April 14, 1978
"I need to find Ethan," Theo paused before continuing. "Before it's too late," he added, touching his fingers to calm down.
"Not you, us, I will help you," Carmen reassuredhim, placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"Thank you, but I don't want to get you in trouble," Theo insisted.
Carmen immediately responded "Bad for you. I don't give a fuck".
Theo stood up, "Well. Well I don't know," he said before heading to his own bed as Carmen did the same
Yet Theo slept all day not being able to sleep now. Most of the night he just layed there, staring into the darkness.
—
April 15, 1978
Some hours went by and he still couldn't fall asleep, turning sideways he looked at Carmen who was asleep. But then Carmen looked at him too.
"Can't sleep either?" Carmen questioned whispering.
"Yeah," Theo answered, sitting on the bed.
The door suddenly opened. Mrs. Agnes stood in the door beam, light from the hall behind her contour. She looked furious as she spotted them sitting on their beds. Mrs. Agnes gestured to Theo, indicating he should come to her. Theo hesitated, giving a quick look to Carmen, but then followed her. She shut the door behind them.
"We just couldn't fall asleep-" Theo began to explain.
"You would talk all night," Mrs. Agnes interrupted sharply.
"And why is it such a problem? We wouldn't wake anyone," Theo tried to defend himself and Carmen, but it was pointless.
"Still, you're a bad influence on Carmen," she declared, lifting her chin disdainfully.
"Do you hate me so much because of my mother? She didn't die in a car accident, did she? She has done something more-" Theo asked, his voice filled with frustration.
Mrs. Agnes didn't let him finish as she raised her hand to hit him, Theo instinctively flinched, raising his arm to protect himself. Just then, Emily, a little girl clutching her teddy bear, appeared beside Mrs. Agnes.
"Mrs. Agnes, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm not feeling well, and I'm scared to go down to the nurse alone," Emily said timidly.
Mrs. Agnes' expression softened as she reached for Emily's hand. "It's okay, I will go with you," she said, her tone gentle. She turned back to Theo, her smile vanishing. "Go back to your room," she ordered curtly.
Theo quickly returned to the room and slipped into bed. Carmen looked over, concerned.
"Hey, is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Theo replied wearily, snuggling under his blanket.
Carmen didn't want to make things harder for him and quietly settled into his own bed, drifting off to sleep.
Not many hours were left until morning, maybe two or three. With the first light of dawn, Carmen woke up and glanced over at Theo. He walked over to Theo's bed and gently shook him awake.
"Uh," Theo groaned groggily, squinting at Carmen. "Why did you wake me up this early? I finally fell asleep," he mumbled, his eyes already drifting shut again.
Carmen chuckled and yanked the blanket off Theo.
"Breakfast is soon, and you would just sleep all day if I let you".
Theo yawned and tried to burrow under the bed sheets.
"Are you serious?" Carmen laughed, sitting on the edge of Theo's bed.
He began to sit up but lost his balance and fell against Carmen.
"Sorry," he apologized sluggishly.
Carmen smiled and helped him sit up properly.
"What did Mrs. Agnes want?" he asked softly.
"She was just insulting me," Theo replied, with a smile.
Carmen knew Theo didn't want to talk about it any further, so he didn't ask any more questions.
Just then, the familiar sound of the old bell echoed through the orphanage, signaling breakfast.
"Should we head to breakfast?" Carmen suggested.
"Sure," Theo replied, his voice still heavy with sleep.
They both got dressed quickly and joined the other children as they made their way to the dining hall.
Everyone sat down in silence, waiting for instructions. Mrs. Agnes entered the room with a stern expression, her presence commanding immediate attention.
"Good morning," she said.
"Good morning, Mrs. Agnes," everyone replied in unison.
"Today will follow the usual schedule," she announced. "Morning studying, and after lunch, there will be mandatory outside time."
As she spoke, Toby hesitantly raised his hand. Mrs. Agnes glanced at him, giving a slight nod.
"What happened to Lily?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
The room fell silent, all eyes on Mrs. Agnes.
She replied calmly, "I intended to address that. It turns out she sneaked outside and tried to escape but didn't get far. We found her in front of the orphanage's gate. She's now in the hospital because she somehow got severely injured during her attempt. A kind couple has decided to adopt her once she recovers".
The room buzzed with chatter, Lily's friends exchanging knowing glances.
