I jogged alright, I got frustrated from the view. I jogged until I reached the parking lot of a Target. Why was everything so big there ? Did I need to buy a car to make friends ? Nonsense.

The Supermarket was big, and empty of potential friends. And here's another glimpse into my stupidity. Whoever is reading this. See ? I should have taken my phone with me and searched for a place to be. Instead I went trusting my instinct.

I got too far to abandon my quest though. At least I was no longer in the suburb, and didn’t take that long to come across what I wanted. Niched in the corner of a tenement, a nosy restaurant. It stood out as the only living place around.

I made my way in. There was a fuss. Was that an Omen ?

I nodded to the cassier, who didn’t notice me. I shifted my attention to the center of the room, tables were gathered, in an attempt to make a wider platforme. Around it were standing, sitting and slouching, teenagers. Part of them seemed to be eagerly arguing, the other part seemed tired.

First I thought it was a game, so I came closer.

A girl was trying to trigger the crowd. Standing, her speech was loud. I think it was her voice that drew me there in the first place. Everything in her evoked passion and revolte, in that aspect she was the polar opposite of Alex.

She said “You spineless little pricks. Are you going to sit there like sheeps and do whatever your parents tell you?”

I said “Of course no”.

That’s how all the faces turned towards me, even those that were asleep looked at me funny now.

The girl immediately went on “Right, that’s right !” before stumbling “Wait who are you ?”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“My name is Arlan, I am new in town” I shrugged “What is this all about ?”

She was so disappointed, I almost looked away. Why did these guys take themselves too seriously ? Was I being rude ?

“So … What is it ?” I asked.

A lanky guy, sitting backward on his chair, in a manner that somehow seemed spiritually aligned to Alex’s life energy, turned towards me. He leaned his chin to his fit, looking far away from where I stood. And he said:

“Raven here, and Kevin were president and vice president of Smile. A Non-profit organization that … you do charity and stuff right ?” He turned to the girl for a moment, and she seemed about to jump at his throat. Not that he cared.

“Whatever”, he continued “A week ago they organized a charity dinner. It was big, so they had to do it in the community center. It went well at first, then …”

He tried to gesture something with his hands, it didn’t make sense to him so he shrugged.

The girl, Raven. Didn’t hide her disgust. Not that the boy cared.

“What happened ” she snapped. “Is not normal, I felt it ! all of you felt it !”

Were they talking about that power of friendship that sometimes manifests on charity events ? I wouldn’t know for sure. So I asked again “Felt what ?”

I might have exasperated them again. Raven rolled her eyes before admitting. “Fear”

“And Kevin went missing,” added the boy.

I didn’t quite understand what they were referring to. Fortunately, a ginger girl in the back stood, pushing back her glasses, she cleared her voice and said with faint hesitation under her peers stares.

“The thing is, we don’t know what caused that fear. We just felt it. It was terrible. Everybody that was present started to run from the community center. For no reason, they just felt the danger. Nobody saw nothing dangerous.” Then she sighed “The day after that we were told it was drugs. But then Kevin went missing and no one could go near the community center”

“Was it closed?” I asked

“Not quite” said the boy “Well, Yes it is now. But after we left the event running. Some of us stopped taking time to think: ‘What are we running from ?’ that’s stupid right ? So I personally went back there, I felt it again and got away from it. And whenever I get close to the place I feel that irrational fear. At some point someone called the police. They couldn’t do their job because they felt it too, all they did is standing there useless”

“At the end of the day a perimeter was set around it” he finished.

“They are hiding the truth from us, Keith” said Raven “And they say Kevin is missing, but he was there !”

“Of course they are hiding something” said Keith “But look, this is not area 51, you want to raid. Yes we can’t let this slide, for Kevin, we have to discover the truth. But sneaking there is dangerous, it’s illegal. Plus we can’t even get clause to it ”

“We have to try ...”

The argument went on. I took a chair and dragged it to where the ginger girl sat. Her name was Ashley and she had a lot on her mind to say.

I was all ears.