1
They came forme without warning.
It was just another first day at a new school, which happens a lot when you and your mom are on the run. I couldn’t keep track of how many first days I’d had, although the year I went to ten different schools was the worst one. That morning I was supposed to be taking notes about supply and demand economics, but instead I was doomscrolling under the desk.
Experts say the next recession will start earlier than expected. The nation’s business economists predict that due to rising interest rates...
Strange winter weather in the Southwest United States goes beyond climate change. These “freakish” weather patterns are not attributable to...
Police are asking the public for help once more in the case of a missing teenage girl from Santa Ana. Phoenix Xing was last seen leaving school a year ago today...
Another scandal for reality TV star accused of cheating on his long-term girlfriend...
A shiny black beetle scurried across the floor, pincers waving.What are you doing here, buddy?It paused, almost like it noticed I was watching, before finally disappearing beneath the wall. I wished I could do the same. I was desperate to get out of there. High school sucks, no matter if you’ve been in the same town since birth or if you’ve just arrived like we did. I wantedout.
Be careful what you wish for,as my mother would say.
A crackling voice interrupted over the PA: “Can we have Maria Josephina Robertson-Rodriguez to the office, please?”
I dropped my pencil and sat up straight. That could only mean my mother was picking me up early. Already? Why? Was it happening again?
The teacher—whose name I hadn’t even learned yet—nodded at me. Every head turned in my direction.There goes the new girl,they were probably thinking. I ignored them, trying to appear nonchalant, and stuck my phone in my pocket, grabbed my worn backpack, and stood to walk out. Behind me, the teacher picked up where he’d left off.If supply decreases, then...
The door clicked shut. I started down the long, empty hallway toward the main office. I heard the shriek of a chair scraping against linoleum and muted chatter drifting out from one of the classrooms.
I was going the right way, I was positive, because I’d come in that direction from the office only a couple hours earlier. But somehow the hall seemed to go on and on. Endless. Hmmm.
Above me, a fluorescent light flickered, making a snapping noise.
Then everything went silent. No more screeching chairs orhushed voices. All the classrooms around me were dark and empty.Probably no classes this period,I told myself.Or maybe they’re meeting in the media center.Nothing creepy about it. Right?
Even my footsteps seemed louder. Each step pounded in my ears. I felt weirdly, impossibly, completely alone.
No—it was just that I was in an unfamiliar place, making me feel unsettled. That was normal. Everything was normal. And I was on my way out, anyway. In a few minutes, I’d be home.
A door slammed behind me. I turned to look, but no one was there. My heart sped up.
When I looked forward again, the hallway stretched on as far as it had when I first left class.What the...
There were popping sounds, like balloons bursting. I spun around again, stomach in my throat. The lights at the end of the hall were all out. It was pitch-black where my classroom was. In a flash, like dominoes falling, the darkness rushed toward me. The popping sounds grew louder and sharper. Light bulbs were bursting, glass shattering onto the floor.
I bolted for the office.
It’s happening.
What my mother warned me about for years.
Here.
Now.
I ran so fast I couldn’t even feel my body anymore. I had only one thought:Get out!
Then everything went black. My eyes didn’t have time to adjust, so I had no idea what was in front of me, but still I kept running. Any second, I’d reach the end of the hall. I’d be near the office,near an exit. It was right around the corner. Where was everybody? We were covered in shadows, yet there was no sound. No teachers ordering their classes to quiet down. No announcement. No alarm. Nothing.
There was only me, running, in the darkness.
Up ahead, I saw movement. Figures like shadows. Half a dozen or more. Illuminated, just barely, by the dim light coming in through the exterior doors to their left. Sharp relief filled me: I wasn’t alone after all. Of course not. Why did I panic? Just a blackout. Staff was out checking on everyone. I slowed to a walk, winded, a cramp in my side.
