Building up

   The sound of someone yelping, followed by a thud, made the blood gush through her veins again, struck her back to movement and attention; her legs, which were wobbling a few minutes ago, suddenly took her down the stairs hastily.

*********

    “I will give you a thousand pounds if you go down stairs in this dark and if you’re able to convince your friends to accompany you,” the worker said.

    He was middle aged, shabby, smirking, with hands blackened with dirt, with two raised eyebrows as if to challenge them and ask them, “what do you think?” he was wearing ragged clothes and looked suspicious.

     He glanced at the narrow flight of stairs heading downwards; he tapped his forehead with one finger, thinking. A part of his mind told him not to do that, but he felt adrenalin rushing to his limbs. His heart beat faster, and he felt pleasure just at the thought of taking the risk, exploring, and doing his own thing. He smiled widely.

    “I accept the dare; we will go.”

     A girl standing beside him frowned and furrowed her eyebrows.

    “are you sure? I don’t think that’s a good idea!”

    “do you want him to think i can’t take a dare? it’s a piece of cake. Nothing will happen. I am not dumb you guys, I know what I am going for.”

   She sighed, “okay, whatever. Let’s get it over with quickly before we are missed.”

    She eyed her two friends, who giggled in excitement and looked at her encouragingly.

    “Come on, Karin, it will be fun,” her friend said.

    “Karin, you are making a fuss; you are so scared for nothing. I will go and take Alex, Sara, Judith, Tom, Jack, and Peter with me,” Ali said. “You have to come along.”

    Karin took a step forward and gave a little disapproving sigh. She hesitantly said, “Fine, let’s go.”

    They all descended the narrow staircase, one after the other.

    A story above, people were moving around energetically. The place, though full of trash here and there, showed the amount of work that has been done and the upcoming chores.  The ground was full of sand, dust, and little rocks. The walls were not even painted yet. The sealing was not even completely built, and the only source of light came from a little lamp, installed in that completed part of the ceiling. The temperature was extremely high; the air was humid, and everyone in the room was panting and sweating profusely. Music was playing from speakers someone had brought with them; everyone was engaged in meaningful, essential conversations to discuss and organize everything they were doing. Frequently, the sound of a person calling out to someone and asking them for an item of food was heard.

    A tall lady was walking all around the room, supervising everyone and making sure that everything is being done correctly. She was always looking around her, watching every single person, insuring that they were there, safe, and helping out pleasantly.  She was most of those people’s English teacher, but because her students loved her a lot, they couldn’t refuse her offer to join her in the charity she was running; she and her friends were responsible for packing boxes that contain all the basic food items any human needs and distributing them among the needy. The passion by which the students accepted this offer and kept up with all the hard work for several days in a row was fantastic. This passion and eagerness the students expressed made their parents supportive. In fact, they trusted the teacher a lot; they all believed she would keep their children safe as well as active and helpful.

     As she walked around, she felt like something was wrong. A few people were missing, not one or two, but about six. She asked everyone, but no one knew where they were. She walked towards the stairs to search for them in the other floors. All though she was tensed up and apprehensive, she couldn’t help but feel angry because she had warned them many times not to do anything or go anywhere without letting her know. She was running up the dark, incompletely built staircases that had no bars yet. Every story, she would pause to calm her shuttering breaths. She was panting heavily, and she felt like fire was surrounding her from all directions, trapping her in its heat and smoke. She was feeling noticeably hotter, and anxiety amplified her heart beats.

    She could hear her heart pounding in her chest; she felt like it was going to jump out of it. Her mind raced as her knees shook and trembled with fright. She couldn’t bear her merciless thoughts; guilt and worry were both consuming her strength; her legs quivered; her mind spun with all kinds of horrifying, gruesome thoughts. What if something happens to them? What if they are injured? What if someone is lost? What if, in this horrid darkness, someone kidnaps, rapes, threatens, or injures any of them? What about their parents? What about the mother that told her today, “I am very comforted and assured when you are around because you supervise them very well and treat them like your own kids”?

