Jacob Wesley and the Darklights

Twelve years had passed since Ms. Larrier had been surprised by a new tenant at Kendall Drive Home for Boys. Nothing changed since she still was just as nasty as before. Rain fell upon Griffin, droplets pelted the ceiling of the orphanage, rain drops could be heard all throughout the orphanage, especially in the dark dusty hall that Ms. Larrier had first encountered the strange upside down frames. Only her tightly neat office showed a difference. Pictures of a gray plump ball of fur known as Smaltz had littered the office. She was now 14 years old, and her annoyingly loud meow had gotten worse with age. New faces laced the orphanage with 25 new tenants living in Ms. Larrier’s far from perfect home.One of the new faces was Jacob Wesley, the precious jewel from another world that was dropped on Ms. Larrier’s doorstep a dozen years ago. He laid softly asleep amongst the other children, but that ended quickly as a growing raspy meow echoed throughout the halls, alarming the boys to wake up. Following was a screeching old voice closely resembling nails on a chalkboard.“Wake up you troublemakers! This house is far from clean.”Loud bangs could be heard on their door as Jacob rose from his bed. He heard Ms. Larrier pacing back and forth continuously knocking on the door as the other boys jolted from their beds as well. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the time, frustrated to know he awoke from a nice dream, a dream of a world far away that he could fly around in. Looking up at the soft swaying clouds through the barred window gave him wonder. If only his dream was true. “I don’t hear feet running around, I said up at once!” belted Ms. Larrier from behind the door. “Coming Ms. Larrier,” shouted the boys in a cautious unison.“Well let’s go, we have plenty to clean today. The bathrooms are filthy, the kitchen needs polishing, and most importantly I am hungry!”Jacob let out a sigh. “I heard that Jacob!” Ms. Larrier yelled outside the door. “Sorry Ms. Larrier.”Jacob stretched, his back was sore yet again from sleeping in his small cot that had a mattress so small it could be mistaken for just a sheet. The tiny crowded room that held the 25 boys was really meant to fit around 8. Perhaps the oldest and least kept room of the orphanage, it was the only place Jacob could escape Ms. Larrier. It was what he was used to, but his body still adapted to the lack of comfort the bed gave. The other boys had hunches in their backs from the difficulty in sleep too. Sticky gum lined the ground where they walked, and there was a terrible musty smell that bordered the walls. After getting dressed he followed the boys out the door and down the hall into the kitchen. Smaltz was getting cat hair all over the place; the floors were dirty and disgusting to say the least, a big change from the cleaned house years ago. A roach spotted, crumbs from Smaltz’s food dish littered about, and dust lining the cabinets. Smaltz was perched atop the sink as Jacob went under to grab a dust cleaner. She hissed at him immediately and gave a low gurgling growl. Jacob and Smaltz did not get along at all. Every time Smalz laid her old and yellow eyes on Jacob, she would growl as if it was a trigger. Time after time, she would scratch his leg while purring around Ms. Larrier. It wasn’t unusual for her to break a dish or leave a mess while the blame was placed on Jacob. Recently, an urn containing the ashes of Barney Copplepot, one of Ms. Larrier’s relatives that was upside down at one point was knocked over by the plump gray tail of Smaltz only to show Jacob left covered in the remaining ash. Ms. Larrier sentenced him to 3 days in the hole. Ms. Larrier wasn’t too fond of Jacob, especially of his framed accidents that kept occurring. Soon he’d be placed on the hall of fame of Hole inhabitants, it was practically his smelly slimy home. The boys at Kendal Drive were all skinny, but Jacob always the shortest and skinniest kid in the group. Jacob wasn’t stylish either, not by choice though. The only clothes he had were a hand me down old gray hoodie missing a string to tighten it and small holes near the pouch. He wore stained jeans with even bigger holes near his knees, and barely kept together velcro sneakers. Jacob had a thin face with a bump in his chin, skinny arms, silver hair, and beautiful green eyes. His eyes were the only thing he enjoyed because he didn’t have pupils and all the other kids did. It set him apart and made him unique, even if the kids teased him when calling him “No-eyes”. Whenever he asked Ms. Larrier why his eyes were the way they were, she spat back at him in a nasty tone “I don’t know, they were always ugly little things. Now go clean!” Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. Ms. Larrier always found a way to keep the boys busy cleaning her far from perfect home. The only boy that Ms. Larrier ever liked was Tommy Badton An older boy, Tommy had dark red hair, freckles to cover a mile, and larger muscular arms. He also had a fat dangly nose which he had no problem sticking in the other boys faces, and a lingering musty smell because he refused to wash his armpits. He always got twice the dinner meal the other boys did because he was almost as good a tattle tale as the plump feline Smaltz. Ms. Larrier often complained about a smell when around the boys, Jacob knew it was Tommy that disrupted her ugly nose. Just as Jacob started to clean, Tommy made his presence known. “Hey No-eyes, another day in the hole for ya?” Tommy cackled as the other boys followed suit. Almost every day, Tommy would leave his duty which was just watching over the other boys and pick on or make things difficult for Jacob. Jacob was an easy target for his unusual silver hair, no eyes names, and smaller body frame. Jacob was cleaning the tile by the refrigerator when Tommy kicked over a nearby bucket that was used for the mop. Instantly the dirty spotted water spilled all over his area drenching Jacob’s sneakers in it. “What’s the matter No-eyes? Need new sneaks?” Tommy chuckled as he kicked the water at Jacob’s feet. The other boys laughed in the background. “Ms. Larrier’s going to kill us Tommy, you spilled it everywhere,” Jacob shouted back. “Uh No-eyes, look around you, the mess is at your feet. The only one who’s getting the hole today is a butthole like you.” Tommy was getting on Jacob’s nerves as he threw down his cleaning rag and clenched his fists. “Oh looks like little No-eyes here is getting some courage. What are you gonna do huh? You can’t see me, you don’t have any eyes.” The laughter grew louder as Tommy winked back at the other boys. He loved the attention he got from the others for picking on Jacob, which most likely was the main reason he did so. Jacob began to charge but slipped on the surrounding puddle of dirty mop water, hitting the ground. Just as he was about to get up, Ms. Larrier entered the room. “What in the blazes is going on here...you?!” “He did it,” said Tommy pointing over at Jacob. Jacob knew the trouble he was in now was far more severe than the embarrassing water that flooded his sneakers. When Ms. Larrier saw a mess, her hair would stand up on her neck and arms, and her mole pulsated. He was sure to get the hole now, another visit in that dirty rat infested place. Jacob rose to his knees giving one final glare over at Tommy as he stuck his fat obnoxious tongue out back at Jacob. “Tommy, you are such a dear just like me,” said Ms. Larrier, then turning her attention over to Jacob. “Clean up this mess at once and stop fooling around! It’s going to be the-” Ms. Larrier’s yells were silenced by a sudden knock at the front door. Tommy looked over worried as Smaltz began to growl angrily being robbed of seeing another Jacob exiling to the hole.