The Dream Crashers ✓

12 - Revelations

The five of us trudged the distance to my house, having left behind all our vehicles. They insisted on disappearing as soon as possible to evade the cops, which didn't make any sense to me since we didn't do anything wrong. But then again, they were involved in a lot of stuff that made no sense, so why question it anymore?

We had stripped off all our outerwear and wiped the blood from our faces and arms with our jackets. When we passed the construction site, I shivered, remembering what had happened not too long ago. The eerie wooden frames towered over us as we walked around.

Seth chuckled. "No shortcut today?"

"Funny," I said dryly.

Mara, who was walking ahead of us, turned around. "Will the two of you stop flirting and hurry up? Do you think we know where we're going?"

"Just keep walking straight. I'll tell you when to turn," I said. Then to Seth, I asked, "Why are we going to my house anyway?"

"It's closest. And I want to wait out the police before I go back for my bike."

"I don't get why you guys act so suspicious. You obviously didn't do anything, yet you're continually hiding from the cops," I said.

"We're four minors running around without any adult supervision. Back at the school, cops are going to be asking kids to call their parents, and we won't have anyone to call," Seth explained. "And I don't know about you, but I don't plan on landing myself in a foster home, especially when—"

Mara suddenly stiffened and AJ and Elijah both glared at Seth.

"Dude, insensitive much?" Elijah whispered. Without his glasses, which were broken during the bird attack, his eyes looked less pronounced and squintier.

"I didn't mean it like that," Seth said. "I'm sorry—"

"It's whatever," she responded, waving it off. She was trying to sound nonchalant, but I I couldn't help but notice her fists curl and her fingernails digging into the flesh of her palms. "That was a long time ago."

I let the three of them walk farther ahead before pulling Seth back. "What did you mean when you said none of you have parents?" I asked.

"We've each been through a lot," he said cryptically. "And we've gotten on fine without parents. We're family to each other."

"But then how do you guys afford to live? None of you work?"

"We have our ways."

My eyes widened as a thought dawned on me. "Don't tell me you broke into the apartment you're living in."

"Okay. I won't."

"Seth!"

"Relax," he said, laughing. "I didn't. I have an inheritance. And as long as I spend it carefully, it'll last me for a while. A long while, actually."

"But where's it coming from?"

"Does it matter?"

"And I just remembered something you said in my dream. You said you dropped out of school? But you're in my history class," I said.

"None of us are officially "students." I enrolled in your school to observe you, but after we get this all figured out, I'm probably gonna disappear again."

I don't know why, but his comment made my heart sink. It never occurred to me that one day, all of this will be over and I'll go back to my normal life, finishing up the rest of high school and going to college. And then when that day came, the four of them would be nothing more than a distant memory.