Alone Chapter 3 by Abby Hulek

Previously on Alone #2, Sophia looks up in tears to find her parents taking everything that she’s ever owned and stuffing them into trash bags. She follows her parents to a nearby lake, where the bags disappear underneath the surface of the large, glistening lake. Read Alone #3 to find out what happens next!

Tears streamed down my face as we drove home from the lake. I couldn’t face my parents. I’m a failure. 

When we reached our clean, white house, I ran upstairs and slammed my door. My room was stripped empty. It was completely and utterly bare - my decorations, desk, dresser, and even my bed had disappeared from the room. It was all sitting at the bottom of a lake.  

I sank to the floor, letting my tears soak the perfectly ruffled, pristine carpet. I curled into a ball and lay there for hours.

I opened my crusty eyes to a piercing pain in my stiff back. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling, following the swirly patterns of white with my eyes. I sniffled, my eyes too dry for more tears. I struggled to stand, forcing myself to walk downstairs. 

As I approached the kitchen, I found my mother reading a book on the couch. I dragged myself into the kitchen, pausing at a sudden noise from my mother.

“Ahem. This is ridiculous. What do you say to your mother?” She glared at me down the tip of her nose. 

“Sorry, Mother. Good morning, Mother.” I mumbled, turning back to the kitchen. My mother turned back to her book as I grabbed an apple from the fridge. 

I snuck out the door with the juicy fruit in my hand. A cold breeze whipped my hair into my face and I spluttered on the loose strands. I shivered in the early morning cold of winter. I had never wanted a furry coat so much in my life. I kicked a loose rock along the pavement as I made my way to the end of the driveway. I felt so out of place without my heavy backpack. I rubbed my hands on my arms, bumping the lace with my fingers. 

“SCREECH!” The bus pulled around the corner of my neighborhood and stopped to let me on. I crawled into a seat where my friend Emery sat eagerly waiting for me.

“Where’s your bag?” She asked, tucking her chocolate brown hair behind her pink headband. I sniffled and didn’t look up.

“What did they do this time, Soph? It’ll all be okay. Why the glum face?” She looked down at the tears streaming down my face and repeated herself. “What happened?”

“Th- Th- They . . .” The story poured out of me - a storm of words flooding out of my mouth.

“Soph . . . do you want me to come over after school?” she asked. I nodded, another tear escaping my eye. 

We slowly climbed off the bus and headed into the crowded school. Kids yelled and talked in loud voices in all directions, pushing and shoving their way through hordes of people. We made our way through the commons and into our math classroom. Just as we were sitting down, Mr. Evans rushed up to me.

“Sophia! There you are! You- You need to get to- to the office. We- We- they- they need you. Call . . . your parents . . .” My eyes grew large and I dropped my stuff on the counter. 

“Em?” I asked, looking into her eyes. She got my message and she asked my math teacher for permission to come along with me. 

We rushed down the hallway, Emery pulling me along by my hand. We stopped at the office door and took a breath before barging in. The worry in the office staff’s eyes and the way they kept nervously glancing at each other made me know it was going to be bad. 

“Sophia . . . your . . . your parents have been kidnapped.” 

Bailey By Anabelle Morales and Wynter Lee

Chapter 1

Dad

:Tegan:

I watched the rain pour down my car window as the mountains flashed by. Eating cherries, I heard rumbles of thunder and then the crack of lightning that seemed to light up the whole universe. 

Just a week ago, something big happened that changed my life and my family. I was at school when the announcement came over the loudspeaker. “Tegan Copeland, please report to the main office with all your things,” the secretary announced with no emotion. I heard everyone snickering and whispering as I gathered my backpack and shuffled out the door to the office.

When I got there, I saw my mom shielding her eyes from me. I looked at her quizzically and walked out the door behind her. 

“What’s wrong?’” I asked trying to pat her shoulder which she yanked away as she got in the driver’s seat. I threw my stuff in the back and climbed in. My mom turned on the news and motioned for me to listen. 

“Shop robbed, many killed,”  the announcer said. I crossed my fingers that it was not the shop my dad worked at. 

“Today at Grocery Stops,” My eyes started to water. Feeling my heart shred into pieces, dreading what mom was going to say. 

“Dad is gone,” I said, hearing my voice shaking. Mom nodded as she turned on the engine and looked at me with tear stained eyes. I closed my eyes, feeling the tears roll down my cheeks. 

The rest of the ride home was silent. Why did it have to be Dad? This could have been a typical day, but of course it wasn't.

It was now 10:00 PM, and I was in bed. I stared at the wall listening to the door creak open. “You want to talk?” my mom asked carefully. She sat on my bed and gave me a little smile. I tried not to smile but I ended up doing so anyway.

“Look,” my mom laid down. “I think we should move because…” 

“Move!?” I screeched,  “Why would you just want to move? You can’t just decide to move,” I said, glaring at her. 

Mom bit her bottom lip. “I know you really don’t want to move, but that’s what I would like to do.  This place gives me too many sad memories. Also, then we could get a nicer place and…” 

“What about what I want to do!?” I interrupted,  “I have lots of good friends here and if I move I won’t make any friends!”  

Mom started to rub my back. I shoved her arm away as I looked down at the floor.  Mom sighed and said, “Of course you're going to make friends! And...”  

I stopped listening to her. When mom has an idea, she won’t change her mind. I shooed her out the door and spent the whole night lost in my thoughts, not knowing how to feel.

Chapter 2

Gone Forever

:Tegan:

I must have fallen asleep at some point, because I woke up feeling like I had fallen off a building.  I went to Mom’s room, “Can I stay home? I don’t want to go to school.” I said, still angry from yesterday. 

Mom shook her head, “No, I still want you to go to school. Get ready. I don’t want you to be late, Chop chop!” I rolled my eyes and walked downstairs feeling angrier than before. 

After breakfast, I was out the door and at the bus stop. Riley was there. She poked me. “Where were you. Doctor’s?” She asked. I shrugged as the bus pulled up. I trudged on and slumped into my seat as Riley sat next to me. “No you didn’t. You didn’t go to the doctors!” she said pounding her backpack. 

I sighed, holding back tears, “Since you’re my best friend I’ll tell you... well……. Um…  did you hear about that news with Grocery Stops?’”  

“Yeah, why?” Riley said eager to hear what my next words were going to be.

 “My dad works, I mean, worked there…”  Riley nodded with anticipation. “He was there when it happened.  He was shot.”

“Oh . . . Tegan . . . I-I-I’m so sorry,” she put her hand on my back.  

I kept talking, ” . . . and my mom, she was so upset about… she wants us to...m-move.” 

“No, no . . . this can’t be happening . . . how are you doing?” she asked as tears burst out of her eyes. She hugged me so hard I couldn’t breathe and started sobbing. I hugged her back and we sat there, a crying lump.

After school, I unlocked the door and my eyes widened in horror. There were boxes stacked against every wall. I could see my Mom’s messy bun sticking up behind a huge pile of boxes.

“Mom?!” I half yelled, “What’s going on?” My mom walked around the boxes and looked down the stairs at me. “Packing. What does it look like I’m doing?” she said in a tone that told me I shouldn’t have asked anything. 

“When are we moving?” I asked as my voice shook. 

“Next week.  People already want to buy our house. Isn't that funny!?” my mom stated like a happy teacher telling their students that the homework was easy when it wasn’t. She laughed a little but I could tell she was upset. It was silent for a minute as we stood there and stared at each other. 

“Well, how about you start packing your room.” she said as she started stacking the already full boxes. I shrugged and dragged myself to my room. I grabbed a box and started with the clothes. 

After we had dinner I went to sleep at 10:30. I laid there for a while hearing banging and tearing. After it was 1:23 AM. I got up and walked to the top of the stairs. I saw mom, there were many more boxes that they were filling up most of the room. I stepped quietly, as I noticed that mom looked very tired. There were circles under her eyes. And she was probably half asleep.

”Mom?” I ask quietly finishing the stairs. I walked over to her as I grabbed her hand.   “Wha?'' She said shifting her head side to side. I try not to laugh as I lead her up stairs. She collapses into her bed and falls asleep. I walk back to mine to and finally go to sleep. 

I gave my last goodbyes to my friends and teacher and pretty much everyone. My friends and I had a last sleepover party, bawling the whole time. So after a week, there we were, stuck in a smelly, stupid car, eating cherries, while its raining and thundering. Moving to Mississippi all the way from Kentucky. We stop to grab food,  then kept going. 

Chapter 3

The Best Early Birthday Gift

:Tegan:

Hours later, I was staring out the window, cramped and tired, when I saw a small furry heap laying on the side of the road.

“Mom! Stop!” I screamed. She screeched to a stop and I scrambled out of the car to the heap. I gasped in horror as I saw it was a dog, “MOM! HELP!” I wailed as my mom came rushing from the car. 

“What is it?” My mom said frantically, thinking I was hurt. 

“Oh!” she exclaimed as she saw the dog. It was breathing, thankfully, but it was painfully thin and also very thirsty. It made the cutest noise and sniffed me as it gave me its best puppy eyes. Which worked like a piece of cake for the dog.  

“We have to keep it! No is not an answer!” I crouched down to pet the puppy. I picked the puppy up and hugged it. The wet puppy wagged his tail as he licked me all over the face. I smiled, noticing that it was freezing and pouring  and he was shaking like crazy.

 “Well.. I d-don’t know if we should..” 

“Yes we are,” I say interumping her. “It’s so cold and wet! He’s going to die if we don’t keep him!” I smiled at the dog and brought his face next to mine, and I gave my mom my puppy eyes. My mom’s shoulders slumped down.                                                                            

“You are really making me feel like a bad guy if I say no.” She sighed and looked at the puppy. She walked over smiling as she started to pet him. She looked over to me. 

“Ok.” She opened the back car door for me. 

“Well keep it. I know you’ve been through a lot. But the dog is also your birthday gift. Your early one. We’ll bring him to the vet tomorrow. Get into the car,” she said as she got into the car and turned on the engine. My heart leapt with joy. I jumped into the car and the dog jumped in behind me then curled up right against me. I put a blanket around him. He laid down as he closed his eyes. 

“What should we name him?” I say. It was quiet for a bit of time when mom said. 

“How about . . . Bailey?”   

After an hour or two, I see a sign saying, Welcome to Minnesota. “Well Tegan, this is it, Minnesota,” my mom said with a proud voice.

 “Wait, what town?” I say as Bailey yawned. 

“Burnsville,” my mom stated as we cruised down in a valley by a mountain. “Are we there yet?” I asked, plopping another cherry in my mouth.

 “Don’t you start now,” my mom said with a warning tone.  

I smiled just thinking about how lucky I was to have Bailey and how lucky Bailey was to have me. 

After a while, we were in a neighborhood which really felt like a maze. Then we finally got there. 

“Well,” mom said as she drove on our new driveway. She turned off the car and turned around to me in the backseat. “What do you think?” she clapped her hands as I looked over the house. We stared at it for a long time. 

“It just doesn't look like home. No ‘Home Sweet Home’ for me,” I say crossing my arms. The house had red bricks. The outside looked trashy. This is way worse than what we had before.  

“We'll make it work it'll be great before you know it!” mom said as she got out of the car. I humph, looking at Bailey.

 “What do you think of the house?” 

Bailey wagged his tail. 

I got out of the car, clapping my hands. “Come on!” I say signaling for him to come out of the car with my hand. Mom was standing outside the door waiting for me.

 “Ready to see inside.” mom put the key in the door.  She opened the door. I hear the door creak as Mom poked her head in the house, and then she gasped. 

“What?” I say as I put Bailey down. I poke my head into the house as gasp in horror. The house was disgusting. The walls were gray and faded. Dead bugs were laying everywhere. Everyplace you looked at was gross and made you think, I feel bad for the people who live there. “We can't live here.” I say bringing my hand to my forehead. I then look at mom, she was on her phone. She turns her phone around to me and points to a photo. The photo had white walls, a chandelier and a perfect family sitting on a couch, all hugging each other. I scowled and stomped back to the car, Bailey chased after me. I dove back in the car and crossed my arms. 

“I’m not getting out until you agree to go back to our real home,” I growled, clenching my teeth.  My mom shrugged and said calmly, “I’m sorry you feel that way.” I scowled again as my mom walked back to the house with a broom from the trunk. I sat in the car for a few minutes and reluctantly followed my mom inside. 

I was up stairs in my new room. Figuring out on a scale of 1 to 10, how bad my new room sucked. The windows were covered in cobwebs, the walls were covered in wall paper that had patterns of bees. I cringed as I figured it was probably that it was most likely a nursery for the last family. I see Bailey. He was laying down on the blanket that I set down on the floor for him and looked at me with his sweet brown eyes. I smiled as I gave the room an 8.  The rain was still pouring down, outside was as dark as my heart was feeling. I heard footsteps creaking to my room. Then I saw mom appear. She had a bright smile. “Tomorrow will be your first day of school!” 

