Crater Lake

“I can’t believe you're making me leave! I don’t want to go!” I cried hysterically.

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but you have given us no other choice,” said Mom.

“I promise to do better. Please don’t make me leave.”

“We have given you too many chances, and you let us down each time, so no, son, you are going, and that is final,” said Dad.

The whistle blew in the distance, sealing my fate.

“I hate you both and hope I never see you again!”

My nose turned up, and I turned on my heels and walked quickly towards the train, not looking back until I stepped onto the train. I briefly glanced back at my parents. My mother was crying on my father’s shoulders. While my father consoled my mother, his eyes bored into mine, emotionless and cold, watching as the train started moving. I shook my head and headed towards an empty seat. I found an empty compartment, relaxed into the seat's red cushiness, and looked out the window, lost in thought.

My mother is the most caring, amazing, and loving person you will ever meet. She has the most beautiful smile that will lift anyone’s spirit, and there are always lights dancing in her eyes. She is petite, with long, wavy brown hair and shocking blue eyes. She loves to cook, and when I’m sad, she will whip up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies.

My father is more complicated. I don’t ever remember the last time I saw him genuinely smile. Whenever he does smile, it looks like it is the most difficult thing in the world to do. He is a high-powered attorney in the state of Nevada. Because of his job, he does not have time for me, and if he does, he chooses not to be with his only son.

My name is James, and I’m 17 years old, 6 feet tall, with my mom’s hair color and my dad’s green eyes. Am I a troubled kid? Yes, you can say that. I have always been a troublemaker and every time I got into a heap of trouble, my dad would always bail me out and say nothing. My mother would give me a lecture and reprimand me, but after she was done with her speech, she would bake cookies for me. She couldn’t stay mad long at me because she loved me too much and said it was a waste of time.

I pulled my biggest prank of all time last month, which was the breaking point for my father. He immediately made calls to boarding schools all over the country to send me. I was in science class, and I had been arguing with my teacher.

“Don’t you dare turn on that Bunsen burner, James! If you do, you will be sent straight to the Principal’s office,” said the teacher.

“Go ahead and turn me in; I don’t give a damn. This school sucks anyway, and you are the worst teacher in the history of teachers,” I replied.

I turned on the burner and pulled out my bag of marshmallows from my backpack. I stuck one to the end of a chopstick and started roasting it on the burner. Somehow, it got out of control, and I had started a fire. The school had to evacuate while the firetrucks were coming, but it was too late. The room had burned to a crisp.

“What the hell is wrong with you James? Do you realize how much I had to pay them not to arrest you for arson? You have officially made me the laughing stock of the state. From this day forward, you are a disgrace to this family and will no longer carry on my name. I can’t have you associating and damaging my reputation. I will send you so far away from here that you will never see us again.” My father continued screaming at me; his face was purple, and his veins were popping out of his forehead, fists clenched, spitting continuously.

Knock Knock

The sound of someone knocking on the glass door jolted me awake from my thoughts. A plump Hispanic guy was at the door, asking if he could come in. I nodded my head. He came in and sat across from me, the seat cushion sinking all the way down.

“Hey. My name is Diego. I'm sorry, but this was the only semi-empty compartment on this half of the train. I hope you don’t mind,” Diego said nervously.

“Hey man, it’s cool. My name is James. Where are you heading to?”

“A boarding school called Delphine Academy in Oregon.”

“No way! I’m heading there too!”

“Really? Wow. What are the odds? At least I will know someone there then.”

Diego and I talked for the rest of the ride.

Back at the train station

“Do you think we made the right decision to send him away Tom?”

“Yes, Lucy. We had to send him away to keep him safe. Hopefully, they will not find him anytime soon.”

Back to James

It was a long eleven-hour ride from Nevada to Oregon. Everyone boarded off, and we were put into boats. I was not prepared for the sight before me: a beautiful, clear lake that stretched for miles. Mountains glistening with snow surrounded a small island in the middle. It seemed that we were heading straight for the island. It was chilly, but the sky was beautifully painted orange, pink, and blue. Owls were soaring above us; I had never seen so many owls at once.

When we arrived, the woman who greeted us was literally the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had chocolate skin, black shoulder-length hair, and midnight eyes that could see right into my soul.

“Hello everybody, and welcome to Delphine Academy. My name is Julia, and I will be taking care of you all. If you have any problems or need assistance with anything, come to me. Now, let us get you fed and showered. You must be tired after your long trip.”

After we were taken care of, we were shown our rooms. I was expecting college-like dorm rooms, so I was not expecting this. My room was ocean-themed: seaweed was painted on all the walls, and fish were blowing bubbles. Even the beds were ocean-themed; they were shaped like an octopus, with his pink tentacles acting as the headboard and legs of the bed.

A few weeks later

It had been a few weeks since I arrived at the Academy. I enjoyed my stay there. We did many physical activities, such as playing different kinds of sports to teach us how to get along with others, and going to the gym three times a week was required. They had exquisite food every day for lunch and dinner; we were expected to make our own breakfast to teach us simple cooking skills. I went to classes Monday through Thursday; we had three-day weekends to ensure everyone had time to complete their homework assignments, attend the gym, and socialize with everyone.

One day, when I was in class, I was called into the Principal’s office.

“James, the Principal has requested a meeting with you. Go down this hall and make the second right and the third left after that,” said the professor.

As I got up to leave, my classmates snickered at me, saying things like, “Ooh, I wonder what he has done,” or “I already knew he was a troublemaker from the looks of him.” I ignored them and left.

“Ok. He said to take a turn on my second right and another turn on my second left after that? Oh man, this place is huge, and I have lost count of how many corridors I have passed already.”

I was about to take another left when I saw a painting on the wall that seemed to be jutting out. I stepped closer to it and swung it forward. There was a door behind it. Curiosity got the better of me, and so I opened the door. I ended up in a dark and creepy hall that screamed to run away. My legs were about to turn away when my brain said stop, and my ears burned, twitching. I heard something drop at the end of the hall and it echoed, vibrating through my entire body. I tiptoed slowly, every footstep sounding like trash cans toppling over, beading sweat from my forehead. The hair at the nape of my neck rose as I saw a glow up ahead. As I got closer, I realized it was a light shining through a door to a lit room. I peered in the window, and what I saw was ghastly.

Teenagers hanging from the ceiling, their wrists tied into chains that attached to the ceiling, and they hung an inch from the floor, some squirming and some not. They were bruised and beaten. The walls and counters and tools were painted in red. When I looked closer at the kids, I noticed they had holes in their temples. Suddenly, a man appeared in view, dressed in a white medical body suit. He wore medical gloves, picked up what seemed to be a drill, and turned it on. I was horrified by what I saw before my eyes. Blood spattered my peering window, and I jolted back, heart racing, eyes wide with fear. My knees gave out, and I came crashing to the floor, and I just stayed there, stunned with tears in my eyes. What the hell is this place?

High-heeled black shoes came into view, and when I looked up, it was Julia.

“Tsk Tsk James. What a naughty boy you have been. Now, what are we going to do with you?” she said with a devilish smile.