Vanished

Chapter Sixteen

The cloudy sky surrounded the area, with hints of the blue sky visible. Jason already knew that it wasn't going to be five days of peace before his birthday came. There were large holes that kept appearing, mostly injuring or killing children. They still don't know Ashley's whereabouts, along with whatever Greyson has planned.

Staring at the large hole behind the daycare, Ilya glanced over at him with Bella beside him. It was exactly like one of the streets Zane and the fire department tried to fill.

"Half the time, she kept standing still!" Ilya panicked.

She didn't report it until yesterday, when someone told them their friend fell into the large hole. It wasn't just one person who fell in; there were four injured.

"People were shooting at her yesterday. Henry and Finn—I think their names are. Five people died yesterday," Ilya rambled.

The numbers are slowly decreasing, and it has been two weeks. According to Zane, someone has already committed suicide in this ruinous place. In the first week, someone found the place overwhelming. It's understandable if people already have a mental illness or are just acting out of fear. Jason wondered if, when you die inside the bubble, you wake up in the real world.

Standing, he glanced over at Bella. "Zane and Devon will come over soon," Jason said.

"Do you have any idea what's happening?" Ilya asked. "Is someone attempting to hurt us?"

It was obvious that Ashley was out to hurt them, and people were being reckless, but he didn't want to create more chaos about this predicament. Eventually Ashley, or whoever they are, will get tired of creating holes in the ground.

"Just let us know if there's anything we should be concerned about," Ilya said. "Nevaeh informs us sometimes, but I'm not sure if it's always the truth."

Jason nodded his head and walked away with Bella. He didn't realize how easy it was for Nevaeh to get her hands on information through her mind. The last time he saw the girl was when she peeked into the house to confirm some gossip she had obtained about their injuries.

"Has Esme discovered anything to stop the disappearance?" Jason asked Bella.

"Nothing at the moment that even Nevaeh doesn't know any gossip about Greyson and the others. They don't seem to care much about other people's problems," Bella grumbled, shaking her head.

"With Greyson's demands, Luke's torture, and Scarlett's actions, they don't have anything secretive to hide," Jason said.

He looked toward the large hole before looking at Bella again. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, staring down at the grass. "Can we talk about the other day?" she questioned, looking back at him.

The other day, when he had kissed her when he had woken up from having injuries that made his entire body ache. It was in the moment that everything just seemed to fade away, and it just felt right.

"Sorry about that," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm okay with it," her voice whispered toward the end.

Jason widened his eyes as she looked at him with a smile. He placed a hand on her cheek, kissing her again. Pulling back, they both smiled, beginning to walk into the plaza.

Holding her hand, Jason still saw small blood stains on the sidewalk, despite being sprayed down with a hose. There was extra security placed around town, between stores, or beside wooden benches. They all stood with weapons, and there were people he didn't even recognize before.

One boy named Maverick stood with his dark eyes narrowed as they walked past the boy. When Jason noticed he held a gun, he stopped in his tracks.

"I thought we weren't using guns for security?" Jason questioned.