shifts. It draws a line across the center of the carriage, leaving me in the shadows. The brightness sparkles in the brunette’s eyes and turns her short brown curls gold. She raises her hand above her eyes to block the light, casting a shadow over her face. Her smile slightly fades, and she looks almost sad. Suddenly, she lowers her hand to turn and look in my direction. I immediately turn my head the other way.

But the stars cross the darkness. She sits in front of me. I pretend not to notice.

“Hi,” She says.

I remain still, but my heart races.

“I know you’re not asleep. I just saw you move.”

I shoot up straight, holding my hands together on the table. My gaze meets hers, but I find myself looking at her shoulder instead.

“My name is Cecile.” She says.

The words I speak are raspy. I haven’t spoken in days.

“Hi. I’m-”

“Klaus. I already know.”

I rub my eyes, and the single tear on my cheek.

“Why- why did you look sad just now?” I ask.

Cecile tilts her head, somewhat puzzled, not sure what I meant.

“You were looking out the window.” I add.

“Oh! That must have been because of the windmills.”

She points out the window of the seat she came. Far off in the distance stands a field of white sticks, all spinning in unison.

“I just thought they ruined the landscape is all.” She says.

“Well, I don’t think they’re that bad.”

Cecile looks confused again.

“I think they’re beautiful in they’re own way. They remind me that we’re not in the middle of nowhere.” I say.

“I don’t know. I rather like the feeling of being lost. Back home I’d always dream of what it would be like to wander away. And look at me now, my dream is coming true.”

She gazes out the window as I am lost to find anything to say.

“Do you think the Conservatory is surrounded in these same fields?” She asks.

“I’m not sure.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to walk through this grass one day?”

“I don’t-”

“Hey! I’ve got an idea.” She places her palms on the table and leans forward. “You can take me to the windmills!”

“What?”

“Yeah it’ll be great, I’ve never seen one up close in person before.”

“We can’t go there, it’s way too far away.”

“Of course we can. We’ll be free at the Conservatory. Promise me we’ll go some day.”

I force myself to look into her eager eyes. They hide nothing but an untainted soul. A purity that can only be found in so few. Back home, we would never speak a word to each other. But whenever she’d catch my eye, she’d always smile, as if to tell me I wasn’t alone. She was the only one who ever cared about me, and I’d never understood why. Right now, though, the answer is clear to me.

“Alright, some day. I promise.”

----------------------------------

I awake to the bright spring sun shining through the window. Teri and Lio’s bunk on the opposite side of the room is empty. The things we threw on the floor last night are no longer there. All the bags, clothes, and shovels. Something else is missing as well. I wonder where he has gone, where he is waiting for me.

As I exit the room, I pull the door into place with it’s handle down. It shuts without a sound.

Room 211. Theresa. Cecile. Klaus.

Underneath my name is a blank. Not even a strip of tape covering it up. It’s just blank. Like he was never even here.

The Conservatory’s hallways are completely vacant as I aimlessly make my way across the corridor. Curtained windows run along the one side, and doors along the other. The large central stairwell opens on the window side. Sunlight leaks from below one of the doors.

Room 201.

I brush the dust from door plate. There are two names still written on it.

Priscilla. Emile. Just the two.

I lay my hand on the doorknob, and slowly push it down.

The air inside is stale. Dust drifts among the light, seeping through the blinds. My footsteps are engraved into the floor.

There’s a double bunk on either side of the room. Just like ours. The sunbathed sheets lay neatly spread. A table with two chairs stands in front the window, with a drawer on both sides. And all of it, completely empty, awaiting the next four.

Is this what would eventually come of our room?

I am about to leave when a set of light footsteps becomes more audible as it approaches from the hall. Of all the times, it just had to be the two minutes that I’m not where I’m supposed to be.

A man enters through the open doorway. It’s Sebastian, one of the adults who looks after the Conservatory.

