Mysteries

In the Shadows

Nash, Ashton, and Reese sat in the living room, all using their phones to try and come into contact with Jennette. She disappeared without a trace last night. Ashton threw her phone on the table.

"Damn. Where could she be? Why would she leave?" she looked at Reese, and he threw his hands up in defense.

"I don't know!" he looked around. "Remind me again why we can't go after her?" He looked at Ashton and Nash.

"Because if we are trying to lay low, we all don't need to be out in public at one time. Besides, she'll come-" the door swung open, and Jennette appeared in the doorway, holding the tome in her hands. She smiled.

"Hey." she said, and Ashton stood up.

"'Hey?' Where the hell have you been? You could've left a note, or -" Jennette put her finger to her lips.

"Shush. You wanna know how hard it was not tripping your alarm, Ashton?" she put the book on the table, and looked at her. "I could've been caught ."

"You broke into my house?" Ashton said, and Nash and Reese snickered.

"What? Is this funny?" she turned to them.

"It's Jennette. What would you expect?" Nash said, and even Jennette laughed. Ashton walked up to her and hugged her. Jennette, over Ashton's shoulder, spoke to Reese.

"Read it." she said, and Reese sighed.

"I have to?" he said, opening the cover . Jennette pulled away from Ashton and sat next to the table the book sat on. She looked at Reese.

"Yes. We had to , we found out more about our powers. Because, I guess you have powers as well, you need to read it." She said,and Reese sighed.

"Fine." and he pulled the book up, beginning to read it. Jennette sat down on the couch with Reese and Nash, while Ashton paced the room slowly.

"We can't stay here," she announced. Nash and Jennette looked at her.

"What else are we supposed to do?"

"Run?" she suggested. Everyone just shrugged. Suddenly, Jennette's phone buzzed. She pulled it out and examined it with a confused look.

"Connor?" she said. She answered it and put in on speaker.

"You guys ran away from the University??!!" he shouted loudly. Ashton retaliated.

"Yeah, they kidnapped us, stupid." over the phone, he sighed.

"It wasn't kidnap, they took you to a university for the advancement of science!" he said, and Jennette groaned.

"They took us somewhere against our will. I'm pretty sure that's kidnap in my book," Jennette said.

"Can you even read a book, Jennette?" Connor said, and Jennette rolled her eyes.

"Connor, why would you-" Nash begun to speak, but a loud beep interrupted him. Connor spoke after the beep.

"Sorry about that," he said. Reese spoke.

"Are you at a payphone or something?" he said. Connor hesitated before he spoke. "Uhh, no? And is that Reese?" after he spoke , a few whispers were heard in the background, and the small beeping noise was becoming more constant now. Ashton snatched the phone from Jennette's hands and hung up the call. Jennette looked at Ashton.

"What was that for?" she asked. Ashton threw the phone on the table. "It was being traced! That beeping and whispering , we were being traced!"

Ashton began to pack food into a carry-on bag, and she urged the rest of the groups to do the same. "Well, come on! We obviously can stay here!" The rest of the group jumped to action, grabbing clothes and necessities. After everyone was packed, they discussed a plan.

"We can't drive in our own cars. We can't hitchhike, our faces are all over the news. We are going to have to walk." Ashton proposed. Nash shook his head. "No way. Where to? And won't that be tiring?" Jennette and Reese sat quietly, as Nash and Ashton argued about their next choice of action. Reese spoke up.

"The bad side of town. Where most of the criminals hide? We can stay there, until we have a better plan." he proposed. Nash shook his head.

"No way, that's dangerous. And illegal." Ashton disagreed with him.

"It's dangerous, but we have powers. And illegal? We are hiding from government officials. I'm pretty sure we're not innocent in our endeavors, either." she shrugged. "Best thing to do as of now." she opened the door, leading the group out of the apartment building. She threw her hood up, as did the rest. They walked in the alleyways between the buildings, hiding in the shadows to not draw attention. Jennette was now walking ahead of the group, bringing them closer and closer to the bad side of town. As soon as they saw the rundown buildings and the sound of gunshots became more frequent, they knew they were in the right side of town. The sun was beginning to set now, because the group had been walking for a few hours, 4-5 at best. They decided to take shelter in an abandon warehouse, with more than a few drug dealers, gang members and female attractions who were definitely not going to Heaven. Ashton walked up to the guy in front of the entrance, and begun speaking.

"We are the kids with powers who you may or may have not heard about. As of now, we are hiding from an insane science advancement university who have kidnapped us to further our powers , however we don't support their cause and we ran away. We need a place to hide that isn't obvious so they can leave us alone and we could live like normal people. Can we stay here?" she asked. The guy who was in front of the door, who was tall, buff, and could crush Ashton with his pinky stood quietly for a moment, then began laughing. His laughing scared the teens more than his stunned silence. They became confused.

"You expect me to believe that? Go back and sell some girl scout cookies or whatever. Kids like you don't belong here." he was still laughing. Ashton stood up on her tiptoes to barely match up with his face. Her voice lowered.

"If you don't let us stay here, I'll have my friends here torture you until you beg for them to stop. " The guy began to burst out laughing once more.

"You don't know who your messing with." he said in a menacing voice. Ashton's eyes bore a fire.

"The same could be said for you." she said. Then, she turned around and gave a look towards Nash, Jennette and Reese. As on cue, Nash ran up and slammed him up against the wall, with help from Reese. Jennette then came over and began sparking flames on his skin, making him scream whenever she touched him. He looked at Ashton through teary eyes.

"What is wrong with you kids???" he asked, and Ashton smiled.

"We are more powerful than you think. Now, share some space?" he nodded, and Nash and Reese had released him, him falling to the ground and coughing. Reese shot back a menacing look and Jennette smiled maniacally. He stepped out of the way to let the teens in, and they chose a corner far away from anyone, setting their bookbags down and making themselves at home as much as they could. Reese dug through his bag and pulled out the book, flipping to his saved spot and beginning to read. Jennette , Ashton, and Nash begun a conversation.

"How does that book hold what happens in the future?" Jennette wondered.

"It's from the future." Nash suggested.

"That's stupid, " Jennette scoffed.

"Well, that's possible. Considering that we have inhuman powers, who knows what else could be out there?" Ashton theorized.

The group sat quietly for a moment, Jennette and Nash going through the food and Ashton giving dirty glares to the people in the warehouse. Reese slid the book, which was becoming more tattered with wear, to Ashton.

"Finished," he stated. She looked at him.

"And?"

"I can wield more powers. But I can't without knowing how they do it, like Jennette's surging or without coming in contact with them. I can also hold more, considering I know how. "

"That's lame," she said, and Reese rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. What I have to say next is much more important."

By this time, Jennette and Nash had joined in on the conversation, and Reese spoke in a slight whisper. It built suspense.

"We die at the end."