Species Unknown [Book 2: Pisces)

30. THE ESCAPE (PART 1)

EMERGING FROM NOAH'S house, I noticed that it was just past dark and the stars were beginning to appear in the sky.

Austin and I watched from the driveway as Noah got into his car and turned on the engine. Noah gave us a thumbs-up signal, and with that, Austin and I made our way over to Austin's small black car. Slipping into the car, I closed the door and adjusted the mirror to check my appearance one last time.

After Noah had come back into the room, we all decided that it would be a good idea to try to disguise ourselves as much as possible before heading over to the compound. Fortunately, Noah had plenty of black clothes from his high-school emo phase to let Austin and I pick through.

As I rummaged through his old closet, I kept imagining the shaggy blonde Noah with black eyeliner and skinny jeans. That led me to hold in silent laughter as I picked out what to wear, all the while, Noah and Austin watched my strange behavior curiously.

In the end, Austin and Noah both wore black sweatshirts and jeans. Fortunately, Noah stopped growing in high school, reaching just over six feet by the time he was eighteen. This meant that his clothes hung loose on Austin and me. Though, arguably looser on my short frame than Austin's. In fact, we couldn't find any jeans that would fit me, so I settled on a pair of black sweatpants with an adjustable waist tie that would work. I also dawned on one of Noah's black sweaters that fit oversized enough to also potentially conceal my gender.

Glancing at myself in the car mirror, I made sure I tucked every last strand of my hair underneath the black baseball cap I took from Noah's closet. Once that was done, I slipped on a pair of black sunglasses that I had found in the car's dash compartment and closed the mirror.

In the corner of my vision, I saw Austin slip his hoodie over his head and slip his own pair of sunglasses over his eyes. He caught me watching him and our eyes met behind the tint of our glasses.

"Ready?" Austin asked from the driver's seat, turning on the engine.

"Ready." I confirmed and signaled to Noah across the driveway that we were good to go.

I saw Noah nod before pulling his car out of the driveway. Following Noah's car, we backed out of the driveway and onto the road, finally heading back towards the compound.

As we drove, an eerie feeling washed over me.

With the car window slightly cracked, I could feel the chilly evening breeze against my cheek, making me shiver. Wrapping my arms around myself, I looked out of the window and towards the beach stretching along the highway.

While we were at Noah's, a strong wind had picked up, roughly tossing the palm trees decorating the California highway we drove on.

I tucked my necklace underneath my sweater and tried to focus on my breathing, telling myself this ominous feeling was just my nerves, but no matter what I did the feeling only grew. There was something about this scene that was eerily familiar, and I had a horrible feeling that something was going to go very wrong.

Glancing over at the dark ocean, I pushed the thought out of my head. I rolled down the windows further, letting the salty air sting my face, bringing me back to the first time I drove down these roads as a new intern. I remembered how much I hated the ocean back then. That day seemed so long ago, yet it had barely been two weeks.

However, unlike the first time I drove down these roads, the salty air felt like a breath of freedom rather than the sting of painful memories.

Leaning against the open window, I closed my eyes to the breeze as we drove. This time the ocean would be our salvation, a way out of this hellish place, far away from Dr. Grant and his twisted laboratory.