If You Believed

Chapter 1// Running Away

Aquilla stepped out under the glare of the sun on the afternoon of Rover's death. Millions of thoughts consisting her precious memories with Rover swarmed her mind. The weight in Aquilla's arms was not Rover anymore, somewhere along the way it turned to grief. She felt as if a part of her withered away. She was immobile to any emotions when she gently set her deceased dog down on the soft grass. With no hurry she reached for a shovel in her shed before all her feelings that she kept carefully reigned in behind the barrier flooded through her. Her knees gave up as Aquilla collapsed on the damp floor of the shed which was covered with moss and all sorts of insect crawling across the wooden surface. But at that moment she didn't seem to care the thoughts of her beloved Rover was expressed in little drops of sadness that streaked down her face. She cursed her family that seemed invisible on the day she needed them the most.

She helped herself off the ground sweeping the shovel off the ground and lugged her limbs to approach Rover. Rover... her only friend. Her only true friend in the whole wide world. She didn't even feel this sorrowful on her sixteenth birthday when none of the stupid faces of her so called friends showed up. She never thought of celebrating that unfortunate day (as her brother would describe), but with rover she would at least share a cupcake. Now, there was no soul except herself that could assist her through this horrendous life. Her mother refused to send her to collage- a dream that she ahs been visualizing for about half of her life- but not even that thought bugged her as much as the suspicion that her parents were responsible for the cause of Rover's death.

Aquilla tried to wipe her mind clean of any wavering thoughts but they kept poking her in the back of her mind while she dug the grave for hey dog. In a brisk motion the metallic shovel collided with something hard covered in the way of the hole. She squinted at the oddly shaped container which was covered with plastic before she reached for it. In utter puzzlement she exchanged the object in her hands for Rover and gently bid her goodbye to her dear best-friend and began showering dirt on the body. It was tough, but after she sealed Rover under the ground and officially pronounced Rover- now part of the earth- dead. Aquilla planted some freshly purchased blue orchids as a landmark of where Rover rested. She sank down and wavered in silence before she remembered the container that sat beside her. In a cautious stance Aquilla uncovered the container to find a note and a thick rolled up map.

The Note read: "If you're reading this, it's not too late. At any cost, avoid cities or popular tourist and local spots on 27/01/2018. Go to the coordinates on the map and you'll know what to do next." it was signed as Aquilla Falto.

This note was conundrum that she wasn't ready to face. She wouldn't have believed it- she would've imagined it as a prank, but it was written in her handwritting... in a great hurry. Aquilla blinked at her paper and unrolled the map to look at the complicated coordinates. She carefully placed the papers bach and hid it under her shirt while she sneaked back to her room.

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Aquilla's blue eyes fluttered in the morning trying to rid the sleepy haze that blurred her vision. She clearly remembered crying herself to sleep last night. She sat up in a grunt as a notification from her phone buzzed out loud causing Aquilla distress.She sighed in exasperation and reached for the phone.

An absurd spam message was all she needed but it reminded her of the metal container she found the other day. The text said: "It's not real. None of it. Trust no one. Escape. Well, trust no one but me."

Me? who is 'me'?  she speculated. She thought of replying but Aquilla knew better than to trust a spam. She dismissed it and got ready to leave her room. Aquilla exited her bedroom only to be  startled by meeting her mothers face which had a pinched look. She glanced behind her mother to find the rest of her family lined uniformily behind her mother. They all had a frown plasterd on their faces. Her mother's dauntigly creepy voice greeted her first, "You didn't see anything strange this morning, did you?" The rest of their questioning eyes meet Aquilla's.

"N-n-n-o,"  She stuttered in nervousness. They swivel around one by one to leave the second floor and go downstairs. Aquilla stood there bewildered. She considered believing the text she recieved today morning. Aquilla tip toed downstairs and peered into the kitchen. There was no evidence of her family except her mother who twirled the knife threateningly with a blank expression in her eyes. "What do you want for breakfast, Aquilla?" Mrs. Falto's eyes stayed fixated on the gleaming metal. "Scrambled eggs would be fine," she answered as her voice quavered. In eerie silence Aquilla proceeded to move because her mother neither responded or moved she kept twiring it. Aquilla rapidly reached for her sneakers and tried to move back to her room when a loud sound of knife slicing through wood makes her halt halfway up the stairs. "What are you doing Aquilla?" Her mother's hauntig voice reached her. "n-n-noth-i-i-ng," Aquilla said in a small voice. She heard her mother slip back into the kitchen as Aquilla went back to her room and locked it behind her. She slipped on her neon green sneakers and fetched her white backpack. She emptied her school stationary and books as she filled her bag with some cheat day snacks and her brand new sports shoes- ofcorse she packed her favorite novel: "All the Bright Places."

Aquilla attempted to escape bu the front door, but for some weird reason her brother and her father stood ther stationary- not even facing each other! So, she had to open the window in her room to climb down, before she evaded her family she grabbed her phone.

Her jump-unfortunately was ungraceful and made a loud thud. She cursed herself and made a run as she heard her father's roaring voice behind her as she felt her brother's rapid footsteps approaching her from behind. But she was better in track and field than he ever was. She busted into a sprint and never looked back as she caught the 10 o'clock bus just as it was leaving It's stop. For the first time in Aquilla's life she felt happy.