The Purity Project

Chapter 16

Jada nervously bounced her leg as she sat in Millie's living room. Almost two days had passed, and there was still no sign of Lorenzo and Tyler. Millie's grandfather, Mr. Morris, was extremely kind, offering Jada and Halona shelter and food. The two girls had spent their time at his house babysitting  Millie during the day while Mr. Morris went to work, and they spent the evening brainstorming possible explanations for what had happened by the fountain. Jada knew that the massacre had to do with the Purity Project, but she had no idea how it would fit in.

"Could you look more stressed?" Halona asked as she closed the front door. She had just returned from searching the town.

Jada immediately hopped out of her seat. "Did you find anything?"

"Wow, no hello? You must really be upset." Halona hung her raincoat on the coat rack and plopped down in the couch across from Jada.

Jada sighed and sat back down. "I'm sorry, it's just...complicated."

Halona stared at Jada, a sympathetic smile on her face. "No need to apologize. I'm just messing with you. You of all people deserve to freak out over all of this."

Jada looked at her feet, unable to meet Halona's eyes. "So, what'd you find in town?"

"Well, the town seemed normal. There was no sign of Lorenzo or Tyler, though." Halona's voice cracked slightly. "I decided to pay a visit to the fountain, and we guessed right. The bodies were completely gone, and there was no sign that they were ever there."

Jada hopped to her feet and started pacing again. "What was the point of all of this?"

Halona sighed, laying her head back and closing her eyes. "I don't know, Jada. Everything is a mess, and nothing makes sense anymore."

A horrific thought made Jada's throat dry. "Halona, what if they killed all those people, just to kill them? What if, Marolo is over-populated, and they collected all those people just to-" she couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence.

"Jada, this is the government we're talking about. They do everything for a reason. They're not just going to kill people just for the sake of killing."

That should have made her feel better, but Jada could feel the tears in her eyes. She turned away, embarrassed of crying in front of Halona. She was the smart one, and she couldn't afford wasting time on crying. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her body around.

Halona placed both her hands on Jada's shoulders, staring deep into her eyes. "Listen to me. They are not going to kill your brother. Remember what that file said? They're test subjects, which means that they obviously need all those people for something. Don't give up yet."

Jada nodded, taking sharp breaths. She felt the tears streaming down her face, and she couldn't hold back the sobs. She avoided looking at Halona's eyes, afraid of what she would see. She was waiting for Halona to pull away, disgusted. But she didn't expect Halona to wrap her arms around her, pulling Jada in for a hug. Jada rested her head on Halona's shoulders, taking slow breaths to calm down.

"It's going to be okay," Halona whispered, her voice shaky.

Once Jada had caught her breath, she pulled away from Halona and offered a weak smile. "It's probably sucks having to deal with a crybaby like me."

Halona returned the smile. "You? A crybaby? Have you met Lorenzo?"

The two girls laughed, for the first time in a while. A soft voice made them go silent.

"Halona? Jada? I think there's someone outside," Millie said, peeking from behind the couch.

Sure enough, loud knocking began to ring through the house. Jada stood up, wiping her tears and stalking to the door. She opened the door, expecting to see Mr. Morris, but to her suprise, she saw two teenage boys standing there.