While We Burned

HARPER/257 ~a connection~

I rushed out of that room before anyone could stop me. I didn't even stop for air. I was running for anything, anywhere. I ran and I ran and I ran until I was away from that place. Turns out, it was the same lab. Apparently, this town was called Overdale. Sounds like something from a graphic novel. It sounds like a town that has many more things hidden in the tiny cracks than it seems to be. The perfect town where a murder mystery would take place. Overdale, Maine. 

 I realized I could have done this a while ago. When they came in with my piping hot meals. I was mid-run when a thought shattered my mind and froze my body. I didn't have any money, I didn't have a place to stay. If I started shoplifting, that would get me in even more trouble. 

So I decided to run back to the hellhole. What other choice did I have?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Addey.

That was her name. 

She was the one who brought my meals and set me free. 

The first thing she asked me when I walked in the doors of the Overdale Lab was what my real name was, due to everyone referring to me as 257, whatever the hell that means. I decided to tell her the truth.

"Harper. My name is Harper," I muttered, eyeing the people around me. 

Addey hinted a smile. 

"Good to know... Harper. So, do you know how you got here?" Addey asked. 

No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't seem to find out how I got here. Like there was a blank spot in my brain. 

"No, I... I don't. It was... weird. It was like, I just appeared, again its kinda fuzzy after staying in that white room for, I don't even know how many days it was." I told her the truth, again.

"You were in the cell for 49 days."

49 fucking days. 

"And thanks for trying to remember, it will really help us. Harper, I know you don't really know me, but you can trust me. If you want anything you say to be just between us, just say the world. Most of my coworkers are just curious. After you somehow just appeared in the woods on the same day Wyatt came back, some people even think the events are connected." That's when Addey mentioned something that I didn't know. 

"Wyatt?" What the hell was going on? I needed answers.

"Well, 306 days ago from today, he drowned himself in the sea, The Atlantic, to be specific. And the day he came back, which was 49 days ago, was the day you appeared. Some people have theories. Do you really not know about Wyatt?" 

Came back? How is that possible?

"No, I don't," I answered. I did some math in my head. 306 minus 49. That equals... 257. "Is that why everyone calls me 257? Because I came back the day he came back, and it was exactly 257 days after he... drowned himself." Saying that brought a chill to my body. Everything was moving to fast. The pieces were in my brain, but that didn't mean they were clicking. 

"Yes, that is exactly why." She said coldly. 

There were a few minutes of awkward silence, I was just looking around the lab, if I wasn't locked in a cell for 49 days, I would have thought the interior was beautiful. Surprisingly, I caught no eyes staring at me. There were origami fishes hanging from the ceiling, some of the windows were stained glass, and they were designed like an ocean, making the sunlight that was shining in different colors of blue and orange and yellow. 

Then, suddenly, Addey grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. 

"What the..."

"This town, it's hiding many secrets. If I were you, I would get out as soon as possible."

I knew it. 

"I want to leave here. But I can't. So when you get the chance. Leave this town!" She whispered screamed in my ear. 

I was confused about why she was telling me this, and why she was panicking. 

"Why can't you leave?" I asked her, still shocked. 

"I'm trapped here." She said.

"What? What do you mean?" I asked, my heart was racing by now. Addey was hiding something. 

"It won't let me leave." She said, shaking.

"What?" I asked. 

What the actual shit was going on. 

"The Loop"