TH1RTEEN || ✓

CHAPTER 5: Entry No. 5

Saturday, 4:56 PM

Getting off, Ava and Lewis shared worried glances. We were standing in front of a black metal gate as wide as a driveway.

    "What's wrong?" Allison asked, putting her phone back in her pocket.

    Ava hesitated, looking at Lewis. "Well, I just had a bad feeling."

    Rosie raised a doubtful brow. "Both of you? At the same time?"

    I studied Ava, then Lewis. From my standpoint, I think Ava was more fazed than him, so I was certain she was not worried for nothing.

    Then Lewis spoke, "It's the place. I don't think we're allowed inside the..." He gestured to the huge building ahead.

    Sadie, who I just happened to realize wasn't there for the entirety of Ava-Lewis situation, appeared from the van with her stuff, her grin big.

    "Well, good news, because we're not entering floodgate A. That's a mediocre ride."

    Everyone (including me) craned our necks to her. Honestly, a current of agitation surged in me for a millisecond.

    "Floodgate?" Ricky tilted his head.

     Sadie shrugged. "Guys, don't shiver, all right? It's just how my cousins and I call the place. Because it kinda looks like one, doesn't it?"

    "So you've been here before?" Rosie more like stated than asked.

    When Sadie nodded, I took it as an opportunity to calm the group's nerves, so I jumped in. "Okay, now that's settled, you guys don't have anything to worry so much about." I turned to Ava who glanced at me. I hoped my nervousness wasn't heard from my voice. "All right?" I added, smiling.

    As if that had just done the trick, Ricky and Lewis began to empty and close the van, parking it just across the rusty but elegant gate. For a moment I was dazed. The air didn't seem comforting at all. And the van seemed to have changed its appearance on the inside. As if our stuff was slowly disappearing.

     My attention then was focused on the trip itself. But if I were to be truthful, it's all creepy from here.

    Sadie and Allison walked in front of our trail, followed by Ava, Rosie, Diya and Lewis while Ricky and I were at the back, closing in our group's security.

     "Where exactly are we going?" Ava asked. I noted the faint anxiety in her voice. Almost as if she was trying her best not to freak out. "If we're not going in...the floodgate A, do you mean there are other more?"

     Sadie hadn't responded because the answer was now right in front of us.

    The mansion-like building was just only a first. Two more other ones were situated just behind the front building, both painted with a huge B and C on the sides. So I assumed the fancy-looking edifice was indeed A.

     We scanned the place. I could swore I almost agree with Ava if she could just wait by the van. But Sadie persisted. Even Allison appeared excited about the whole ordeal of going in. Ricky and Diya just went on to what the majority decided. Sadie gave me a glance, and I didn't want to spoil her fun out of cowardice.

     "Ava," Sadie called, waving off Allison's reasoning of letting Ava wait in the van. "We are safe in here. If you're worried about the authorities, I can bail us out of precincts anytime."

     Lewis muttered, almost in a whisper. The kind like there were people peering through those high windows above us. "That's just not the concern, Sadie. What if we end up getting lost in here? When's the last time you've been here exactly? And this isn't really a kind of an ideal field trip to most people."

     "Don't be too paranoid," Allison chimed in. She didn't appear to be mocking them, but more of a reassuring command. "We'll just come by and observe. This is one of the places I've wanted to check out since. Please?"

     My tongue seemed stiff. I wanted to stay in the van with Ava and Lewis, to stay away from here. But I also wanted Sadie to enjoy this without conflict of interest. Even if I liked Sadie that much, I also felt for the two, so I couldn't really force my stiffened tongue to move even if I'd want to.

     Something just did not feel right as well. The feeling never stopped in me. Could it be a surprise attack were to happen while we're inside of one of the buildings? My imagination was running wild, almost crossing the line of thinking a horde of zombies would come out of their hiding once we entered. Or maybe we'd end up fleeing from there by a fleet of ghosts.

     Yes. I could be this cowardly sometimes. But I was for good reasons.

      When all my insane thoughts had flushed away, the group was in a debate. Yes. And I did not even notice.

     Allison, the mother-goose-Allison, stood in between Ava and Sadie. It was not a raging debate. They would not start pulling their hair any second now, but Ava seemed upset for real.

     "Staying in the van all alone is not safe, Ava. This is not your village. What if someone tried to break inside?" Sadie reasoned, concerned.

     Allison's hand rested on Ava's shoulder. "When we stick together, we'd all be fine. Besides, Ricky is a fast driver. If something chased after us, we'd be gone from here in a blink."

    "I don't think that's helping," said Diya in her dead-calm, Diya-ish voice. "We can just stay away from suspicious zones if that'll calm you down," she added, comforting Ava.

     Rosie, being...well, Rosie, suggested with an impatient tone, "Or we could wander around right now so we won't be met by the dark after we strolled." She scratched her head and glanced to Lewis and Ava back and forth. "We're wasting minutes of actual light. If we did our thing already, then we can get off this property just before six. Am I right?"

     To be honest, I hadn't thought of that logic until now. And Rosie's snarky side aside, that'd ring true if we start our short trip already. That way we would be out before pitch-black.

     "So..." Sadie sung, holding Ava by the hand. I bet Sadie guessed Rosie's tone bittered the air. "What'd you say? Come on, you'll have us." Her sweet smile pierced through my chest even though it wasn't meant for me.

      Before I even heard Ava agree, my eyes dropped heavy. Just as fast as if I was tranquilized. I felt my knees grew light as a feather, and I grabbed the nearest person before I feel I could hit the ground. Flashes flickered when my eyes closed. As if someone in my mind had been messing up with the lights. On and off. On and off. And then, the tapping sound flooded my eardrums. An organized tap. In sync. The weight of my chest increased, as if a boulder was placed on top of me. Like I was carrying way over sixty pounds.

     The last I heard was Diya. The tappings stopped. The thing was, I thought I fainted. I thought I'd growl in pain from my back hitting the cemented surface. But I was perfectly standing still on one spot. My posture didn't change. My head wasn't tilted—as far as I knew—and nothing hurt from my lower body.

     Lewis and Diya were staring at me with the lack of concern in their eyes. I guessed the episode happened fast? I did not appear to look in pain or in horror.

     "Are you done?" asked Diya.