A Safe Place

Chapter 5- I Won't Give Up

Miranda's pov

Me and Jase kept trying to figure out ways out. I won't give up. Even if everyone else has. "Well let's think. Tell me everything significant that happened in you and your twin's life." I'm glad he's with me. This would be way harder doing it on my own. "There has to be something related to the twin thing." He said, sitting in a bean bag chair I made to give my room a more lived in feel. I made the walls colorful too instead of that boring old white. He waves his hand in front of my face. "Huh? What?" "I think I lost ya there kid." He says, making me laugh slightly. "Sorry lost in thought. What'd you say?" "Did anything significant ever happen to you or your twin?" I stare at the lime green bedspread, trying to think. Then I've got it. "The death thing. It's... Well Sean fell off a rollercoaster. He died for like 5 minutes but they were able to bring him back. It was probably the scariest moment of my life when I thought I'd lose him." He looks hard at me. "Have you... Have you looked up.... What's going on with your family since disappearing?" My heart clenches as I think about it. I shake my head, instantly feeling nauseous and upset. "I... I hope they're okay." I shakily say, holding my chest. "Are you okay?" He asks, standing up and walking over. He sits beside me in bed and hugs me. "I'm too scared to look it up. Here you do it!" I say, handing him the phone. "Uh..." He stutters, caught off guard.

Jase's pov

I don't even know how to use this thing! "How... How does it turn on?" "There's a button on the side." I hit the button and the screen flashes on, the light is so bright and colorful. The picture is a splash of a bunch of colors. It looks like a painting. "I don't know what I'm doing." I mumble, embarrassed. "Just swipe it up and go to google!" Google? "What the crap is that?" I gape. She looks frustrated and grabs the phone. "Watch me." She says, turning around. She swipes her finger on the screen and the canvas of colors disappears to reveal a light blue screen with a bunch of little square blocks. The blocks all have names that I've never heard of. "What's Facebook?" "God it's so weird that you don't know what any of this is!" She gapes, only embarrassing me more. "Ugh I'm sorry miss future girl!" She looks a little surprised by the comment. But then clicks one of the squares and hands it back to me. A keyboard popped up. "Type my name and Pontotoc, Mississippi." She says. This is so weird looking. But I type what she says and hit the magnifying glass button. Instantly several articles pop up. I don't know what to do now. She had her eyes closed and her arms wrapped around her legs. I guess she's scared. No help from her I guess. I set the phone on the bed and click on the first thing on the list. The first line makes me feel sick. "Here one second. Gone the next." I whisper read. "What?" She whimpers, opening her eyes. I pass the phone to her. She reads through it and bursts into tears. "My God! My poor brother!!" "What?! What happened?!" She was shaking and crying. I grab her shoulders. The phone vanishes as she shakily looks at me, her face red from crying. "It... The article.... My brother... H-He came to wake me for dinner and when he opened the door, I vanished right in front of him! They're going to think he's crazy!! We have to find a way out!!" She jumps up and runs downstairs. I run to her bedroom door as she desperately tries to rip the door open. "LET ME OUT!! GOD DAMN YOU! LET ME GO HOME!!!" She screams. I rush down the stairs and pull her away from the door. "That's not going to help!" She's taking this harder than any of us. Everyone looked sad. They've been there just as I have. A wave of sadness hits me as I imagine my mom and dad sitting at the table, praying for the phone to ring or hoping I'll walk through the door. I hug the poor crying girl, trying not to break down myself. Nicole walks over. "Hey how about we sit down before you pass out." She says. Miranda was hyperventilating. "I just want to go home!" She desperately cries. Nicole hugs her tight and guides her to the couch. She isn't the only one. I sit on the other side of her as Nicole rubs her back. "It gets easier with time." Instantly she looked mad. She stands up. "I won't stop til I'm home." She says, walking up the stairs. "Man she's more hard headed than you Jase." Pete says, earning a glare from not only me but Nicole. I take my shoe off and chuck it at him. He laughs and ducks. I suddenly started thinking about my twin brother Ben. I lay my head back on the couch, wondering if he's still 16 wherever he is. Just then there was the sound of a spoon hitting a bowl in the kitchen. I'm confused. Nobody is in the kitchen. I walk in there along with Pete. "Whoa who's the kid?" Pete says. My heart stops. I shakily grip the doorframe in shock. "It.... I... It's... My brother." I whisper, feeling lightheaded. I lose my grip on the doorframe and everything goes dark.

Miranda's pov

I hear a loud thud and confusedly walk to my door to see Jason on the floor. "What the heck?" I gape. Pete was looking in the kitchen but he looked down and dropped beside him. I walk downstairs as the others walk over. "He's gone." Pete mumbles. "Gone? Who's gone?" I ask. They don't know. Thomas splashes a cup of water on Jason who instantly wakes up, shouting, "Cold!" I expected some people to laugh but nobody did. He shoots up and runs to the kitchen but then looks disappointed. "He vanished when you passed out dude." Pete says, still on the ground. Jase shakily turns around, his eyes wild. "I... It was my brother Ben.... He... M-My twin?! Why... How'd he..." He's freaking out too much to finish a sentence. "Easy big guy. Take a deep breath." Thomas says, putting a hand on his shoulder. Poor Jason. He's so freaked out. "How'd that even happen?!" He shakily says, walking over to the doorway again. He picked up the bowl and spoon. "He was here. The bowl." He mumbles, sitting at the table. I sit on the arm of the couch, deep in thought. He said he saw his twin brother. The one who died. We have to get to the bottom of this!