The Left Behind

3. nightmare

DAKOTA

April 28, 2018

5:07 AM

This unsettling feeling in my stomach was getting worse by the minute. What the hell is going on? It was our wonderful birthday one minute and then all of a sudden, there was a stir in our quiet neighborhood. Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened in this town, let alone in my life. My hands are buried in my hoodie's pocket, clenched into fists. I don't know what's going on but all I want is my mom. I need to see her. Where could she be? This wasn't like her to cause us to worry. I was brought out of my thoughts as Harper and I stopped in front of a three story house. This was the only three-floored house on our street. More like mansion. All the houses on our street were pretty large but this one definitely was the biggest.

"Alright, let's go." Harper said as he stepped forward. This house belonged to the Garcia family. Raymond and Leah Garcia with their 3 children, Jeremy, Jordan, and Jet. Jeremy is the eldest at 18. He's a senior like us and goes to the same school. I've had classes with him a few times throughout the past 4 years but we don't usually talk. His younger siblings, Jordan and Jet, age 11, are twins like Dalton and I. That's actually the main reason why our two families got acquainted. My mom became good friends with Leah after meeting a few times.

We rang the bell to the house and waited for a few minutes. "They probably didn't hear us. Should I ring it again?" Harper asked nervously. "Yeah, lets ring it again. They might be deep sleepers. If they don't answer again, we can just try Mr. and Mrs. Smith." I said before I pressed on the doorbell. "Okay."

There was no answer and we couldn't hear any movement in the house. "Alright, let's just go." I said quickly. I wonder if the others got any answers. Before we knew it, we made it to the Smith's residence. They were a middle age couple in the mid fifties, I believe. Their children are adults, living out of state. We got to the front door and rang the bell. A few seconds later, we heard a dog barking from inside. Mr. and Mrs. Smith adopted a border collie last year and named her Cindy. We waited but even with her barking, there was no answer. I sighed. It is pretty early in the morning and I can see why no one would be awake right now but it didn't feel right. After a few moments, Harper and I looked at each other. I knew that he was thinking the same thing I was.

Harper and I were pretty outgoing and extroverted people. Out of our whole group, Harper's personality was the closest with mine. We were both polite and friendly to those who showed us the same courtesy. We enjoy making others feel comfortable and don't get angry easily. We also don't show our emotions other than happiness easily.

"I think we should check one more house. Who do you think we should go to?"

I nod. "Let's go to the Jennings." We left the Smith's and started towards the end of the street. The Jennings were a family of 3. Gwen and Nick Jenning with their son, Kain. Kain Jenning. He is 18, like us, but he goes to Henderson High School. Henderson high was Rohan High's rival school. Although I haven't talked to him before, I saw him with Mrs. Jenning, out on their driveway in the past. We briskly walked to the end of the street, took deep breaths, and rang the bell. Around 20 seconds later, the door opened slightly. After whoever was inside saw who we were, they opened the door completely. It was Kain at the door. Even though we had a good cause for coming here, I couldn't help but feel a tad embarrassed visiting at 5:30 in the morning. We've never officially met. This is awkward as hell. Honestly, I'm surprised he even recognized us to open the door.

"...Can I help you?" Kain asks with a hint of annoyance in his voice. His eyes and voice didn't show any signs of sleep. "Yes, we need to talk to your parents. It's important." Harper curtly says. Harper must've sensed Kain's annoyance. Kain frowned and then raised an eyebrow. I could tell he was about to retort so I cut in. "We're kind of in a rush. Please, could you go get them?" I tried my best to speak carefully. We didn't need to be arguing right now. It would waste time and be pointless. Kain hesitated but then nodded. He closed the door before turning around. We waited a few minutes and the door finally opened. It was still Kain. We were about to say something in confusion but I stopped abruptly. His expression mirrored slight confusion. Harper noticed too because he said, "What's wrong? Are they coming?" It seemed Kain was thinking about what to say. "They... aren't home right now." Harper and I looked at each other, concerned. Did the others find anyone? We didn't get any texts or calls.

"Can I ask what you needed them for?" Kain says, seeing our expressions. Harper didn't say anything, waiting for me to speak. How would I explain this? What could I say that won't make me come off as a paranoid we-. My thoughts were cut off by Kain. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I guess I took too long. "Uh, no, it's not that. It's just hard to explain." I took a deep breath and continued, "Something strange is going on and we needed to get some answers. We thought that other adults would know." Kain just stood there, not saying a word. I then realized that he was waiting for me to continue. "...Would you maybe... want to come out real quick? My group of friends are out in the neighborhood, asking around as well." There was silence. Just as I was about to tell him that there's no pressure, he says, "Ok. I'm just gonna change real quick." With that, he closed the door. I blink. Harper lets out a laugh that sounds like it was being held in. "Why are you laughing?" I ask while narrowing my eyes. "I never thought I would ever enjoy seeing someone so uncomfortable!" he says. I roll my eyes. "It'll be you next." Just then, Kain came out of the door in casual attire. He locked the door and waited for us to lead the way. "Alright, lets go."

5:50 AM

When we left Kain's house and started for my house, I noticed that the cries of the babies had died down a little. It wasn't too loud and some houses were quiet. As we were walking in silence, I ask, "So, how did you hear us at the door? No one else we went to heard us." "I wasn't sleeping. I was watching YouTube so I was able to hear you right away." "That's cool. Who do you normally watch?" Harper asks curiously. We keep walking. Harper and Kain seem to be getting along.

