Chapter Six

The mall was buzzing with people to the point I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. Loud noises covered every inch of what seemed like White House sized building, causing my left eye to twitch uncontrollably. I couldn’t even hear my iPod of full blast though all the noise. It was deafening. There was no way in my mind that people could enjoy this; there was no absolute way. You’d have to be deaf or have major and sever hearing loss, either one.

“Hey, how are you hanging there kid?” Derek asked me after he got done gawking at a pain of jeans though glass.

“Just fine Derek, thanks for asking.” Hostility and acid coated my words, but probably weren’t heard of the noise. I’m usually a quiet person, so I didn’t really know how to yell over all of this noise. Not properly without hurting myself anyway.

I murmured to myself and continued to follow the boys, mainly sticking close to Jake. I didn’t exactly feel so comfortable around Caleb anymore. I knew that he was gay and dating my father, but it never really hit me until I saw them together hugging and, ugh, kissing. It truly, for unknown reasons, disgusted me.

I raised my gaze from the floor and saw Caleb put his arm around Derek’s waist. I made a gagging noise to myself and lowered my gaze back to the floor. My face turned several different shades of red again.

“Hey, you okay?” Jake elbowed my after he let Derek and Caleb get far enough ahead that they wouldn’t hear us.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” I raised my gaze to his chest and kept it there. I didn’t really want to look at his face right now.

“You aren’t acting okay. What’s bugging you? I’m serious, talk to me.” He said, putting two fingers under my chin and pushing my head up to face him.

“Like I said before, I’m fine.” I snapped at him and slapped his hand away. “You’re way cuter when you don’t talk by the way. Just some F.Y.I.” I made a sound of disgust at myself and quickly caught up with the guys.

“Hey there kid. What’s up?” Caleb asked throwing his huge arm around my shoulders when I caught up to beside him. I smiled and gave somewhat of a fake laugh. He pulled me so close to the point that I was side by side him touching. I gave in after a few moments and leaned my head against his muscular chest.

“You tired or something?” he asked, putting his arm around my waist.

“A little.” I replied. It wasn’t a lie; I was starting to wear down. The front door came in sight. The cold breeze of the blowing air conditioner could be felt a good couple of feet away. Chills went down my spine. My body was freezing. Apparently the mall was colder than I had originally thought.

Derek pulled on the handle of one of the double doors and ice cold air hit me, just like the kind that I was running through to get away in when they were chasing me back home. The memory danced fresh in my mind, tormenting me once again. The extreme heat hit next. From what I could tell it was a little over one hundred degrees. I was in a full and complete sweat just by the time we had gotten to the car half way across the parking lot.

“Man, it’s hot.” Derek said climbing into the already running van.

“This head wave will end something right? I just hope that it’s in the near future.” Caleb asked climbing into the passenger’s seat. Jake and I slid into the second row, panting like crazy. “Let’s go home.”

“That’s the best idea you’ve given all day.” Jake muttered under his breath.

“Wait a minute. I drove up here. So, I have to drive my car back.” Derek shot out of nowhere.

“That’s right isn’t it? Well, drive to your car so you don’t have to die of heat exhaustion out there, then how about we follow you home. How’s that?” Caleb was relaxing in his seat. I, myself, was starting to doze off. As hard as I was trying to sleep; sleep refused to grace me. The first reason that came to my mind was the fact that I was sitting up, though it never had stopped me before.

A moment of silence swept over the scene followed by, “Relax Derek, everything’s going to be okay, but if you ever get worried I’m here for you. You know that right?”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just a little scared for her is all, you know? She couldn’t stay where she was at, and she can’t exactly stay where she’s at. I don’t know anyone else that would take her in. I mean, imagine what would happen if she got caught here, with us, mainly me. I don’t want her to die and me be responsible for it. Maybe I just should have left her where she was at. I’m starting to think the risk just isn’t worth it. I can’t let her die. I just can’t.”

My heart jumped out of my chest. Things were starting to connect. The weird behavior, the weird phrases, the drugs, it was all starting to connect. Scenarios were playing in my head. Out of this world possibilities mended with the insane stories in my head. This was so weird to the point I thought they were just trying to mess with me. This sounded more like a horrible prank from a horror movie or a really screwed up kids game. A grin crept across my face. This had to be a bad prank. It just has to be.

I leaned forward and put my hands into a fist, placing them in front of my mouth. My eyes closed. My brain was trying to figure this entire out; even though I had basically convinced myself it was just a horrible joke, though still, my pulse was still racing, racing hard. The irregular beats were about to come, I could feel it. My breaths were turning into small gasps. It’s like it knew something I didn’t, like I should be scared. Run, it begged me. My natural instincts were calling me. What was going on that was causing my body to go into the shock panic attack?

“Kelura, are you okay?” a hand landed on my shoulder. My whole body jumped and twitched. “Relax.” I turned. Jake was wearing a confused expression on his face. I opened my mouth to speak, but for some reason I couldn’t remember how to speak. Not even a squeak came out.

“You heard all of that?” Jake quietly asked his voice full of concern. I nodded. “Don’t be scared. If you panic you’re going to make dumb mistakes that’ll put you out in the open. Fear is not an option in this game. You have to remember that. This is not some kid’s game. Real lives are lost. Just stay on top of things and you’ll be fine.” He kissed me on top of my head. “You’ll be fine. You’re a smart girl.”

Caleb climbed back into the driver’s seat. Jake climbed out of the car and hauled himself into the passenger’s. I sat up and leaned my head back, trying to absorb all of this information. The sweltering heat was soaking in through the window I was sitting by, fogging up my mind along with burning my skin. I untied Jake’s jacket from my waist and used it as a pillow for my head when I lay down on the seat. The cold air conditioner breeze from the front whipped around Jake’s seat onto my face. Knots gathered in my stomach as I tried to plan out exactly what I should expect.

Light mumbled chatter started flowing from the front. The dull roar of the voices seemed to calm me down some. Just knowing they were there for me clamed me down 

somewhat of a degree. Enough to let my brain slow down and the medication take a hold. I started to fight it, but decided not to. The best thing for me to do was just rest as much as I could, for the medication after effects were already starting to wear off. Life was about to get difficult and more complicated that it already was. Plans were to be made. I’m almost positive that I was going to be re-taught how to use a gun. Then I was going to have to make sure that I left no trail wherever I went. Yeah, life was about to get more difficult than it really needed to be. I sighed, letting my body relax. My tensed up muscles painfully let go of their positions. My closed my eyes. I quickly drifted into a coma.