I groan. “I'm not a crew member and you're not the captain, you know,” I say trying to make her feel bad. Which did not work. She smiled bigger saying, “Oh, stop worrying so much just go with the flow”. Mom started to move her hands like the waves. She had way too much sugar today. Mom looks around stunned. “Wow, you’re not kidding about how much this house needs a makeover. This room is way too old-fashioned.” I scan the room again. Mom was right, this house was probably decorated in the 1940's.    

Chapter 4

New School, New Obstacles

:Tegan:       

I was getting my new backpack all ready for school. Feeling my inside tearing up inside with horror as anxiety overflowing my whole body. I walked back and forth, Bailey walking right next to me. He stepped the same exact steps as me. He probably felt how I felt, scared to death inside. My mom came up behind me, holding a cup of coffee to her face. She had a long robe She looked very relaxed like she just went to the best spa ever. 

“Have a great day at school!” She says, half hugging me. Classic mom, always acting like everything is OK when it is 100% NOT OK. I tried to give a smile, even if I really couldn't sell it. 

“Bye,” I open the door then take a step out the door. 

“Wait A minute.” I say squinting at her. I have no idea where school even is . . .” My mom puts her hand on my shoulder. “I’ll pick you up from school today . . . oh, and look at that.” Mom turned her head. I did too as I stare in shock as a yellow school bus started to roll by. “Oh, well.. There's your ride.”  I start to sprint as mom yelled. “Bye, love you honey!!!” I go around the corner seeing the bus stop as I hear loud screeching. The doors swished open and I saw the bus driver. She had grey hair and round glasses. She looked like she hadn't slept in ages. I closed my eyes, breathed out then in, and walked onto the bus. 

I sat down hearing millions of side conversations. Screaming children were everywhere. I tried to keep everything off my mind by looking out the window. But someone tapped me, as light as a butterfly.  I turn my head and saw a boy. He looked about my age. He had brown hair, with black shorts and a Nike's green shirt. I gave a little smile as the boy started to speak.                                                                                        

“Um, hi,” he paused trying to think what the best word to say. “Well, I’m Liam. Mind if I sit here?” 

I give a shy smile. “I’m Tegan.” Liam looked around cautiously. “Aren't you that new girl, that the teachers has been talking about?” 

I arched my eyebrows and shrug. “Well, ya dumm . . . I meeean . . .” I cover my mouth. Why did I say that?! 

 He started to laugh. “You’re funny, Tegan.” He said as a wave of relief washed over me. 

“Sorry, I said that I . . . I just.” I pause. “I’ve been through a lot . . .”  I shrug as I gave a friendly smile, but it turned out as me putting my head down, gluing my eyes to the ground. Concentrating at the gum stuck to the floor with potato chip crumbs laying everywhere. “Nah, it's fine. Whatever,’” he mumbled. “Moving sucks, I bet,” he said as he gabbed carrots out of his backpack.

I sighed and shrugged, ”Oh yeah, first it’s a normal day, but then everything turns upside down. It's all stiupid and like a dream, not a good one.” I started to play with my hair, watching kids sitting then jumping to another and another seat till the bus driver started to yell at the kids to stay in one seat. 

Ten minutes passes. I talked to Liam the whole time about random things, including football. Even if im not really that interested in playing or watching football. The bus started to pull over, and you could see the middle school.  Groups of kids were walking into the school. I heard the doors of the bus swish open as kids shoved each other trying to get out the door. I waited until all the crazy kids were out. Then walked out too, the school looked way more bigger up close which made my stomach flutter as I wondered how I was going to get around without getting lost. Laim leads me to my homeroom, #324, the teachers’ name was Mrs. Martin. 

Liam opened the door and  inside was my homeroom. Across was my locker, it was Blue Thin with a few dents from kids who shut the door so fast it got dented. I tried to open my locker about six times by looking at my combination on a slip of paper. After a while, my locker opened with a big click. I sighed as I heaved my backpack off my shoulders I put my backpack in my locker, I did have three little magnets, so I went ahead trying to listen to how you heard the tiniest click when you put the magnet on. I took the longest time on my locker so I couldn't think about how I was in a maze with random kids. And that we just moved, and that my dad died just a week ago. I do finally close my locker quietly as I put the paper of my combination in my pocket. I took the biggest breath in and out. I turned around and leaned on the lockers, when I got startled. Liam was still in the exact place he was earlier, slouching like a sloth. “What?” he said making a face like I did the weirdest thing. “I . . . I didn't know you were still here,” I said, tugging my hair. “I’m in your homeroom. Oh, and also you were like sighing the whole time, it really started to get annoying.  Oh, and what's with moving your magnets for like, twenty minutes?.” I looked at him and then quickly at the ground and trudged to my homeroom.

Chapter 5

The New Girl

:Liam:

It was weird. I couldn’t tell if she was annoyed with me for just doing nothing or if it was just the move that was annoying her. I walked in the room behind her, hoping she would say something. I sighed as she sat in a seat across the room from me and didn’t give me a second glance. The teacher rambled on about Tegan being new and asking her if she had anything she wanted to say. She nodded and started to talk, “I'm Tegan . . . and . . . um  . . . . I’m from Kentucky, then I moved here . . . ”, she paused for a long time as the teacher started to speak. “Well, then . . . why did you move here, Tegan?” the teacher asked as she started to write the schedule on the chalkboard. Tegan had a surprised and almost upset face. She kept tapping her feet. “Well my mom and dad just ... wanted to move,” she tried to smile. The teacher nodded and said. “Okay, everyone, turn your workbooks to page 68.” Tegan was still standing. She looked surprised as she sat down. I looked around, everyone looked bored and tired, all except Tegan.

So I’m Liam, and apparently I'm a really good and a nice kid according to the teachers. People call me a teachers pet, but I try to do the opposite. I’m not the popular type either, but I do like to play football. If you went inside my room you could just tell I love football. The teachers begged me to be this new girl’s tour guide, her name was Tegan the teachers told me.  The teachers said she's from Kentucky and she was going to be in my homeroom and on my bus. A week ago Mrs. Martin was saying to me, “Come on please. Your one of the best students in this whole 7th grade. And your a really nice person can you just be welcoming and be her friend.” I paused for a long time then finally shrugged.

“Um . . . suuuuure.’’ Mrs. Martin started to smile. She reminded me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland        

“Thank you so much! I knew I could count on you,” Mrs. Martin said as she hugged me then walked away.  Savanna, Kelly and other girls were walking towards me, Savanna and Kelly were the two most popular and mean girls in the school.

 “Hey teachers pet,’’ she shoved me out of her way and kept walking as Kelly giggled and rushed to her friend's side.  

“I’m NOT the teachers pet, dummies” I growl, but none of the girls cared and disappeared into the next hallway.  I rolled my eyes as I noticed Savanna and the group of girls were marching back to me. 

“I'm going to figure out who this stupid Tegan girl is.” Savanna arched her eyebrows, “She’ll wish she never came to this school,” she said in my face. I could hear that little tint in her voice that she really meant it, and that this wasn’t going to be good. “Oh, but the tiny nerd is just going to tattle tail on the teachers,” one of the girls said.

 “No he's not. And if he does he's going to pay,” Kelly said as all the girls start to squint at me. “Go away. Go to the other planet you pests were from,” I say walking to the lunch room. After I got to the end of the hall. I looked behind me but the meanies disappeared, almost. I sighed and kept going.  

I shook my head at the memory as I walked to the lunch room. Tegan followed behind me.  I turned around, about to ask if she was packing or buying when I saw a lunchbox swinging in her hand. I turned around feeling awkward. We kept walking then pushed through the cafeteria doors. “Okay, bye…” I said taking in a deep breath. “Yeah, sure . . . bye” she said back. I trudged to my table and slouched in my chair.

“Yo Liam! What’s up?” my friend Noah asked me. I shrugged, “Good I guess.” As I looked over at Tegan who was sitting alone, I groan as I see Savanna and Kelly marching over to her, hands on their hips, their group of friends behind them. They were giggling as Savanna started to talk to Tegan. Tegan smiled and got up and walked behind them. They all sat down together at the popular tables, I groaned more. I had a feeling those girls were up to no good, and Tegan was falling right into their trap.

Chapter 6

New Friends, New Start

:Tegan:

I sat down and opened my lunchbox. I slowly chewed on my sandwich and turned around as I heard girls laughing.

“Hi,” said the person who seemed to be the leader of this group.  She had long blonde hair that was pulled up tightly into a ponytail that reached the middle of her back. A girl was standing next to her with shiny black hair that flowed just off of her shoulders, “Are you new?” 

I nodded my head without saying anything.

The girl smiled and said, “Come sit with us!” I smiled thankfully and packed up my lunch box and followed them to their table. 

“Hey, new girl!” 

I looked up. “Um . . . I’m Tegan, you don’t have to call me the new girl,” I said taking a carrot. I saw the long blond hair girl roll her eyes.

“Anyway, let's introduce ourselves, girls.” She started to point at one of the girls sitting at our table. “This is Sophia.” Sophia waved at me with a welcoming smile. 

“And those are other girls,” she said waving at the other girls at the table, but they weren't smiling. I gave a thumbs up as some of the girls squinted at me. I stopped as I looked down at my lunch. “And this is my bestest friend, Kelly,” Savanna said, pointing to the girl with the shiny black hair. She waved as she chewed on a sandwich.  “So, have you seen Liam yet? Isn't he annoying?” Kelly said rolling her eyes. I shrugged, looking at my food, trying not to look at Kelly. 

“A little bit, he's not that bad.” I said. 

“You should let us be your tour guide. Wouldn't you rather us than him?” Savanna said as she squinted at Liam. The bell rang and kids started running out the door to their next classes. “So, what's your next class, Tegan?” Kelly says.

“Art class . . . I think,” I said, getting up and grabbing my lunch box. 

“That’s weird, that's where we're going. Lets go. We’ll show you were art class is,” a girl in a blue shirt said. They started to huddle in a circle group and started to whisper. After a minute they started to walk out the cafeteria. I walked after them, as one of the girls.

Chapter 7

I’m Sorry, Tegan

:Peter:

“Peter, into my office,” my manager barked. He never seemed happy.  Well, he never was happy. I got up from restocking the candy and walked over to the office. Suddenly, a gunshot banged near the front of the store. 

“Put your hands in the air!” a loud voice echoed around the store. I bolted to the paper towels and toilet paper and scrambled to a small space behind it, stacking paper towels in front of me, hiding me from view. I heard footsteps pounding toward me, I felt in my pockets, looking for my phone and silently cursed myself for forgetting it in the car. I sighed, thinking of my daughter Tegan and my wife, Kimberly. I hoped I wouldn’t get found and I would stay safe. I held my breath as I felt eyes, looking in my direction.

“I know you’re back there. Come out and I won’t hurt you,”  the man grunted. I sat there, frozen and not sure what to do. The man yanked the stacks of packages out from in front of me. I sat there frozen in fear, not sure what to do. I felt large hands yank me by the shoulders out into the aisle. I looked up at the face just in time to feel something hard bang my head, and then the world went dark, and I fell into a sleep that I would never wake up from ever again.

Chapter 8

Bailey Saved Me

:Tegan: 

Heat stung my face as Bailey pawed frantically at my chest. I shoved Bailey’s paws away and turned onto my side as something struck me. I heard him make a little wine. I heard alarms, but they are not my alarm clock. One thought popped into my head: fire. I jumped up to see orange flames licking at my walls. My bookshelf was toppled over. Scrambling out of my bed, I ran to my door and tested the knob. It was hot . . . NOT good. I ran to my window and opened it. The drop was long and far. 

“Help!” I screeched out of my window, gasping for fresh air, “Somebody! I need help!” I reached my sidetable to grabbed my phone and dial 911. 

“911, what's your emergency?” the lady at the other end said.

“Fire . . . help . . . address, 8012 Pineridge avenue . . .” I gasped.

 “I will send help. Any info needed ahead of time?” she asked.

“I’m . . . trapped . . . in my room . . . no way out . . . ” I looked out the window to see my mom frantically looking around for me, “Nobody else in the house . . . ” I hung up and waved to my mom through the window. 

“Mom! I . . . called the . . . police . . . on their way . . .  I’m stuck . . .” I shout out the window as my mom collapses into a lump, and even from here, I could tell she was crying. She thought she would lose me, but I had Bailey with me, I knew that I would be OK. 

A few minutes later I heard sirens a few blocks away. I gasped for fresh air, leaning out the window as smoke fills my room. Quickly, I reached for the cup of water by my bed and poured it on my head to keep me cool. I leaned out the window as fire trucks, ambulances and police cars pulled up to the curb. 

