The Haven Project

Chapter 6

After I climbed down from my perch, I pulled out my phone and called Sydney. If I was going to confront Mackenzie, the loud mouth that most likely shared my secret, I wanted backup. I dialed Sydney's number, and she picked up after just one ring. She was probably at the park, as she hardly ever showed up at school.

"Hey," I started, "I need your help with something."

"Bryson we've talked about this. We not going to-"

"No, not with that!" I exclaimed, blushing like a tomato. "Meet me at our usual spot."

I hung up before giving her a chance to ask more questions. Our usual spot was nothing more than a jungle gym in the park. It was perfect because the kids that used it had all grown up and moved away, so it was most always deserted.

Walking up to the park, I was hit with the usual smell of rotting garbage. It had probably been three years since they last emptied the dumpster at the park. I guess the people who drove the trucks figured that no one would even notice, and they were right for the most part.

I climbed up to the top of the 'castle,' if that's what you could still call it. What was once a tall watchtower that shined with bright colored paint was now a rusted out monkey cage. It leaned just a little bit too far to the left, and half of the metal ladder rungs that led up to it were missing: either stolen or just rusted into nothing.

Sydney rode up a few minutes later on her old bike. When she was younger, she was really into pink. Her bike was bright pink with sparkly tassels hanging from the handlebars. She either didn't care, or her parents wouldn't give her the money to buy a new one. It was probably the latter. Her dad was an alcoholic and constantly came home drunk, breaking anything and everything in sight. Her mom worked three jobs trying to support the whole family, but she found herself thousands of dollars in debt every month.

"Hey Squids," I called out at she got close enough to hear me. She smiled and hopped off her bike, tossing it to the side. Once she climbed up, I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her. Her warm lips felt good after a very stressful day. She pulled away and smiled.

"So what was so important that I had to clear my busy schedule to talk to you?"

"Someone tried to kidnap me," I explained. "Three men with guns came into the school and chased me into the forest. I lost them, but they don't seem like the type to give up."

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Why were they even chasing you?"

"I'm fine. I got away before the could do anything. I think they know about my gift."

"How could they possibly know?" she asked. "You haven't told anyone but me."

"I haven't told anyone, but Mackenzie saw it 'in action' a few months ago."

"Ugh, she bugs me so much." As she said this, I could see Sydney ball up her fists. They had never gotten along, and this didn't help things. "Have you talked to her yet?"

"Not yet. I wanted to bring you just in case things got out of hand."

"Probably a good idea. She can be really stubborn, but I can fix that," she said, raising her fist and smiling.

"Okay, let's go before seventh hour ends. That's when she's in book club."

************

As we approached the door to the book club, Sydney and I could hear gasps and laughs from inside.  It sounded like 'book club' had started.  I walked up and opened the door without knocking, and got quite a few judgmental views from those inside.  I looked around until I saw Mackenzie.  She was sitting against the far wall texting. She had a smirk on her face, so I assumed she just found out another secret for her to share with the world.

"Mackenzie, we need to talk," I said from across the room.  She didn't even look up but gave a slight nod and held up her finger, telling me to wait a minute.

I guess she finished whatever she was doing on her phone because she stood up and strode right out of the room.

"Are you coming or not?" she asked, seeming slightly irritated as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

We followed her out into the hall and started bombarding her with questions.

"Who did you tell?  How much do you know?  What exactly did you tell them?  Why would you tell people about this?"

"Geez!  Chill out!  First of all, you should be more polite when you speak.  Second, I only told one guy and his two friends.  I think they said they were from the government or something.  I didn't tell them much, just that you tried to warn people about something right before it happened.  That's it, I swear."

"Mackenzie," I started, "you can't just going around telling people about this!  I've worked my whole life to keep this a secret, and you just go and share it with some random guy.  This isn't good; I think he's trying to kidnap me."

"Oh my gosh."  I could see the color drain from her face, but I didn't think I had been that harsh.

"What's wrong?" I asked, beginning to get worried.

She was frozen in fear, and could only point to what was making her so afraid.  She pointed right passed me, towards the back exit of the school.  I shifted my gaze, and almost dropped to the floor when I saw the three men who had chased me.  That was not even what frightened me the most.  In the leaders hands sat the disembodied head of my first hour history teacher, Mr. Henry.