    She could feel the start of a sharp, slicing headache. With each flight of stairs she climbed, her strength gradually deteriorated, leaving her a victim to her storming headache and thrashing heart. She felt wearier every time she thought she heard their voices above, only to find the darkness and some sleeping workers meeting her gaze when she ascended. Her gasps quickened; her tears appeared, heavy and bitter. She leaned on the wall and closed her eyes; she thought she would pass out when she heard a scream that shocked her back to absolute consciousness and full speed.

    She shot down the stairs. She could still hear the screams; they hit her ears like loud roars. She saw Ali rushing up the stairs; she glanced at him, and before asking any questions, he said, “miss, oh miss. Karin, Karin fell off the scaffolding.”

    She drew in a sharp breath and stifled a shriek. He darted down the stairs; she followed him. she remembered her friend, the owner of the building, had told her that there was a garage, full of building equipment that they would use in a couple of days, below the basement. Her eyes were met with this shocking, terrible scene: Karin was lying on the ground; the teacher could see little drops of blood surrounding her; they were increasing. Apparently, Karin had bruises on her hands and legs; her eyes were closed.

    She approached her; Karin opened her eyes and sobbed fearfully. The blood was coming from a cut at the back of her head that must have definitely been caused by her collision on the solid ground. She extended her arm over to Karin and asked Judith to help as well; Karin rose slowly and tried to balance herself and overcome the dizziness she was feeling. The teacher asked, “Are you okay?”

    “I guess, yes.”

    “Where’s Sara?” Jack yelled.

    “My god! Sara!” Alex screeched.

    Everyone scurried to the other side of the room, where Alex was standing next to an unconscious Sara; beside her, there was a puddle of vomit. Judith quickly pulled out a small bottle of perfume from her bag; she sprayed a few times on the back of her hand and then neared her hand to Sara’s nose. Sara slowly opened her eyes. In a short while, she had stood up and recollected her strength.

    “Sorry guys I worried you, but I can’t stand seeing blood.”

    Karin was sitting down on a huge rock after her teacher put a bandage on her cut to stop the bleeding until her mom arrives and gave her a bottle of water to compensate the lost blood. Karin looked very tired and feeble. Everyone gathered around Karin to check up on her, and the teacher took this chance to ask them, “May I know why you all came here? This is so childish and irresponsible! See? Karin got injured, and Sara fainted. These are the results of your rash actions.”

    “I am terribly sorry, miss. One of the workers dared me to persuade everyone to come here with me, and he said he would give me a thousand pounds if I was able to do that. Karin was very hesitant, but I pressured her until she gave in. I was too stubborn and careless to consider the consequences of that dare. Sorry Karin, sorry Sara. I hope you both feel better soon,” Ali said guiltily.

    “And why did you climb on the scaffolding, Karin?”

    Karin bit her lit nervously and regretfully; she looked at the ground, red-faced and teary-eyed.

    “I got very carried away once we came here; I wanted to continue this adventurous, risky experience, but I didn’t know I would lose my balance and tumble off the scaffolding. Sorry.”

    The teacher couldn’t contain her anger; she burst, “what were you thinking? Are you children to be tantalized and lured by anything anyone says? Didn’t you think that he could be trying to get you in a dark, quiet part of the building to hurt you? Didn’t you think that you might be injured, kidnapped, hurt, or threatened? Didn’t you recall my instructions and think about the state I would be in if you don’t follow them and do the opposite? Didn’t you think about your parents? You made me live one of the worst, scariest days ever! For the last time, if you do anything other than what I tell you, I won’t allow you to come here and join us, and you are not going to be on my good side at all. I hope I was clear.”

    They all silently knotted and followed her up the stairs. Peter was helping Karin out because she was still feeling dizzy. Everyone gasped at the cite and started asking questions. Soon, Karin’s mom and Sara’s mom arrived to pick them up; they both chided their girls severely. Their teacher bid them goodbye and asked Karin to talk to her after getting back from the doctor. She betook herself to a quiet corner of the room, where she cupped her face and allowed her worried tears to come out. she gasped, huffed, and sighed as she imagined awful, worst scenarios and felt relieved they didn’t occur. After a short cry, The teacher finally  breathed deeply and thought about the rashness and persistence of young youth, and decided to forgive them; however, she vowed she would make them regret it for a while to learn the lesson.  She went to talk to the rest of the group to make sure none of them follow anyone else’s instructions or accept any stupid dares.