RUN - Mars Express

Chapter 5

As Gaten pulled the shelf back, they all felt a massive shock. A little girl, who looked no older than six, was sitting behind it, trembling and crying. The area where she was hiding was surrounded by cobwebs and there was a water leak on the side of one of the walls, which had created a small puddle. The small girl's expression looked terrified as if she'd seen a ghost. Serafina slowly began approaching her, avoiding any movements that might scare the little girl. "Hey," started Serafina. Tears kept on flowing from the girl's eyes. "My name is Serafina, but you can call be Seri," Serafina had grown a bit fond of her new nickname. "How are you? What's your name-," Serafina was cut off by the sound of the old phone, which once again started blaring out a dreadful noise. The small girl slid past Serafina and ran towards the broken window, covering her ears and calling out for her mother. Serafina ran behind the girl, with her new friends following. "Mommy! Where are you?" The girl cried out. "Mommy, strangers are chasing me! Bad strangers!". The girl's tattered dress was flowing in the wind, which had become significantly stronger, and she was starting to become tired. She began slowing down more and more but started back up again when she saw that they were still chasing after her. "L-leave me alone!" She cried. She crossed a street corner and left the teen's view. When they found her, the little girl had fallen over and was crying even more than before, although this time it looked like she wasn't going to be able to run away. She had scratched her knee badly and blood was gushing out of her wound.

Serafina approached the small girl once again who, to her surprise, stopped crying and started talking. "M-my name is Fey," she said. "And, how old are you, Fey?" Asked Thomas in a soft tone. Fey held up six fingers in front of her face. Thomas smiled at her, seemingly happy to see someone else was here. "Why were you hiding in that supermarket, Fey?" Questioned London. They seemed much more questioning than excited about the whole situation. "I wasn't hiding," Fey answered. "I was stuck inside 'cause my mommy disappeared, and I got scared when I heard someone breaking stuff 'cause my mommy gets mad when I break stuff". "Where did your mommy work at, sweetheart?" Asked Anabelle, while grabbing some bandages from a first aid kit she found at the supermarket. Ana didn't have a hard time speaking calmly to Fey. She seemed to know her way around speaking to young children. "At the supermarket," Fey responded. "She was going to open it with me the other day, but she went 'poof!' and disappeared". "Well, we're all going to take care of you until your mommy comes back, alright?" said Ana. Fey nodded and Anabelle picked her up from the floor. As they were walking back, Gaten became curious about Anabelle's way of speaking to Fey. "Um, Ana," he began. "How were you able to calm her down so quickly?". "I have lots of cousins. I'm the oldest, so I always had to take care of the babies in the family. My mom was a pediatrician, so that also sorta helped," she answered. Anabelle quieted down once again. Serafina paid attention to her face. Anabelle had dark blue eyes and light blonde hair, that looked golden when hit with sunlight. She had a tired look on her face as if she'd cried too much for too long. The dark circles around her eyes were similar to London, although London's looked like they'd been acquired recently, while Anabelle's looked like they'd been there for a long time. But, even with her tired expression, Anabelle still had a smile that lighted up her face, returning the youth she had lost whenever she grinned. 

When they got back to the supermarket to retrieve their things, the phone was still blasting a wretched sound. Serafina took it in her hands, and yet another message was displayed on the screen, but this time it looked more like a warning than an announcement. 

A message from The Everything:

It's been too soon, but maybe it's soon enough. Follow these instructions carefully, and stay quiet. The more questions you ask, the higher the chance of  The Nothing finding you. 

Hide. Take anything and everything you may require, and hide. 

Godspeed to you all.

"Does the phone say something again?" Asked London, who was covering their ears and yelling out the question. Serafina did not feel like answering them, but she knew that this wasn't all about her. This was for everyone, and the message was quite cryptic. Even then, she felt so embarrassed about what had happened with London, and the same thought came over her head every minute since it happened. "Why would I do that? Why would I kiss London? What's wrong with me? I've ruined everything. London will never see me the same. We've only known each other for a day! What was I thinking?" Was all that was going through Serafina's head. "Hey, Seri, what is it?" London asked once again. Serafina passed the phone to London. "Looks like we're fucked," they said. London passed the phone around to everyone, except Fey, of course. The severity of the message finally sank in for Serafina, and she could feel a pit in her stomach forming. "Let's finish stocking up and go hide at my house," said Thomas. "It has places to hide in, you know, for tornadoes and shit". They all began taking as many things as possible. Fey was reaching for bags of candy while Anabelle was holding her and trying to stop her from taking so many sweets. The phone ringed once again, this time quieter, but still just as horrible. Serafina took the phone in her hands once again and read the third message they'd been sent.

From The Everything,

Do it now. RUN. 

~~~~~

Hi, everyone! I'm trying to update this story much more constantly so that you don't have to wait a long time for updates. 

Thank you so much for reading and have a great day!