Ageless Secrets

Prologue

A/N: I'd you didn't read the Authors Note before this chapter, then please go read it! It has the Tigger Warnings!

September 26, 2003
Detroit, Michigan

I was in my room doing my homework when my sister, Tess, knocked on the door before coming in. Dinner's ready.” I looked over at her, setting my pencil down. “What're we having?” I asked, standing up and walking after her down the hallway and to the dining room. “Chicken, with mashed potatoes, and broccoli.” I've been living with Tess and her husband and their son for a couple of years now. I moved in when I was thirteen, and I'm fifteen now. Tess is thirteen years older than I am, so we weren't really that close, but when our parents were killed in an accident, she didn't hesitate to take me in.

We sat at the table and started eating. I couldn't help but notice that Andy's, Tess’ husband, hand was twitching. It wasn't noticeable unless you really paid attention. I looked over at my little nephew, Chase, who's only seven, and saw he too was a little twitchy. “How was school?” Tess asked. Chase looked up at her with a blank stare. His face was a little pale. “School was as usual for me. I passed my biology test, though. I mean, barely, but I passed,” I said.

Andy wasn't looking too great, either. Neither of them wanted to eat their food. I looked at Tess, who was looking at Chase. “Are you feeling alright, baby? You don't look so good.” Chase shook his head in response. “Why don't you go lay down. If you're hungry later, I'll make you some soup.” Chase slowly got up and dragged himself back to his bedroom. “I think I'm going to go lay down too,” Andy said, standing up and walking away from the table before Tess could say anything. “Okay, that was weird.”

After Tess and I ate, I helped her clean everything up. “Want to come to the store with me?” She asked, drying her hands with a tee-towel. “Sure. Can we get ice cream?” I asked. She laughed and shook her head, “We’ll see.”

Driving to the store took longer than it should have, and when we got there, it was closed. “They're closed? But it's only eight.” Tess looked around in confusion. A minute later, sirens were wailing past the store. Cop cars, fire tricks, and ambulances rushed by. It wasn't unusual to hear sirens at all hours of the day and night, but it was unusual to see that many fly by. “Get in the car,” Tess said, looking across the road. I hadn't realized someone was screaming until she had spoken. I looked across the street where my sister was looking to see some woman being attacked. “Now, yn! Get in the damn car!”

I stumbled a little, trying to get back in the car. As soon as my door slammed shut, Tess was back out and speeding back towards the house. When we ran into a roadblock, she would find another way. When we made it back to the house, the neighbors were running out of their houses, packing their cars, and leaving in a rush. “What the hell is going on?” I asked. Tess ran into the house, and I ran after her. “Andy? Andy, what're you doing?” Tess asked, backing away from her husband.

He sprinted towards us, mouth wide open with some time of…I wasn't really sure that was in his mouth. “Run, yn, run!” Tess yelled. And I did, run, I ran out the door and around the back of the house, climbed the rope ladder up to the tree house. When I was safely up there, I pulled the ladder up. I was only up there for ten minutes when I remembered Chase was still in the house. I threw the ladder back down and climbed down. When my feet hit the ground, I ran for the back door. Tess was by the basement door

When I went in, Andy was lying on the floor, blood pooling around his head. Tess was by the basement door. Her back was pressing up against the door, tears running down her face, Chase's baseball bat in her hand with blood dripping from it. “T–Tess?'' She slowly looked up at me. “Go pack a bag quickly. We need to leave.” I just stood there and stared at her for a few long seconds. “Where–where's Chase?” There was a loud banging on the door behind her. “Go! Now!” She yelled. I jumped before running to my room.

I grabbed my backpack, shoved some clothes inside it, and anything else I could get my hands on that was important to me. I didn't know how long we would he gone or if we'd ever come back. I grabbed a heavier coat since it would be getting colder and the throw blanket at the end of my bed. I don't know why, but I did. I was so scared and confused about what was going on that I just grabbed stuff and ran out of my room. Tess was coming out of her room holding two bags and Andy's pistol. “Car. Go. Now!” She yelled.

I ran to the front door, flinging it open, and ran to the car. Helicopters and Jets flew overhead, and sirens could be heard from every direction. It was all total chaos. “What're you doing? Get the fucking car, yn!” Tess yelled at me. I opened the door with shaky hands and got in. “What's going on? Where's Chase? What did you do to Andy? What was wrong with him?” I had so many questions. Tess started the car and flew out of the driveway almost hitting another car.

The roads were even worse than they were when we came back through. It was a traffic jam trying to get onto the freeway. Tess went around people, taking back roads just to get out of there. “There's some kind of sickness going around. Andy had it, he tried to attack me; to bite me. I had no other choice. And Chase – he – I couldn't.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “I locked him in the basement. I just couldn't do it.”

“Are we–are we infected too?” I asked. She shook her head, shrugging, “I don't know. I don't know what this is or how it spreads. The news just said not to let anyone who's sick near you. We need to get out of here and we need to get as far from the city as we can.”

That's what we did; we got away from the city and avoided any road blocks, law enforcement, and military aids. Tess didn't want to take a chance with us being in the same house as two people who were infected. She just wanted to get as far away as we could. We drove until we were forced to stop and get gas; but even that was almost impossible. Everyone we came across had a long line of cars. She kept driving until she found one that didn't have so many people.

The gas station we stopped at was hours away from where we lived; in fact it was in Ohio, five hours away. Tess had kept driving, not wanting to stop for anything until it became necessary. As soon as a gas pump opened up, she whipped into it, got out and pumped the gas. She was quick about it, getting back in the car and pulling away from the pump. She pulled into a spot in front of the store and looked at me. “I'm going to go get us some drinks and snacks and anything else I can grab. Lock the doors behind me.”

She got out, slamming the door and waiting for me to lock the doors before heading I side. I glanced around nervously. People were rushing around trying to get their gas and anything else they could get their hands on before it was all gone. Tess can back out with a few bags of stuff and I unlocked the doors for her. She got in, handing me the bags, before backing out, and pulling out onto the road.

“I heard people talking in the store. They said that whatever this sickness is, it's in certain foods like flour, pancake mix, bread, I guess any kind of grain. I don't know, but I think we are safe as long as we stay clear from any one who is infected.” I reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle of water, setting it in the cupholder. “Skittles and M&Ms?” She shrugged her shoulders. “It's better than nothing.”