The Girl Who Ran Away

Chapter 6- The Bad Seed

I arrive at a small wooden house out back behind the rickety old building. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to get out of that morgue, honestly, I don't know how long I would be able to keep my cool before I had a total meltdown.

In the living room, five teens gathered around a coffee table laden with newspaper, one of them is Caleb. He seems to have noticed me because he shoots me a deathly glare and comes towards me.

"Hey Cal-" I begin, only to be interrupted.

"You can see her?" Caleb asks.

Why does everyone keep asking that? I nod my head and suddenly, everyone in the room is staring at me. At first, it doesn't bother me, but their curious faces concern me. Their expressions are full of wonder and cluelessness which reminds me of the girls.

Caleb pulls me aside and shows me to the empty room. Great, I get to share a house with Caleb. Fun.

"Caleb," I say before he leaves, "you never smile anymore. It's a shame. "

He lets out a grunt of frustration and walks out. Guess he's not over Hanna.

Not bothering to shower or freshen up, I plump myself onto the stone hard bed which feels like clouds. Staring out the window into the endless night sky, I notice a little girl walking up to it, eating an ice cream cone. She seems to be wearing a smaller version of my red coat.

My delight to see happiness a child turns into terror when I see her face and scream. It's Maxine, the girl who killed her twin sister. A's little helper. I told that story to Hanna once, making sure she thought it was made up at the time.

Caleb and his friends come running towards me and telling me it's okay. I'm confused at first, but I realize that I'm sobbing. She almost killed me that night, she threatened to, too if I ever told her secret.

"What happened? Are you okay?" The concerned curly haired girl with the caramel skin asks. It take me a while to process everything and when I do, I look out the window again only to see that Maxine is now gone and already in the building. Shit. "I..." my voice trails off. I have to leave; I can't stay here long, "Maxine," is all I manage to mutter. Enough for Caleb to match my expression. I've stayed in one place for too long.