Alone (Bluford High) (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 7

   The freezing rain fell onto Dale's window as he sat in his bed comfortably under the covers. It was 7:30 in the morning and he was watching the news, something he did frequently as a recurring habit. His parents were at work at this time; his mother worked at Super Foods and his father was a blue-collar worker. Despite hearing the noises at night, he was unaware of the violent occurences going on two blocks from him. He wondered what was going to happen next. A murder? Another kidnapping? Another raging fire at a school? The night before, he was having a conversation with his friend, Roylin Bailey, a kid from Bluford, about the mysterious and inexplicable happenings during the past few weeks. He told Roylin that he had a nightmare about being burned alive in his own bed by an unknown attacker. In fact, some of his other friends were suffering from similar dreams too. Like his friends Cooper Hodden and his girlfriend Tarah Carson. They said they dreamed about gushes of blood and bones spewing from their floors and being pulled from under their beds.

   Even thinking about it made Dale cringe. As he watched the news, his heart dropped and his blood froze.
"Local parents by the name of Susan and Michael Amerson and their daughter Karen have gone missing along with the family across the street apparently by the name of Carrie, Rob and Elle Levers. 911 was called later last night due to a neighbor being bothered and frightened by screams and thrashing noises. The police investigated the two homes and found furniture and other items thrashed against walls along with some splattered blood on the floors. Windows were shattered completely and the beds were flipped over and found lying outside. As of now, no one knows the whereabouts of these two families and we have concluded that this is another attack by an unknown group of assailiants."

   Dale grabbed his phone swiftly off of his nightstand and dialed Cooper Hodden's number.
 "Yeah?" Cooper answered tiredly over the phone.
"Coop, you heard what happened, dawg?!" exclaimed Dale.
"What? Calm down, why you soundin' all freaked out?"
"Please just listen to me!"
"Calm down. Chill."
"I can't calm down!!"
"OK, Dale just tell me what happened."
"I just looked on the news and they said that Karen and Elle are missin'!"
"What?!"
"They said that someone broke into their houses and took them and their parents."
"Oh, my God!"
"What am I gon' do? My girlfriend's gone!"
"Dale, we gotta do somethin'!"
"Like what?"
"We gotta look for them."
"But don't nobody know who these kidnappers are! Police don't got no leads and no one has no idea where missing people are taken to."
"Then, we wait for them."
"What? Wait for them? Are you crazy?"
"Do I sound like it?"
"Yes, you do!"
"Dale, you wanna save Karen and Elle, you gotta trust me on this. We gotta wait at night and see if those people come up at your house. But you gotta be prepared."
"What about my parents?"
"Your dad works all day right?"
"Yeah."
"OK. And your mom is tired when she comes home and she'll go to sleep eventually. So, you gotta stay up and wait for the noises. But you gotta be brave."
"All right."
"If it makes you feel any better, I'll come over there."
"No, its fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, these are my friends and I don't want you to risk your life."
"Dale, if you change your mind, PLEASE call me."
"OK."

    Was he prepared for real? He didn't know. Cooper's plan was a matter of life and death and Dale knew that was risky, serious matter. But its Elle and Karen and he'd do anything to protect no matter how dangerous the situation was. Elle was his heart and now someone took her. He knew it was time to stop those intruders from making anymore people disappear from their homes. But it was a matter of life and death. However, he didn't care because it was the love of his life and he had to be brave and be prepared. The girl who he could marry and have children with and grow old together for a long time until they die. Dale had to be prepared. He had to and he needed to make a plan.