Kelsey: Omg
Kelsey: That was crazy :D
Jenny: ya
Kelsey: I watched you jump
Jenny: you did???
Kelsey: Had to see it for myself
Kelsey: I''m hiding again don''t worry :3
Kelsey: Gonna wait til his mom leaves and ride bus home
Kelsey: I think she''s really mad
Kelsey: Tyler and mitch left
Kelsey: Its super quiet :/
Jenny: you ok?
Kelsey: Ya
Kelsey: Just hungry :P
Kelsey: Can you make food appear?
Jenny: not on chat plz
Kelsey: Oh sorry D:
Kelsey: I forgot
Jenny: and no
Jenny: cant sorry
Kelsey: Damn
Kelsey: You going home?
Jenny: ya
Jenny: got right on the bus
Kelsey: Bad signal too
Kelsey: I cant even watch anything >:[
Jenny: sorry
Kelsey: Entertain me! :D
Jenny: with whatThis tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Kelsey: I dunno
Kelsey: Hows you and quinn going?
Jenny: me and quinn???
Kelsey: You guys going out
Kelsey: Duh :3
Jenny: umm
Jenny: i dunno
Jenny: hes in cali
Kelsey: And?
Kelsey: You''ve been texting him right?
Jenny: no?
Kelsey: D: You gotta text him!
Jenny: ill just talk to him when he gets back
Kelsey: What if he meets some cool girl in California? D: D: D:
Jenny: what
Jenny: he went there for his family…
Kelsey: You never know
Jenny: whatever
Kelsey: You guys are so cute :3
Jenny: stop
Kelsey: never! :D
Jenny: hey kelsey
Kelsey: What''s up?
Jenny: umm
Jenny: i keep hearing things
Kelsey: Like what? :O
Kelsey: Is this about you-know-what?
Jenny: it might be
Jenny: i thought i heard someone say awakened on the bus before
Jenny: and now i think i just heard it again
Kelsey: I dunno what that means
Jenny: its
Jenny: nevermind
Jenny: i shouldnt have said
Kelsey: Come on! D:
Kelsey: Jenny?
Jenny: sorry it was my stop
Jenny: walking toward my house now
Kelsey: Where do you live anyway :O
Jenny: cant say sorry
Kelsey: Not even for your beeeeeest frieeeeeeeeeend? :*(
Jenny: not allowed
Kelsey: Lame
Jenny: uhh
Kelsey: What?
Kelsey: Jenny?
Kelsey: You still there?
Kelsey: Hello???
Natalie had sent the message. More than once. She tried calling, too, but nothing happened. She tapped on the blank stretch of wall behind the old abandoned convenience store, but it wouldn''t budge. She even kicked it a couple times, even though she had no idea why that might change anything.
What''s going on…? They''d never failed to open the door for her before, no matter the time of day. If nothing else, the Laushires were really reliable on that. Natalie wondered sometimes if it was actually automatic when she sent the text message somehow, as if the magic were linked to her phone.
Probably not. She sat down against a tree trunk in the small park next to the store. She had a growing cascade of messages from Kelsey, wondering where she''d gone, but Natalie was too worried to answer those. She hopped onto the website, but no one was on. She messaged Cinza, Hailey, anyone, but didn''t get an answer. Finally, frustrated and afraid, Natalie checked the news.
Oh my god.
They were all talking about it. About magic. Awakening. Rallsburg.
It wasn''t a secret anymore.
Oh no.
Natalie sprang up, running back to the blank wall. "Let me in," she cried, pounding her fist on the bricks. "Please."
There was no answer. Natalie had been gone too long, and the Laushires were hiding again. Just like they had in Rallsburg at the end, when she''d been sent by Rachel to try and get people into their secret market to hide. She''d run into exactly the same thing — pounding her fists against an empty wall, while desperate people waited behind her for help that wasn''t coming, until they had to run away again as soon as the monsters caught up.
Except this time, she didn''t have Gwen with her, or Hailey and Jessica swooping over the town giving directions, or Rachel trying to solve the problem. She felt it sinking in slowly, steadily, like a storm brewing in her chest, terror erupting through her whole body.
Natalie was stuck on the outside again, in a city that had already shown her how much it was willing to hurt her, and she was alone.