Chapter Text
As I look out of the window of my home, I can’t help feeling that something bad is coming my way. I keep telling myself that I’m just nervous about going home for spring break. I haven’t seen my family in over a year since I left for college. I am the youngest of three and we all ended up going to the same college, at the request of our parents so we could carpool and not waste gas. Me and my siblings usually got along, but lately Trish has been distant, I suspect it has something to do with her asshole of a boyfriend. One time I found Trish with bruises on her arms in the shape of hands, but she said it was an accident. I didn’t believe her for a second, but I knew if I pushed too hard, she would withdraw further, I have never mentioned this to Darry though because I had no evidence, but I could always sense when something was wrong. I just hope that Trish will confide in us soon because I know it’s not healthy to keep things like abuse to yourself.
“Karen are you gonna stare out the window all day or are you gonna pack?” Trish asked from across the room. It was then that I looked at the clock and realized that I had been staring out the window for almost an hour and a half.
“Sorry Trish, I just got lost in thought.” I said with a smile.
“That’s been happening a lot lately, is something wrong?” she asked, knowing that when I begin to space out it usually means something is going to happen.
“I honestly don’t know; I just have a feeling that something really bad is going to happen.” I said.
“Well, nothing bad is gonna happen to us Karen so stop worrying. Now come away from the window before someone sees you without your jacket.” She said in a comforting tone.
I looked at her and smiled. Maybe she was right and nothing bad would happen to us, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling. I moved away from the window and put on my custom sleeveless duster jacket to hide my wings. I probably should have mentioned that I’m not exactly human and that I look very different from my brother and sister. I have long white hair, pointed ears that I hide with my hair, bright blue eyes and of course a pair of huge wings. My parents told me when I was younger that they found me as a baby on their front porch and when they brought me into the house, Trish, and Darry, who were only 4 and 2 at the time, came rushing over to see me and when I smiled up at them, they fell in love and begged our parents to keep me, which they did. It was a little difficult at first, but everyone adjusted well; until I started teaching myself how to fly, but that’s a story for later.
I get back to packing my bags for the trip home and think about whose car we were taking and what route we were taking home. I heard Trish and Darry talking about taking her car and driving the back way home down East 9. The thought of traveling down the nine made me shutter for some reason, but I just chalked it up to being nerves again. Once I had everything packed, I set my bags down in the hallway of our apartment and waited for Trish to get off the phone with Darry. We must pick him up since he lives on campus and Trish, and I share an apartment off campus.
“Ok, well see you then Dare.” Trish said as she hung up the phone.
“Ready to go?” Trish said with a smile.
“Yep, let’s get going while there’s still daylight.” I said jokingly.
Trish nodded, and we grabbed our stuff, locked up the apartment and headed to the car. We threw the big suitcases in the trunk and the smaller ones with our food, water and other necessities in the back seat and then headed out. Once we arrived at the campus, we found Darry outside his dorm with all his bags. I got out and switched to the back seat after he put all his bags in because he offered to drive halfway and Trish really wanted to sit in the front, so she could put her feet on the dash, which I was fine with since it was her car and that meant I could lay in back as we traveled.
“Everyone ready for the longest sibling trip ever!” Darry exclaimed with childish excitement to make me and Trish laugh.
“All right brat let’s not start that until we’re on the road.” Trish said smiling and rolling her eyes. I just giggled and shook my head.
“This is going to be a very interesting trip home.” I said as we pulled off.
I knew that once we got further into the trip, we would start playing the games we made up when we were teenagers, but for now we just chatted about our midterms and what our family plans for break were. We haven’t spent this much time together since the holidays and I couldn’t be happier, but occasionally when Darry would bring up the topic of relationships, Trish would change the subject almost instantly. I knew it was a touchy subject for Trish, but she needs to gain the strength to tell us herself. We would bring up our past adventures from when we were kids and laugh about when we goofed up when trying to do something simple, like when Darry got his head stuck in the banisters of the stairs while acting like he was a ghost and could walk through walls, or when Trish got her hair caught in the mixer while we were making a birthday cake for our dad, or the time I clogged the vacuum with my shoes because I forgot to pick them up and the laces got tangled in the rotating brush. We have had a lot of mishaps in the past, but we can laugh about them and make others laugh whenever we are at family functions or hanging out with friends. It kinda saddens me that those days of goofing off are over but if we keep these memories, we will never truly be apart.
