The Deeper the Darker

The Deeper the Darker

By Lucy Szpila

Dedicated to all my friends who

helped me bring my story to life

Maple Leaf Writing Project

Brattleboro Vermont

Copyright 2014

chapter 1 Ariana

I wake up to the sound of birds chirping, I step out of bed, the cold from marble floor seeps into my feet. I slip on my my favorite red sneakers, and walk to the window I look out see the heated pool that we had gotten put in last year, the new status and fountain that we had also got the year before. I stare at the twinkling gate that looks like gold.

When my grandfather died my family inherited everything he owned, which was a lot.

I put on my favorite hat which is dark blue with different shades of blue stripes.

I would never go anywhere without it . I go down stairs and find my parents already up and eating. I step in the room, and Martha our cook says in her sweet voice, “ I made you some pancakes.”

“ Thank you,” I say joyfully. I sit ,waiting for my pancakes. Martha brings them in, and places them in front of me. I stare at the heaping pile of pancakes that awaits me.

I look at my dad and ask him if I have anything planned for the day. As he looks up, I can see his dull blue eyes and I can tell that he is not in the best mood. Then my dad says brightening up , “Actually your uncle is coming over for the day and I expect you to be here when he arrives.”

With a sigh I let the knife slide through the pile of pancakes that only a couple of minutes ago I had been so anxious to eat. I hate my uncle, the way he stares at me with those icy eyes making me wiggle in my seat and the way he always orders for me when we go out to eat like I’m a little kid.

A loud ring comes from the front of the house dad tells me to get it so I run to the intercom, and I press the big red button and put my ear next to the speaker. I hear Uncle John’s big clear voice say, “ Hi its me can you open the gate,”

” Ok one minute, “ I say,then run back to the table with my dad sitting there, still reading the paper.

He looks up when I bolt in, and asks, “Is it your uncle ?”

Still out of breath from all the running I gasp then say gulping in another breath “Uhh yeah he wants you to open the gate to let him in,”

“Oh,” he says with the same expression of boredom that he always seems to wear. I have a thought what if I can slip out back before John gets here ? Quickly I call my dog Wilson and I slip out the back door making for the beach.

chapter 2 Cleo

I wake up to the sound of my mom screaming at me to come down and do my chores. I roll out of my bed and hit the floor which is covered in pillows. Walking down the hall to the kitchen I look at the bottom of the wall and see that some of the wallpaper had started to peel.

As I step in the kitchen I smell something burnt. When I see the oatmeal black as coal, I knew that that must the burnt thing. My brother is staring at his, wistfully poking his spoon at it. I turn around and my mom pushes another bowl of the black crispy oatmeal towards me . I look at my mom question in my eyes.

“I forgot to put the water in,” she mumbles.

I put the bowl on the the table and say “ Thanks, but no thanks.”

I walk to the kitchen and open a cabinet drawer looking for some cereal, Raisin Bran, Cheerios, Fruit loops. Even though I don't like any of the choices, I continue to stare hoping that something else will appear in front of me. Nothing does but my pocket knife that I had been missing for months is behind the Cheerios. Slipping the knife into my pocket I shut the door and stare out the window not knowing what I hope to find. Seeing nothing, I lie on the couch and flip the switch for the TV. There is nothing on all the channels I like, they are on a commercial break. I close my eyes and hear my stomach growl.

I start to drift off to sleep when I hear a loud bark, then another, then another. Stepping into the kitchen, I see Ariana’s dog. Strange I think, Ariana never lets her dog out alone . I step outside but the dog will not stop barking. I try to pet her but she hops to the side. I move closer and try to pet her once more, but this time she runs off.

“No wait,” I yell chasing after her.

chapter 3 Ariana

I slip off my shoes and feel the cold sand slide through my toes the colder water lap against my feet . I sit on the wet sand, and let Wilson off his leash. The water pushes against me, the bright sun beaming down on me. I hear a twig snap from behind me. I whip my head around but seeing no one behind the trees I let myself relax, close my eyes ,let my hair rub against the sand. Looking out on the water I see a small island . My stomach grumbles and I wish that I had brought a snack. I feel the sun slip away and opening my eyes I see a huge cloud

in front of the sun.

