SURVIVORS

Ch. 5~ Chase

Hey guys, I know this is kind of late in the day, but at least I can update! Chase's chapter today!

Last time... Lana and her two brothers (Brendan and Tucker) had to move into an apartment because her house was claimed an unsafe area after she reported the trail of blood leading from her house to the police. She has been hearing strange sounds in the night, and she sees strange things during the day, such as her parents gone missing, as well as Vicky's parents and Sam's parents (there are some others too, but they aren't as important). People are disappearing into thin air, and she's got no idea why. All she knows is that the thing watching her from the bushes is out to get her...

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There was no one outside. Not even the mailman zoomed past the window. The number of students absent today was suspiciously high, teachers too. Even Logan, who hadn't missed a day of school in his life, was absent. Obviously, there was something going on that I didn't know about. It had been a week since the last time I'd run away and it had been a week since I'd seen my mom. Dad told me that she had left us and was staying in the Holiday Inn all by herself. He told me he saw her there, flirting with other men. I don't want to think about those things. I don't want to think about Dad.

Mrs. Greene played the news while we worked on 'painting from our imaginations.' I'm really the only one into it, only because I don't feel like thinking about other things. The other kids are nervous about something. Jack, who is sitting across from me, stares down at his blank paper, tapping his fingers against the wood table. Anna's and Kristi's eyes dart back and forth and they both seem extremely anxious about something. I try to keep my mind off it. I like drawing and stuff, and I don't mind painting, but today all I want to do is slack off. So I just decide to paint my paper black, blue, and purple and then splatter paint stars. Easy. All sound is blocked out until I hear the female news anchor, announcing names.

"Nicole Andrews, Joanne Nolan, John Andrews-" she begins before she is interrupted by the loudspeaker.

"Chase Woode, please report to the office, Chase Woode, please report to the office, thank you." My heart skips a beat. The whole class stares in my direction as I slide off my stool and start to saunter out of the room. Even Mrs. Greene seems to stare. She is in a weird mood too.

The thick wood of the door clicks as I turn the doorknob and bounces off its frame as I close it shut. The hall is so silent, it makes me want to yell and holler so I don't have to hear the silence anymore. The only thing that keeps me from doing so is the muffled zip of my shoes against the polished floor.

"Hey! Hey loser!" I hear a deep voice shout. I keep my head down.

"You have fun being caught by your MOMMY after you ran away?" Another voice hollers. I hear laughter. I ignore it and keep walking, even though I can feel rage building up inside me. I know that Michael's german shepherd ran away a couple days ago, and he is just taking out his anger on me.

"Hey I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Tough-guy! I thought you told us that you could take a punch! I guess your daddy decided to do that for us!" Tyler yells. They laugh. Sick. They're sick, I thought to myself. I enter the office quickly, eager to get away from those jerks. They would do anything to make my day worse than it already is.

I see Aunt Paula sitting in the chair closest to the doorway that I stand in. She shoots a worried look at Uncle Art, who sits, hand over his mouth, obviously worked up about something. Principal Berlin sits promptly in the corner on her perfect little stool.

"Hello Chase, why don't you take a seat," she says formally. I sit on the couch across from Uncle Art. He is a tough man- isn't accustomed to change. I know something is up that he doesn't like, just by his body language. The way he purses his lips and covers it with his fingers, and the way his sea colored eyes bolt back and forth.

"What's..." I notice the way Aunt paula keeps bouncing her foot up and down, just like she used to when she and my mom talked about my dad. "Is there something wrong?" I ask uncertainly. Neither of them respond. Principal Berlin just smiles her perfect little smile I have found to have become seriously annoyed with.

"Of course not, sweetie," she muses like her words were supposed to be soothing to me. "Absolutely nothing is wro-"

"What do you mean, nothing's wrong?!" Uncle Art interrupts loudly. Attempting to control his rage, he clenches his hands and tries to quiet himself. "Do you mean to say that there's absolutely nothing wrong, when my little sister has gone missing? Did I hear you correctly; nothing is wrong?" My head starts to spin. Mom is.... Missing?

"What?" I whisper, not exactly meaning to.

"Chase, you're going to be fine. You're going to be staying with us for a little while," Aunt Paula says, trying to sound cheerful, though I know she is far from that.

"As I was trying to say, your mother hasn't been seen in public for a while, or at home according to your father." Principal Berlin says. "We did everything we could, Chase. The police had been called by your father. He was... "

"He was drunk," Uncle Art spits.

"Very drunk," She confirms. "They found pictures of you and your mom, and they looked at the state your house was in. They were already suspect of your father. Let alone when they read your mother's journal..."

"... They read Mom's journal?" I asked incredulously but quietly.

"We told them not to sweetie," Aunt Paula defends.

"But they did, Mr. Woode, and there's nothing we can do about this now... There was personal information in that journal. And there were things written that should have been reported," The principal says, glancing at the scar at my temple. No. They didn't. They couldn't have.

"Where's my dad?" I ask urgently. "Where is he?" My voice shakes on the second one. Aunt Paula rubs her face. Principal Berlin just stares at me with twinkling, innocent eyes. "TELL ME!" I scream, standing up with rage.

"Your father is in JAIL. Where else would he be," Principal Berlin mutters, teeth gritted, trying to retain her perfect little grin. "And you will not be seeing him any time soon," She says matter-of-factly. Her voice hardly has time to ring in the air before Aunt Paula sneers and rises from her seat.

"Why you insensitive little-"

"Paula," Uncle Art warns. She sits down slowly, her fiery gaze still fixed on the principal. They were all silent. I can't believe it. She's gone. I have no one left. Mom is missing, Dad's in jail, Syren is gone, and Hayden is dead. I fall back onto the cushion of the couch and bury my face in my hands, trying to muffle my cries. The tears flow freely and my broad shoulders shake as I cry. I would've been embarrassed, but I'm too frustrated and angry to feel anything else. Aunt Paula leans over and puts her wrinkled hand on my back, trying to protect me from something that I can't be protected from.

I couldn't believe I'd lost them. I'd lost my family.

The words echo in my head...

I'd lost my family.

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Depressing and short. What's different? I promise you though, next Chase chapter is going to be pretty freaking epiccccccccccc.

Remember I update twice for Chase chapters, so you'll get a little king creature if you stick around ;D Thank's for reading!! <3 'yall