Chapter Three

Author's Rambling:
We’re trying to update more often now, so hey, if you’re liking this story, let us know!
If you do, my name is Colt and all worshippers are welcome. If you don’t, my name is Princess Chloe and you can flame me at-
COLT!
Aaaaaah concussion!
You did that to yourself.
Shh. Don’t tell no one. Trying to gain sympathy points.
...right.

I don't know how much later it was when I woke up. But when I did finally regain consciousness, I was lying in a patch of grass, face down, my backpack pinning me in a very uncomfortable position.

I felt my aching head and discovered that there was a bump on it. Then I slipped my backpack off and turned over. "Oy," I mumbled. "What happened?"

And then I remembered.

"Shawn!" I hissed, rising quickly and looking around.

My siblings were all there, lying in weird positions, the way I had been. Shawn was on his side, legs twisted in weird ways, May was using his stomach as a pillow, and Samuel was almost kneeling in his sleep.

"Guys! Wake up!" I cried, going over to shake them awake.

Shawn woke up unwillingly. "What do you want, Marina?" he asked groggily.

Samuel was more ready to wake up, but May didn't get up at all. She snuggled up closer to Shawn. "Aw, May, get offa me," Shawn mumbled, trying to push her off him.

"Look around," I said quietly.

Samuel looked around. The scenery was a grassy plain, with scattered little trees here and there. A distance away lay a small castle, bearing a strange resemblance in structure to the playset in out park. Other than the grass and the trees, there was nothing around but grass for miles and miles.

"Where are we?" Shawn demanded, pushing himself up on his elbows for a better look.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out!" I replied, a little annoyed that it took him so long to catch on. "I don't know!"

"Maybe those things brought us here," Samuel said thoughtfully.

"What things…oh." Shawn's voice faded into near silence as realization struck him. "We're not at the park, or anywhere near it."

"Exactly," I nodded. "We have to figure out where, and how to get back." I was panicking and trying not to let my siblings see that.

"Shall we wake up May before we do that?" Shawn asked, trying once again to get May off him.

"Unless you want to carry her."

"Marina, let's go to that castle," Samuel said, tugging on my arm. "I've never been in one."

"Yeah, maybe there's someone there," Shawn quipped, untangling himself from May and standing up with her curled up against his shoulder. She rubbed her eyes with a balled fist as Shawn adjusted her in his arms and started for the castle. I picked up his backpack from where it had fallen and followed, Samuel close at my heels with wide eyes as he inspected our new surroundings.

Shawn reached the small castle, which was roughly two to three times taller than he, shape like a L with a large square block in the corner, and two tall turrents on each end. He inspected it for a moment, the large sliding doors about chest high on him with no steps. He turned to Samuel and instructed, "Sam, take her." Samuel accepted May from him, struggling slightly with her weight. Shawn dug his fingers into the crack and jerked it open. A rusty, grating noise came as the door opened with a protest. I winced, and stepped up beside him as he finally got it to open wide enough for him to haul himself up and through.

"Be careful!" I warned.

"No duh," came his reply, echoed slightly. I could hear his sneakers scuffling against the floor, and a sniff or two. "Well, it's been empty for a while. Dust everywhere. I wish there was a light so I could see…"

Then came a yelp of surprise, and I could see a faint glow from inside through the glass.

"FREAKING CREEPY!"

Actually, that’s not what I said. But close enough.

“Shawn! Watch your language!” Marina called after me. “What is it?” Words escaped me for a moment as I stared at the torches mounted of the wall, flames flickering away as if someone had lit them with a match. From there, my eyes went to the two tables with long benches down their sides and the tops bearing metal plates, bows with handles, and strange tankard-like mugs. I ran a finger along one plate, and felt the dust coat the tip.

I wiped my finger off on my pants as I looked towards one hall and plumes of dirt billowed up from under my sneakers. “Shawn?” Marina’s voice sounded worried, and at the amount of dust I was certain no one had been in here for some time. I moved to the sliding doors and knelt at the edge to face my twin.

“It’s alright, Rina. Empty…but dirty,” I added. “Really, really dirty.” She held out her hands, and I pulled her inside. Samuel handed May to me, who stirred and whined at being moved about so much. As Samuel clambered inside and Marina tried to convince May to wake up, I went to inspect what was down each hall that was only a few feet long.

There was no doorway, but I discovered a smaller room with one huge bed running the whole length of the room, large enough for several people to sleep upon. All the blankets had a layer of dirt and the dingy windows were covered in grim. I stretched out on my toes to wipe at the panes, revealing a stained glass window.

“Hey Marina!” I hollered back down the stone hallway.

“Shawn, please do not shout,” she asked as she followed my voice, holding May’s hand. “This place isn’t at all large.” I didn’t respond to that, only pointed at the window.

“Look.”

She looked puzzled for a moment, as I continued to wipe away the cobwebs and dust. She looked a bit amazed. “It’s pretty,” she commented, stepping forward so the dim light allowed in through the window cast several colors across her face. “What’s the picture?”

“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “I can’t reach.”

Her attention went upward, and I followed. “That ceiling is awfully low,” she observed. “Isn’t this the turret?”

“Shaaawn! Riiina!” Samuel’s voice echoed off the walls, causing me to wince at the volume. May mumbled something unintelligible, still half-asleep.

We followed Samuel’s voice to the other end, where he stood in a room the same size as the other. But the bed was much smaller, and the walls were covered with low shelves and a small table sat in another corner.

“Toys!” May cried joyfully, finally completely rousing at the sight of the objects that sat on the shelves.

