Jospeh leads me out back and as we are walking I catch Sawyer out front angrily talking to someone, but he stops once he sees I'm watching.
"That's Evan, our older brother..." Jospeh whispers into my ear. "We should go..." Jospeh pulls me by the arm.
"Jospeh..."
Jospeh curses under his breath, he stops and turning to whoever called him. We wait until Sawyer and Evan come toward us.
"Evan..." Jospeh slowly draws out. I can tell he's uncomfortable, Sawyer doesn't look too happy either.
"This your girlfriend?" Evan declares, turning to Sawyer. My eyes widen and Jospeh snorts.
"Why?" Jospeh exasperates, shaking his head.
"Isn't it obvious?" He looks between Sawyer and Jospeh. When all we do is stare at Evan, he looks to Sawyer and coughs, "Right....erm is your uncle home?" He asks, his gaze back on me. His voice is different from Sawyers and Jospeh's. His seems more like a heavy British accent, while Sawyer sounds mixed, British with a slight Spanish accent.
"My uncle is out..." They all turn to me, Sawyer has the most intimidating stare. My face tinges red, not used to this many people staring at me. "Umm, I can leave a message."
I stare between all three. All similar but so different. Sawyer and Evan look the most a like. You can definitely tell Evan is a lot older than Sawyer.
"Ahh, I see you've met my niece." Whits voice can be heard from behind Evan.
Evan turns, and gives my uncle a warm handshake.
"She doesn't seem too impressed this time." Evan greets my uncle, and that's the last I hear of them before they head inside.
"Why is he back?" Jospeh asks Sawyer.
"Who knows?" Sawyer shrugs. Jospeh huffs out annoyed,
"You know. You know everything. Spill." Jospeh demands.
Sawyer stands there his eyes landing on me.
"And that's my cue to leave..." I cough, and start walking away.
"No, you can stay." Jospeh pulls me back, his hands intertwining with mine. Sawyers eyes follow Jospeh's every move, his eyes lingering on our laced hands.
"Ask him yourself. I'm not going to figure out all of your shit." Sawyer bites out. I step back from his harshness and crease my eyebrows.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I step forward, pushing my fear down. Sawyer glares at me.
"Let's go. He's just pissed off because Evan is here..." Jospeh pulls me away from Sawyer.
"You know exactly why I'm pissed..." Sawyer grabs Jospeh by the shirt, muttering those words in his face.
I force myself between them and push Sawyer away.
"Go be pissed off somewhere else." I keep my arms stretched so they won't go at it.
Sawyer ignores my command, having a stare off with his brother.
"You should be pissed too." Sawyer continues. Joseph rolls his eyes. He takes my hand in his again and we walk off.
"What's his problem?" I ask after we walk a block.
"Sometimes I think he just has a stick up his ass. It would explain why he's always in such a shit mood." Jospeh laughs.
"You don't seem fazed by his anger..."
"I'm used to it. He's been weird lately, I'm going to assume it's because..." Jospeh stops abruptly and I snap my head to look at him.
"Because?" I question.
He breaths out, "I talk to much. It's not my place to tell."
I roll my eyes, "Oh come on, you can't start something and not tell me." I scoff.
"I can." He says with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"Fine." I cross my arms. My attention moves down to the sidewalk and I remember that we're aimlessly walking. "So why aren't you upset Evan is here?" I continue my questioning.
"He's my brother. We hardly see him."
"I guess it's easy for Sawyer to hate someone."
Jospeh shakes his head, disagreeing, "No, I just think he feels too much and lets his emotion get the better of him. He hates when he can't control outside situations. He tries too hard to be the hero sometimes. If you ask me, I think the burden is burning him down."
I nod, agreeing. Jospeh knows his brother and from what I can see Sawyer does burden himself with unnecessary things.
"Maybe he can't help it." I shrug.
"Anyway, movies are going to have to be postponed. I'm meeting a friend." He says looking down at his watch. "You can get home from here, right?" He asks and I look around. The street doesn't look familiar but we just kept walking straight so it shouldn't be hard.