As we approach my house, I see Kingsley and Jade sitting on the porch steps with two kids. We got closer and I noticed it was Alan Martin and Evan Radford. I know that Alan is 6 years old but I don't know how old Evan is. Harper and I looked at Kingsley and Jade. "Did you guys find anything?" the four of us say in unison. Alan, Evan, and Kain looked taken aback. We were used to it, so we ignored it. "No one heard us at the door. They're all still sleeping." Harper sighs and continues, "We went to the Jennings but only Kain was home, with Mr. and Mrs. Jennings out." Kingsley looks at Jade before he turns to us says, "We went to 3 houses total and no one was home except Alan and Evan..." What?! How could this be? Why are so many people missing? Where could they all have gone and were they together? We all stood in silence for a minute. *PING!* The four of us look down at our phones.

~

Dalton: alright, i'm coming back rn. R u guys still out or r u already there?

Kingsley: we're all here

Harper: did u find anything?

...

Dalton: i'll tell u everything when i see u

~

We stood in silence, waiting for Dalton to get back. "Alright, can someone just tell us what's going on?" Evan asks impatiently. "Yeah," agrees Kain. "To be completely honest, we don't actually know what's going on but we'll explain as much as we can, as soon as my brother gets here," I answer while looking up at the sky. A few minutes passed when we all hear footsteps coming towards us. We look up to see Dalton, deep in thought. His hands were in his pockets and his eyes were fixated on something that wasn't there. He comes to a stop in front of us and looks up. He doesn't look too surprised to see others with us.

"This might take awhile. Why don't we discuss this inside?" he says, turning and heading towards our door. We could all see that Dalton concentrating, so we followed him silently into our house. We all took seats in the living room and faced Dalton in his single-seat couch. I couldn't help but frown. This was worrying before but when Dalton acts like this, I know it's really serious. We all sit there, once again in silence. We were waiting for Dalton who seemed more troubled as time passed.

Finally, he looked up to his audience.

"Before I tell you what I think, I want us to go over everything that has happened so far. This is in order for us to better understand the situation and also let our guests know what's going on." The four of us nodded while the three others just sat and watched.

Harper, Kingsley, Jade, and I told each of our sides on hearing the intense crying of the kids in our neighborhood. Dalton just sat there, observing all of their reactions. They each wore frowns on their faces, even little Alan. "This is creepy..." Alan says quietly while inching closer to Kingsley. "Okay, well, how come I didn't hear any crying?" Evan asks with disbelief written on his face. "With our windows closed, no one in this house heard it either, not until we came outside to meet everyone. When we did, it was actually noisy." Dalton says calmly.

"Now that I think about it, I did hear crying around 3:30am. But what I heard was only the house next door to the right. I heard it and I just closed my window." Kain said with wonder in his voice.

"Anyways, we don't know why they were crying and why their parents weren't doing something about it. It definitely was loud enough to be called a racket. None of us could just ignore it." Harper explained. "Well... I could've." Jade said while keeping her eyes away from ours. A few seconds passed and she glanced over at us. We were all raising our eyebrows at her. "But I didn't!" Jade exclaimed. We casually ignored her statement and went back to recapping the events.

"So we all eventually met outside to figure out how to stop the noise. When we got outside, it was like the crying was coming from every house. We didn't notice any sign of the parents waking up in their houses. The crying just kept going." Kingsley said. "The first thing we thought was to get our parents to contact the parents in those houses. It wouldn't feel right for us to knock on their doors, telling them to calm their kids." I sighed and continued, "So we all went to our houses to wake our parents, telling them what's the matter." Harper places his hand on my shoulder and finishes, "but none of our parents are anywhere to be found." "We tried calling them but we found their phones still in the house." Kingsley said while staring at the floor.

"Our concerns shifted from noisy, crying children to our missing parents. None of our parents mentioned going anywhere. So we ended up going to houses in this neighborhood to see if we can reach any of the people who are friends with our parents." I say while looking at our three guests. "But as you may have already realized, no one was home." finished Jade. I snapped my head to her and Kingsley, looking for confirmation. The didn't elaborate further and just looked at me, puzzled. Harper and I looked at each other and then back to everyone. "We just assumed they didn't hear us ring the bell. Aren't they all sleeping?" Harper asks with wide eyes.

Dalton finally spoke. "Kingsley, Jade, are you saying that 6 year old Alan was left home alone?" They both nodded in reply. Dalton turned to Alan and the clenched his fists so his knuckles turned white. "What are they thinking?" Dalton muttered angrily. Kingsley then said, "It wasn't just Alan who was alone. Evan was home alone too." "Evan, how old are you?" asks Harper curiously.

"I'm 13."

The room tensed at that. What were these adults thinking? Their children are vulnerable home alone, yet they leave the house without a word. I could tell everyone in the room was thinking the same thoughts excluding Alan and Evan.

"I'm still confused. Their parents don't know what they're doing. Why are we all gathered here... like it's something we can fix? What is this grave atmosphere?" Kain speaks in confusion.

"...The thing is, their parents aren't the only ones who are gone... All of our parents are nowhere to be found either." I say, my voice slightly wavering. I see Evan and Alan's mouths hanging open. "What doe-" Evan was cut off by Kain's deep breathing. Everyone in the room automatically turned to look at Kain, who seemed shocked at something. After a few moments, he looks up at us. "I don't actually know where my parents went. They didn't tell me anything either." Harper and I's eyes widened. It felt as if the air in the house got colder. We all sat in silence, taking in the information we shared. I heard someone clear their throat and looked up. Dalton was sitting there, an emotionless but serious expression on his face. His legs were criss-crossed and his finger tips were against each other.

"I have a hunch and I don't think you guys are gonna like it."