Chapter Three: Answers for the Lost

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The next week passes by in a blur. I continue my life as if I'd never gotten a letter or saw someone outside my window. Just because I had continued my normal life doesn't mean I forgot. I keep the second letter inside the drawer of my night stand next to the picture of my parents, and I look out my window every chance I get. The conversation I overheard is stuck on repeat in my head, yet it makes no more since then it did the night I heard it.

Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave told Stephanie and Billy that I would be leaving for a few months to a boarding school the night after I received the letter. They had question after question, but they never received an answer and was told to drop it. I got interrogated by Stephanie for the next few days after the announcement, but soon she learned her mission was a lost cause.

Then, finally, July 31st came.

I wake up as early as always, the sun peering over the horizon. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as I anticipate what the day is bringing. I climb out of bed and pull a black duffel bag out from under it. I brush off the dust and cobwebs and hurry over to my closet to start packing. I grab a few shirts, all hand-me downs from Stephanie and a few pairs of jeans, also Stephanie's. I throw my bag on the bed and begin the search for my shoes, when I realized what I'm forgetting. I pull the picture of my mom and dad from the drawer and plac in safely in my bag along with the letter.

Afterwards, I jump in a fastest shower of my life and throw on Stephanie's old grey and black shirt and a pair of faded skinny jeans with a hole in the knee. I brush my hair and teeth as quickly as possible before throwing both brushes into my bag with everything else. I find my converse under my bed and I am putting them on when Aunt Mary walks through my opened doorway.

"Eat some breakfast before we leave." She demands.

I throw my bag over my shoulder, its weight throwing me off balance, and make my way downstairs and into the kitchen, where I am surprised to find a sleepy looking Stephanie and wired Billy. I make some toast and eat it with haste, ready to depart. We step out into the humid summer morning and pile into my Uncle's S.U.V. I don't bother to glance back and say goodbye to the place I've called both home and prison for fourteen years.

The drive to Relm Train Station is an hour and a half long. By the time we arrive it's 11:30 and Stephanie has fallen asleep on Billy, who hasn't sat still the entire car ride. The car comes to a stop in the parking lot and Billy reads the giant, white sign: Realm Train Station.

"Train! Train! Train!" He starts to chant, waking Stephanie.

"Am I - supposed to buy a ticket or something?" I wonder. I've seen it in movies a million times, but I've never been on a train myself.

"You'll find out when you get in there." Aunt Mary replies.

"Bye Bell!" Billy yells as if I were 100 feet away when I'm not even three. He resumes saying bye bell over and over in a sing song tone.

"Don't accidentally board the wrong train. We don't want you back any sooner than you have to be." Stephanie tells me.

"The feeling is mutual then." I say.

"Look for a train that arrives at twelve o'clock that is headed to.... Uh... Elementum Academy." Aunt Mary instructes.

"And if there isn't one?"

"Then, I wish you luck." Uncle Dave say.

"Thanks." I replied coldly. As cold as their hearts, I think.

I get out of the car, the summer heat suffocating, and slam the door behind me.

"See you May 31st." Aunt Mary calls, before the car speeds away.

"See ya." I mumble, before pulling my bag higher up on my shoulders.

Fifteen years, I think, staring at the train station ahead, and now I'm free. I make my way to the train station entrance, almost ready to start skipping. When I reach the inside there's a giant electronic sign with white text next to a window with an elderly lady sitting on the other side. I read the white print over and over, searching for a twelve o'clock to Elementum Academy. There isn't a single one.

"Can I help you with something, sweetie?" The woman on the other side of the window asks.

"Is there a twelve o'clock train?" I question, my eyes still locked on the electronic sign.

The lady types something in on the computer, her nails clicking against the keys.

"Sorry, there isn't." She answers. "Are you sure you have the right place? I've never heard of such a place."

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