Theo leaned towards Carmen and whispered, "She's lying".
Before Carmen could respond, Eileen interjected, "Why would she lie? It makes sense. Where else could she be?".
Eileen. One day you'll find out for yourself. Theo thought.
Theo didn't reply, his mind racing with suspicion.
Mrs. Agnes, noticing the rising chatter, raised her voice. "Manners! Silence! Breakfast will be served now."
The room fell into a hushed murmur, the sound of dishes clinking as children lined up for breakfast. Bread with cheese was served today.
Back at their seats, Theo meticulously scraped the cheese off his bread.
"What are you doing?" Carmen asked, leaning closer to watch Theo's precise movements.
"I don't like this type of cheese," Theo answered, concentrating on removing every bit. "But I'm not eating this. The bread already tastes too much like cheese".
Carmen giggled, shaking his head. "You'll live".
Theo rolled his eyes, taking a reluctant bite of the bread.
After breakfast, they still had fifteen minutes to spare, so they headed back to their room, weaving through the bustling hallway.
Theo shut the door behind them and when they got to the end of the wide room he turned to Carmen with a determined look.
"Carmen, I've got this idea," he began, moving quickly to his bed and sitting down.
Carmen followed, sitting on the edge of his own bed. "Okay, what is it?"
Theo leaned in, lowering his voice. "Well, during lunch, I could sneak into Mrs. Agnes's office. Maybe I could find something that could help us. Also-"
Carmen raised an eyebrow, cutting him off. "It sounds like you're just finding excuses to skip meals because there's no food you like".
"No, I actually thought a lot about this. I could just pretend I'm sick. That way, no one would be suspicious," Theo explained.
"Yeah, except you have like five minutes to search for something," Carmen pointed out, standing up.
"Whatever, I will risk it," Theo insisted.
"Then you should pretend you're sick now," Carmen suggested, moving towards the door.
He looked once more at Theo and then left the room, closing the door gently behind him. He made his way to the study room, arriving among the first. He took a seat beside the window, watching as the wind gently stirred the trees, making their branches sway.
Soon, Sister Adeline, a woman who taught and dressed in a maid's uniform like the other staff, stood behind her desk. "As you know, you take monthly exams, and today we will write one. You have three and a half hours with a fifteen-minute break every hour. Is everything clear?" She looked around the classroom.
"Yes, Sister Adeline," everyone answered in unison.
She handed out the exam papers, about ten pages, placing them face down on the desks.
"Sign your name, and you can begin," she added.
Everyone turned their papers over simultaneously, creating a loud rustling sound.
Carmen managed to understand most of the exam questions as he flipped through the pages.
Sister Adeline approached him, whispering "Hey, Carmen, where's Theo?"
Carmen looked up at her and replied, "He's got a headache."
She nodded and walked away, her hands clasped behind her back.
The hours passed faster than Carmen had thought. The first break arrived, and he decided to check on Theo. He made his way back to their room, slowly opening the door to find Theo asleep once again. He quietly closed the door and turned to leave but paused for a moment. He couldn't help but worry a bit for Theo, who was obviously more exhausted than he let on.
Carmen returned to the study room and finished the rest of the exam. He completed it within an hour, allowing him to leave earlier. As he quietly prepared to exit the classroom, Sister Adeline watched him, impressed by his efficiency. Carmen made his way back to their room, but noticed the door was already slightly opened. He peeked in and saw the nurse handing Theo some pills. He pushed open the screeching door and walked in. Both Theo and the nurse looked up at him as he entered the room.
"Hello, Carmen," the nurse said with a smile as she stood up to leave. "Make sure to take the other pill before bed," she added before closing the door behind her.
Carmen watched her leave, then sat down next to Theo. "So, how are you feeling?" he asked.
"Great, maybe because I'm not actually sick," Theo chuckled.
"Yeah, but you sleep all day," Carmen teased him.
"Come on, that's not an illness," Theo protested.
"Alright," Carmen conceded.
"Studying was boring as usual?" Theo asked with a smirk.
"Worse," Carmen replied with a groan. "We wrote this exam that was like ten pages long".
"Yeah, those are so stupid".
They both looked at each other.
"But hey," Theo continued, leaning back a bit. "You finished early, right? That's impressive."
Carmen shrugged. "I guess. Still doesn't make it any less stupid".
"I gotta go, good luck," Carmen urged, leaving the room to the sound of a bell signaling lunch.
