Stars Of Our Lives

Somebody Once Told Me The World Was Gonna Kill Me

The next day I texted Steve to meet Krel and I at the basketball court again. Krel thought it was a stupid waste of time, but I wanted to take a day and hang out with potential friends. Somewhere around noon, Steve texted back that Eli was stuck at home for some reason and we'd meet tomorrow.

Krel was relieved at the extra time to convince me to cancel, and I was just happy to have something to do instead of waiting around the house for four days. And I was excited to see Steve again. I didn't even know why back then.

But I never did see him.

That night, sometime just after three, I woke to the feeling of Varvatos shaking me. I craned my neck to look at him, squinting to see in the dark. "Varvatos? What are you doing?"

He ripped my blanket off of me. "Get up, Aja. We need to go."

"What are you talking about?" I rubbed my eyes. "Mama and Papa aren't coming -"

"Now, Aja."

Something in me froze at his tone. His posture. The look in his eyes. Something was wrong. Something was so terribly wrong.

"What's going on?"

He took my hand, pulling me off the bed and towards the door. "Varvatos has already packed the car with your belongings. Retrieve your shoes, get into the backseat, and keep your voice down. Varvatos will get your brother."

I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering in my pajamas. I wanted to change into something a little more appropriate for the trip, but the way Varvatos had looked at me told me there wasn't time for that.

Grabbing my sneakers, I strode through the garage and climbed into the back of the car. It wasn't ten seconds later that Krel appeared in the doorway, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stumbled into the backseat beside me, holding his shoes in his hand.

"What's going on?" He asked.

I glanced at Varvatos as he climbed into the driver's seat. My mouth opened to ask the question, but it closed again once I saw him toss the nine millimeter handgun into the passenger seat.

". . . Varvatos?"

"Get on the floor," He turned to look at us. "Now."

Krel and I didn't argue. It was cramped as always as we squished ourselves between the seats. But it was cold this early in the morning and we were shivering against each other. I pulled my sleeves down over my wrists, tucking my hands against my chest to make sure Krel and I didn't accidentally brush arms and give me a massive migraine. Now would probably be the worst time for that to happen.

Varvatos carefully pulled the car out of the driveway, driving near silent up the road and out of the neighborhood. Just as we were getting on the back roads, several more cars whizzed passed us. Not just cars. Big, black vans.

I was the one to poke my head up first. "PSFs," I said. "They found us."

"What?" Krel pried himself up next, catching the three, large letters printed on the back of the vans. "But that means . . ."

Krel and I looked back at Varvatos.

"Where's Mama and Papa?"

He didn't answer.

Cold horror washed over me. All my hopes of leaving this behind. Of seeing my parents again. Of somehow having them know me again. Gone. Just like that.

"Where. Are. Our parents." Krel said, tears in his eyes.

He sighed. "Varvatos does not know."