I started to wave my hands in the air and groped for Bailey’s collar. I grabbed air and looked around and found him lapping at the puddle on the floor from my cup. I would’ve laughed but I don’t. “Bailey! Come here boy, come here!” Obediently, he came to me and as I started shouting to the firemen, he barked in alarm. He lunged at me and knocked me down just as my bookshelf collapsed right where I was standing. The shelf covered the window. Great… just great. I walked to my bathroom, remembering it was shared with the room beside mine. I ran into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, drenching myself and Bailey, who happily lapped at the large puddle that formed on the floor. I beckoned him with my hand and we walked into the next room. I ran across the blackened floor to the window on the other side of the room. There was nothing in the room so I knew that nothing could collapse on me. I opened the window then leaned out and yelled at the top of my lungs, “HELP! I’M OVER HERE! PLEASE, HELP US!” Bailey helped by howling out the window. Heavily suited firemen tramped with a ladder and a hose toward the window.

“We are going to put the ladder up. Let the dog down first then you come down,” one of the firemen shouted up to us. I shoved Bailey down the ladder and he reluctantly ran down. I screamed as a section of the ceiling came crumbling down. I scrambled out of the window

After that night me, mom and Bailey were huddled in blankets in the police station. Where are we going to live? What's going to happen to us? That’s when I thought about it. I look at Bailey, he looked tired but cheerful, I wiped some of the ash from his face. “You saved my life.” I said petting Bailey’s stomach as he wagged his tail.

 “What do you mean?” mom said in a puzzled look. “Bailey saved me. He woke me up and if he didn't and wasn't there I wouldn't be here.” I say as I kept petting him. I looked into his eyes and saw wondering, hoping, and a big soul, heart, and big personality.  “Bailey”

The end

"Whoever saves a life, saves the world entire." - The Talmu  

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Alone Chapter 2 by Abby Hulek

Previously on Alone, Sophia gets in trouble with her unfair parents for getting an A on her report card for math class. They come into her room later that night to find her sobbing on her bed. They are ready to give her her punishment. 

I looked up from my arms, sticky with snot and tears. My father appeared behind my mother, glaring over her shoulder. 

My mother stalked into the room with a black trash bag. She fluffed it open and growled. 

“You don’t deserve any of this!” She ripped the mirror off of my wall and shoved it in the bag.

“No! NO!” I screamed, running to stop her. “You can’t!”

“You get your filthy, dumb hands off of me. You don’t deserve this wonderful life your father and I gave you. You don’t deserve ANYTHING!” She pulled my arm off of her with intense force, sending me stumbling backwards.

My mother shoved open my drawers, dumping my clothes into the bag. I scrambled forward, tripping over a rug as my mother pulled it out from underneath me and shoved the cream colored cloth into the bag. I grabbed a hold of one end of the rug.

“Let go, Mother! Please!” I tugged, hard, but my mother glared at me. Her eyes were glassy and glazed-over. 

“You don’t deserve this.” She repeated, oddly calm, and yanked the rug from my grip. 

“She’s right, you ugly mistake.” My father grabbed my arm and pulled me away from my mother. I struggled against his grip, pulling towards the trash bag. 

“Take her outside.” My mother ordered to my father, dragging more items. My only water bottle smashed to the floor, water spilling everywhere. My father pulled me out of the room, crying, and dragged me down the stairs. Once outside, I shivered in the cold winter air. My mother dragged bags out of the house, piling them in the snow. 

“What are you doing? Mother! Father, stop her!” They both ignored me, their eyes glassy. 

“Sophia.” My mother’s voice was eerily calm. I looked up at her face.

“Tell me to stop one more time and you will never see the light of day.”

“Mom!” Her eyes flashed angrily.

“You do not have the right to call your mother such an unprofessional name, Miss!” She stomped over to the car, ordering her husband to carry the bags. They loaded the bulky bags into the back of the pristine, white car that we owned.

“Wait!” I yelled as the car began to pull out of the driveway. I grabbed the door and tugged. It’s jammed!

“Help! Wait!” I yanked as hard as I could, ripping the back door wide open. I pulled myself in, my dress billowing in the wind as the car gained speed. I slammed the door behind me and glanced at my mother and father. They didn’t seem to notice my presence. 

The car screeched to a stop a long time later at a large, glistening lake. The reflection of our car shook on the water’s surface. Lush, green pine trees lined the edge of the water. I took in the sun, it’s rays shining and nearly blinding me. I shielded my eyes. 

I woke from my thoughts as the door slammed shut, a very uncommon move for my neat parents, and my mom climbed out of the vehicle. 

“Mother! What are you doing?” I climbed out as well, stopping my mother.

“Get away from me.” She growled, grabbing a lumpy, black bag from the clean trunk. She stumbled to the water’s edge and slid off her shoes. Mother has never been in water outdoors before! I stared incredulously as she waded into the water, the bag on her back. Her black, tidy work uniform was soaked with water. 

She didn’t glance back as she hurled the bag into the depths of the water. I watched as everything I’d ever owned disappeared under the surface of the water. 

Alone Chapter 1 by Abby Hulek

“Sophia!” My mother’s furious voice echoed through the house. I looked up from the geography book that I was studying.

“Sophia! Get down here right now!” Fear fluttered in my chest. I knew what my mother was capable of.

I hurried down the stairs, my heart pounding like the thundering hooves of a thousand wild stallions. My white socks slipped across the pristine tile floor as I scurried to the living room.

As I entered the room, I noticed a yellow slip of paper in my mother’s hand. She turned to me, glaring down her nose and through her tiny glasses.

“Yes, Mother?” I asked politely, dipping my head in a desperate attempt to reduce my punishment. 

“How in the world did you end up with an A in math?” I could practically see steam coming out of her ears. Her face was so red that she looked like she might explode.

My face fell as I realized that I must have done horrible on my last math test.

“I-I’m very sorry, Mother. I didn’t mean to. I should’ve done better.” My eyes searched the carpet hairs on the ground.

“Yes. You should have done better. Daniel!” My father stalked out of his office and went to stand next to my mother.

“What has she done this time, Minerva?” He asked my mom, glaring at me.

“She- she got an- an A. In math!” My mother was choking on tears. “What will this mean for our perfect reputation, Daniel?” 

“I don’t know, honey. Sophia is the one who needs to make a change. We are both perfect.” 

My mother smiled up at my father and kissed him on his cheek. 

“Mother?” I asked. Her smile turned back into an ugly frown as she turned to me.

“What do you want?” 

“M- mother? Technically, I- I got way over one hundred percent. I take ninth grade advanced math, which is two grades ahead of mine. It just shows as the grade I got in that class, but being in an advanced class bumps my-”

“Blah Blah Blah. You still got an A!” My mother glared at me. “Go to your quarters. Your father and I will discuss your punishment.”

“Yes, mother.” I knew better than to argue with her. As much as I wanted to tromp up the stairs, I kept my posture straight until I reached my room. I collapsed on my rickety old bed. The room was cold with dull white walls. My bed was just a mattress on a weird, black, shaky contraption. A rusty desk was positioned on the far wall with all my school books piled high upon them. A small wooden dresser was placed next to my desk, which held a tiny mirror on top. I peered at my reflection.

My brown eyes glared back at me. My straight black hair curled at the ends of my light brown shoulders. I noticed the worry creases in my eyebrows. 

“You should’ve done better!” I yelled at my mirrored reflection. “How can you be so bad?” Tears streaked my face and I shivered in the cold air. I fell onto my bed, stuffing my face into my jean dress. The lace straps tightened as I pulled the dress towards my face. I whimpered, crying uncontrollably until my mother appeared in the doorway, a hungry gleam in her eyes.

“Sophia. We’ve decided your punishment.” 

Nisan (A holocaust story) By: Maggie Yang and Erica Edgar

I scream as the Nazi officer twists my arm and drags me away from Mama.

“Aviva!” I hear my mom’s voice scream after me as I am yanked away from her.

I feel the warm tears dripping off my chin as I scream for her, not wanting to leave the only person I have left. The officer drops my arm and throws me to the ground.  

Panting, he spits at me and bellows, “Shut up, you grimy creep!”  He forces me back up to my feet and when I don’t stop screaming, he slaps me. Hard. That shut me up quick. I immediately stopped screaming and brought my hand to the spot where he had slapped me. My face burned with agony and tears pricked their way into my eyes from all the pain in my cheek. 

“Don’t touch my baby!” Mama screamed hysterically. I watched her struggle to get out of the officers grip on her arms. 

“Mama!” I cried.

“I’m coming Aviva! I’m coming! Hold on!” Mama called. I slam my heel down into the officers toe. He winces and loosens his grip on me. I wiggle out of his grasp and make a mad dash towards Mama. I reach my arms out towards her, wanting to jump into her arms, and wanting to wake up from this horrible nightmare. All of a sudden I feel myself get jerked back and pain erupts through my body as pitch black closes in on me. 

*   * *   * *

I try to refocus my blurry eyes by blinking. I slowly open them and immediately see nothing. Darkness. Did I hit my head harder than I thought? Am I even alive? Where am I? I thought to myself.

 I stand up and feel around, when suddenly I bump into something. I shake my head and my eyes begin to see color. After a while, my eyes can see what’s around me. I turn and see what I had bumped into. A man is curled up against a wooden wall. My head whips around when I hear whispers behind me, trying to locate where the sound came from. I see mothers and children sitting against the wall behind me. Confused, I spin in a slow circle, taking in my surroundings. It appears that I’m confined into a small wooden looking box. It looks old and the walls are peeling everywhere. A slight crack in the wooden box pours in light from the outside.  Where is my mother?

“Looks like they're still loading people in the carts,” I make out of the whispers.

“Why is she here?” a man says.

“Shhh, it’s okay, it’s just another girl,” a mother says as she hugs her child closer.

“Where am I?” I ask the mother.

“Your in a train cart dear,” the mother says, “where is your family? Are you alone? Where did you come from?”

“Stop questioning the frightened girl Marie! She just got here! Look at her!” the old man I bumped into says.

“It’s okay, I’m here alone. They took my mother. I don’t have anyone else. Where are we going?” I ask.

“Nobody knows. We’ve been here for over a week now. It’s not so bad, they give us one meal per day, and we have to use buckets to. . . . you know. But it’s not all bad, I mean, at least I don’t think so.” the mother says.

“Are you kidding me? Marie! Stop telling the child lies!” the old man yells.

“It’s okay. I’m fifteen. I can handle the truth.” I state. 

The mother sighs, “It’s horrible.” She says in almost a whisper.

I cold shiver runs down my spine as I think about where my mother could be. Trapped somewhere without me?  Having no one by her side? 

“Has anyone seen my mother?” I wonder.

“What is her name?” Marie questioned.

“Chaya Abadi,” I reply. 

“I’m sorry but I have not heard or seen anyone named Chaya.” 

 I sigh and go to the corner of the train, curling up into a ball wishing that this wasn’t really happening. My head shoots up when I hear a loud metal clanking coming from across the train cart. I saw a man in the corner pull out a gun from his pocket.

“What are you doing?!” I screamed at him. The mothers on board frantically grabbed at their children and pulled them closes at the sound of my scream.

“Where did you get that from?!” one yells.

“Goodbye,” and with that, he clutched the gun close to his forehead and took a shaky breath. He gasped and cried silent tears as he pulled the trigger with a sickening blast. His eyes widened and fell blank as he crumpled to the ground, lifeless. A pool of blood slowly pooled around the gunshot wound. The children screamed in terror as the blood pool gradually increased. I fell silent as I shuffled as far back as I could, not being able to escape the horrible scent of stomach-churning blood. 

To be continued. . . . . .

"Final Goodbye" by Kaylynn Dolan

The Answer Man by Logan Thibeault

The Answer Man is said to be the ghost of a child born severely deformed. When he was born he had no arms, legs, or torso. He was just a head. Ever since his death, his ghost has been trying to become a complete human being by collecting the body parts of others.

 I was always fascinated by the paranormal, and I was desperate to receive a call from the Answer Man. I played the game twice, but got no call from him. I finally convinced my friends to give it one more try. The ten of us sat in a circle and dialed the number of the person to our left at the same time. If the game was successful, one of us were supposed to get the Answer Man on the other line. The last two times we were all sent to voicemail, none of us were able to get ahold of the Answer Man. This is the last time I get to try the game and I have high hopes. 

