The Dark Entity

Chapter 3: Departure

That morning, Clover woke up twenty minutes before six AM. She carefully went into her closet and retrieved her bag of supplies as quietly as she could. Without waking her family, she got dressed in some comfortable clothing- a t-shirt and sweatpants, with a sweatshirt over top- and crept downstairs. She didn't want to waste her time eating breakfast, so she grabbed a few granola bars from the cupboard and put them in her sweater pocket to eat later. She made sure her wings were hidden- as she always did. Then, she quietly exited the house, sped down the steps, and began to run away from home.

• • •

Clover jogged to Astrid's house to meet her friend. She prayed that none of their neighbours where watching her- she didn't want anyone nearby to witness them before they went missing. She stopped in front of Astrid's house, slowing to catch her breath. She saw her best friend creeping down her driveway, glued to the side of the house in a suspicious-looking manner. Clover could almost laugh- which she didn't, for obvious reasons. Astrid snuck down the driveway, meeting Clover at the end.

"You eat yet?" they whispered, standing closer to Clover.

"Nope, I brought some granola bars for later, though," she answered, quietly.

Astrid hummed, "I brought some crackers," they replied.

The two silently walked through the neighbourhood, both hoping that no one saw them. They noticed a few houses had lights on- probably people going to work on that early Monday morning.

"You're wearing all black," Clover brought up, still being as quiet as possible.

Astrid nodded, "Yeah, I thought it would be smarter," they told her.

"It is, I should've worn darker colours too."

"Well at least you're comfortable," they responded, gesturing to Clover's easy-going outfit.

Astrid was wearing dark gray overalls with a navy fleece sweater underneath, as a shirt. The colours went well with their dark hair, dark skin, and dark eyes- although it wasn't the most comfortable thing to be wearing right now. They walked in silence for a little while longer, before turning the corner, and heading away from Astrid's block.

"Should we run?" Clover asked, hands stuffed in her pockets to keep the granola bars secure.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," they replied. "Just make it look like we're on a morning jog."

She snorted, "You think people will believe that?" she asked. "I haven't gone on a morning jog since- well, ever."

"Me neither, really. At least you go adventuring and run through bushes or whatever. That's your exercise," they responded.

Clover laughed quietly and nodded, "True."

"Besides, no one will find it strange if they can't tell that it's us."

Astrid then began to pick up their pace, their walk turning into a jog. Clover followed her friend's lead, jogging beside them. They ran together, all the way until they reached the next block.

"Where do we go now?" Astrid huffed out, slowing down their steps.

Clover looked around, searching for something- what it was, she didn't have a clue.

"Out of this town? Head to that forest that has that other town on the other side? Then we can go through that town and away from the streets into the countryside up there," she suggested, breathing more heavily than usual.

"Okay," they agreed. "But what if we're going in the wrong direction?"

"We aren't, don't worry. I searched where that cave was that they got the footage from- it's more up North, past the town I was talking about and in that space behind that big area of land and trees and stuff up there," Clover explained, hoping it made sense to Astrid.