It was a cold summer night, probably the coldest July night ever recorded since the bombs hit. Had it only been five years ago? It felt like decades had passed. But, something was in there air. Nick could feel it. I always trusted Nick when he said he could sense something was going to happen, because strangely enough, something always did. We didn’t know where we were headed. All we knew is that someone was after us, and we didn’t know why. We had been running from these people for four years now, ever since our mother had mysteriously disappeared. We were on our own.
We walked up the steps to the old community church. Certainly no one would be in there and it would be the perfect place to hide. But Nick’s feeling never went away. Actually, it got stronger as we entered through the east side window. It was dark, with only the light of the moon shining through the stained glass. I had lost track of what time it was, but I could tell by the angle of the moonlight it was around one in the morning.
“I’ll go find us some food. We’ll rest here for the night.” I said.
“I don’t know Derek,” Nick hesitated, “I’m getting a headache and you always know what happens when I get a headache.” I did know. According to Nick’s instincts, headaches meant one thing. That we were in danger. We didn’t know what kind of danger, but it wasn’t safe to stay where we were.
“Alright,” I said, “I’ll go to the kitchen, stock up on some food, and we’ll leave. You stay here and watch out this window. If anyone comes come and get me.”
The kitchen was just like any other normal kitchen. It had a fridge, a stove, even a microwave. There was something special about this kitchen though. It served as the community Soup Kitchen for the homeless so naturally it was stocked full of food in every cupboard. I grabbed a box or two of Poptarts, went to the fridge and found a bag of apples, and snatched some juice boxes while I was there. I put them in my pack and walked back into the foyer. Nick was standing next the the window with his head in his hands. “Derek, it’s getting worse. We have to go, now!” I grabbed his arm and started climbing through the open window. Nick started to pull me back inside. “Nick we have to get out of here!” I yelled. “Not through there,” he said with terror in his eyes. “Anywhere but through that window.” He was right. I turned back to the window and standing on the street corner, right where we would have been, were three dark silhouettes conversing with each other. I saw one their head turn towards the window where we were standing. I ducked quickly. Had he seen me? I slowly peeked up over the window sill. The three figures were gone. “Let’s get out of here.” I said.
Nick’s headache was getting worse. What were we doing wrong? Why weren’t we escaping what was about to happen? Every window I tried to climb through, Nick would tell me it wasn’t safe. Finally we came to the back door. “Can we go through here or did you see the future and bad things happen when we go through it?” I said sarcastically and annoyed. “You know I can’t see the future, I just sense when something is going to happen. It’s like, I know the feeling of the room we’re in. The room with the best feeling was two doors down, let’s go out through there.” Nick said. We turned around and went through the door of the room Nick said had the best feeling. I knew I should believe him, but I didn’t want to believe. There was no possible way stuff like this could happen. There was no such thing as a sixth sense. We opened the window and started to climb through.
Just then, we heard the window in the room next to us shatter. “DEREK!” Nick screamed in fear. The door the room we were in burst open. There stood the three figures that we had seen just a few minutes earlier. “Get the younger one.” one man said in a suave manner. “NICK, RUN!” I screamed. I was already out of the church. I reached back through the window and grabbed his arm. I pulled him towards me, but one of the men had grabbed onto Nick. “Derek! Help me!” Nick yelled. I held onto his arm with all the strength I had. Adrenalin pumping, I pulled harder in our game of tug-of-war to break the grip of the man holding onto my little brother. “Let him go!” I screamed. My heart was beating fast. At that moment I felt something happen. It was like my brain had flipped a switch. I felt, good. My heart was beating faster than ever. I felt my breathing accelerate. My eyes opened wide and I felt like I could do anything at that one moment. With one final attempt, I pulled on my brother and the man.
It felt effortless. I hardly even realized I had just pulled both of them through the open window. I picked up my brother and started running. He felt so light, it was like I could have picked him up with my pinky finger. We ran to the corner where the men who had just attacked us had first spotted me. This was all my fault. If I had listened to my brother and gotten away from that window as soon as he felt danger, I could have prevented all of this. Nick was unconscious. He flopped like a rag doll in my arms. With every flop, he felt heavier. With every step I ran, I felt all my energy draining from my entire body. I dropped to one knee, breathing heavy. Nick fell from my arms. I couldn’t move anymore. How could it be that I felt so powerful not 30 seconds before, and now I was drained of all that energy? I toppled over onto my side. My body was going numb. My finger’s tingled at the tips and I could feel myself starting to go unconscious like my brother. I stared at the moon as my eyes slowly started to close. Then, as I started slipping away, a dark figure covered it from my sights. It leaned over me and said, “Take this one too.” It was the same suave voice that told the other man to attack us.