The phone was ringing for what seemed like forever, and finally I heard a voice, but it was not the Answer Man, it was my friend’s voicemail. I hung up, a disappointed look covering my face like a mask. Everybody else, one by one were hanging up as well. Although, the person sitting across from me did not. I stared at her with a smile, and excitement in my eyes. The person across from me, though, did not share the same look I did. In fact, she seemed terrified. I mouthed to her the words ‘Put it on speaker,’ and she did just that. At this point I was practically jumping in my seat. I could hear heavy breathing on the other end and I realized I have not explained what to do when he answers the call. I then grabbed a piece of paper and started writing the words ‘Ask him any question and he’ll ask you one in return. When you answer him you have to be honest.’  When I finished, I passed the paper to her. She stared at the paper for a bit and I assumed she was thinking. The entity that answered the call was still on the phone, waiting. Finally she thought of a question to ask. “When will I die?” she asked the man. Personally I didn’t like the question she asked, but the Answer Man answered her call, not mine, so I kept my mouth shut. 

The entity on the other side of the call paused for a moment and answered. No one expected the date that came out of his mouth. Some of us stared at the phone in disbelief, some shook in terror. “November 18, 2019, 12:35pm.” I looked at today’s date, to make sure that it was in fact today, and it was. I could see tears brimming in the eyes of the person across from me. “No! Y-you’re lying!” They yelled, their voice quavering. “I don’t lie. Now, it’s my turn.” His voice sounded rough and tired. “What do you think of the person sitting across from you?” I was the person sitting across from her. She looked up at me with a worried look in her eyes and smiled, then looked back down to the phone. “I think the person sitting across from me is...nice.” She said, but she sounded unsure. I looked at her a bit confused, and tilted my head a little to the side. The entity’s voice sounded harsh as he responded with the word, “Wrong.” She jumped at his response and everybody exchanged looks. “You think they are annoying, selfish, and you hate them. You can’t lie to me.” I look at her, hurt by the words coming from the phone. She looked worried and panicked. “This is stupid, I’m leaving!” She then got up and left, slamming the door on her way out, and everybody else followed. The entity must have ended the call because he said nothing else. I then remembered what happens when you are dishonest with the Answer Man...he takes a limb. I run after her yelling “Wait!” She was in the middle of the road when I caught up. Next thing I knew there was a truck, and it didn’t stop. It kept going, despite the fact that there was someone on the road. I stared with shock and terror when the truck ran over her. When the truck left I stared at the remains that laid on the road and realized...her leg was missing.

The Closet Game By Logan Thibeault

The game was simple. Take the match box, go into the closet, say the words ‘Show me the light or leave me in the dark,’ then light the match as soon as you hear a faint whisper. I’ve been told that if you failed to light the match in time you’d be pulled into an eternal darkness. Although, if you do light the match in time you have to slowly leave the closet. I’m not sure what happens after that and I didn’t want to try it, but my friends finally convinced me to go through with the stupid game. 

Right now I’m standing right in front of my closet door, matchbox in hand. I take a deep breath and enter the closet. When I walk in, they close the door behind me, the darkness consuming whatever light had entered the closet. I jump when the door slammed shut, letting out a small scream. The closet was small, the hanging clothes making it seem smaller. My breaths start to quicken as I start to feel claustrophobic. “S-show me the light or leave me in the dark,” I say.  My voice is low, but I say it.

I wait a couple seconds and sigh, it wasn’t real. I’m about to leave when I hear the faintest whisper, I almost think it was just in my head. I quickly take the match and drag the head of the match against the striker. The first time fails. I quickly triy again, fearing it is too late, then the match sparks, and the flame grows. 

I sigh, relieved, and slowly leave the closet. My friends who are supposed to be waiting on the other side are not there. I heave a sigh, knowing that this was all a trick. It was pretty late when we started the game so I think I should get some sleep, it would do me some good. 

I lay in bed and close my eyes, when I do so, I hear something move in my closet. I look over and there is nothing. I decide to ignore it and try to sleep again. Then I hear the noise again. This time when I look, there are two eyes staring back at me from the closet. I start to shake, not sure what to do. The eyes look like the flame of a match, they flicker as I continue to stare. I reach for the lamp on the nightstand beside me and turn it on. When I do so, the eyes disappear. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding and lay on my side, facing away from the closet. I keep the light on though, not wanting the eyes of flame to come back. Then, in my ear I hear faint whispers, but I can’t make out what they are saying. I turn over and my eyes widen at the sight. A demon with pitch-black skin is staring at me with a huge grin that went from ear to ear. It has sharp, white teeth that make me shake even more. The thing that stood out the most though are its fiery eyes looking down at me. He puts his hand on the lamp, then everything goes dark. 

The Beast By Logan Thibeault

I’m running. I don’t know what I’m running from, but there is this fear festering inside me that keeps me going. I’m sprinting down a hallway that doesn’t seem to end. My legs feel as though they are jelly, and even though I feel I can’t run anymore I still continue to run. I finally reach the door at the end of the hallway and I rush to open it. I look through and there is a staircase leading to the basement. I run down them, skipping a couple steps along the way. I run to the corner of the room and hid behind some old, dusty boxes. It feels as if the musty air is suffocating me. I can hear the old floorboards creek above me and I hold my breath, afraid it will hear me.

Thump.

 Thump. 

   Thump.

I hear its heavy footsteps walking slowly down the steps. The noise was accompanied by the rattling of a chain. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I peaked in between the boxes. The monster stands six feet tall. Its large tusks are sticking out of its mouth and it is drooling all over the cement floor. Its skin was green and wrinkled. I could see its small beady eyes darting all over the room, and a chain is wrapped around its leg. Its beady eyes land on me, and they are staring right into my soul. It starts taking long and slow strides toward me and I quickly back up into the corner, terrified. I feel the cold cement wall pressed up against my back and I shiver, both at the cold and the fear that intensifies with each of the beast’s steps. It lifts its grimy hand and tears the boxes down with its long, sharp claws. I stare at its ugly face as it stares down at me, and licks its lips with its long, slimy tongue.

“Found You.”

Darkness, Then Silence By Logan Thibeault

I first saw the man in my dreams. I was staring out my window, and there he was, standing in the yard. He just stood there, and I just stared. That’s all the dream was, but there was something strange about him. He...had no face. He didn’t have any distinctive features really; he was like a shadow. I didn’t think much of it, though. After all it’s just a dream. At least that’s what I thought. 

I was in the kitchen eating my breakfast and there he was, in the window. Then I looked away for less than a second, and he was gone. 

Then when I was at school, there he was again. I rubbed my eyes and took another look and he was gone. 

When I was laying in bed, ready to go to sleep he was standing right in front of my closet. I was terrified, my brain was telling me to move, but my body wouldn’t listen. ‘W-w-what do you want?!” I forced myself to say. 

It continued to stand there, not moving at all. Was he even breathing? 

Finally he did something. He brought his finger up to where his lips should have been, his voice was in a low whisper, but loud enough that I could hear. “Shhhh.” That was all he did, but it was enough to get my body to jump out of my bed and run. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t. I don’t know why, but no sound would come out of my mouth. 

I ran to the front door and there he was, standing there. I turned and ran into the basement, not the brightest choice, but I was panicking. I ran down the steps, almost falling as I did so. I stayed hidden beneath the staircase and held my breath, my hands over my mouth. 

“I’m so close, I can even hear your heart beating.” The source of the low whisper came from right next to me. I quickly looked over, only to find nothing but an old, empty box. A tear slipped down my cheek as I shook. 

I quickly ran back up the stairs and slammed the door closed behind me. I grabbed for the home phone that laid on the kitchen counter and dialed 9-1-1. Ring, ring. On the third ring I saw him, standing outside the kitchen window. I dropped the phone and it fell onto the floor. “I-I-I called the p-police! They’re on their w-way!” 

He continued to stand there, until he finally said, “What if I’m just a distraction? Distracting you from the demon creeping up behind you?” Then, darkness was all I could see, and silence was all I could hear, and it stayed that way.

Fighting The Dreamcatcher, Book 2 Chapters 1 and 2. By Kaylynn Dolan

Chapter 1

“Come on Sarah, pick up the pace!” James yelled. Sarah was on Sky’s tail but catching up. Suddenly James slowed down and threw Sarah over his back. “Hold on tight!” He was still running like he only threw a feather on his back. They all slowed when the bodyguards caught up. ”That’s all taken care of.”  The shorter guy, Max was missing. ‘Where is he?’  Sarah climbed off of James’ back and she looked like she had gotten off a roller coaster. The bodyguards rushed to help her stay on her feet. 

“Max?”

The two men shook their heads as they supported Sarah. A small tear rolled down James’s cheek. ”He was my brother.” Sky and Sarah gave each other a glance.  “We are so…” they were cut off by his fierce, controlling voice. “No, we have to get home. It's what he would have wanted. Come on, let's go.” He ran off and peered back at the un-moving crowd. “Come on!” After he had said that, they realized It was not a question. Sky turned around but before she could process what was happening, two huge hands wrapped around her arms. Unmovable. 

“LET ME GO!” She kicked and screamed, but it was no use. The man’s iron grasp enslaved her. She was defenseless.  

“SKY!”

“Quickly, let’s load er’ up.”

The strangers threw Sky into the black van. The crossed skull on the side was not reassuring. Out of the small window, she saw James on his knees crying. When Sarah touched his shoulder he looked up with a piercing stare. 

As the people took her away, all Sky did was sit and cry. Cry and cry, she couldn't stop the tears from falling slowly from her wet, red eyes. Suddenly she came to a lurching stop, then the doors opened and the men tied up her hands and legs and picked her up from the cold hard floor of the van. She felt like a pig as they put her on a metal pole and took her into the dungeons again.

“I told you to move swiftly.”

It was the king; she was in a lot of trouble.

“We need to get home, so let me go and…”

“No! I need to capture the fugitive. So you can tell me where he is or.”  He pointed to an open dungeon cell. 

“Hey! Wait!,” it was James.”It's me that you want, not her.”

“James, stop.” Sky whispered loud enough for him to hear but not the king. The guard dropped the pole which slammed in her face and ran to him.They grabbed his arms and legs so he couldn't escape.

“Take him to the dungeon and release the girl.” Sky felt like an idiot just watching him be taken away forever when he had done so much for her. The men untied Sky and released her, she was not surprised that Amaryllis and Sophia we're outside the door.

“OMG are you ok? Where is James? Did they take him? Tell us what happened!” Amaryllis was panicking. Sky looked down.

“They took him and released me.” She whispered in a low, calm voice.

“That means... we can’t go home,” they looked at Amaryllis.”We're stuck here… forever”

“No there has to be a way out we can’t be stuck here forever! If he was the only one who can get us home,” A wide,evil smirk came across her face ”We will break him out.” 

“Ok. But how will we get past the guards?” Amaryllis asked her voice fierce.

They both shot Sky a quick glance, she knew what they wanted her to do. Sky stormed toward the castle, the gates were open… and a war was coming. 

“I am getting James back, no matter what the cost.” She had the most angry face on that she could make.

“Oh, so now you want to go in the dungeon. Well we are always welcoming guests.”  The same iron grasp came around Sky’s body like a tight blanket. They started to carry her away but she was not having that.

“Well I think we both know I am not going in that dirty cell for the rest of my life!”

Sky kicked the man in the leg making him fall back and release her. Out of the corner of Sky’s eye she saw Amaryllis and Sophia sneak over to James with the key. They unlocked the door and ran. Sky kept the guards distracted as long as she could and followed behind them. They hid in some thick brush as the guards ran past and turned onto a small street.

“Sky that was awesome! We are safe so far.” The sun started to set. “Come on, we can head over to my place for the night. We should get some rest.” They walked until Sophia spotted three guards patrolling around.  “Guys hide!” They hid again in a small bush and waited for them to go out of sight and this time they ran the rest of the way to James’s house.

After a couple more encounters and almost getting caught, the group made it to his house. James found some amazingly comfortable blankets for them to sleep on top of. 

“Goodnight everyone!” 

They settled in and drifted to sleep. 

“Sky… you have come.”  It was the same voice as the one a couple nights before.

“Sky… You are going in the wrong direction.”  An image of her little sister shot in her mind.

“We have you sister. If you want her, sneak out of that criminal’s house and go straight to the Candy Cane Cottage. Until then, “  Sky saw a clip of her sister running in terror. Sky somehow found a way to respond back to the mysterious voice.

“No! I will be there. Keep her safe, please.”  Sky said in her own head.

“Good. You need to be there by noon. And if not, well, I might have a little fun for myself! Hahaha!”

Sky woke up and made sure no one was awake. James looked awake but was asleep. Or so she thought. Sky ran outside and towards the door that lead to the Candy Cane Village. James was in fact awake and quietly followed her into the unknown.

Chapter 2

“The Notes”

“Where are you going, Sky?” James whispered under his breath.

Sky reached the door. James hid behind a nearby bush. Sky did a quick sweep of the area before entering the glowing white door. James waited a couple seconds then followed into the door that led back to the gummy bears and followed the path that led to the Candy Cane Cottage. Sky had reached the cottage, only to hear Sky’s sister screaming in terror. Sky looked at her watch: 12:30.

