Regeneration

Chapter 3 - Missing

'Something more than just friends...'

Lucas' words echoed through my mind for the entire weekend. I opened my phone dozens of times, I wanted to let him know that I felt the same way, but I couldn't bring myself to write him a response.

My thought process was disrupted when I heard a knock on the door. It opened slightly revealing my dad's face.

"You look extra cheery, care to tell me why are you blushing to yourself on this fine Sunday evening?" He said as he walked over and took a seat next to me.

"Nothing you need to worry about dad," I played it off nonchalantly.

"Ha ha if you say so," he gave a hearty laugh, "Just saying an early good night, leaving at three a.m. tomorrow and won't be back for a while."

"Again? Soon I'll start to forget what you look like." I joked.

He gave a tired humorless chuckle. I hugged him tightly before he moved towards the door. "Take care of everyone while I'm gone."

"I will."

He sent me a wink before he closed my bedroom door.

Turning to make myself comfortable I drifted off.

The distant ringing of my cell phone made my eyes blink open slowly.

"Hello," I answered, my voice heavy with sleepiness.

On the other side of the line was a concerned Mrs. Seranno asking for Amara.

"No she's not here," I croaked.

"Okay well go back to sleep honey, sorry to wake you. Ill give you a call when I reach her."

She hung up.

I tried calling Amara earlier but when she didn't answer I assumed that she was just busy or asleep.

She never had the best track record for picking up.

The next morning when I arrived at school I looked out for her.

After checking our usual spot I decided to call her again.

'Hey you've reached Amara, you know what to do. Beep.'

"Hey, I've been calling you since yesterday. I'm starting to worry, please let me know if you're okay."

I slid my phone into my back pocket still looking out for Amara and the guys.

Maybe they're in the cafeteria.

Walking through the hall, I slowed and glanced at my watch, seven forty- six a.m. The hallway should have been flooded with students by now.

The cafeteria was quite hushed with a few chattering and laughter here and there. That seemed to be the new norm these days.

Amara did mention something about a cold going around Friday.

I couldn't help but feel a bit paranoid after the experience Nathan and I had the other night.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something weird was going on. Ever since we hit that odd man on Saturday night, I've had this weird feeling, presentiment maybe. Nathan and I were so freaked out by what happened that we had agreed to forget about the whole ordeal, and so far that's what we've been doing, pretending that it never happened. Maybe that was our way of coping with what our minds couldn't explain.

However, images of the bizarre man would flash through my memory from time to time. I wondered what was wrong with him, why he didn't say a word and why he ran off like that. I thought about the way he stared at Nathan, his eerie eyes were filled with something that almost resembled...