EPPINGTON: THE GUARDED SECRET by Tanya Taylor (red queen free ebook TXT) 📗

nerve-wracking! The guys had no idea, but every simple sound made me edgy, and at one point, my stomach felt queasy. It wasn’t unusual to hear crickets that time of night, but even their chirping was almost enough to send me into panic mode. I believe what made this event more harrowing for me was that we were traveling together as a group which, in my mind, could look suspicious if we happened to be seen. There was no way we could outrun some of those dogs, especially the Rottweilers and Pit Bulls. The very thought of them catching up to us and shredding us to pieces was enough to make me find the Powells’ guest bathroom the minute we stepped inside the house.

“Are you okay in there?” Sam spoke quietly outside the door five minutes after I’d gone in.

“Yeah. Coming out now.” I was washing my hands.

Rob’s house was one of the finer ones in our neighborhood. His dad was an accountant and his mom our high school principal. If you asked me, both of his folks seemed pretty grumpy, but they loved their Rob to bits. Gave him everything he wanted and discouraged him from being too free-handed, especially with us guys. Guess they weren’t big believers in sharing, yet despite their greatest efforts, Rob was just different. He was the kindest kid I knew; would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. All of us were pretty free-handed, I guess you could say. Probably why we remained friends for so long. We had a special camaraderie; everyone looked out for each other. It was like an unspoken pledge from day one.

Sam’s nose wrinkled at the prevailing stench after I’d walked out of the bathroom. No one told her to stand guard at the door, but I guess she took her chances there rather than being anywhere near Rob’s folks who were sitting together on the living room couch watching television. The only problem with that was the television wasn’t on and they seemed not to notice.

Rob was busy grabbing whatever he could from the kitchen cupboards and the fridge while Sam and I waited near the front door. When he emerged a few minutes later, he was carrying two large backpacks—one on each shoulder.

“Did you get water?” I asked him.

“Yeah. I’ve got some bottles in here.” He shrugged his shoulder to indicate which backpack the water was in.

“Let me help.” I relieved him of one of the backpacks.

We headed back outside.

“Don’t you think we should take our bikes?” Rob asked as we stepped down from the porch.

“And do what?” Sam glared. “Get noticed even quicker? Have you seen any other kids riding their bikes today? I sure haven’t.”

“I guess you’re right,” Rob returned. “Just thought they’d come in handy if we ever needed a quick getaway, that’s all.”

“We have to blend in as much as possible guys,” I reminded them. “One off move could be the end of us as we know ourselves, then we definitely won’t be of any help to our families.”

As we were leaving the Powells’ property and heading onto the road lined with dimly lit streetlamps and willow oak trees, an air of sadness overwhelmed me. I felt like I was abandoning my family—Carl included. I wondered what they were doing and if Dillinger was constantly taking advantage of them. A tear slid down my cheek and I quickly wiped it before any of the guys noticed. I assumed they had similar thoughts concerning their folks. None of us, including Jase had the perfect family, but we all had a family that loved us and vice-versa. I honestly didn’t realize how good I had it and how lucky I was until my mother’s smile was no longer there and my dad’s interest was no longer in me, and Carl wasn’t his annoying little self anymore. I struggled to keep myself from thinking what it would be like if they never woke up from that unearthly daze.

“We shouldn’t go back the same way we came,” Sam remarked after we’d already walked a good distance in the very same direction we came from.

“Why are you saying that now?” I asked her.

She didn’t respond right away. “I don’t know… I just feel like something’s off.”

“In what way, Sam?” Rob probed as he adjusted the backpack on his left shoulder.

She sighed. “Uh...forget it. I think it’s just my paranoia.”

We continued on.

“Hey! Somebody’s coming!” Sam whispered loudly. “They’re straight ahead; walking on the same side as us!”

“Just stay calm,” I told them. “Keep your cool. They’re probably just out for a walk.”

We walked in silence and as the figure gradually approached, I heard Rob say, “It’s Jase, y’all. It’s Jase!”

I saw that he was right. “Still keep your cool, guys. We don’t know if he’s himself or not.”

“Exactly,” Sam agreed.

Wearing his famous grey jacket with the hoodie, Jase was walking alone with both hands shoved inside his pockets.

Before we passed each other, I stopped and said, “Jase, it’s me—Hewey. Are you okay?”

He stopped and looked at me, then at Sam and Rob. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, but the emptiness I saw in Jase’s probably meant that he was suddenly a human without a soul. I hated to think it, but our Jase was not present. If he was, I knew we wouldn’t be able to reach him, just like we couldn’t reach our folks. Without the slightest acknowledgment, he continued on his way, murmuring something about the ninth star or some nonsense I couldn’t comprehend.

We watched for a few moments as he proceeded down the street as if he’d never known us.

“Poor Jase,” Rob said. “If only he’d stayed with us…”

Sam sighed deeply. “He’s too darn hard-headed! Always has been.”

“Let’s keep going,” I said. “It’s obvious talking to anyone under that spell from now on doesn’t make sense. We’re not gonna get anywhere with them. Let’s just get back to the spot and we can