With a groan I stand up turn around and start to wander, with the huge trees standing in front of me defiantly as if they don't want me to get out , I search for the path that so many times before I had walked through. Once I find the path I stare at it, dark and gloomy. That only a while ago had seemed so bright. Now the path had an ominous glow to it. I call for Wilson and in moments she is by my side. I hear a crack from a twig and once more my head whips around and this time I see something or someone slip behind a tree and me being me, I slowly creep towards the tree.

What happened next I never would have expected. I step closer and closer until I am right in front of the tree. Wilson is the one who gives me away, he runs up behind the tree and starts to bark, bark like crazy showing no control. That’s when it happens, a hand comes out and picks her up by the neck. She stops barking she lets out a whimper and looks at me with those pale blue eyes.

I can't help myself I let out a scream. Wilson is dropped and a man slides out from the tree, bag in hand, black mask over his face, black gloves, everything that you might see on a murder show. I try to scream, I try to run, but the least I can do is stagger a couple steps backwards. Then I trip on a root and hit my head. My hat swings off and I can see blood. My world starts to dim I hear Wilson ’s bark then the rustle of leaves as if he's running away. I manage to mumble, “Run Wilson, ” as a large bag is stuffed over my head.

chapter 4 Cleo

By the time Wilson stops running I am out of breath. I look around to where he has taken me. I see a gloomy forest trail. About 10 feet ahead of me I see a patch of sunlight bursting through the trees. I walk to the sunlight ,“Hey,” I say.

I remember this place. This is one of Ariana’s favorite places to hang out. Speaking of which, wear is Ariana? She calls me every morning. Then there's a tug at my pants and a loud sharp bark. I look down at Wilson ’s face, innocent as ever. Then Wilson pulls on my pants once more, but this time he pulls me back in the forest that’s when I see it, Ariana’s favorite blue hat that she never went anywhere without.

I look once more at Wilson , hoping for him to do something. He just lays down though, refusing to move.

I take another step forward, right in front of a huge root and on top of the root there is a puddle of blood. A puddle of blood, the hat, the phone call that I never got. I put 2 and 2 together. . . someone has taken Ariana. What can I do? I could call the police but they wouldn't go searching for her until 24 hours had passed. I could tell my parents but they would never believe me, I could try to solve the crime myself.

Stepping back, on the beach, sitting down. Now what to do? how do I solve this crime? I stare out blankly at the bright white clouds, the Island the dark blue water that was always empty because of the law that on this part of the lake there were no motor boats allowed. But as I move my eyes from one side of the lake to the other there is a boat on the lake. A boat on the lake, I laughed, this was too easy. In that boat there might be the people who took Ariana.

I stand up and scan the beach looking for something when I see a sailboat. I jump with joy. In a couple minutes I am on their tail. I think they see me because they start to move a little faster. Alright, they want fast I’ll give them fast. I swing the boom around and duck just in time. I watch it swing over me nearly brushing my nose.

The wind picks up and I speed forward, all of a sudden the motor boat stops and I fling past them. I watch as the boat turns around and starts going in the opposite direction. I grunt as once more I swing the boom. This time I am careful to duck before the boom is brought around. I see the people who took Ariana get farther and farther away. I speed along towards the boat, my feet feel cold and wet. I look down at them and to my horror I see the boat is at least 3 inches deep in water. I look ahead and once more I see I am catching up to them.

In fact they have stopped moving completely. I won't fall for the same trick. I look down at my feet and see the water is now at my waist. I prepare to jump as soon as my boat gets close to theirs. The water keeps rising and I know the boat will soon stop moving .

As I grow nearer and nearer I wonder why the people in the boat stopped and then it happened. The wind picks up and in seconds I am right next to the boat and without thinking I jump. The cold water laps against my skin,the weight of my clothes pulls me down. I try to move, I try to swim. I keep commanding my body parts to move but they won’t listen. The cold surrounds my body, freezing my bones. What an awful way to die. No one will ever find me I think, then I see a shadow falling from above me. I close my eyes and feel life slowly slip away from me. Suddenly there’s a tug from around my waist and I see the glow from the top of the water shimmer closer to me. When I turn my head I see an old face with a gray beard. The face looks familiar but I can't quite place it ,my head submerges into the air and I take a long breath. My hand reaches for the boat and grips the side. As I climb in I notice the man is right behind me. Taking a quick look around the boat and to my surprise I see no body, no Ariana. I continue to breath heavily and wait for the old man to get in. When he does, he says, “I’ll take you to where you were heading but I’m out of gas , and now I’ll have to use my oars .”