“Oh no!” Sky ran inside and found that the cottage had gone quiet.

“SKY, HELP ME!” Sky ran to her sister and found her tied up to a chair with a note tied on with red ribbon.

Good you followed through. You were a little late, but you made it. Your little sister is yours, but I have more than just your sister. I have you!

                                                                                             - The Cosmos

Sky looked down at her hands and saw the blue ashes slowly falling from her body.

“What’s happening to me?” Sky screamed and tried to scoop up the blue ash. Sky tried to untie her sister, but her fingers were just a pile of ashes. James ran in and untied her sister for her.

“Did you… follow me?” Sky asked, taking a step back from James.

“ Yes, be happy I did, or you would have not been able to untie her and come back empty handed.” James pulled two scarves from the pocket of his jacket and wrapped it around Sky’s slowly shrinking hands. She had no choice but to look into his hazel, glistening eyes. James looked up and their eyes locked. Sky looked back down at her hands to see the scarves wrapped tightly around her arm as a vine-shaped design wrapped up her arm and over her shoulders.

“ Let’s get back to the house. The others are looking for us.”  Sky’s sister tugged James’ shirt to slow him down while Sky kept walking. 

“She has a crush on you. I hope you realize that.” James looked at Sky, and as she spun around, her brown hair swished in the uproaring wind.

“Help!” Sky screamed as she found a candy cane to hold onto. James ran to Sky and grabbed her hands tightly. The wind grew stronger, and Sky was slipping away. It was not until then that they saw Sky was back to normal with whole hands.

“I have you, Sky!” James yelled.

“James!” Sky was slipping away, and then…

“Hold onto the candy cane when I say go let go, I will catch you! I promise!” Sky nodded and grabbed the tall, minty pole. James ran against the wind and angled himself to catch Sky.

“GO!”  Sky released the pole to fall into James’ arms. He carried Sky inside.

“ Let’s stay here till the storm stops.”

“ Thank you James. That was terrifying. I thought I was gonna die by the king before but now I think the wind is gonna do the honors instead!” Sky and James let out a chuckle. 

“Where is your sister?”

“ Oh no!” 

“What is this?” There was another note with ribbon tied onto a nail on the wall.

You sister is fine, I undid the spell I set on you. You’re lucky you have the criminal. Have fun getting home. 

                                                                             -  The Cosmos

“Woah. That dude is harsh,” James commented.

“Tell me about it.”

To be continued...

Site 49, The Breach by Carson Burleson

Setting: A work camp for criminals on death row. One of many facilities across the world. This particular camp is outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Present Day.

The Mobile Task Force is comprised of Nine-Tailed Foxes who work as guards.

Nine Tailed Fox #1: “Mornin’ Sunshine!” “GET UP, NOW!” Today is your lucky day, release day. You’re free, and off of death row.

Mark/D class: (Mark the D class, and main character still groggy from sleep looks up from his bed)

R-really? I get to go home?! See my daughter?!

NTF #1: Yes, you get to go home on this day. You get to go home on this day in 20 years.

NTF #2 and NTF #3: (start roaring with laughter)

Mark: Ugh! Why do they hire numbskulls like you?!

NTF #1: Want to repeat that?

Mark: N-no it won’t happen again, sorry sir.

NTF #1: It better not , because I can easily extend your stay for another 20 years.

NTF #1: Because I’m nice though, you only have to clean SCP-10896’s containment.

Mark: You don’t mean the soul ripper…

NTF #1: Oh, of course I do! Just don’t make physical contact with it and you’ll be fine.

Mark: How am I supposed to avoid something as big as three komodo dragons.

Mark: ALSO, A THING IF YOU TOUCH IT SUCKS EVERY OUNCE OF LIFE OUT OF YOU!!

NTF #3: Yeah, have fun with that.

NTF #2: Yeah, you can figure that out yourself.

NTF#1: Be quiet dimwits, I do the talking.

(NTF 2 and NTF 3 both quietly mumble to themselves angrily)

NTF #1: Now, c’mon we can’t keep Dr.Carver waiting, he needs that cell cleaned. Also, you seriously wouldn’t think we wouldn’t remove the SCP before cleaning. Idiot.

Mark: Yeah, I do.

NTF #1: Just shut up and come with us.

(NTF #1, #2, and #3 walk Mark down the hallway ((stage)) and then sit him on a chair)

NTF #1: Now sit and wait here. Dr. Carver will be here any second to tell you the “expectations.”

` ( The NTFs leave the stage, then the person playing Dr. Carver waits 10 seconds before walking over to Mark on stage)

Dr. Carver: Hello, Mr. Robinson. I see you’re cleaning out the soul ripper’s cell. No need to worry for your safety though, he’s been put in an empty containment cell. There will be some remains of its gelatinous body though. Try not to touch the remains.

Mark: Yeah, I sure got that part.

Dr. Carver: I was not done speaking Mr. Robinson. If you do touch the remains please proceed back to your cell, immediately. We will take care of it from there.

Mark: Yes sir.

(Scene changes. Everyone leaves, Tristan (playing Mark) comes back with a broom, “walks over to the cell, opens the door, and starts cleaning)

Mark: Well, dang this place is gross. 

Mark: Does this thing shed, blech. It looks like it excremented every possible gross thing in the world.

Random MTF: Start cleaning D-9017!

Mark: Sorry (says in a sarcastic voice).

Mark: Better to just get this stuff done.

Mark: Whoa! (Mark trips on a piece of the soul ripper and falls, landing in more of it).

*sirens blast*

(a voice over the loudspeaker comes on)

EVERY D-CLASS PLEASE REPORT BACK TO YOUR CELL. ALL HIGHER FACILITY PERSONNEL REPORT TO THE NEAREST SAFE ROOM. SCP-10896 HAS BEGUN ATTEMPTING BREACH. (voice lowers) Oh my g- AAAAAAAH! (loudspeaker cuts, guy stops screaming)

Mark: What have I done...

The Future of Immortality by Aidan Khue Le

Most people are afraid of death, and most would be lying if you said they weren't. Now with new data and technology, scientist and physicist theorize that in the future being immortal might be possible. The three main causes of death is aging, disease, and physical trauma. All of these problems can be fixed by science and technology.

The first problem is aging.  Aging happens because when our cells divide, they have little mistakes in the DNA. Over time these mistakes build up causing mutations that lead to death. One way to solve this is to change the genes that control your cell reproduction. We could modify it so that it makes sure that your DNA is exactly the same. 

A different way is to transfer your brain to a mechanical body through brain surgery. You have two choices: transfer your real brain or change all your neurons into small transistors to make a big mechanical brain. The first way works like new prosthetics; they connect with your brain to figure out what to do. With a mechanical body, you basically have a huge prosthetic that connects with your brain. They connect with your brain by measuring the electricity coming off your brain. The body then reads those signals and does what the brain wants. The other way is to change your brain way, This way could be easier or harder then the transfer brain way. It could be easy because it doesn't have to read the signals that the brain sends. It could be harder because of changing every neuron into a miny transistor. We have billions of neurons in our brain so imagine making each of those neurons into a transistor. 

That would probably take a long time to convert. Another problem is the heart degrading until it can't beat anymore. In Nancy Farmer’s novel, The House of the Scorpion, people create clones so they can transplant the clone’s organs into their original body. This could be a solution because the new transplanted organ would be young so it would be able to last longer than your old one. This is kind of inhumane because you are basically shortening the life of another human being. In Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin falls into lava, He gets a new heart, a pump that pumps his blood for him. This solution that is more humane. This solution would be replacing your heart and lungs with an apparatus that oxygenates your blood for you. In the robot solutions, the heart would not be a problem because robots don't need air. In the cell solution instead of replacing the heart, you could genetically enhance it so it would last as long as you.

The next cause of death is disease. Most diseases are curable and in a few hundred years, the cost for these cures will go down to an affordable price. The hardest to cure are the diseases that are caused by mutation. Sickle cell anemia and cancer are examples of mutations that create diseases. Anemia is the shortage of blood cells in your body. Sickle cell anemia is when red blood cells become rigid and sticky. These sickle cells are crescent shaped and can slow or block blood from moving to other parts of the body. Sickle cells live for a shorter time than normal cells; normal cells live for about 120 days, while sickle cells live only about 10 days. Since sickle cells live such short lives, they cause blood shortages which makes it an anemia. Sickle cell is an inherited disease, which means you can only get it from your parents. If only one of your parents has a gene mutated by sickle cell, then you won’t get sickle cell anemia. This scenario can actually protect you from malaria. The other scenario is when both parents have the gene that is mutated by Sickle cell. When that happens, you will have sickle cell anemia.  The only cure is to have a transplant of bone marrow, and this could be supported by the clone idea. Another way is to become a robot because you wouldn’t be able to inherit or develop diseases anymore.

Another type of disease caused by mutation is cancer. This is when a cell reproduces to much making a tumor. The breakdown of reproducing is usually due to the p-53 protein that controls the reproducing of the cell. A solution to cancer is to use drugs to target the cancer cells and wipe them out. This solution already exist today, known as chemotherapy. Another drug related solution is to introduce a chemical to your body that teaches the white blood cells target the cancer cells. This would be pretty nice because we could make it so that the cure passes through generations, therefore doing this would eradicate the world of cancer.  Every time you get anything wrong then your clone would fix it or you could just get a mechanic.

The last cause of death is physical trauma.  Physical trauma is a serious injury to our body. There are two types of physical trauma:

• Blunt force trauma, blunt force trauma is when an object or force hits the body. This can cause concussion, broken bones, and/or deep cuts

• Penetrating trauma is when an object pierces your body, this usually can cause open wounds.

We can fix trauma by working on each type of trauma one at a time.

First of all blunt force trauma can be caused by vehicle crashes. We can make cars safer by installing air bags everywhere so when cars crash then you hit a bunch of nitrogen filled pillows. This works like the airbags work today. When a car crashes, its speed decreases monumentally. If the decrease in speed is enough, then a chip triggers the airbags. When airbags are triggered, they start deflating so they slow you down without causing blunt force trauma. 

In airplanes we could have a chip that compares the planes position with all other planes in the area using gps. If another plane gets close, then each one goes to one side thus avoiding each other. Instead of making things safer, we could make products to help us heal faster. We could have nanorobots in our bloodstream so that everytime we got hurt then they would go there. In them would be stem cells, these robots then cultivate the stem cells into the type of cell in the place that got hurt. These would speed up the process because with extra speed of the extra stem cells then we could heal faster. These robots can also help “parts” we can’t get to in time. These parts can be internal organs that we can’t get to without cutting open the body. These could keep you alive until you can get to the hospital. If you decide on the robot idea, trauma would also affect you because you could still be smashed and your brain would die. To help for this all the robotic parts could be covered in graphene (a very strong carbon formation 1 atom thick). The bones of the robot could be made of carbon nanotube (basically graphene rolled into a tube). These would strengthen your “body”. In side the skin there could be a bunch of nanobots that check your systems and make sure their working.

Being immortal might sound like gods and heroes right now, but in the future immortality might become real using technology and science. This will be a new age of collonating universe like in Star Wars because of our overpopulation, this age will be until forever.

Cites:https://medlineplus.gov/stemcells.html

https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/pages/factsheet_trauma.aspx

https://www.the-scientist.com/features/how-we-age-35872

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/what-is-cancer

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sickle-cell-anemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355876

Euthanizing a Pet by Jayden Kelly

What is Euthanization?

Euthanization is the process of putting your pet “to sleep.” It has many euphemisms (a nice way of saying difficult things) such as “putting down” and “putting to sleep,” but the idea of it is killing your pet in the easiest way possible. It is generally used in cases where it is best for the pet, maybe it is in a lot of pain, or if the pet is old or sick. It is said to be very similar to falling asleep. The process involves the pet being injected with three drugs. The first drug makes them fall asleep. The second is used to put them so deep into sleep that their heart stops, and the third is to push all of the other eauthanizers into the bloodstream. The entire process, depending on the size of the dog, can be under a minute. It is quick and painless.

Background:

I had a small dog, a chihuahua. He was 13. The past 13 years of his life had been spent with numerous owners. As a tribute to him, I will tell you his life story as far as I know. He was a purebred Chihuahua, most likely from a breeder. An elderly woman owned him for the first five years of his life, and she had him trained, however he was not housebroken. He was the quietest Chihuahua I have ever seen. His name was Peanut.

After he turned five, his elderly owner had to move into a nursing home, and that’s where my family comes in. My 90-year-old great-grandmother put an ad in the newspaper looking for a small dog. His owner found it, reached out to my great-grandmother, and soon Peanut belonged to her. 

By seven years old, Peanut was forced to move in with new owners, my family. We frequently visited my great-grandmother to spend time with her and with Peanut. The following year she passed away. That was five years ago today (Monday, October 28, 2019). We have been his owners ever since. 