"I think so.."
He smiles, "Alright, catch up with you later." He runs off and I turn around to walk home.
The heat outside is killing me. When I make it home I head straight for the freezer and the waters I put in there the day before.
I hear laughter coming from the basement and heavy footsteps climbing up. Evan pops out from the basement door as I'm mid drink.
Evan eyes me suspiciously, "Have you seen Sawyer?" He questions and I shake my head no.
"I think it's best if you stay away from them. You've caused enough trouble." He walks closer to me, trying to intimidate me, but his eyes are softer than Sawyers.
I don't bat an eye, and I keep my ground.
"Unless you give me a better reason than I cause trouble, then maybe I'll consider." Our eyes hold, and he looks away with a sharp smile.
"Piece of advice, people are misleading. They may phrase things in a way that makes you think one thing. Take the facts they openly provide and rearrange it in a way that enables you to put it together in a logical way that reveals what it actually may mean."
I stand there, watching him. Great he's speaking in riddles. He sounds like Whit.
"So the them you're referring to, isn't the them I'm thinking of?"
"You've got a lot to learn. Not everything people say is code. Some are actually upfront about things."
"Evan, I can see her brain twisting from here. Stop messing with the poor child." My uncle comes out from behind Evan. "Drink?" Whit offers and Evan nods.
"One more thing.." Evan turns serious, waiting for Whit to be nowhere near us. There's no trace of amusement anywhere. He leans in closer, his voice just above a whisper, "Run, run while you can..." Evan watches to see my reaction. I take a sip of my water, trying to hide the expression of surprise on my face. My heart is racing and I slowly walk away from him.
"Not funny..."
"Not joking.." He harshly whispers and I back away from him.
"All I have is a soda pop..." Whit comes into the living room, holding two glasses.
Evan leaves before dinner, and the heaviness in my chest is gone. I can't tell if Evan was being genuine or not. Run from what?
I shake my head from Evans words and make my way to the tree house.
I know it's a little far fetched for Sawyer to hide the time watch in the tree house but it won't hurt to look for it. It's getting dark and I see a dim light from the tree. Someone might be up there. I slowly climb up and once inside I'm relieved no one is here.
"Avery, you left the freaking light on again." I hear Daniel complain.
"Where's Charolette? Sawyer said we're leaving tonight..." Avery whines. I climb through the side window and hide. I sit on a tree branch big enough for three people to sit and lean against.
More lights are turned on from inside and I lean against the tree, staying completely still.
"Are you all packed? We're the first ones who need to leave. We can't make things obvious, they will know."
"Sawyer has it all planned out. He's never wrong." I can practically feel the eye roll coming from Avery.
"Right, I'm just nervous. Charolette hasn't been answering. I think something is wrong." Daniel's voice cracks.
"It's okay, she knows the plan. Even if we leave without her..." Avery's voice fades off.
"What about Opal?" Daniel hesitantly asks.
"She'll most likely stay behind."
Stay behind?
I slowly peek through the window and see them packing their bags with flashlights and a first aid kit.
I almost lose my footing and hold on to a tree branch and that's when I see it.
In large letters is my name and underneath is Sawyers name. The most cringe part about it all is it's inside a heart.
I trace my fingers over it. It's my writing, but I don't remember writing it.
"Come on, we have five minuets." Avery rushes Daniel. I hear them scrambling about and then the tree house grows dark. I stay silent for at least five more minute before I climb back into the window.
My mind is spinning. If I'm not mistaken Avery and Daniel are running away. Poor Charolette, Avery is taking her guy too. I rush down the tree and run back inside, I need to follow them. I need to know where they're going.
I rush upstairs and grab a bag and stuff it with important things like pajamas and underwear.
I hear a thump and I turn to the noise with a scream, but it's muffled. Sawyers hand is covering mine and I glare at him.
"Why are you breathing so hard?" He questions. His eyes wander to the bag behind me
I stay quiet, glad he can't see my face.
