Run

Chapter Three

As my parents were whispering, I grew more irritable.

What were they hiding from me?

What is happening to me?

And why does it feel like they know more than what they lead on?

After another 15 minutes of watching them whisper to each other, with the occasional worried glance back at me, I asked, “Mom? What’s going on?”

She merely glanced back at me for a second before she carried on whispering as if I’d said nothing.

In a louder voice, I said, “Mom, Dad, what’s going on?”

Yet again, they said nothing. Didn’t even look at me.

Whatever is going on, I need to know.

I deserve to know.

It’s happening to ME, not to them.

So, one last time, I said in a louder voice, “Mom. Dad. What. Is. Going. ON?”

This time, FINALLY, Mom answered.

“Nothing important,” she said.

“Well, it feels important,” I snapped back.

“Well, it’s not. Now be quiet so that I can focus on driving. We’re almost there,” Dad cut in.

Dad’s voice was usually soft and gentle, like he was always careful of how he talked. But this time, he said it in a tone I’d never heard him use. The kind of tone that made me, or more my body, WANT to listen, even if my brain was saying no.

The road was empty, just the occasional bus going past. So, after a few minutes, we stopped at an old motel.

After we arrived, we checked in and went to our room to unpack.

The room was small but big enough to fit the three of us. The walls were this pale, light blue colour. Every other piece of the wall was covered with this slime-like stuff that looked like it was coming from the roof. After coming closer, I could see that it was dry.

The rest of the room wasn’t much better. There was a bed for Mom and Dad and a couch, which I assumed I would be sleeping on.

There was a small bathroom with a single toilet that looked a million years old and a shower that had a few tiles missing, but it seemed to be working.

There was a small round table inside next to the bed with a magazine on top. There was also a mini fridge with nothing but a few waters and a Sprite from who knows what century.

After we unpacked in silence, Mom and Dad called me outside.

There was a round fireplace in the middle where Dad was trying to spark a fire. There were also a few camping chairs around it.

I inhaled the clear night air. There were a million pretty stars in the sky. They were so pretty that I almost forgot about the voices.

Almost.

For some reason, they seemed better than earlier, which was a relief because I wasn’t sure how much more I could handle.

As I came closer, Dad again said in that same demanding voice, “Sit.”

Immediately, I sat.

“We need to explain something to you, honey,” Mom started.

“Something you might not understand at first, but we’re here to answer your questions,” Dad added.

“Okay…?” I said in an unsure voice.

“You’re… we’re not… really…” Mom started.

“What your mom is trying to say is we’re not normal. We are not normal… human,” Dad said.

I chuckled sarcastically.

“Yeah, we’re the X-Men,” I said in a sarcastic voice.

“You’d be surprised to know that we’re not far from it,” Mom said softly.

I stared.

This cannot be true.

WHAT is happening?

“So, what is our ‘species’ called?” I asked, sucking deep breaths so that I didn’t run to the nearest phone to call a psychiatric hospital and tell them something was wrong with my parents.

Just when Mom was about to answer, there was a flash of lightning on the horizon.

“That’s weird,” I said.

“What’s weird?” Mom and Dad asked simultaneously.

“Well, it’s a clear night sky,” I started, “and I think I just saw lightning.”

This time, I could feel the terror in my parents’ eyes when Dad told me, “Run.”

“No, what’s happening?!” I shouted as the storm came closer.

Again, Dad said, “RUN!”

That voice. The same one in the car and the same one when I was told to sit down.

I didn’t want to run, but suddenly I felt my legs moving quickly, the grass moving under my feet.

My lungs were burning from running so fast. My eyes teared from the cold night air.

I tried to look back as I was sprinting around the building, but all I saw was another flash of lightning.

And my parents were gone.