Previously on Alone #3, Sophia spills her story to a close friend on the way to school. Once she reaches the building, she immediately gets rushed to the office with some tough news- that her parents had been kidnapped. 

“No….. No….. NO!” I sank to my knees, sobbing. “I…. I still love them. How could they…. just…. just leave me?” I buried my tear stained face in my fingers. 

“Soph……. It’s going to be okay.” She knelt down beside me and gave me a warm hug. I laid my head on her shoulder, tears still pouring down my cheeks. We sat there for what felt like hours. I didn’t know I had so many tears left in me.

“HONK!” A dark van honked from outside the window of my white house. As I peered outside in the rainy weather, I could see a sticker with a bright, yellow sun and the words ‘Sunshine Place’ drawn across it in cursive. Emery held my hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“This is going to be better, Soph. It’s going to help.” she kept repeating this over and over again, trying to make me believe her with every ounce of her heart. I stood up.

“I can’t believe that you’re saying that, Em. They are people just like you. My parents wouldn’t be happy if I had gotten kidnapped.” 

“Soph - you’re not getting kidnapped. You are going to go stay at this nice orph…” Emery broke off, afraid of how I would react if she said out loud that I was going to an orphanage. She glanced at me awkwardly for a split second and then decided it would be best if she just continued. 

“ You are going to a nice place to live while the police search for your parents,” Emery said firmly.

“Hello!” A bright, young, face popped up around the door. She didn’t even knock! How rude! The lady strode into the room with a very straight posture and reached out to shake my hand. 

“You must be Sophia! It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” She held my gaze for a second too long. I awkwardly let her take my hand and then rapidly pulled it back. 

“Well, we mustn't dawdle!” She seemed too cheerful to be normal. I glanced back at Emery. 

“It’s okay! I’ll come visit you!” She gave me an encouraging smile. 

The strange lady walked out of the door and I trudged after her. We walked to the van and I looked back to the house at Emery. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” She yelled as I got into the car. I heard a loud click and the car took off. 

We rode until we reached a bright, modern building. The door, which was a painted bright yellow sun, had the words “Sunshine Place” in big, pretty, cursive letters, much like the sticker on the van. After a mostly silent car ride, I still wasn’t in the mood to talk.

“Here we are!” the lady cheerfully announced. Although, when she saw the look on my face, her smile dropped into a suspicious look.

“Don’t you like it?” she asked me.

“I, um, I really like the door.” I replied awkwardly. Oh my god I just said I liked the door, if she didn’t think I was crazy before, she does now. I reflected, but immediately regretted it as the impression that she might read minds flitted across mine. No, that’s impossible. I pushed the crazy idea away.

“So, um, what is your name?” I asked realizing that I had no clue at all what to call her, but she had known my name before we were introduced. She smiled sweetly.

“You can call me Lady Fernsby,” Lady Fernsby’s words were clipped and she didn’t look at me while she said her name. Fernsby? Really? I thought, but then looked nervously back at her.

I slipped out of the car, letting my sore feet adjust to the rocky gravel path. I glanced around, the warmth of sunshine settling on me like a happy blanket. A big yellow sign caught my eye. The vibrant yellow lettering popped out of the sign, reading Sunshine Place! Vivid yellow rays of sun shot off of the S, producing a happy feeling in me. I jumped in shock as Lady Fernsby laid a hand across my shoulder. 

“Oh my gosh!” I jumped back in surprise and found Lady Fernsby’s smile replaced with a fake one. 

“We don’t swear here please.”

“I-I-I didn’t…” I stammered, a feeling of uncomfortable embarrassment over me.

She steered me to the doorway of the building. I waited awkwardly as the cheerful lady grabbed a key from her pocket and fiddled with the lock on the door. The walls on the sides of it were covered in intricate art, with pictures of things that just screamed happiness. It made me pretty uneasy.

“Just walk right through here…” Lady Fernsby shut the door behind us with a click and my skin crawled as I looked at the dark tunnel ahead of us. Small lights hung on the walls, barely providing enough radiance for us to see ahead of us. It was a very large contrast to the area outside. 

“Wait! My bag!” I stopped abruptly and turned to go grab it, freezing in place when a hard hand settled on my arm. 

“You won’t need it here, sweetie.” My stomach sank and I continued ahead, paranoid. Eventually, we reached another door and approached a room without any source of light. 

I turned as Lady Fernsby shut the tunnel door with another click and we were engulfed in darkness.