“Don’t touch them, May. They’re not yours and they’re dirty,” Marina instructed her before coughing. “Goodness, this room is worse than the others!” I had to agree with her. The dust was so thick I could actually taste it in my mouth. I moved to clean the window again to shed some light into the room.

As Shawn wiped away at the window, I turned to look at the small room, taking note of May’s actions as she moved to the bed.

“Look Marina, it’s just my size!” she called out, moving to climb onto the dusty covers. I quickly pulled her back, frowning at her.

“May, didn’t you hear me? It’s dirty. Don’t get on it,” I started, and looked up to the child’s bed. The bed was quite cute, low with shelves on both ends littered with books coated in dust. The blankets and sheets were drawn back, as if waiting for someone to climb in for the night. “Shawn, look at this,” I said, waving him over.

He came to join me and stared at the state of the bed. “It looks like someone was planning to come back,” he said slowly. “But they never did.”

“May, get off of there,” I said, snatching her back as she hadn’t listened to me and was trying once again to climb on the bed. “That’s certainly how it looks.” I sighed. “I wonder what happened to the people who were living here.”

“I want to sleep,” May whimpered, and I absently smoothed her hair down to calm her while waiting for Shawn to say something.

“I don’t suppose there’d be any harm in staying in this place for a while,” he said slowly. “I mean, we’d have to clean it up, because it’s so dusty I’m about to cough up my own lungs, but if no one’s been here in a while I don’t see why we couldn’t use it. And if they did end up coming back, they’d find the place clean, so we’d be doing them a favor.”

“If you’re sure,” I agreed.

He grinned at me. “It’s settled then! Time to get cleaning.”

“With what though?”

He paused. “Good question.”

I ran a hand through my now grimy hair, and instantly made a face. “Gross. There has to be something around we could use.”

“I want to sleep!” May said again.

“May,” Shawn said, looking down at her, “you can’t sleep in here, it’s dirty all over. You have to wait until we can clean it up.”

I glanced over at Samuel. I had the feeling that May was not going to be much help in tidying up, and Samuel was beginning to have bad reactions to the dust. I’d already heard him sneeze twice. “Sam, can you take May outside and watch her while we get everything in order?”

“Sure,” he agreed gamely. “Come on, May, let’s go climb some trees.”

“Stay within sight of the castle,” Shawn warned. Samuel saluted and guided May out of the room.

I walked back out into the hall and looked around for anything else there might be in the castle. It so happened that on the other end, next to the first room we had looked in, there were two closets, one small and one big. Shawn and I headed to the larger one first and looked inside. Bowls and plates were stacked capriciously on top of messily folded blankets. Behind them were several handles that seemed to belong to a shovel or two, a broom, a roughly made mop, three buckets stacked together, and a fishing pole.

"Wow. Looks like they left in a hurry," Shawn commented, and started to pull the dishes out to hand to me. I restacked them on the floor, and set the blankets next to them. He pulled out an old box and opened it, the contents mostly rolled fabrics and a few jars. "Bandages," Shawn explained, prying open one jar. He slipped a finger into some greenish paste, and sniffed gently.

"What's that?" I asked, crouching next to him. He offered the jar as he wiped his finger off on one of the blankets.

"Ointment, I'd imagine. It smells horrible, though. Probably too old to use."

I sniffed and found the jar to be downright putrid. I quickly resealed it and stuffed it back into the box. "Anything else?"

"Thread and needles in the bottom," he added, holding out his hand to reveal a small roll of brown thread.

"Anything useful?" I retorted.

He went back to the cupboard, digging through the items in the back. He pulled out a few various objects - a round ball, scraps of fabric, a few canteens, and a small bag. He opened it and displayed two odd-shaped rocks.

"Rocks?" Shawn asked confused, rolling them together. When they sparked, we both jumped back and he dropped them as if they were hot.

"Flint and steel," I smiled at him wryly. He grinned at me, and put them back into the bag. That seemed to be the end of the supply from the cupboard.

“Well, this'll all be helpful,” he agreed, brightening a little.

“No vacuum, though,” I said thoughtfully.

“This doesn’t look like a place that would use vacuums,” Shawn said dryly. “I don’t see an electric outlet anywhere.”

“Figures.”

We then turned curiously to the second closet. “I’ll pick the lock,” Shawn volunteered, pulling out the Swiss Army knife he always carried with him. He bent over the lock and started going at it. After a few minutes, it was obvious he wasn’t getting anywhere fast.

“I’ll try,” I said, taking over. After poking the tool around for a minute, the padlock came open with a satisfying click. I grinned rather smugly at Shawn, who just shook his head, and then opened the closet.

Both of us were in for a huge shock. The closet was stacked floor to ceiling with nothing but weapons, and intimidating ones at that…swords, bows, crossbows, knives of all kinds, guns, and nameless others. There was even a ball and chain at the bottom. The two of us stared at them and then at each other with honest horror. “I say we lock this back up and not tell Sam or May about it,” Shawn finally said.

“I agree,” I said solemnly, and we shut the door again and put the lock back on. Thankfully, it hadn’t been harmed, so we could feel assured that neither one of our younger siblings could get the closet open and hurt themselves with anything inside. Shawn stepped back from the cupboard warily after shutting it.

"Okay. So we've got a main room, a kid's room, a closet of supplies, and a closet of old to modern-day weaponry," he summed up with a strange tone in his voice that I couldn't quite identify. Something like anger and fear together. I looked back at the supplies still strewn on the floor.

"Let's tell May and Sam that we couldn't get the cupboard open, but it's probably just more blankets," I suggested, and Shawn immediately agreed.