When Peanut turned 11, my other dog, Talon, had to be put to sleep due to a large softball-sized stomach tumor, which was the saddest thing I have ever experienced. However, I was not there to be with him as he passed. Just prior to Talon’s passing, Peanut had a run-in with kidney stones, nearly bringing him to his death. I can remember with vivid detail that day: we sat with him in a small room inside of the Metzger Animal Hospital. 

He had been there overnight for the previous two days, and it was late on a Friday afternoon. Just before his euthanization, a very helpful woman told us that there was a chance that he could live longer, and that one sentence changed an entire life that day. We decided to take him home, we nurtured him back to health, and he was able to have surgery the following Monday to remove the stones.

Now, for the next two years, he had been nearly ok, we thought. He was forced to start taking medicine twice each day, and he was suffering from something very common, an oversized heart. He had been on that medication for the next year. Throughout that time, his condition degraded slowly. He would have wild coughing fits, get a bloated stomach, and then it would go away. 

The Day

It started out like any normal day. We had all known it was coming, but I treated it like any other day. I had the last few months to realize that the “good old days” of playing, going on walks, and barking were over. This part is where it will differ for everyone, because everyone’s pet is different. This story is my personal and heart-wrenching experience with the euthanizing of my dog.

School was usual, most of the afternoon was usual, but it was sad. No one wanted to deny that, but we weren’t ready to start bawling yet. The place we were going to was an emergency vet and was not open until 7:00 PM. Seven rolled around, and we all knew what was soon to come. Around 7:30, we left. In the car, it occurred to me that I was carrying Peanut for the last time in my life. We arrived and I carried him in with my Mom, and we were led into a room. Nothing about this place was happy, and nothing about us was happy.

As my mom filled out paperwork, I sat, thinking to myself. You might hear things or have had experience with the fact that Animals don’t understand when something is dead or gone. It takes them a while to realize that someone or something is dead, and even though it isn’t known whether they are aware of the death. I think people are like that in a way as well.  It took me quite a while to accept that he was really going to be gone. It’s quite a hard thing to comprehend, death. You see someone or something so often, for so long. Then one day it just stops. It doesn’t make sense. You are used to something doing something, or something happening, but it doesn’t. It’s very tough.

It took me a long time to realize that he was going to be gone really soon. I still don’t quite feel like he’s gone; my brain just assumes that he’s in a different room. I looked into Peanut’s eyes, most of his irises were filled with clouds, mass expanses of swirling fog moving through his eyes, cataracts had taken a major part of his sight a long time ago. 

After all of the paperwork and payments were done, a kind woman walked into the room. In her hand were three syringes. She walked over and briefed us on what was about to happen. She told us about what each drug did. Once we told her we understood, she started hooking up the first syringe to the IV they had previously hooked into Peanut.

Very quickly he was asleep, his eyes wide open, within seconds after she injected the third she checked for a pulse and there was none. Looking into his deep foggy eyes, I couldn’t help but cry. The woman picked him up off of my mom’s lap, and as she walked out the door, I got a good look at his face for the last time in my life. It was so innocent. He probably didn’t even know what was going on as he drifted quickly into the deepest and best sleep he had ever had. On the receipt papers they gave us, there was a story about a rainbow bridge, and a large field with all the dogs restored to their strong and healthy younger selves, and one day your dog will run as fast as they can away from that field because they have spotted you. All I can do is wait and hope that that is true.

"I´m Just Dreaming" by Anabelle Morales

Chapter Two

Tears poured down my face in a huge river as I realized I wouldn't be able to dance anymore. My mom wrapped her arms around my lifeless body as if to comfort me. I couldn't feel the embrace, but it helped just knowing she was there. 

 I’m just dreaming, I thought to myself, It is all just a bad dream and I will wake up soon. I closed my eyes and cried myself to sleep in the comfort of knowing my parents were right beside me.

I woke up hoping to see my own bed and that everything was just a nightmare. Instead I woke up and my lip quivered as I saw the same old hospital room except it was dark and nobody was there. Tears poured down my face. I attempted to throw my face into my pillow, but I couldn’t which only made me cry harder. Sobs choked me as I just lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. I saw a light flick on in the hallway and a nurse popped her head in. 

”Everything ok? Oh... ” she murmured as she walked over to the bed and flicked on the side lamp, ”You hungry?” she asked suddenly. I suddenly feel a jolt of pain that was some-what like hunger, but it didn't come from my stomach, it came from somewhere in my throat. I nodded quickly and she studied me for a second then walked out the door briskly, leaving me alone once again.

I sniffed and thought, I won't be able to dance anymore, so what will I do now? I thought of my brand new Pointe Shoes in my closet, waiting to be worn. I will never know the feeling of being en pointe ever again, I thought helplessly. The nurse popped her head in the door and then walked in with a tray of what looked like soup. She sat on the bed and started to spoon soup into my mouth. I swallowed and savored the salty flavor. I calmed down as the warmth of the soup cleared my mind.

My breathing resumed to normal and my mind drifted to other things like, what would people think of me once I got back to school? I don't  know. Will I be able to live a normal life ever again? No! I wanted to scream. So I did, not loud but just a frustrated groan. I felt the nurse put her hand on my forehead. She quickly ran over to a drawer and rummaged through it, she pulled out a thermometer. She walked over to me and swiped it over my forehead and walked out the door.

A moment later she walked in with a different doctor from before and was chatting with him, showing the thermometer and kept chatting right next to my bed as if I wasn't there. I sighed, and cleared my throat to let them know I was still there. They jumped, startled and the doctor sighed, "I know you have been going through a lot and this is going to make the entire situation worse…  you have a fever and that can be dangerous for people with paralysis." He sounded like an emotionless robot. The nurse nodded along accordingly as the doctor continued,"We're going to monitor your fever for now but if it gets worse within the next two days, we will have to issue treatment." He nodded to the nurse a thank you and walked out the door. 

Chapter One 

“Harper!” my mom screeched as she came running from the door. I was running out to catch my ball I had been playing with from the road. ”Harper!” My mom screeched more desperately as a car came hurtling down the road. I got up but I was too late, the car hit me and the world went black.

I woke up with confusion. I craned my neck to look at where I was. My mom and dad dozing on chairs, the blood pressure machine was beeping steadily. I attempted to move my arm to wipe away the hair that was plastered to my face, but I couldn't feel it or move it. I started to panic.

“Mom?” I screeched frantically lifting my head, which seemed to be the only thing I could move, ”I can't feel my arms!” My mom jerked her head up smiled, then quickly frowned. 

“I’ll go get the doctor,” she said and walked out the door. I sighed and closed my eyes to go to my imaginary world consisting of me, top dancer, on stage. 

“Harper,” said a deep voice. “Harper,” it said again more sternly. I opened my eyes to see a bony doctor with a very tight looking face. 

”Yes?” I said looking at him and then quickly looking away as I saw his eyes, the pupils tiny dots the size of the tip of a thin paintbrush. 

“Can you try to move your leg for me?” he asked as he lifted my leg out of the elevation cast. I tried to move my leg from side to side but it didn’t move. I looked at the doctor frantically. He curtly nodded and scribbled something on his clipboard and left the room. My mom just sighed and sat on the bed with what seemed like something I should feel because I bounced, but I didn't. The doctor walked in a moment later with a wheelchair and a young woman trailing behind him.

”We think you might be paralyzed,” the doctor said with a nod to the woman. She walked over and propped me up with pillows. She then set the wheel chair next to my bed and slid me into it. I attempted to move my legs onto the rests but they didn’t move. 

”How do you know she is paralyzed when her body could just be starting to work to get feeling into her arms and legs,” my dad said as we all jumped, just realizing he was awake. The doctor glared at him and gave a nod to the woman as if telling her to speak. 

She cleared her throat, ”I specialize in paralyzation, and we are going to run a few tests on her just to be sure,” she said and started wheeling me towards the door. My parents started after me, speechless. I turned my head and looked every which way at the different people passing by on crutches, in stretchers, in wheel chairs like me. She wheeled me into a blinding white room and walked over to an x-ray machine and started to set things up. She frowned, adjusted something and came over to get me. She wheeled me over and adjusted my lifeless body into a strange position.

“Can you feel this?” she asked looking at me and started to move my arms up and down and side to side. I shook my head and she dropped my arm gently and scribbled on a clipboard. She propped my head up and took a few x-rays, and then she wheeled me over to an area with lots of equipment and checked my reflexes. When my leg stayed still, she scribbled some more on her clipboard and wheeled me back to the room. When we got back, my mom, my dad, the doctor and the woman huddled and whispered. I heard a few shocked gasps and then they broke apart. My parents sat on the end of the bed and stared expectantly at the doctor.

”What?” I said quizzically,looking at all of them.

The doctor took a deep breath and said sadly, ”The tests show that you are paralyzed.” 

James on the Run by Jayden Kelly

The door slammed shut. I pulled the pillow off my face and sat up. I peered over at the alarm clock on my side table; it was flashing midnight. A power outage. I turned around and looked out the window.  The sky was black, and I could see the moon going down over the horizon. I hopped out of bed and walked over to the door. I could hear voices from downstairs.

“They’re coming, we have to go!” It was a man’s voice, but I didn’t recognize it.

“Who’s coming? Where are we going?” I recognized that as my mother; she seemed confused.  “Wait, I have to tell him,” My mom said, then I heard thumping coming from the stairs. There was a knock on my door. “James,” she said, slightly muffled. “James, wake up! We have to go.” I leaned away from the door and opened it, just now realizing that I was wearing no more than underwear. “Get some clothes on, and get downstairs in five minutes-- this is urgent!” She turned around and went towards the stairs. 

I turned my back and slipped on a random T-Shirt and a pair of sweatpants. When I reached the dining room downstairs, I realized that the strange man had actually been one of my mom’s co-workers; his name was Jacob. 

“Are you both ready?” Jacob asked, eagerly.

“Wait, I have to get one more thing” I ran into the living room and grabbed the Nintendo Switch off of the glass coffee table; I saw my own reflection where the switch was--I looked pale, almost like a zombie. I got back to the dining room, and there stood my little brother, Ben. He looked at me and smiled. He was way too young to realize that this was bad; he must have thought that we were going on an adventure.

“I lost them around Harborrow, but they know that I’d be going to you.” I felt chills running down my entire body, my face must have gotten even more pale, because Ben looked over at me.

“All right?” He asked. I felt innocence radiating from his body. I knew what he hadn’t yet realized, we were now on the run from someone, or maybe even a gang for that matter. Just last Thursday the building next door to my mom’s work had to evacuate because a man walked in with a gun talking about blood and chips, or something. That’s not the only example either- there has been a lot of gang-related events in LA’s history. At least at the current moment we were safe, I didn’t know how much longer that would last, but while it does, I was going to cherish it. I leaned down and hugged my little brother.

“All right,” I said. I don’t remember much from after that moment, but what I do remember is sleeping. Somewhere along the line I had fallen asleep. 

I dreamt of horses-- they were galloping through a clearing, the grass was up to their knees, and the wind was blowing it wildly. Very suddenly, I sound started coming, at first it was the sound of faint thunder, maybe a far off storm. Very quickly though it got louder and louder until suddenly, just on the other end of the clearing were hundreds of bulls running out of the trees.  I didn’t get to ever see what was chasing them, because right as they reached the horses, and the sound was so loud. I woke up.

I lifted my head off of my brother’s lap, he was still asleep. When I looked out the window I saw daylight, the sun was directly in the center of the sky. I looked at Mom, she was sitting in the passenger seat, Jacob was driving. 

“Where are we?” I asked, confused, because I didn’t recognize anything around us. It was all desert.

“We are about 30 miles south of Hoover Dam.” Jacob stated, factually. I peered out the window, I ‘d never been this far away from home, the furthest we’d gone was Bakersfield for one of moms highschool friends wedding.

“How long have I been asleep?” I asked. I started feeling pain in my head.

“It’s one twenty-three PM right now,” Mom said; “When did you fall asleep?”

“Right after we left,” I said, my head was throbbing now. I looked out the window, “Can we stop? My head is throbbing.” I looked towards the passenger seat to see what my mom would say.

“Jacob, could we stop up here?” She looked out the windshield at a gas station quickly approaching. I felt the car start to slow down, the turn signal started beeping, and then we made the turn. 

I stepped out of the car to a very fast rush of heat, almost like wind, but hot. I started walking toward the door.

“I need to use the bathroom,” I said, and pushed open the glass doors at the entrance to the building. In the far left corner of the building, I saw the bathrooms. I walked over to the men's room and went in.