We walked up the steps to the old community church. Certainly no one would be in there and it would be the perfect place to hide. But Nick’s feeling never went away. Actually, it got stronger as we entered through the east side window. It was dark, with only the light of the moon shining through the stained glass. I had lost track of what time it was, but I could tell by the angle of the moonlight it was around one in the morning.
“I’ll go find us some food. We’ll rest here for the night.” I said.
“I don’t know Derek,” Nick hesitated, “I’m getting a headache and you always know what happens when I get a headache.” I did know. According to Nick’s instincts, headaches meant one thing. That we were in danger. We didn’t know what kind of danger, but it wasn’t safe to stay where we were.
“Alright,” I said, “I’ll go to the kitchen, stock up on some food, and we’ll leave. You stay here and watch out this window. If anyone comes come and get me.”
The kitchen was just like any other normal kitchen. It had a fridge, a stove, even a microwave. There was something special about this kitchen though. It served as the community Soup Kitchen for the homeless so naturally it was stocked full of food in every cupboard. I grabbed a box or two of Poptarts, went to the fridge and found a bag of apples, and snatched some juice boxes while I was there. I put them in my pack and walked back into the foyer. Nick was standing next the the window with his head in his hands. “Derek, it’s getting worse. We have to go, now!” I grabbed his arm and started climbing through the open window. Nick started to pull me back inside. “Nick we have to get out of here!” I yelled. “Not through there,” he said with terror in his eyes. “Anywhere but through that window.” He was right. I turned back to the window and standing on the street corner, right where we would have been, were three dark silhouettes conversing with each other. I saw one their head turn towards the window where we were standing. I ducked quickly. Had he seen me? I slowly peeked up over the window sill. The three figures were gone. “Let’s get out of here.” I said.
Nick’s headache was getting worse. What were we doing wrong? Why weren’t we escaping what was about to happen? Every window I tried to climb through, Nick would tell me it wasn’t safe. Finally we came to the back door. “Can we go through here or did you see the future and bad things happen when we go through it?” I said sarcastically and annoyed. “You know I can’t see the future, I just sense when something is going to happen. It’s like, I know the feeling of the room we’re in. The room with the best feeling was two doors down, let’s go out through there.” Nick said. We turned around and went through the door of the room Nick said had the best feeling. I knew I should believe him, but I didn’t want to believe. There was no possible way stuff like this could happen. There was no such thing as a sixth sense. We opened the window and started to climb through.
Just then, we heard the window in the room next to us shatter. “DEREK!” Nick screamed in fear. The door the room we were in burst open. There stood the three figures that we had seen just a few minutes earlier. “Get the younger one.” one man said in a suave manner. “NICK, RUN!” I screamed. I was already out of the church. I reached back through the window and grabbed his arm. I pulled him towards me, but one of the men had grabbed onto Nick. “Derek! Help me!” Nick yelled. I held onto his arm with all the strength I had. Adrenalin pumping, I pulled harder in our game of tug-of-war to break the grip of the man holding onto my little brother. “Let him go!” I screamed. My heart was beating fast. At that moment I felt something happen. It was like my brain had flipped a switch. I felt, good. My heart was beating faster than ever. I felt my breathing accelerate. My eyes opened wide and I felt like I could do anything at that one moment. With one final attempt, I pulled on my brother and the man.
It felt effortless. I hardly even realized I had just pulled both of them through the open window. I picked up my brother and started running. He felt so light, it was like I could have picked him up with my pinky finger. We ran to the corner where the men who had just attacked us had first spotted me. This was all my fault. If I had listened to my brother and gotten away from that window as soon as he felt danger, I could have prevented all of this. Nick was unconscious. He flopped like a rag doll in my arms. With every flop, he felt heavier. With every step I ran, I felt all my energy draining from my entire body. I dropped to one knee, breathing heavy. Nick fell from my arms. I couldn’t move anymore. How could it be that I felt so powerful not 30 seconds before, and now I was drained of all that energy? I toppled over onto my side. My body was going numb. My finger’s tingled at the tips and I could feel myself starting to go unconscious like my brother. I stared at the moon as my eyes slowly started to close. Then, as I started slipping away, a dark figure covered it from my sights. It leaned over me and said, “Take this one too.” It was the same suave voice that told the other man to attack us.