“Klaus, what are you doing in here?” He asks, kindly.

“Oh, I just got curious.”

“Well, it’s good to see you’re back.”

I nod, waiting for the scolding. But it doesn’t come.

“Anyways, do you know where I can find Theresa?” He says instead.

“I haven’t seen her this morning, but I’ll probably see her around lunch time. Did you have something you wanted to tell her? I could pass on a message.”

“Thanks, but I’ll just keep looking for her myself.”

With that, he turned around and left, without so much as an exiting remark. Or perhaps that was already a way to say goodbye. I wait until his footsteps fade to nothingness before exiting the room.

Later that evening, right before bed, I find out what it was that Sebastian wanted to tell Teri. But it doesn’t immediately strike me as something so important or unusual that he had to tell her himself.

“We’re going to have a new visitor tomorrow, two of them actually. They’re going to be arriving early in the morning so we should sleep early as well. Also, we’ll be the only ones in the building for the next two days so it’s going to be our job to show them around.”

The following morning, I am abruptly awoken before sunrise and dragged down to the main lobby where Sebastian is already waiting for us. We take the elevator down to the basement, a journey I’d made many times before.

I look out the glass wall as we descend, gazing upon the massive chamber that lay below my home. Steel supports line the high ceiling, and cardboard boxes are stacked along the walls. In the center of the facility are four rails, parallel to one another. A train of seven carriages occupies the nearest one. It’s the same train that I arrived in years ago.

As we near the bottom, Sebastian points out the window at three small figures standing next to the train.

“I believe that would be them.” He says.

Lio restlessly rushes out the elevator as soon as the large metal doors slide open. She waves both her hands frantically and our visitors wave back. Between the distance and the commotion of our surroundings, I cannot hear her introduce herself to our guests. A boy and a girl, no older than Teri but no younger than Lio or myself. By the way they stand together, I can tell they don’t know each other too well.

Accompanying them is a man, one of the many other curators at the Conservatory. His name is Alfred.

I stand by as Sebastian strikes a conversation with his friend, and Teri reaches to shake our guests’ hands.

“Hi, I’m Theresa. It’s nice to meet you two.” She says.

The pair both greet her back, but I do not pay attention to what they say. My mind is elsewhere. Teri lightly jabs my side with her elbow and I snap back into reality. I make eye contact and reach out my hand.

“Klaus.” Is all I think to say.

Sebastian steps beside Alfred and addresses the five of us.

“Alfred and I have got a few more things to do down here so you kids go on up ahead of us.” He says.

Lio takes the girl’s bag off the floor before grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the elevator. Teri offers to take the boys bag for him, but he kindly refuses her offer. The two of them start walking and chatting. I follow shortly behind them, returning to my own world. It is only in the elevator that I realize I still do not know either of the visitors’ names.

----------------------------------

“Hey, I’m taking these two outside for some guy talk.” Emile tells Teri through the doorway of our room, with an arm slung over both me and Ciel. She gives us her usual smile and nod, but Lio swings around from her chair with some resistance.

“Can I come too?” She asks.

Emile responds to her playfully.

“I’m not sure you’ll want to. We’re going to be telling some spooky stories.”

“I can handle it.” Lio proudly rebuffs.

“Maybe, but I know these two can’t. And I wouldn’t want to embarrass them in front of you.”

With that, Emile waves goodbye and shuts the door. He releases me and Ciel from his grasp and picks up the pail of water he left on the floor. Ciel carries an identical pile of wood in his arms and in mine, a large bowl with a lid on it. We head down the hall and scurry down the stairs before entering the autumn night. A hundred stars and a single flame light up the darkness.

“Alright, who wants to start?” Emile asks.

“Start what?” Ciel asks in return.

“Telling a scary story of course. I thought that was pretty obvious.”

“What? You were serious about that?” Ciel says.

“I mean yeah. What else are we going to do? Don’t tell me you’re actually scared”

“Tch, please, there’s only one thing in this world that scares me and her name is Theresa.”