I was standing in front of the sinks, looking at my pale face in the mirror when the door pinged to say that someone had entered. All of a sudden, ear-piercing sounds flooded my brain. I dropped to the floor, covering my ears as hard as I could. I sat as still as I could trying not to make a sound that they could hear. All of a sudden it stopped, I stood up as slowly as I could. I could hear footsteps coming toward the bathroom. Quickly, I hopped into a stall, making sure to stay quiet. I left the door open, yet close enough that I couldn’t be seen. Suddenly, and quickly, the bathroom door was open, and I heard someone walk inside.

Don’t miss out on these BOOKS! by Abigail Kolesar

When you are in the hallways, sometimes you see friends/classmates wandering around holding a book that is new and interests you.  Once you know that all the copies in the library are gone and you’re behind so many others who have it on hold, and it is sold out on Amazon, you may feel like your life has shattered into a million pieces. Don’t worry about that happening, because I’ve got you covered!  I’ll tell you about some new books that are trending, and hopefully you can get one of these books soon!

All book synopsis are from Amazon Books.

Title: Scythe (Book 1 Arc of Scythe)

Author: Neal Shusterman

Two teens must learn the “art of killing” in this Printz Honor–winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology. In a world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery, we learn humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a Scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Title: The Toll (Book 3 Arc of Scythe)

Author: Neal Shusterman

Summary:  Citra and Rowan have disappeared. Endura is gone. It seems like nothing stands between Scythe Goddard and absolute dominion over the world scythedom. With the silence of the Thunderhead and the reverberations of the Great Resonance still shaking the earth to its core, the question remains: Is there anyone left who can stop him?  The answer lies in the Tone, the Toll, and the Thunder . . .

Title: New Kid

Author: Jerry Craft

Summary: Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid WRECKING BALL

Author: Jeff Kinney

 Summary: Once the walls come down, all sorts of problems start to crop up. Rotten wood, toxic mold, unwelcome critters, and something even more sinister all make Greg and his family wonder if the renovations are worth the trouble. When the dust finally settles, will the Heffleys be able to stay . . . or will they need to get out of town?

Title: Rebel: A Legend Novel

Author: Marie Lu

Eden Wing has been living in his brother’s shadow for years. Even though he’s a top student at his academy in Ross City, Antarctica, and a brilliant inventor, most people know him only as Daniel Wing’s little brother.

A decade ago, Daniel was known as Day, the boy from the streets who led a revolution that saved the Republic of America. But Day is no longer the same young man who was once a national hero. These days he’d rather hide out from the world and leave his past behind. All that matters to him now is keeping Eden safe―even if that also means giving up June, the great love of Daniel’s life.

As the two brothers struggle to accept who they’ve each become since their time in the Republic, a new danger creeps into the distance that’s grown between them. Eden soon finds himself drawn so far into Ross City’s dark side, even his legendary brother can’t save him. At least not on his own . . .

Title: Allies

Author: Alan Gratz

June 6, 1944: The Nazis are terrorizing Europe, on their evil quest to conquer the world. The only way to stop them? The biggest, most top-secret operation ever, with the Allied nations coming together to storm German-occupied France. Welcome to D-Day. Dee, a young U.S. soldier, is on a boat racing toward the French coast. And Dee -- along with his brothers-in-arms -- is terrified. He feels the weight of World War II on his shoulders. But Dee is not alone. Behind enemy lines in France, a girl named Samira works as a spy, trying to sabotage the German army. Meanwhile, paratrooper James leaps from his plane to join a daring midnight raid. And in the thick of battle, Henry, a medic, searches for lives to save. In a breathtaking race against time, they all must fight to complete their high-stakes missions. But with betrayals and deadly risks at every turn, can the Allies do what it takes to win?

Title: Guts

Author: Raina Telgemeier

Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it's probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she's dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It soon becomes clear that Raina's tummy trouble isn't going away... and it coincides with her worries about food, school, and changing friendships. What's going on? Raina Telgemeier once again brings us a thoughtful, charming, and funny true story about growing up and gathering the courage to face -- and conquer -- her fears.

Title: 23 Minutes

Author: Vivian Vande Velde

By both society's measure and her own, fifteen-year-old Zoe Mahar is pretty much a loser. Then one day she ducks into Spencerport Savings and Loan simply to get out of the rain—and witnesses a bank robbery gone horribly wrong. The good news is that Zoe has a unique ability: she can play back time and repeat events. But it's not an unlimited deal—she can only jump 23 minutes, and her first playback creates an even more disastrous outcome. Zoe has only 10 tries to get it right before this particular 23 minutes becomes irreversible. In the process of trying to become the heroine she doesn't believe she can be, Zoe learns about herself and realizes that there is more to who she is than she thought.

Title: Witness Protection!

Author: Jake Burt

 The marshals are looking for the perfect girl to join a mother, father, and son on the run from the nation’s most notorious criminals. After all, the bad guys are searching for a family with one kid, not two, and adding a streetwise girl who knows a little something about hiding things may be just what the marshals need.

Nicki swears she can keep the Trevor family safe, but to do so she’ll have to dodge hitmen, cyberbullies, and the specter of standardized testing, all while maintaining her marshal-mandated B-minus average. As she barely balances the responsibilities of her new identity, Nicki learns that the biggest threats to her family’s security might not lurk on the road from New York to North Carolina, but rather in her own past.

Title: The Westing Game

Author: Ellen Raskin

This highly inventive mystery involves sixteen people who are invited to the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. They could become millionaires, depending on how they play the tricky and dangerous Westing game, which involves blizzards, burglaries, and bombings. Ellen Raskin has entangled a remarkable cast of characters in a puzzle-knotted, word-twisting plot filled with humor, intrigue, and suspense.

These are a few books that are trending and books that you should try to get now!  You should try to hold a book if someone checked it out before you. I hope that this article was helpful for you.  Remember, I didn’t list all of the books that are trending!  

The Heart of a Dreamcatcher by Kaylynn Dolan

BOOK ONE:

Chapter 1

 “Sky! Dinner! “ yelled Skyler’s mom from the kitchen.

"I smell pancakes! But why are we having pancakes for dinner?” Sky asked curiously.

She spilled syrup on her black shirt , white jeans and light gray sneakers.

“Well I know that you love pancakes so I made some since you're starting 8th grade.”

She said with a smile, glancing at Sky who had a mouthful of warm,fluffy pancakes. As soon as she was done Sky yawned and groggily walked upstairs to her warm and cozy bed.

“Sky.” said a low whispering voice. Sky slowly turned her head towards the unfamiliar noise. “H-h-hello.”  Sky said trying not to run away. “Sky,” the voice repeated. “Sky our kingdom needs you! Come join us ,save us.”...“Ahhhhhh!”  She screamed. She woke up terrified and afraid but curious about what the voice said about needing her to save their kingdom. But she realized it was just a little nightmare and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 2 

The next morning she had the most dreadful thing any girl feared on a foggy monday 

morning . . . school. She hurriedly gathered all of her belongings and jogged out for the bus and all she could do was wait and wait until the bus arrived. 

“Morning Mrs.Jackie!”

“Morning … Sky Reed!” 

Sky walked to the very back seat where her best friend Sophia was sitting today.

“Hey where were you yesterday? You we're supposed to come over to my house to get ready for school,” she exclaimed.

“Oh, sorry. I had to go to my brothers baseball game,” Sky said slamming her hand into her face.

“It’s ok, I had a surprise dance meet.” 

Sky reaches into her backpack and pulls out her notebook and writes down the date and homeroom number.

“Ok now I've memorized the number of my homeroom and the date.”  Sky let out a slow dreadful sigh. After they picked up the rest of the students the bus arrives at the school. 

“Ok, see you later!” shouted Sky on the other wing of the middle school. Mr.William started to talk. He was the math teacher.

“Ok, students how is everybody today?” he said cheerfully but unlike him everybody groaned.”Well let's get to know each other”

Mr. William announced waving his hands at everyone.  “Mrs. Dawn will be around to pass out your ‘all about me’ sheets,” all of the kids started chatting and that's how you know none of them are going to do it or they are wrigting something stupid.                                                     

After school Sky asked her mom to drive her  to the store and spent $20 on something that she should not have bought. Sky bought a dreamcatcher. The dreamcatcher  was a pinkish-red with glitter and beautiful blue feathers on it. Sky hung the dreamcatcher over her bed and invited her friend, Sophia over to see. As soon as Sophia walked in she screamed and ran out of her room. 

Sky ran downstairs following her frightened friend. She sat on the couch with a glass of water and trying to catch her breath. “Get that dreamcatcher out of your house NOW!” she yelled, terrified. 

“Why?” Sky asked sitting on the couch next to Sophia.  Sophia went on and on about dream catchers being cursed and how to break the curse and all that nonsense. “So let's see what happens overnight and then we can return it into the store.” Sky walked upstairs and grabbed the dreamcatcher and returned downstairs. 

“But…” Sophia started “ No buts, we are doing this.” They changed into their PJs and drifted to sleep.

Chapter 3

“Sky . . .Sky . . . Sky!” Sky woke up to what she thought was a dream but it wasn't. “Where are we?” Sophia was starting to panic.      

“Hello,” a small purple creature was standing over her. The creature was about 2 feet tall with purple, fluffy fur and white shoes with blue eyes. With all of that, it had a very high-pitched voice. “Sorry I never meant to startle you.” 

The creature held out its hand but they ignored it. “My name is Amaryllis. I come from the Colored Cotton Chateau. I saw you fall from the portal and when you hit the ground you never moved. So I came over to see if you we're ok.” 

The two girls sat in terror. This time when it held out its hand, Sky shook it. Sky wasn't scared anymore and Sophia calmed down and shook her hand. But the moment only lasted so long. Three tall men smacked and whipped their fists at the shaken kids. “Intruders!” They attacked we swerved left and right to get away but all of the swerving had gotten someone hurt.

“Ow! My leg!”  Amaryllis was tripped by the more muscular men. They ran back as fast as they could.Sky told her to relax and she would carry her and Amaryllis would give us directions to her house or chateau or whatever she calls it.  “

OK take a left at the candy canes and a right at the gummy bears and at the end of the road there's a door. Open the door and close your eyes for 30 seconds then open.” Since they had never been there the two girls followed her directions carefully. 

They reached the door it had a purple fluffy ball that looked like Amaryllis. The girls opened the door and closed their eyes and counted to 30 aloud. There was a bright light, then Sky opened the door rubbing their  eyes. When they opened the girls saw creatures like Amaryllis, but in different colors. Everyone was working different jobs. A few were making houses, some of the younger ones were braiding cotton ribbon, but the rest were guards and were coming right towards the frightened girls. “Let me do the talking,” Amaryllis announced.  “Hello fellow cotton balls.These humans are my friends.This is Sky and this is Sophia,” she said pointing to each of them. 

“Hello,” they both managed to spit out. But the guards never listened to anyone but the king.

Chapter 4

The guards had them tied up with soft cotton ribbon and brought them to the chateau. The enormous castle was made of cotton. But they weren't going in there, they were going to the dungeons. Amaryllis was left there so the girls had no sense of direction, or an understanding of how to get out of the dungeons, so they were on their own. Someone brought them to a large throne and announced: 

“Who and where did you come from?! Answer me now!” After a while they both realized they were talking to the king.  And if they didn't answer he would have the girls executed for sure.  

“Sorry for the intrusion, but we are humans from the planet Earth, and we're friends with Amaryllis and we need your help getting home,” they blurted out for their lives. 

“Oh. Well, I'm sorry I can't help you get home but I know who can help you,  but . . . never mind, it is too dangerous.” The girls took a small glance at each other and quietly agreed, “Anything to get us home.” 

The king looked very unsure, but added, “And if you can’t make it home, come back to the castle, and you can stay here with us for a while until you can.” The king told the guards to let them go, but added, “Stay here for the night, for it is getting dark out.” The two girls were unsure, but finally caved and said they  would think about it on the way back to Amaryllis’s house. 

“So this is not a dream, but we’re not planet earth so where is this? Oh, I know what’s going on! I've been studying paranoia, and this is a side effect . . . delusions!” Sky said. Hearing the quiet conversation between the girls, the king said softly, “This is not a delusion, and this a real world, just one that has not been found, yet”  He gave them one last grin and climbed into a carriage and rode away.

Bottle of the Ocean #7 by Abby Hulek and Maggie Yang

Previously on Bottle Of The Ocean #6: Alaina’s arm has been chopped off, and Kayla and Alaina need to escape.

I shuffled under the bed and waited as Alaina pretended to wake up. I heard footsteps heading toward the room.

“Get up, Ashes! NOW!” He kicked her in the chest with his foot. She struggled to stand up. She lowered her head.

“You have waste duty for a month. Longer, if the Order of Horror can’t start it by then. I see you have hopefully learned your lesson.” He stared intently at the wrapped bandage on Alaina’s arm. “Take that off.”

“Huh?” Alaina asked. I sucked in my breath.

“Take it OFF!” He reached for Alaina’s bandage, but she pulled away.

