Crossed: Clues

Chapter 2

This had to be a dream. A horrible, confusing dream. She would wake up soon, and everything would be just fine. Perhaps she had fallen and bumped her head, or something. Just a dream.... Right?

Penelo couldn't believe her eyes, as she walked down the familiar streets of downtown Portland. They were completely empty. No business men walking down the sidewalks, their briefcases knocking against their knees, the normally honking taxis filling the street lay dormant, their drivers vanished. Some of them were crashed into each other. Had everyone in Portland vanished in thin air?

It felt eerily quiet as she hurried towards her school, it's dorms peaking into view. Penelo was familiar with those dorms, having lived in them for 10 years of her life. Ever since her parents died, she had been put in there along with the 5 other foster kids, under an adulthood program. Basically, they were the poor, orphaned children of the prestigious school. Penelo couldn't help but picture a smaller version of her, holding up a bowl saying "please sir, may I have some more?" She snorted. The stereotypical orphan complex amused her.

Of course, the school treated her and her classmates well- they were integrated into all of the normal classes, with the other kids who went to the school. The dinners were good, and the teachers loved her, so she couldn't complain. And so long as she kept her grades above failing, she had a stable home to stay at until she graduated highschool, and even then after that, they would continue to check in with her and make sure she was living well. They might even pitch in to help her with university. That is... if there was anybody left.

She crossed her fingers, hoping she would see the cliques of students heading off to class, just before the bell rang. She hoped to see the classy, pristine kids hurrying out from the library, their uniforms perfect, wearing their blazers as they should. She hoped to see the troublemakers, that only got into the school because their parents were rich. She even hoped to see the snotty girls that always wore too much makeup, with their skirts hitched up, and a disgusted look on their face as she walked by.

I must be going crazy, if I want to see Marica and her gang... Penelo thought to herself, clutching the straps of her bag, as she rounded the corner to the entrance of the school. Her breath hitched, then puffed out in a sigh.
They were gone too.

It was weird to see her school so empty, and hollow. The normally busy hallways were quiet, and echoing. The school's cozy charm seemed to fade away.

The first thing Penelo decided to do was go to her dorm room, to see if any calls were left to her. The school gave her a simple cellphone a few years back for basic calls and whatnot, but that day, during her rush to go to the cafe, she had left it in her room. Climbing up the dark hardwood stairs, and turning left to the girl's wing, she kept her ears and eyes open for any signs of her classmates coming. She reached her door, and opened it up, walking into her room. It was a little shabby, with the rose printed wallpaper curling in places, but it was neat and tidy, with her bed made, the white sheets freshly washed. Penelo wasn't the tidiest of people, but the daily dorm inspections forced her to at least clean up after herself.

Her eyes went to her desk, where her phone rested. A white envelope lay underneath it. Did they leave me a note of some sort? She thought, as she moved the phone aside, picking it up.

It was oddly white, bright almost as if it was glowing. It made it hard to look at. Her name was scribbled on the back of it, in black ink.

Penelo

She opened it with one hand, her other still clutching the napkins that were spotted with blood. Inside of it was a picture of Mount Hood, from a lookout. The lookout looked familiar to her... she strained to remember where she saw it. Penelo remembered it from a school field trip she had gone on, at some park not too far away... That was it! That picture was taken from Edge Butte Park, a little ways from the school.