Theo watched Carmen leave and waited until the footsteps of children heading to lunch faded away. He slowly peeked through the door, seeing that the hall was empty. Carefully, he went downstairs, where Mrs. Agnes's office was on his left.
Just as he was about to approach the office, the door opened and Mrs. Agnes emerged. Theo quickly leaned against the wall, standing on a stair step, holding his breath. She walked by him without noticing, and he sighed in relief.
As she made her way into the dining hall, closing the big doors behind her, he darted towards her office. The door was locked, but Theo had a passkey he had fashioned from staples he borrowed from Eileen. It worked. Quietly, trying not to make a sound, he closed the door behind him as he entered.
He was facing a desk, with shelves filled with various documents and drawers surrounding him. The office had a distinct scent, one he always associated with Mrs. Agnes.
"Okay, what am I even looking for?" Theo reminded himself, walking towards the shelf on his right.
He opened the first drawer, finding it filled with papers that didn't seem very important. The next drawer, larger than the first, was packed with folders. He opened one and found Ethan's picture on the first page. Ethan looked about twelve—maybe thirteen, with faded colors still hinting at his wavy, shoulder length strawberry blonde hair with bangs that he had outgrown over time, and the sweet brown eyes that appeared almost black without their usual spark.
Theo wanted to read more of what's written in those files, underneath the picture but knew he had no time for that. He closed the folder and moved to the next drawer. This drawer was smaller and locked.
"That's weird," he muttered, trying to open it with the passkey.
Luckily, it opened. Inside was a disc record with a taped paper labeled "1946" The year seemed oddly familiar. He took the record, closed the drawer, and quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.
As Theo walked up the stairs, he noticed Mrs. Agnes at the end of the hall. Instead of going to her office, she went outside. Theo hurried to his room, closing the door just as he heard people leaving the dining room.
He felt relieved. With Mrs. Agnes outside, she wouldn't find out he had stolen the disc; anyone could have taken it while she was away.
Theo sat down on the cold wooden floor next to his bed, brushing the dust off the record. He heard the screeching door open, with a gasp he turned around, finding Carmen walking in.
"Hey," Carmen approached him, closing the door behind him. "I brought you food," Carmen handed him a bowl of warm soup.
"Thank you," Theo said with a smile.
"What's that," Carmen asked, kneeling next to Theo.
"A record I found in the office," Theo explained, showing the disc record to Carmen more clearly.
"I didn't think you would actually go there," Carmen bantered.
"Guess you underestimated me," Theo replied, taking a sip of the soup using a spoon. "There is a record player in the library, we could sneak in there after dinner," he added, swirling the soup with the spoon.
"I have to go outside. Will you join me?" Walking toward the door, Carmen asked.
Theo reaffirmed, "I have to pretend I'm sick."
With a nod, Carmen left the room.
Carmen sat on a step as soon as he was outside.
Eileen sat down beside him and said, "Hi." Where is Theo?" she enquired.
"He's not feeling well," Carmen responded, as he watched the clouds pass by.
Eileen watched the clouds until pointing to one and saying, "This one looks like a tiger".
"No, it's more like a cat".
"Oh, please come on. That's practically the same thing," she grinned and acknowledged.
"It's definitely a cat," Carmen smiled.
"Whatever". Eileen chuckled.
For some time they sat in silence. Until a little girl, Emily, approached them, "Wanna play something?" she asked.
"Of course," Eileen replied, her voice cheerful. "What do you wanna play?".
Emily's eyes lit up with excitement as she pondered for a moment. "Let's play tag!" she exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Carmen grinned at the suggestion. "Sounds like fun! Who's going to be 'it' first?".
Emily eagerly volunteered to be the first one to chase, and with a burst of laughter, the game began. They raced around the yard, ducking behind trees and dodging obstacles. Soon, other kids joined them.
Carmen suddenly stopped, noticing Mrs. Agnes standing on the porch, watching the kids play. Which wouldn't be weird but she was writing something in some files. What was that about?
Must be something for work, Carmen thought. He then snapped out of his thoughts, continuing the game.
They played in this way for a while, pausing occasionally.
Theo, meanwhile, watched them from the window. It brought back memories of playing the same game with Ethan. Their favorite game was this one. He turned to leave the window and went to lay on his bed and read a book.
