Cara #4 (freewrite fiction)

Cara #1
Cara #2
Cara #3

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When the man arrived, Cara was still in the room. She heard him come in, though he did so silently, not saying a word to nanny, who opened the door and didn’t say a word back. Not even hello, although that wasn’t surprising, at least not to Cara. She never used to say it to Christopher when he came by, so why should she say it to this stranger?
For he was a stranger, Cara felt certain. She heard the sound of his footsteps rustle through the walls of the old house. And they did not sound the same way as Christopher’s. The man was here about the beast. This, Cara also knew, though how exactly she wasn’t certain. Perhaps it was the only thing that made sense, that he would arrive – so soon after her attempted escape – because he was somehow part of it. Perhaps he was here to punish her. Or perhaps he was the beast, walking like a man. Christopher had told her stories like that, about a man who lived on a moun-tain in the sky, except he wasn’t a man, but he sometimes became a man and he came down unto Earth. And when Cara had asked him if he’d ever come here, at the house, Christopher had smiled.
‘No, he didn’t come by the house. Because this...man, he wasn’t real, see, people just said he was. And anyway, if he was, he was very very old, even then, older than nanny. Before the house was built.’
‘Born.’
Cara never corrected Christopher on anything, because it seemed ludicrous to do so. But that day, she’d felt so certain. New things are born. So are new people. Christopher was born, he told Cara the story, about how he’d been a screaming, crying baby and how he’d been very very red. But there was something missing in Christopher’s story then, because he was always a lone baby, with not even a nanny to look after him and it seemed sad.
But she was wrong, correcting him.
‘No,’ Christopher had said, his eyes gone a bit funny as he looked at her, ‘not born. Children are born, prisons are built.’

And then he’d seen the little girl’s eyes go up in wonder and the question form on her lips and he’d been quick to say it was not important.

But this new man was not the man on the mountain from Christopher’s story. He wasn’t someone who’d been in the house before and Cara didn’t like that. In all her life here, there had only ever been three people in the house. Cara. Nanny. And Christopher. No matter what had happened, they’d never called anyone else. Not even after the incident.
Cara bit her lips, so as not to cry, yet cried anyway, because this was definitely so very bad. Nanny had threatened to send Christopher away, but never to bring someone else here. Someone who was here to hurt Cara. And suddenly, she found she preferred the beast, that she would much rather stay in the darkness with its eyes and its howls.

But that was not to be. Almost as soon as the man had walked through the door, Cara heard the lock outside shift and she pushed herself in the furthest corner of the room, which wasn’t really far away at all and she cried. Silently, just like she’d always cried. She cried and clawed at the shadows of the floor to keep her inside.
‘Cara’ nanny said again, her voice like iron, making Cara sit really still. It wasn’t good when nanny used that voice, it made Cara’s bones shake.
She followed nanny out into the light again, shaded her eyes, even though the bulb in the corridor wasn’t all that bright. And she looked at the visitor.

He was tall, taller than Christopher perhaps and heavier, too. But he was dressed different, not like the clothes Christopher used to wear. His were all gray and looked alike, whereas Christopher always wore jeans. He even brought her a pair of jeans, as a present and Cara had been so happy, even though nanny had not. But she’d let her keep them and Cara kept them under her bed, which seemed like the safest place she could find. She was going to wear them when Christopher came back, except she’d forgotten. She realized now that she’d gone to face the beast in the darkness wearing an old dress, and that wouldn’t do at all. Of course she didn’t find Christopher dressed like this.