“Oh,” I say realizing that that must have been the reason that the boat had stopped earlier.

I see the small island. I hadn't realized it but when I was sailing I had been getting closer and closer to the island. Well I think to myself I need to start looking for Ariana somewhere.

“ Actually I was heading towards that island,” I say, deciding to forgive him for breaking motor boat the law on account of he saved my life.

“ok,” he says passing me a oar. In a few minutes we reach the island and I get out and wade to shore.

I notice foot prints straight in front of me.

“I don't remember walking here,” I say, staring at the path that leads straight towards the middle of the island. There are 3 sets of footprints. Two of them are rather large but the other one is almost the same size as mine.

chapter 5 Ariana

I remember the bag being stuffed over my head ,the rope being tied around my wrists and feet, someone swinging me over their shoulders and dropping me in something that moved from side to side.

I wake up to the sound of waves crashing against the beach , and the sun beaming in my eyes with rope tied around my hands and feet. When I sit up I don't know where I am.

When I look around I see two men one wearing a mask.

“What do you want from me?” I say trying to sound brave

but instead it comes out as a squeak.

“Nothing from you,” the man without a mask on says, “It’s your parents we want the money from.”

chapter 6 Cleo

When the sand stops so do the footprints and soon I am just guessing which way they might have gone. Hungry ,and thirsty I walk for I don’t know how long and find myself staring at Ariana. she hasn't seen me yet so I quickly slide behind a tree.

I think about the situation that I am in, but still nothing comes to my head, no plan. I can't just stay here and wait I think to myself. I have to do something, take some sort of action. I peek my head around the corner of the tree and stair at the 2 men one of them reaches for the water canteen and turning it upside down lets out aloud grown

“I’ll go fill up the water,” he mumbles.

“I’ll be right back.”

And with that he he walks away.

Without thinking one of my hands wraps itself around a thick branch while the other grabs the pocket knife that had been sitting in my pocket since this morning. Then I jump out from behind the tree and shout,” hey over here.” I see A man with pale blue eyes and a bunch of brown freckles splattered all over his face. He looks from me to Ariana not sure which one of us is to stay with, Ariana all tied up and me with a huge branch in my hands. Deciding that I was the more threatening one he lunges for me, in one quick motion I jump backwards and toss the pocket knife to Ariana hoping that she can move her hands enough to cut her ropes.

The man not noticing the pocket knife continues to follow me. Me being the faster runner, I am quickly ahead of the man, I duck behind a tree and get the branch ready. As he comes around the corner I whack him hard in the face and much to my surprise he falls backwards and lies still on the ground. I run to Ariana.

By the time I get there Ariana is slipping off the last ropes. Then we hear the man who had just gone to get some water come around the corner this man unlike the other guy has a mask and a gun I see Ariana reach for a stone and I start to reach for one, the man sees us and raises his gun I see the fear in his eyes as he looks from me to Ariana then he drops his gun and runs off screaming. Ariana raises her stone and throws hitting the man right in the back of his head. He falls down and we rush to tie them up with the rope that had tied up Ariana.

when we take off the mask Ariana gasps with horror

“Uncle John, “ she whispers.

After we tie the 2 men up we put them in the boat and rush home we call the police and do our best to explain what had occurred during that strange day.

Later we found out that Uncle John had been furious when he found out that his father had died and left everything in his will to Ariana’s dad. He had planned to take Ariana and send a ransom note to her parents. When he had heard that Ariana had snuck off he immediately offered to go after her.

chapter 7 Ariana

When I got home my parents were overjoyed to have me back and my mother could not stop hugging me. I told my dad how sorry I was to sneak off and how surprised I was when I took off the mask and found Uncle John. My father in reply told to never run off again.