Finding A Way Home

The Last Piece of Normal

Phoenix was walking down the streets of Boston on the first chilly day of November, which was the typical process for going back to her college dorm after a long day of studies. She decided to use the street that she always avoided even though it creeped her out. Phoenix knew she had a lot of work to do and wanted to get over her stupid fear anyway, so she took the shortcut. 

 She had been going to the college here since she had gotten her college application accepted. Apparently, most colleges want 14-year-old child prodigies to go to their college. She had come from a middle-class family in a small town, so instead of getting extra help, she had been moved up many grades until she had applied for and gotten a full scholarship to a prestigious private high school in the county near her, where she got the schooling that was right for her. Phoenix had no real friends even though she was very nice and kind to everyone. Many people were nice to her just to copy her work.

As she was hurriedly walking down the road, she saw a suspicious white van that was cruising slowly down the street. She could not see through the tinted front windows, but it seemed to her that there was a couple of heavy objects in the back. There was another person in the alley, a girl, walking with her head down, looking at her phone, that seemed very oblivious to the van. Then, the van slowed to a stop. Phoenix didn't think much of it, but backed away to a safe distance while keeping an eye on the van.  

Phoenix was walking down the streets of Boston on the first chilly day of November, which was the typical process for going back to her college dorm after a long day of studies. She decided to use the street that she always avoided even though it creeped her out. Phoenix knew she had a lot of work to do and wanted to get over her stupid fear anyway, so she took the shortcut. She had been going to the college here since she had gotten her college application accepted. Apparently, most colleges want 14-year-old child prodigies to go to their college. She had come from a middle-class family in a small town, so instead of getting extra help, she had been moved up many grades until she had applied for and gotten a full scholarship to a prestigious private high school in the county near her, where she got the schooling that was right for her. Phoenix had no real friends even though she was very nice and kind to everyone. Many people were nice to her just to copy her work.

As she was hurriedly walking down the road, she saw a suspicious white van that was cruising slowly down the street. She could not see through the tinted front windows, but it seemed to her that there was a couple of heavy objects in the back. There was another person in the alley, a girl, walking with her head down, looking at her phone, that seemed very oblivious to the van. Then, the van slowed to a stop. Phoenix didn't think much of it, but backed away to a safe distance while keeping an eye on the van.  

The back hatches of the van burst open and eight armed men carefully ran towards the other girl. They were wearing dark, near-black clothing, and masks and helmets that covered their faces and made them unidentifiable. The girl looked up from her phone as if finally realizing that something was happening. She got into a fighting stance and launched herself at two of the men, bashing their heads together like in the movies. But unlike in the movies, the men got up as soon as they hit the ground. One of the men quickly knocked her on the head from behind with the butt of his gun, and she dropped like a rag doll, phone shattering as it hit the ground. Phoenix was unable to move while she was watching this, but as she felt some sense return to her, she turned away, sprinting towards the dorm.

The armed men from the truck must have just noticed that Phoenix was there because when they heard her footsteps running away, one of them seemed very angry and yelled something unintelligible before swinging himself into the front seat and stomping on the gas pedal. The other men ran after him, with two of them staying behind to pick up the other girl. 

 Phoenix heard the roar of the small truck and ran faster, but she could hear it gaining on her. She saw an alley that was too small for the truck to fit through, so she ran into it even though it was so dark that she could not see the end of the alley. She ran, not looking behind her, until she recognized it was one of those dead end streets that were all over Boston. Then she looked back and she saw that the armed men were right on top of her. One of them reached out to cover her face with a white cloth that made her feel dizzy. Her knees gave way just before everything turned into the blackness of nothing.