Kayleigh’s Pov - Gisele’s

August 31, 2018

Officially it's been two days since we left Portland, and I don't know how to feel. I admit I don't consider Portland my home, but it did bring a sense of peace. Which is something I haven't felt in a while. However, I'm sure it must've felt like home to the rest of my sisters.

I know we all felt some way about mom's sudden decision; Eve's reaction was proof of that. But nobody was going to oppose her. We had too much respect for her, and everything she does is in our best interest. I firmly believed Mom had a reason for this. I'll even bet it had something to do with the atmospheric shift. It wasn't the first time we'd ever felt them, but that shift chilled me to the core; it was dangerous.

Shifts like those don't happen naturally. Those were physical creations, assisting in warnings of various forms. It just concerns me that nobody's said anything yet. I know the community felt the shift, yet no one has reported it. Mom wasn't saying anything either, so that didn't help.

I needed a distraction, but there wasn't much to do in the car. I didn't want to sleep as I awoke not too long ago, and I didn't want to observe anything. I had seen enough between my conscious and unconscious states, and it caused me to worry. We've been moving nonstop for the past two days, only stopping briefly to refill on gas and grab a few snacks. The snacks did nothing and offered no energy whatsoever. We needed real food, but we had no idea when mom would stop.

Yesterday, Cassidy asked about stopping and got ignored by mom. I don't think she did it on purpose, but no one asked her about stopping again. In all honesty, I blame myself for my mom's current state. I knew something was wrong when I passed her room two days ago. She was on the floor frantically looking through some papers. She didn't even hear me when I called out to her, I thought everything would be fine the next day, but she kept to herself and was tense.

I should've asked her what was going on. There was no guarantee that she would've told me, but it still might've helped. There's nothing I can do about it now, sadly. I'll have to focus on keeping my sisters emotions at bay, especially Eve's. Her off-the-wall temper had calmed down when we moved to Portland, but who knows how she'll be now?

"Kayleigh!" Natalia exclaimed while hitting me on the shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Mom's been calling you; pay attention." Natalia scoffs. Her eyes rotate 360 before looking away.

"I'm sorry, mom, whatcha need?"

"No need to apologize, sweetie. I didn't mean to disturb you." She reassured, a soft smile settling upon her lips. "Can you hand me that blue bag by your feet?"

"Oh, sure," I replied.

