The Ghosts of Melbrew [1/12]

Chapter 26) Trip to the Sea

●●●

[ Friday March 17th, 2017 ]

          The long-awaited day had finally arrived, the day for Ms. Hogg’s field trip to Cape Flattery and Neah Bay. Any students going on the trip had an excuse from school for the day. After the typical round of morning announcements, we all reported to the main entrance of the school, where a single coach bus was waiting to pick us up. We would be returned to the school around 4 pm.

          As I walked down the void, yellow hallways, my gut was going mad. A bad, bad feeling was churning inside me. I nearly felt like throwing up. Or crapping my pants. Or both. Probably both. Call it my paranoid nerves, call it anxiety, call it some weird, evil, magic aura... But I felt that something very bad was going to happen.

          Veronica and I boarded the bus together, and sat down in the back section, “So, did you bring the jars and stuff?” She asked me. “I’ve got the stuff that’s supposed to kill them.”

          “Yeah, I’ve got like, thirty of them. I can’t tell if you have the nets or not, though.” I said, gesturing to the two large bug-catching nets that were sticking out of her backpack. “But really, though. I can’t believe this trip is even still allowed to go on after everything that’s happened.”

          “Yeah, really.” Veronica agreed. “I feel like a broken record at this point, but it’s like no one cares about the stuff that’s been going on recently. It’s bizarre, but the way my family has been handling things is even more so. But I’m sure you’re well aware by now. You know, I’m certainly sure that something is going on with them, but now I’m starting to question the town as a whole.”

          “Really? How so?”

          “Well, I mean, what did I just say? I just said no one seems to care. Like, I’m starting to think everyone’s in on the vampire stuff but us! Obviously that’s crazy, but so is the situation. I’ve really not been able to fathom the reactions from everyone around. Even thinking back to when Kimi and Kai’s parents were killed, no one besides them made a big deal about it. And considering that Melbrew’s orphanage takes in loads of kids whose parents were murdered… something just doesn’t seem right at all.”

          “You’ve got that right. It’s really strange to see you like this too, though. When we first met you were the smart, pretentious mean girl who knew everything, and now… well, now you seem to know no more than we do.”

          “I never knew a lot to begin with, is the thing. I just thought I did. My family told me just enough to keep me from questioning, but now that I’ve met you guys, I’m starting to see right through all the lies. If they found out about all this, I’m not sure what they’d do. For some reason, they didn’t want me to know about anything like this, but were perfectly fine with Victor knowing. I just don’t know why, and I want to figure it out now!”

          “We do too, trust me. But mysteries take time. We’ve come a long way from where we started, and I think we’re almost there. There’s just a few missing pieces left, but I feel we’re close. We just have to stay safe and keep searching.”

          “You’re right, I’m just so impatient! But I’m also curious. I’ve been thinking a whole lot about everything recently, and I can’t seem to stop. My mind has been stuck on my brother, and my family, and the town in general. All the weird things about it that I never questioned before now have me suspicious. Why are there so many police? Why are there loads of underground tunnels that they seem to know about, or may even be connected to? Why does no one seem to care about the murders and the dissapearences?”