I listen to their argument patiently. A thin splint in the fire curls up and shoots off into the air. It glows brighter than the stars for just a second, before fading away.

“Well then if that’s the case, then why don’t you start?” Says Emile.

“I got nothing right now. And you were the one who suggested it, so you should be first anyways.”

“Well I got nothing as well. Looks like it’s your turn Klaus.”

Emile turns to face my direction, waiting in anticipation for my response. I frantically try to dream up some kind of plot, but I never was a quick thinker.

“I can’t think of anything good either.” I say.

He slaps his thighs, and then throws his hands up into the air in defeat.

“Well that sucks, looks like I lied to her then. Say, what kind of snack did you bring anyways.”

Emile eyeballs the bowl in my lap. I pop open the lid and reveal what is inside.

“Grapes? Why?”

I can tell his question is not one that needs an answer. So I don’t give one. Ciel takes two from my bowl and tosses one of them into his mouth. Then he offers the second to a baffled Emile.

“Grape?” Ciel asks.

“Sure.” Emile says, slightly disturbed. He crunches down on it obnoxiously loud.

“Alright. What is it that you really want?” Ciel asks.

“Seriously? I know you already know.”

The firelight flickers on Ciel’s face. His left eye twitches barely, hardly enough to notice. But I notice it. He bites his bottom lip, and his smirk dwindles into a frown, all for only just a moment. And in that instant, he looks almost serious; a demeanor I’ve never seen him wield.

“I know that the sun rises in the morning.” He says.

An uncontrollable grin spreads across Emile’s expression as he lets out a wheezy laugh. He stretches his back forward to reach closer to the flame. A loose slat of uncharred firewood finds itself in his palm; taken from the cold, and thrown into the fire. As it lands, the logs hidden by the glaring blaze tumble. The sparks fly, burning bright until they land in the damp grass.

“They’re going to be collecting us, in the morning. Priscilla and I.”

Ciel’s breathing is audible. He leans further into himself. Resting his elbow on his knee, he places one hand over his face, covering all but his eyes. His breathing slows.

“And why do I need to know this?”

“I might not ever see you again, and that’s all that you have to say?”

Ciel lowers his chin, but not his eyes. His heel slowly digs into the ground. Their silence brings a low breeze, and the fire enrages, dancing a tune on the dark night. The stars shift across the sky, awaiting the next sentence. But Ciel does not respond.

“Okay look, I won’t get another chance, so I’d like to tell you now.” Emile says. “I know you think you’re protecting them, or something, but I think-”

“That’s enough.”

Ciel cuts him off abruptly.

----------------------------------

Six days later, Lio, Teri, and I return to the basement along with our two guests. I still do not know their names.

Alfred stands next to the train’s door, and we wave goodbye to our visitors. People’s mouth’s move, but I do not hear a sound. The boy and the girl step into the carriage, followed by Alfred, who closes the door behind them. They take a seat next to the window and Lio runs up to it, waving. As the train slowly accelerates, she chases alongside it until she can keep up no longer. Even after it is long gone, she continues waving.

I stand next to Teri, waiting for our friend to return. Suddenly, the urge comes to me to say something. But I haven’t spoken much the past few days, so I whisper.

“Theresa. Don’t leave me.”

I’m not sure what I meant to tell her, but she does. Teri takes my hands and holds them tightly between her own.

“It wasn’t Ciel’s choice to leave.” She says. “And it won’t be mine either. I will always be by your side. Lio too.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Of course, we’re a family. Besides, you made a promise to her, didn’t you?”

My expression must be a shocked one.

“How did you know?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not reading your mind. You’re just not very good at hiding things.”

My only secret being revealed brings me back to the real world. The one where it doesn’t matter how hard I try to keep something hidden from this girl. Because she will always find it in the end.

“Let’s all go there some day.” She says.