I grabbed her bag and tossed it in the passenger seat before leaning back. Ugh, I didn't want to think anymore. My brain was tired, and I needed a break. So I gazed out the window, the trees blending with their neighbor as we passed. The road blurs as my eyes glance at it, the length never-ending. Surprisingly it lulled me to sleep.

~~~~

A loud ringing pulled me from my sleep, much to my dismay. Sleep was my first love, and I hated when my slumber was interrupted. It wasn't a secret either, so I prayed the source of that ringing was the traffic.

Groaning, I opened my eyes slightly; just to shut them immediately as a bright light hit them.

Damn, what the hell was that?

Slowly, I tried again, rubbing my eyes as I went. The answers to my question were staring down at me. It was daytime, and the sun was piercing. Judging by the shadows, I concluded it was sometime in the afternoon. I had slept longer than I wanted, yet I was angry that my sleep had been disturbed. Even more so since the ringing was somebodies alarm that they hadn't turned off. I'm going to kill them.

"Cassidy, turn that stupid alarm off. Some of us are trying to sleep!" Eve shouted.

"Huh? That's not mine!"

"Well, somebody needs to turn that shit off!" Eve hissed.

"Sorry, that was mine! I didn't know it was programmed to go off." Natalia revealed, frantically grabbing her phone to silence it.

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"You idiot, you ruined my sleep! You know I hate being woken up." I scoffed.

"Oh hush, your snoring ruined my sleep."

"I don't snore," I mumbled. Sinking into my seat as I process what Natalia said.

"That's enough, guys; I'm trying to go back to sleep." Eve groaned, covering herself with a jacket she had pulled out of her bag.

"Don't fall asleep now," Mom called. "We're almost at our destination."

"What destination?" I asked, yet she didn't answer. Confusion clouded our minds.

We wanted to ask again but decided against it. Mom didn't say anything else either. Her once distant expression was now soft, a small smile gracing her lips. She didn't look as tense, so I'm sure something was putting her mind at ease. Maybe she was finally coming around. However, I wonder where mom could be taking us. We were nearing a domestic area, so perhaps we were stopping there.

An hour went when mom finally stopped the car. She had pulled into a parking lot; the building in the middle was barely visible from my position.

Where the hell did mom bring us?

The sounds of doors closing brought me from my thoughts. I had a bad habit of getting lost in my thoughts and getting left behind. It'll probably destroy me one day, but I'll worry about that later. Slipping out of the car, I pull myself into a deep stretch. The tension that plagued my body eases; the cracking of my bones plays like music as it hits my ears. Long car rides can really strain the body, even mine, with its difference in structure.

Feeling refreshed, I finally took a look around. Little shops littered the surrounding area. There weren't any advertisements outside, so I had no idea what the stores were. They could be closed for all I knew, but I would give them a look if given a chance. Eventually, I brought my attention back to the building in front. It was a small one-story with gray concrete walls. Long led lights sat along the roof and decorated every other window. They weren't on, though, probably due to the sun being out. The welcome sign wasn't on and hadn't been for the few people sitting in the windows. I would've thought the place was closed.

Finally, we get to eat!

The smell of my two favorite things hit my nose as we entered the diner; chocolate and cinnamon. It felt like my own personal paradise.

My sisters scanned the diner for a seat that would fit all of us while I continued to look around. It was pretty spacious in here compared to the outside. A fair amount of people were seated, mostly taking window seats or along the left side of the wall. But they all looked to be enjoying themselves. This place had a vintage look; the counters resembled ones in an antique shop. I blanked on what the seating reminded me of, but it complemented nicely. The diner had a lot of charm, and the smell lingering from the kitchen had me drooling. I couldn't wait to taste the food.

After finding a booth in the back, we waited for someone to come and tend to us. Nobody had said anything yet, probably nervous about breaking the silence. We all had questions, and mom held the answers. Running a hand through her hair, mom sighed. Her eyes sparkled with sadness as she stared at us. It broke my heart to see her like this; what was going on?

"You guys don't have to look so nervous."

"I guess we're just confused about what's happening," Cassidy mumbled.

Nodding in agreement, Eve looked toward mom. "Yeah, what exactly are we doing here?"

Mom glanced at Eve, the sadness in her eyes growing.

"Well, we're currently sitting in Gisele's, a diner I visited years back."

"Where are we going? You couldn't have planned a trip just for this diner." retorted Eve. She didn't understand what sense it would make to take a trip for this. There had to be more.

"We're on our way to Florida," Mom replied. "We're moving to Locksville, Florida."

"Why the sudden move? We didn't have enough time to pack properly." Natalia questioned, a look of confusion etching its way onto her face. Her question swerved as a double meaning, but I wonder if she'll get the hint.

"There's no specific reason, and I was planning on buying you new stuff anyway."

She dodged the question entirely; that answer held no weight at all. What was she hiding? It can't be that bad that she has to hide it.

"For the past few weeks, I've been looking for a new place for us to live. There's no secret that people around the neighborhood had been snooping around the house and being nosey." Mom sighed, her eyes rolling as she recalled an incident with one of our neighbors. "It was only a matter of time before they found out about us, and I wasn't going to allow that. So when my friend told me about Florida, I settled everything."

"The school year starts in a few days, so I wanted to move before then."

"Well, I guess that does make sense; the neighbors were getting out of hand," Natalia responded. Her body relaxed as she processed the information mom gave.

Mom was right; it was no secret the neighbors were nosey. The number of times we would catch them eyeing our house or following us to school was ridiculous. However, I still think there is something else going on. The look on moms face says it all; her eyes were full. I'm surprised they haven't started leaking yet. Mom must've sensed my suspicion. She glanced at me from her peripheral, then cleared her throat.

"So how about we order and then visit our new house?" Mom asked. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

Laughing in agreement, we waved a waiter to come over. I know one of the workers had seen us come in, so they probably gave us space and time to review the menus already on the table.

I was happy that mom decided to talk to us about everything. But I didn't miss how she said nothing about the atmospheric shift. But I wasn't going to ask about it yet. It would disrupt the peace and only worry my sisters. Yet there was something that made my body go rigid.

Kayleigh, we're in trouble.