"You scared me, duh." I quickly reply. I'm not about to say I'm out of breath from running.
"How did you get in here? Why are you here?" I cross my arms.
"Oh don't give me that look, if I recall you're the one who freely walks into my house whenever she pleases..." Sawyer crosses his arms.
"Not my fault your back door is always unlocked." I counter.
"I call even, what do you say?" Sawyer stretches out his arms and I hesitantly shake it.
"Why are you here?" I question.
"We're leaving." He slowly whispers.
"Okay? Have fun?" I go back to casually packing, my back toward him. I clear my throat, "So where are you going?" I question after he doesn't say anything.
"A safe house."
I stop packing and slowly turn to him.
"And what are you trying to be safe from?"
"This whole damn block..."
"Mind explaining because I'm lost." I raise an eyebrow and sit on my bed.
"My parents are working with Whit. I haven't figured anything out yet, buts it's not good."
I stand there staring at him. I open my mouth to say something but no words come out. Sawyer leans against the window, arms crossed.
"Ever wonder why Daniel, Char, and Avery are always at my house? Ever wonder why Whit is always gone. Why my parents are rarely home and when they are they throw stupid dinner parties?" He continues. I nod.
"They're the neighborhood kids. We all grew up together and little by little we found out the whole block is part of a secret organization."
I don't know whether to believe his ridiculous story.
"You're coming with us." He casually demands and I shake my head.
"First, I don't believe a word that's coming out of your mouth. Second, I'm not leaving with you. I hardly know you. Third, I'm pretty sure if I leave with you that means all loss of contact, from family." I lay it all out. His face hardens.
"I promise you, if you stay you will get killed."
"I'm not going. My parents will be worried."
"What are you packing for?" Sawyers attention switches to my packed bag.
"I was gonna camp out back, in the woods."
"Lie..." Sawyer shakes his head. "Your chin twitches every time..." he whispers to himself.
"There's no way in hell you'll ever convince me..." I stand my ground. Sawyer looks down and back to me, a small smile plays at his lips.
"I'll let you see your parents."
"They're coming in a week." I scoff and Sawyer shakes his head.
"Birth parents." His voice is deep as he whispers those words.
"Opal?" I hear Whit call out and my eyes widen.
"Yeah?" I scream back, Sawyer is watching me, a smirk on his face.
"You okay? Thought I heard you screaming..."
"Just a spider. I killed it." I lie, but I hear his foot steps coming closer.
"You have now to decide."
I push Sawyer out of the way and run to my drawer and pack as many clothes as possible. I know if he leads me out throgh the window I'll have time to distract my uncle.
"Fine." I tell him, my heart racing. I'm not easily convinced but if I can see my parents maybe I can help them.
He climbs out first,
"Hand me your bag." He says and I look down at him, as he's hanging from the window.
My hesitation confuses him and before he can lunge back into the window I'm already opening the door to talk to Whit.
"Opal! Don't you fucking dare..." Sawyer says. He's quick in his movements, almost grabbing me, but I keep going.
"Where are you going?" Whit asks, eyeing my bulky back pack. He's dressed in pajamas and I find that odd.
"Where are you going?" I counter and he laughs.
"I know, strange to see me in these. I'm hitting bed early. Work has finally got to me." He yawns. "Now, where are you headed off to?"
"I wanted to camp out back, and draw the moon." I smile, not asking if it's okay. Not going to give him the option of saying no.
"Be careful. Take bug spray."
I nod and slowly walk down, but turn back to Whit. I rush up to hug him one last time,
"Goodnight." I smile and he's surprised by my hug but eventually he hugs me back.
I run out back and I'm pulled off of the ground and carried away.
"Are you out of you're fucking mind? Seriously Opal, do you ever think?" Sawyers voice whispers harshly through my ear.
When we're deep in the woods, a loud siren starts to go off.
"Look what you fucking did." Sawyer scowls at me and I gulp as I watch the flashing red lights.
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Hey everyone ! ❤️
How is life??? it's been so long!!!!! Anything new and interesting?
Update 1 of 3💛