His eyes were small and had no color, it seemed to Cara, and even though he looked down at her and smiled, there wasn’t anything kindly about him.
‘Hello, Cara,’ he said, bending down and putting out a hand, but Cara pulled away just in time, bumping into nanny who was right behind her and catching unto her apron. She shook her head up at nanny, trying desperately to let her know she wouldn’t do it again. Because that’s what it was about, wasn’t it?
She’d spoken, that’s why the man had come. Because she wasn’t supposed to speak and she would never speak again, not even to Christopher, hard though it was. She shook her head and made not one sound and still, nanny didn’t seem to understand what the little girl was trying to tell her. She just stared down blankly at Cara and eventually cleared her throat.
‘Cara,’ she said, in her warning tone of voice, then she looked back at the man, suggesting Cara do the same.
‘It’s alright,’ the man said, still smiling his fake smile, ‘I never liked meeting strangers either, when I was your age.’
‘She’s not used to people.’
And for a second, Cara wasn’t sure where the voice had come from, looking around and then back up at the man, thinking maybe he had a second voice. But then it hit her. It was nanny. Nanny, who’d never spoken to Cara in her life except to say ‘Cara’.
She turned to look up at the old woman who avoided her gaze and shook her dress a little, shaking the girl’s hand away.
‘No, of course not,’ the man replied icily, ‘that’s not her purpose, is it?’
And nanny mumbled something and then was silent again and then, in all this abounding silence, Cara wondered if it was at all possible they were expecting her to say something? Or at least the stranger was. And she looked at him and wet her lips and said nothing. Because she’d swore she’d only speak to Christopher and he hadn’t come back yet.
‘You are alone, I take it.’ Nanny nodded. ‘The boy no longer works here?’
‘He’s...gone, sir.’
Nanny kept her eyes on an invisible spot on the perfectly scrubbed floor.
‘Good. And so you shall remain. For a while, at least. I shall take Cara here on a little trip.’
And both Cara and nanny looked up at once, their eyes suddenly bursting with shock. ‘But that was not the plan, the rules–’
‘Rules change, as do plans. Don’t worry, I shall bring her back, but right now, Cara will accompany me and you shall wait here.’

‘Please.’
For a second, the word sounded made-up and Cara honestly thought she’d just imagined hearing it. It wasn’t like nanny to ever say please. It wasn’t like nanny to ever be told what to do and be utterly incapable of doing different. And yet, here she was.
‘There will be no pleading, you will stay here.’
‘But she’s not used to–’
‘To people, yes, you’ve said. I will look after her and see how well she adapts. Don’t worry, I won’t expose her to hoards of people. She will be with me at all times. I think we’ll both be quite safe.’

Cara looked back at nanny and knew, in an instant, the look in her eye. It was panic, cold and horrible, crawling its way up through her bones. And even though nanny could sometimes be horrible herself, at least to Cara, she didn’t deserve this. She looked so scared...so much like she didn’t want to stay behind that Cara felt pity for her. She grabbed her dress again, tighter this time, hoping it would be enough not to let this stranger take her away.

But it wasn’t. Nanny pried her fingers away herself and then, packed her bag of clothes with her. Except for the jeans, she forgot to put in the jeans and what would happen if she didn’t have them?
She would go all alone with this tall gray man to where exactly? And why? And why just her?
Yet what was most gnawing at her stomach was the fact that throughout this packing business, she hadn’t seen either doll or teddy. Not in her room and not in her bag. She ran into the parlor, where nanny had thrown them and found them, slumped over in a corner against the cold wall, and she grabbed them tight and thought once more that the beast didn’t seem quite so bad.

Holding tight to teddy and doll, Cara felt like she was in a dream. She watched numbly as the man walked her down the pathway towards his car, which didn’t look at all like Christopher’s car, and strapped her in on the front side. And she watched as nanny stood on the path, somehow in between the big house and the little girl, like she wasn’t sure whether she should follow or go back inside, waving only half-heartedly. And all through this, she didn’t say a word because that’s presumably what prompted all of this and now, this man was taking her to a place where there would be other people who also said words. And she wondered, looking back as the house started to roll away and stay behind, if Christopher would be there, too.

to be continued

This is a 5 Minute Freewrite (though not quite) based on the prompt "sound" offered by @mariannewest, who is generally awesome.

Thanks for reading,