Hybrid (BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 6: Operation Skyler Part 2

Skyler had no idea where she was as she had never been in the area before. Ben told her not to worry and that she would find her way back home after he removed the blindfolds. He then forced her to keep her eyes closed and to count until ten before opening them.  As Skyler started counting in her head as quickly as possible Ben muttered something that sounded like 'I'm sorry,' and when she opened her eyes Ben had disappeared and there was no sign of the facility, all Skyler saw was dust. There was absolutely no sign of life, everything was calm and absolute silence reigned. Skyler stood still for a few seconds, whilst debating in her head what to do. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was about to set, she knew that she had to move fast if she wanted to make it back to her apartment before nightfall.

"The best thing to do is to move forward," Skyler  finally said to herself. "There has to be a way back home since these people monitor the city and Shiloh works here." Before she knew it she found a path leading downhill, she followed it until she reached a road. She looked left and right, and saw lights shining to her left. She glanced behind her one last time, she couldn't for the life of her figure out where the facility had disappeared to.

"That must be the way back to town," she said as she came back to her senses. As she walked towards the lights, her mind played everything that she had just been through. From the concert, to Emily, to Shiloh's insane and unrealistic place of work, to what Shiloh's people told her. She did believe that the 'creatures' gave powers because she saw what Emily did first hand, but she didn't want to know if she got any powers at all. Skyler didn't want anything to interrupt her life, to her she was exactly where she needed to be with regards to her career and the last thing she needed in her life was 'creature drama.' 

Thirty minutes later she found herself in the neighborhood that she grew up in. It was a very conservative neighborhood where everyone just kept to themselves and as she observed the empty streets and the silence that filled the air, Skyler could tell that absolutely nothing had changed. Luckily for her, the volcanic headache she had earlier had almost disappeared even though she felt exhausted from all the walking.  Soon she passed by her old house and painful memories came back to her in a flash. She remembered the car accident that had happened just in front of their house causing tears to flow down her cheeks. The night the accident happened, Skyler was not at home and neither was Shiloh. That night was supposed to have been the best night of Skyler's life but instead in turned out to be one of the worst nights of her life.

Yes Skyler had abandoned her crew that night but it was only because she had signed a contract with a major dance company and was going to move out of the city. She remembered how she rushed to find a taxi and how she kept telling the driver to step on it because she couldn't wait to tell her parents the news but Skyler had never gotten the opportunity to tell her parents about her big break. She walked up to the front door, half expecting it not to be locked. The yard was in a mess and the windows had spiderwebs on them. Obviously, Shiloh hadn't come to the house in a long time and had abandoned it. Skyler didn't blame Shiloh though, she most likely would've done the same thing.

"I guess it won't hurt anymore than it already does," Skyler told herself as she decided to see if the door was locked. However, just as soon as she places her hands on the doorknob, she heard a distant cry for help. 

"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME, MY SON IS BLIND AND DEAF! HE IS SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AND A BUS IS COMING. I'M STUCK, I CANT GET TO HIM. PLEASE SOMEBODY!"

Skyler rushed to the edge of the road and she saw the boy. There was nobody else around to help them but Skyler. His mother was on the ground at the edge of the road tangled in something that she could not make out. It was then that Skyler saw the bus that the mother was talking about and to make things worse the bus was coming at full speed.