You run up the street, breathing heavily, only just managing to keep ahead of the men (and very possibly women, since you couldn't see their features clearly) racing at you behind you. You had never been much of a runner - that was your sister. She was the one who had gotten all of the awards for track and cross-country.
You mentally shake your head. No. This wasn't the time to think about this. You only had the time to focus on one thing - running.
You see an alleyway materialize up ahead. You feel relief flooding through you, as you know this alleway. You frequented it so many times, you knew every nook and cranny...
...And every hiding place.
You dash into the alleyway, and before they enter the alleyway and can see where you go, you walk through a brick wall.
Or so it would seem to others. But the ivy covering the wall hid something that nobody but select few people in your small town knows of - a hole.
You squeeze through the narrow passageway and walk down it until you reach a large room somewhere inside the building. The thing was, there were no doors or windows inside it. So you were safe - you felt sure that the people pursuing you did not know of this passageway.
As you begin wondering, however, who those people were and WHERE everyone in your town had gone, you noticed something you had not before. There were five other people in the room. You had not noticed them before, caught up in your thoughts.
"What's happening?" You wince when your voice comes out shakily. You hate it when you sound weak.
"How are we supposed to know?" a fellow 17-year-old asks.
You glare at him as you see who it is. It's your worst enemy, Phoenix Black. Even though it was dark out, you could just make out his black hair. And, besides, you'd recognize his voice anywhere.
"Shut up, Phoenix," a girl's voice says. "We don't need any fighting. Not at a time like this."
Your heart leaps. It's Electra Night, your best friend and, unfortunately, Phoenix's twin sister.
"Electra!" you exclaim, grinning. "I'm so glad you're here."
"Ah, December, you know I'd never leave you," she says, and you can here the grin in her voice. "You'd die without me. And, besides, who'd be able to plot evil schemes to get you and Phoenix together?"
You groan. You cannot believe she would still pursue her crazy idea that you and Phoenix should be together when something like this is happening.
"Who else is here?" you ask, in an effort to change the subject.
"Genesis," a small girl's voice speaks out, and you grin delightedly. You're glad that Electra and Phoenix 4-year-old sister made it.
"Gabriel," another voice, one your age, said.
Ah. Of course. Electra's boyfriend.
"Um, and London Ice," a girl who sounded like she was in her twenty's said.
You know London, but only by name and reputation. You know everybody in this town. It's impossible not to, with the town being so small. London just moved there about a year ago from who-knew-where. She wouldn't tell anybody. She never talked much, and was basically a mystery. She didn't fit in with the town, and so the town didn't like her.
But you didn't really know whether you liked her or not. You hadn't even met her until now. You would withhold your judgement until you did know her.
"So, what do we do now?" you ask the group.
"I don't know," Electra answers. "But I really want to know where everyone went. They can't be all gone. We have to find as many people as we can and bring them here. This is the only safe place in town."
You're not sure if this is the best idea. What if you encountered the people chasing you again?
But you know you do have to find whoever you can. Your family could be out there somewhere.
You bite your lip, undecided. What should you do?
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