Run

Chapter 5

"W-What?" I stammer.
"You're the one," the girl in green repeats.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," I say dumbfounded, my hands shaking.
The girls look me up and down and then burst out laughing.
"You don't have to be so nervous!" The girl in pink exclaims.
"But what do you mean I'm the one?"
The girl in blue pipes up, "You're our 5th member."
I shake my head in disbelief.
What's going on? I wonder if I can make a run for it.
The girl in yellow sighs, "Come with us and we'll explain."
I don't even know why but I follow them as they head back to their van. The outside of the van is a plain tan color, completed with a single red stripe running horizontally across the side. The girl in yellow props open the van door.
"Welcome aboard," she laughs.
I gasp as I finally get a look at the inside.
Two seats are located at the front for a driver and a passenger, but other than that no other seats remain. Instead there's one large mattress on a platform with four different blankets heaped on it. Beautiful tapestries are draped over every inch of the walls and the ceiling, and there's a string of lights strung across the walls.
"Wow," I say, "Do you guys live here?"
They nod.
"I still don't get it though," I say frowning.
They all take a seat on the edge of the mattress and motion for me to sit too. The mattress creaks under me as I sit on the end, next to the girl in blue. She smiles.
"I'm Chrystal," she says.
"This is Kara," she says gesturing towards the girl in green, "Jasmine," motioning to the girl in yellow, "and that's Emily," she finishes, nodding at the brown-haired girl dressed in pink, as if that explained everything.
"Hey, I'm Emma," I say as if making conversation with four random strangers in a van at 3am is normal for me.
"You must be wondering why we brought you here," Emily states as if it weren't the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well yeah." I laugh but then stop, hoping I didn't sound too rude.
She brushes it off and continues, "All five of us grew up together a-"
"What?" I cut her off, "all five of you?"
"There used to be five of us," Kara says, toying with her long black hair.
There used to be five of them?
A chill runs through me and I shift uncomfortably.
"We were inseparable. Two years ago we bought this van and started living in it after making some renovations," Emily finishes, batting her large blue eyes.
Jasmine smooths her nightgown, "We made money by selling paintings," she says.
I nod, though I'm not sure how selling paintings could provide a stable income.
"We travel all across the country."
"Wow, that sounds amazing," I say.
I had always imagined myself traveling the country,but when my dad left us five years ago, I knew I could never leave my mom.
But I did.
I left my mom because of some petty drama.
Some single moms can do fine on their own, but not my mom. She hates being alone, and when she is she becomes helpless and can hardly take care of herself.
Guilt clouds my mind despite my attempts to reason with myself.
She's a grown women; she can live on her own.
Besides, I'll be back soon, I tell myself. But even I don't believe myself.
"But then," Emily says, breaking me away from my thoughts, "Sophie died," her soft voice becoming raspy, "and we've been lost without her."
"Oh," I say, assuming Sophie was the 5th girl, "I'm really sorry."
It gets silent.
Chrystal runs her delicate fingers through her angelic blonde hair. Jasmine wipes a tear from her wide hazel eyes.
Kara clears her throat, "Ever since then we've been searching for our 5th sister," her eyes glimmer, "then we found you."
It's only now that I'm realizing that they're all sitting the same exact way, with their heads cocked to one side, their left legs crossed over their right- something I never do- and they all have a mysterious shine in their eyes.