Vanished

Chapter Sixteen

The cloudy sky surrounded the area. Vanishing in about five days, set a rush inside. Jason already knew that it wasn't going to be five days of peace. The large holes that keep appearing, mostly injuring or killing children, Ashley's whereabouts is unknown, as is 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 there were already three dead and four injured. Ashley definitely wasn't herself anymore.

"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?" She asked. "Is someone attempting to hurt us?"

They may have been given words or even items, but nothing fully stated what happened.

Ilya nodded while smiling weakly before walking back toward the black gate with the girl. Jason turned toward Bella, who was staring at him.

"Has Esme discovered anything about the vanishing?" Jason asked.

"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. Maybe just don't think about it and focus on something else," 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 day he kissed her, it felt right, which he doesn't regret.

"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. Extra security seemed to be placed around town, between stores, or beside wooden benches.

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

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

"Greyson says downtown gets guns. Why are you scared?" Maverick snarled, a glare still resting on his face. "Your little girlfriend is quite cute."

Maverick reached a hand toward her, but instead of Jason slapping his hand away, that energy glowed out of his hands. It sliced off four of his fingers, sending them to the ground.

Maverick raised his hand slowly, maintaining a hard glare with blood pooling down his hand from his sliced fingers, which were only red nubs.

Jason then spotted large spiders starting to crawl up his arm. They were of different sizes and types that started to eat his flesh, revealing his veins. He screamed, trying to get the small ones off. They wouldn't go away; they just spread between his pants and arms.