After about three hours of driving down the first stretch of East 9, we stop to get gas, lunch, and a much-needed bathroom break. I went into the store to get more snacks and drinks for the road while Trish went to the bathroom and Darry waiting in line to pay for gas. I looked around the store and picked up all the necessities such as toilet paper, water, batteries, etc. plus a few treats for us and proceeded to the register. As I stood in line, I noticed that the walls were covered with missing person fliers. The people ranged from young, old, rich, poor, locals, tourists, male, female, as well as a variety of ethnicities. I notice that all the people seemed to have disappeared in the same year and within the same month which I found was odd, but I also got a chill down my spine from this fact. I saw Darry pay for the gas and then head back to the car and when it was my turn to check out, I continued to look at the fliers and the cashier noticed this.
“It’s a shame, so many different people vanishing into thin air.” He said catching my attention.
“Yeah, what’s the story behind these disappearances; surely they can’t all be related.” I said trying to get more information.
“No one really knows, the only thing that links these cases is that they were either living near or traveling down East 9 and that they all disappeared 23 years ago.” He explained while ringing up my items.
“And there have been no leads as to who is behind this?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, no, but some of the crazier locals will tell you that a winged beast swooped down and took their loved ones; I wouldn’t pay them any mind since they are just trying to make sense of a bad situation and will rely on old legends to help ease the pain of losing a loved one.” He explained as he began typing in my total. At the mention of a winged beast, I became really uncomfortable. His description sounded extremely similar to me, but I just shook my head to rid myself of that thought.
‘I am one of a kind. There’s no way another being like me could exist.’ I thought to myself.
“Ok that’ll be $23.23.” He said, snapping me out of my thought. I thought the total was odd but figured it was nothing and handed him the amount owed. The bagboy bagged my groceries and handed them to me and as I was about to walk out the door, the cashier turned to me.
“Hey, be safe out there.” He said and then returned to checking out another customer.
“I will.” I replied and continued back to the car.
I walk back to the car to see Darry getting ready to fill the tank, so I figured I should try to be productive while we wait on Trish and for the tank to fill. I try to organize everything in the backseat so that I can lay down a take and nap when we get back on the road, but it was proving to be a little more difficult than I thought. Darry had a lot more stuff in his bags than I thought and most of it was dirty clothes, ‘really Darry’ I thought to myself, but I knew it was more for mom because she has been experiencing empty nest syndrome. Bringing home dirty laundry is Darry’s way of telling mom that no matter how old we are we will always need her in our lives. Trish doesn’t know Darry does this and Darry doesn’t know that I know why he does it, but I’ll let them figure it out as the youngest I find it entertaining when my older siblings get into silly arguments.
“Hey, Karen we got everything we need?” Darry asked as he finished filling the tank.
“I believe so; just waiting on Trish to get out of the bathroom.” I reply.
I knew Trish would be a while because no matter where you go, there is always a line for the women’s bathroom. This rest stop is always packed because it’s the last stop before heading down the nine or the main highway and the next stops are hours away in either direction, so everyone stops here to stock up, gas up, and relieve themselves. I hear the pump stop and Darry putting the nozzle back on the pump and at almost the same time we see Trish walking towards the car. Me and Darry smile while getting in the car, Trish hops into the passenger side and we head out.
“God why is there always a line for the girl’s bathroom?!” Trish asked in an irritated voice.
“Because we females are very particular about hygiene.” I said sarcastically.
Trish looked back at me and tried to look serious, but it failed as she began to smile, and we both burst out laughing. Darry just shook his head and giggled while keeping his eyes on the road. Trish and I continued to joke about the stereotypes surrounding females and even Darry joined in a few times but otherwise let us enjoy ourselves. After a while, we stopped talking and I began to feel a little sleepy, so I decided to take a nap while we were on smooth asphalt before we got onto the main stretch of East 9.
“Hey guys, I’m gonna take a nap, wake me up if we stop.” I said.
“Ok, just don’t roll off the seat and don’t blame us if we run over a big bump.” Darry said jokingly.
I smiled and told them that I’ll be fine and that I would blame them anyway because that’s what siblings do. As I lie down, I couldn’t help but feel even more nervous than when we left the campus, but I shrugged it off and closed my eyes. I drifted off to sleep quickly, but still couldn’t shake this unsettling feeling. Little did I know that when I woke up, I would be pit against my worst nightmare. I was also about to learn the hard way that you should always follow your instincts.