Carmen entered the room after a while. They gave each other a quick look and a smile. Carmen opened his sketchbook as he sat on his bed.
Theo looked at him and then tossed up a small box from under his bed. "I wanted to give you this," he began.
Carmen turned towards him as he spoke.
"I noticed that all you have is this pencil, and these are the crayons that my mother gave me back when she was alive. Maybe you could use them," he continued. He stretched over from his bed to give Carmen the crayons because there wasn't much space between their beds.
Carmen questioned nervously, "I'm sorry about your mother. Are you sure you're okay with this?".
Theo gave him a nod. "Yeah it's okay, I'm horrible at drawing so".
"I really appreciate it," Carmen added.
Theo smiled and turned back to his book, saying, "No problem".
Carmen started coloring his sketches.
Theo sat on his bed watching the time on the clock pass by, "Dinner is in five," he noticed. "We should head there now," he added, standing up.
Carmen nodded but then questioned "Aren't you supposed to be sick?"
"Yeah, but that was in the morning," Theo insisted.
Carmen rolled his eyes at him, leaving the room.
At dinner soon everyone joined them. Sound of chairs being pushed echoed through the whole room. With the sound slowly softening Mrs. Agnes entered the room with her usual emotionless look.
Everyone was already silent so she began with a serious tone. "Shortly after lunch I went outside to do some work. But meanwhile someone snuck into my office, and a record very important to me was stolen. Is someone willing to admit that it was them, or is everyone going to be punished?".
The room went completely silent, everybody looking at each other waiting for someone to confess.
"I see, so tomorrow you all will have a lot more chores and no food for the day. Last chance, we'll find who it was soon or later".
The room was still silent. Carmen looked at Theo, who had fear in his eyes.
"If that's so" she continued, about to leave the room, "Dinner won't be served tonight," she admitted, leaving the room.
The dining room was filled with a loud murmur and the sound of chairs being shoved across the floor, creating a head splitting noise.
Theo got up glancing at Carmen.
"Hey," Carmen reached out to grab Theo's hand, but Theo swiftly pulled away, avoiding his grasp.
Carmen stood there, looking back at Eileen.
Theo was about to leave the room, yet then Mrs. Agnes stopped him, grabbing his arm. Theo immediately yanked away, looking up at her. Mrs. Agnes was really tall, maybe it's because of the black heels she always wore.
"It was you, right?" Mrs Agnes' serious tone cut through the tension.
Theo shook his head in denial.
"Wait until I find proof. All you do is cause problems, even though I gave you everything". With that, she turned and walked away.
Carmen stepped closer to Theo. "Theo," he called softly.
Theo glanced at him briefly, then turned to head back to their room.
When Carmen arrived, Theo looked at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry," Theo murmured.
"It's okay, I understand, really," Carmen reassured him with a smile, and Theo's expression softened in response.
"We could try that disc now, if you want to?" Theo suggested, nervously tracing circles on the disc with his fingers. Theo carefully slipped the disc under his hoodie and they went to the library.
Once there, they headed straight for the old gramophone that no one ever used. Theo slowly took the disc from under his hoodie and placed it on the turntable. Adjusting the needle, they were met with a strange humming sound.
They looked at each other.
"Hiding information behind a disc that looks like a casual music record was clever," Carmen remarked.
Suddenly, a woman's voice crackled through the gramophone. "Us, our te-m, have m-de a h-ge dis-very. See-s like an-ther -or-d is connected to ours, The Eclipsed Abyss is w-t we -ll it -r -. T-t -rld looks exactly like ours, e-ept compl-ely opp-ite, da-k and –ld. No l-e has b-n disco-ed -et," the humming continued. "Are -ou sure, Dr. Frensby? W-re -ot sure -at co-d happen."
"-o it, -row t-m in th-re," an elderly-sounding man commanded. The annoying humming resumed, followed by loud screams, as if something terrible was happening. The humming persisted, then the woman's voice returned. "El-en y-rs la-r, t-y've b-lt an orpha-ge th-e to k-ep eve-thing a secret. T-s was su-osed to be a -ere r-se-ch, -ut a-er that 1946' inci-nt, eve-one l-f-. -w -e, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Jacobs... I fi-d this mes-ge and—" the humming drowned out the rest.
"What was all that supposed to mean?'
"I don't know, it's all weird. Why would Mrs. Agnes hide the disc? And that name, Elizabeth... Jacobs," Theo realized aloud.