Pack Secrets || WLW

Something Supernatural

"There's something supernatural going on in Glassboro," June says as if it's not the most obvious thing in the world. "Cape May too." She takes a sip of the beer she got out of the fridge half an hour ago.

    "June." I cross my arms over my chest and let out a mix of a scoff and a laugh. "No shit."

    "Angela was..." She shifts her weight forward so her elbows are resting on her knees. "More involved than you think."

    My chest clenches until it's difficult to breathe. I try not to let it show. Keeping my expression cool and collected must be working better than I'm expecting because June searches my face for some kind of response.

    "Sawyer," June says, pushing to her feet. She moves slowly, like I'm a fragile statue she doesn't want to break. "You okay?"

    I pull away when she reaches out for me. "What's that supposed to mean?" I ask.

    June shoves her hands in her pockets and looks at the floor. After a long deliberate pause, she shrugs. "Everyone who's gone missing is involved with this..." She clears her throat. "Supernatural thing."

    A tornado of emotion rips through me. So many separate emotions pull at me that I don't know which one to pay attention to. The betrayal sinking in my stomach at June knowing something about my best friend that I didn't? Or the irritation swelling in my throat because June didn't tell me this before?

    "Why didn't you tell me before?" I watch her closely while she opens her mouth and closes it again, searching for the right answer.

    "I wasn't allowed to," she finally says. "I'm still not supposed to tell you anything."

    "But it can help me find Angela." I'm not sure when my arms crossed over my chest on their own. "You had information that could have helped me find Angela sooner and you didn't—"

    June's in front of me, her beer discarded to the side while she pulls my arms away from my chest. "Sawyer, hey," she says, her voice soft.

    I pull away from her. "What else are you keeping from me?"

    June sighs and lets her arms fall to her side. "Your dad is... He's also involved in this whole thing. Or he was."

    "My dad?" I ask.

    June nods once. "Yeah. He um—"

    "I'm sorry, June. I..." I can't find the words to speak. I don't know what to say or what to feel. So many emotions are swirling in my chest, I want to scream. "I just need a minute."

    Pulling my keys from my pocket, I rush out the front door and let it slam behind me. June could follow me if she wanted but when the engine on my sedan hums to life, she's nowhere to be seen. It's a good thing, I tell myself. I need some time by myself right now. I need some time to think.

    Nothing makes sense. I'm not thinking about where I'm going as I try to pull the tangle of information apart and sort through it. I'm not fully paying attention until I pull into the dirt lot in front of my dad's house. A wave of sadness hits me when I look at the warped wooden porch and the detached garage my dad used to spend so much time with Ricky in. I hadn't thought about where I was going because I knew if I thought about it too much, I'd turn around. I'm not ready to be back at the house I was raised in but I need to talk to my dad about this. I need to hear it from him.

    Did this have anything to do with my dad losing his job? Is this why our family fell apart?

    Pulling my jacket tighter in the front, I take the old dirt path to his front door and knock. It's quiet and I wonder if he sleeps heavy enough to miss someone banging on his front door. I knock again and start toward the back. He used to leave the backdoor open in case anyone we knew needed to talk to him. If I'm lucky, he still does.