YHS The Reunion : 9 Years Later..

ch 23:

The clinic was starting to feel like a trap. The longer we stayed, the more suffocating the silence became, pressing down on us like an invisible weight. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching, lurking just out of sight.

"We need to go," Alec said, his voice tight. "Staying here isn't safe."

Brittany nodded, looking around nervously. "Where's Felicia?"

My stomach dropped. In all the panic, I hadn't even noticed she wasn't with us. We scanned the room, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Felicia?" Kyran called out, his voice growing frantic as he checked every corner of the clinic. No answer.

Panic rose in my chest. "She was just with us," I muttered, trying to recall the last time I saw her. "She was right behind me when we got in here."

Alys face filled with confusion asked, "She wouldn't just leave, right?"

Alec's jaw tightened. "We need to find her."

Without hesitation, we rushed outside, the cold morning air hitting us like a slap. The sun was still hidden behind thick clouds, casting long shadows across the abandoned street. My heart raced as I looked around, desperately searching for any sign of Felicia.

"She has to be around here somewhere," Kyran muttered under his breath, but even he sounded unsure.

The silence was deafening, broken only by the distant rustle of the wind. Every step I took felt heavier, weighed down by the fear that we'd lost her, too. First Evan... now Felicia?

Just as I was about to lose hope, a loud honk echoed from down the street. We all whipped around to see an old, beat-up car rolling toward us.

The car screeched to a halt right in front of us, and the driver's side window rolled down. Felicia leaned out, a smirk playing on her lips despite the chaos around us. "Get in, losers," she said, raising an eyebrow like this was the most normal thing in the world.

For a moment, I just stared, completely dumbfounded. Then, a burst of laughter escaped from me, more out of shock than humor. "Felicia, what-how-where did you even find that?"

She shrugged casually. "What, you think I'm just gonna sit around and wait for something to kill me? Saw this baby parked a few streets over and figured it was time for a road trip." She gestured for us to hurry. "Now come on before whatever's lurking out here catches up."

Without another word, we piled into the car, Senpai propped up in the back seat with Valerie beside him, still holding his hand tightly. Alec took the front passenger seat while Kyran and I squeezed into the back with Gold. The car smelled like dust and old leather, but none of us cared. We were just grateful to be out of the open.

Felicia revved the engine, her grin widening. "Hold on tight, losers. We're getting out of here." And with that, the car lurched forward, speeding down the desolate road toward whatever came next.

But as we left the town behind, a cold dread still lingered in the pit of my stomach. We weren't safe yet.

Not even close.