The Haven Project

Chapter 5

        As soon as I awoke from my vision, I knew that I had to act quickly.  I raised my hand and Mr. Henry called on me.

        "May I please use the restroom?" I asked, with just a hint of desperation in my voice.

        "Fine, but make it quick."

        I shot up from my seat and scurried out of the room.  Right when I closed the door behind me, I broke in to an all out sprint towards the nearest exit.  I turned a corner and could almost feel my jaw hit the floor.  Standing not thirty feet away were the three men in suits, and they were looking straight at me.

        I spun around and bolted away as quickly as I could, but I could hear their footsteps gaining ground behind me.  I ran past classroom after classroom, nearing another exit.  I reached the door and threw it open, putting a hole in the wall behind it.  I shot down the steps and around the edge of the school towards the woods behind it.  I knew these woods like the back of my hand; if anywhere, I would lose them here.

        I began to weave in and out of trees, ducking below branches and jumping over obstacles on the ground.  I began to put some distance between me and the men.  I could here one of them curse as a low-hanging tree branch struck him in the groin.

        After a few minutes, they had fallen way behind.  I could only hear my own heavy breathing and the cracking of twigs under me.  The sunlight from above split into rays through the trees, making me feel like a performer trying to find the spotlight.  I continued running until I knew that they could not catch up, then I finally stopped for a breath.

        Who were these men?  And why were they after me?  How could they possible know about my hidden gift?  All of these questions bounced around in my head as I stood there out of breath, sweaty, and afraid.  Me losing them one time was not going to make them give up; they were determined to get me.

        I began to jog, just to make sure that I was safe.  I didn't stop jogging again until I reached the clearing.  My clearing.  The clearing that was once a place of despair, now my safe-haven.  I ran up to the giant tree that stood as a guard over the field.  I climbed up as high as I could and looked out the way I came.  From this vantage point, I could see most of the town.

        I found the school and saw a black truck pulling out of the parking lot.  I didn't recognize it, so I figured it belonged to whoever was trying to take me.  It was too far away for me to see the license plate, but I could see that the left brake light was shattered.

        I sat back against the tree and tried to think of how they could have known about me.  I thought back years but couldn't think of anyone I'd told  I just about gave up when a name popped into my head.  I didn't tell them, but they had seen my gift in action.  They had seen me warn people about something that was going to happens just moments before it came to pass.  This was a person who could never be trusted with anything, let alone a secret this huge.

        And I knew exactly where to find this person.  They were where all the local gossips go to talk, where they share all the secrets of the week.  Where else would I find them than the local book club.