“Oh, Ashes. You don’t want to lose your other arm, now do you?” He smirked.

“Well, how would I do your dirty work if you did so?” Alaina asked. The retort caught the man by surprise. 

“Oh, wow. You really ARE going to get it.” He slapped her across her face, leaving a handprint on her cheek. She almost passed out, but kept her ground. She glared into his eyes.

“Come. NOW.” He grabbed her bad arm and ripped the bandage off. The wound opened and blood started to drip to the floor. Tears welled in her brave eyes. 

“That’s better. Now who’s your friend?” Panic flashed onto Alaina’s face. It felt like the world started spinning.

“Uh, friend, sir? What do you mean?” 

“That girl under your bed.” He pointed straight at me. “OUT.” I froze in terror. He briskly walked to me. Alaina had frozen just like I had. 

“Nice that you could join us.” He smirked and ripped me from under the bed by my arm.

“Uh… Hi.” I smiled a fake smile. He slapped me too, and pain circuited up to my cheek. Pain burned and I lost balance. I felt as though the world had tipped to the right at that very moment after spinning in thirty rapid circles. Tears welled in my eyes and I tried to be brave like Alaina. However, I had never felt such agonizing pain. His hand was strong.

He shoved me to Alaina and I collapsed in her arms. She hugged me tightly. Regret filled my head.

“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have-” I started to cry to Alaina.

“Shut up.” She squeezed me tighter. “Now.”

“Now girls, you better cooperate. Otherwise, you can face the same death as your parents.” I grew extremely emotional and worry blocked my senses to think.

“Let him do it.” She whispered. The man grabbed thick bands from his pocket and wrapped them around our wrists.

“What is this?” I asked Alaina, but I figured out the answer faster than I could have said Ow! The band shocked me- Hard. The man had a remote in his hands.

“If we make it there, It’s all good. If not, well you’ll find out.” He pointed to a big red button. 

“Stand still.” He stuck a rope through our bands and attached it to his wrist.  

“Walk.” He ordered.

“Who is he?” I whispered to Alaina.

“Diabolos. Walk and don’t talk. Please.” She kept her head up as she walked, just moving her mouth. She walked forward with perfect posture. I wanted to follow her example, but every muscle in my body burned and ached. I slumped as I walked, leaning side to side as I lost balance.

“Head up.” Diabolos ordered.

“What?” I asked, confusion clouding my common sense.

“HEAD UP!” He punched me right in the cheek, surely leaving a bruise. Every inch of my body felt as though it had caught on fire and immediately I collapsed. My body smacked right into the hard concrete and the air flew out of me. I was vaguely aware of him standing over me, doing his typical smirk. That stupid jerk. My lungs felt like gasoline had filled them to the top and my ribs ached. 

“Get up.” Diabolos ordered. 

“Get up!” Alaina urged as she rushed over to help. Diabolos held out his hand to stop her.

“Go.” He nudged me with his toe and I struggled to stand up. Alaina rushed forward to give me support. “We must hurry. No arriving late.” He sped up and we struggled along behind him. 

“Alaina?” I whispered. “Where are we going?” 

“Don’t! Please!” Alaina pleaded, her eyes filled with worry as she glanced at Diabolos. 

All of a sudden I felt a sharp jolt pierce through my body. 

“ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I fell down to the ground in a split second. Boom! I heard a thud and then I saw the pitch black coat my eyes. Fear clawed at my throat and my body sank out of my control.

Bottle of the Ocean Part 6 by Abby Hulek and Maggie Yang

Previously on Bottle of The Ocean #5: Kayla has just found out that the shadow named Alaina hidden in the vent is actually very kind. Alaina is a prisoner that works for the Order of Horror. Alaina gets called down to the Order of Horror and she goes back to Kayla with no arm. What happens next? Read below to see what happens next...

“ALAINA!” I ran to her aid, watching blood pour down her side, soaking her tattered cloak with red stains. “WHAT DID THEY- ARE YOU- OMG!” She collapsed on the floor, her breathing choppy. I stared at her side- Her entire arm had been chopped off carelessly, leaving a ragged piece of flesh behind. It looked as though it had been chopped right above her elbow. The sight terrified me.  “YOUR ARM!” I rested my hand on her back, watching tears splatter down Alaina’s cheeks.

“Run… Hurry… They’re coming….” Alaina breathed, her eyes full of worry. “I’ll be fine… Quick… Over there….” 

Her sad eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her scarred little face made my heart melt. How could they have done this? The thought filled me with rage. I wanted revenge! 

I slid under a thing hanging on old, rusted chains. A light-weight bed sheet lay on the bed. I could barely peek out from underneath the structure. It squished me down like a pancake, forcing the breath out of my body. All of my body parts tingled with fear as I awaited the dangerous creature. Hard footsteps and shouts told me that they had already arrived.

I sucked in my breath and peeked out the side of the bed. Huge human-like feet stepped into the cell. I imagined that he had to be at least 200 pounds, for his footsteps echoed loudly around the room. A muscled hand flew right up to Alaina’s cheek and smacked her as hard as I thought humanly-possible. I stifled a scream. More blood trickled down from her face as she fell still on the floor. The sound was heartbreaking. It echoed through the room as loud as a gunshot. Her ripped, torn-up body laid flat on the floor. Her breath slowed and her eyelids fluttered shut.

“No…” I whispered. “She can’t be…” I stuttered, tears forming at a massive rate in my eyes.

“NEXT TIME, DO AS WE ASK!” The same voice as earlier boomed. His ugly foot kicked Alaina on to her side. Dark laughter filled the room like a songbird’s enemy. The feet disappeared and the sound of laughter went with it. Rage boiled so hot in me, that I feared I would burst. 

He walked slowly around the room until his eyes fixed on the wall. 

“Trying to escape, huh?” He clicked his tongue. “Now that can’t happen now, can it?” I pursed my lips tight together and prayed for help.

“Randolph! Get over here!” He walked to the edge of her cell. “NOW!”

A plump man appeared in the doorway. Curiosity filled my brain. A human?

“Yes, sir?” He asked. 

“Get those bars I have been saving in the closet. Ashes here tried to escape.” He smirked. “Now that is unacceptable.”

“Ah yes. I told you it was coming! Waste cleaning for a month?” Randolph asked.

“Worse. We can talk later. Now where are those bars?” Randolph scurried out of the room and returned moments later with a pile of metal bars and a screwdriver in his hands.  I watched quietly as they screwed the metal bars into the hole. Just like that, our escape plan had disappeared.

“ALAINA! ALAINA, WAKE UP!” I cried, my voice choking as a lump grew. “ALAINA! I NEED YOU! YOU CAN’T GO! Wake up! Please…” My desperate cries echoed through the room. My heart was so broken that I didn’t care if the shadows and whoever that man was heard me. I didn’t care if they hurt me. I didn’t care what they did. Alaina had helped me, not given me in. She was a true friend. I couldn’t lose her.

For what seemed like hours, I sat with my head in my knees, soaking my torn leggings. She was dead.

I couldn’t sleep as much as I tried. After a few hours, I faced Alaina’s dead body, sorrow filling my soul. Fresh tears streamed down my crusty face.“Alaina. Don’t give up. Come back to me.” Her body lay as still as a meadow on a dark, still night. Peaceful and calm. 

I gazed at her body and stood up. I needed to save my mom. I couldn’t afford to lose my last loved one. I forced myself to climb up through the broken vent in the wall. As I lifted my foot to put it inside the hole, a voice broke the silence.

“Kayla…” I froze. Every sense of fear in my body exploded into action, tumbling over each other to be the first problem. The first reasonable thing to do arose in my brain. I know I could have chosen better, but I did the first thing that I thought of. I screamed. My voice echoed through the room as I turned. The sight lifted my heart and made me break into tears again. 

“ALAINA!” I ran to her side. Her eyelids had opened enough to gaze up at me. Sorrow and pain filled her face with a saddening expression. 

“Kayla…” She spoke again. “Arm….” She winced in pain as she tried to show me the damage.

 “Right!” I stood up immediately and searched the cell for something that I could wrap her arm in. The door was still locked and I was still stuck in a cold, dark, empty room. There was nothing. Nothing at all. The thin white mistake for a bedsheet caught my eye.

“Yes!” I smiled, letting out a big blast of air that had been stuck in my lungs. I ran over to the sheet. With my luck, I was surprised that the sheet wasn’t chained to the bed. The sheet pulled easily off the bed with a loud swish. It flew behind me as if I was in a superhero in a movie. I slid onto my knees at Alaina’s side. 

“Just lift your arm for me.” I whispered soothingly.

“GAAAAAA!” She winced in pain as she attempted to lift her injured arm. 

“Okay, Okay!” I let her lay her arm flat and washed as fresh tears streamed down her face and created a puddle on the floor. Her pain-filled eyes gazed at her reflection in the puddle. The sight created another fresh stream of tears flood down her cheeks, so she turned away. “Let me just lay this… Okay… Now one more….” I worked on her arm as slowly as I could, for fear of hurting her. 

Looking at the soft, red lump that used to be her arm filled me with sadness. It created a lump of fear in my throat as I thought about what they were doing to my mom.

“Hurry.” Alaina said through gritted teeth. “We need to get going.” Her eyes were still red and wet, but a layer of seriousness appeared on her face.

“But we can’t go with you like this!” I explained incredulously. Alaina rolled her eyes.

“That’s why you need to hurry.” I sped up the process reluctantly. After a couple minutes, her arm was bandaged.

“Let’s go.” Alaina muttered. She stumbled to her feet. As soon as she stood up, her body gave way and she collapsed right into my arms.

“We are not leaving until you have rested!” I urged, just as my mother would have. Tears filled my eyes, but I pushed them away to help my friend.

“But…”

“NO.” I laid her down on the bed, although she seemed very uncomfortable without the once white sheet. Within a minute, she had fallen asleep. I sat on the floor and stared at the cold hard wall, sorrow climbing into my throat. I thought of the wall as my heart. I hadn’t gone to save my mother. I hadn’t given myself in. Regret burned in my veins. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep. 

“Kayla! KAYLA!” Alaina pounded on my chest with her good arm. 

“What? WHAT?” I asked, moving myself out of her reach. A new bruise would surely remind me of this moment in years to come.

“We need to leave! It’s night! They won’t come to check on me until morning. We only have a couple hours to get out of here unless you want to be caught!” She looked up at me urgingly. 

“Can’t we just wait a little longer?” I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as I sat up. 

“No! They are going to come in an hour! It’s almost four in the morning!”

“Only four? How do you even know what time it is?” Panic arose on Alaina’s face when I asked the question.

“Ummmm. Well…. I have weird senses. It’s a thing that shadows have…” Alaina explained.

“Okay.” I looked at her in confusion, but I stood up and stretched. 

“Where do we need to go?” I asked her. “They barred the vent. There is no way that we can escape here!” I moved a rock across the floor with the toe of my shoe. 

“That’s what I need your help with.” She looked at me inquisitively. “Any ideas?”

“No.” I answered truthfully as I looked around the room. “Is your arm feeling better?”

“Yeah. It’s fine… Anyways, can you break the vent again?”

“No. It is way too escape-proof.” I sighed. “And what about the cell door? Is there any chance that he forgot to lock it?” 

“I doubt it.” Alaina walked over to the door. I watched her move around on her feet. The other shadows didn’t walk.

“Can you fly?” I asked, quickly slapping my hand over my mouth. Alaina looked startled.

“No. It’s okay. I just... when I was little, I had always dreamed of flying. My parents always told me that I would fly higher than any shadow, despite my challenges. I was diagnosed with Chioraflongan Heispeth.”

“Chiora-what-now?” I asked.

“It’s a disease for shadows that makes it hard for us to fly. Anyways, it makes it really hard for us to fly with any slight damage, let alone none. I tried to escape when I first got captured to find my freedom. I was a lot younger then. I was small enough to fly through a little bend in the top bars. I got caught and well...” She kicked her cloak and showed me all of the blood stains and holes.

“You fly with that?” I asked incredulously. She glared at me and I held up my hands to protect myself.

“We don’t have time to sit around and chat.” Alaina said, changing the subject. I nodded.

After searching the room for an escape for almost half an hour, we slumped down on Alaina’s bed in despair.

“Now what?” Alaina asked, her hands folded in her lap. 

“We have to do something. How long until the mean people come?” 

“The mean people?” She smirked. “Only a couple minutes.” She started picking at the warts on her fingers.

“What if I hide again under the bed? What if we wait until they put you to work. Then you can help me get out and we can get my mom. Ta-da!” I smiled.

“Stupid.” She said. “They will TOTALLY see us! They would not leave her unguarded in the day time.” I frowned. 

“What better options do you have?” I asked.

“None. That’s why were going to do it.”

That is how we got captured.