MAY BE ON THE LOOSE IN PROVIDENCE

The sky floats above, a maze of blue and white hedged in by the tops of skyscrapers. I hum softly to myself as I cross the yellow-striped pedestrian walkway, my hands tightened firmly over the straps of my black backpack. Seeing the red hand blink at the crosswalk light, I quicken my pace, reaching the cement sidewalk right as the hand turns into a signal rather than a warning and feeling the whoosh of the closest car speed forwards. A smile dances across my face as I catch sight of the familiar red door and I can hardly keep from sprinting forwards. As I push open the handle, the sunlight spills in onto the wooden boards and it's silent. My eyes straining to see her hiding behind a wall and my smile now playfully hidden, I creep not-so-silently into the apartment. She is nowhere to be found in the cramped kitchen. Demonstrating audibly, I muse loudly while I dramatically pull a pint of ice cream out of the freezer and set it on the countertop. I tilt my head, waiting for footsteps to come stampeding down the hallway. Silence.

Worry knocks at my brain. "Harper?" I call, my backpack sliding off my shoulders with a loud thump. "Harper?" I ask again, the tone of my voice growing hard. I race down the hallway towards her room and find it empty, dust still floating around in the afternoon rays, her possessions haphazardly strewn across the bed as always, a packing cardboard box shoved underneath the rickety desk. Her phone lays facedown on the crumpled sheets, a rose gold shimmer in the midst of gray down. "Harper?" I yell again. My heart's already in my throat. I run through all the rooms in this small apartment until I wind up back in the kitchen, slowly running a hand through my hair. Without a word, I sling my backpack over my shoulder, make sure to lock the apartment and put the key around my neck. I start running.

I don't find her until 2am. I had just passed the park three blocks from the apartment for the fifth time and see a policeman shining a flashlight into someone's face. The figure struggles to stand and collapses. Somehow, I know it's her. I run at a dead sprint, slowing when I reach the police officer but still seeing him instinctively reach for his gun. "Officer, officer!" I holler, holding my hands high above my head. The flashlight turns to me and I turn my face away, squinting hard. "Officer. That's my sister. Harper. Please, she's harmless." I cast a glance at her, a curled-up form on the rough grass. The officer affixes me with an inflexible gaze. "Her?" he motions with his foot, nearly kicking her. I resist the urge to smack his boot away from her. "Yes, Officer. I'm sorry. She won't cause any more problems for you. I'll just get her home."

He stares at me for a long second. "This is a public park, ma'am. Just get her out of here."

I whisper a thank you to both him and any gods listening and drag Harper up. "Let's go," I murmur, forcing her along like a farmer dragging a scarecrow out to the cornfield. When we finally reach the apartment, I let her down gently and she drowsily dips her head in the doorway as I fumble for the key. Hauling her inside, I close the door firmly and stare at her. She stretches and then finds a comfortable position on the dusty wooden floor, seeming to forget all about beds. "Harper." I hiss. "What were you thinking?!" No response. My jaw clenches but I sigh and walk to the kitchen table, plugging in my computer for a long night of work.

11am the next day, she finally comes to. Sitting up straight with a little shudder, she wakes me with a scream. "Vix!" My head shoots up from the computer. "Vix!" she screams again. Pain shoots through my head as I turn towards her. "What?!" I shout back. Then, I see her face. Her eyes are a milky white, as if someone had just erased her pupils and irises from her face. "Harper. Harper." I rush towards her but find myself unable to move more than a few steps. I feel trapped, my muscles straining to push through air that has suddenly turned into concrete. "Harper!" I try and scream, but nothing comes out. I realize I am hanging in the air, my body locked like a puppet's. Something in the air pulses and throbs past me, my name echoing distortedly. All of a sudden, I drop to the ground with a thud and Harper blinks confusedly. I pull myself up quickly, eyeing her warily. She turns towards me, and I instinctively blanch at her white eyes only to find them normal again.

"Harper?" I whisper, reaching gently for her face. I study her, turning her face and feeling her temperature with my hand. She stares confusedly back. "Yes...?"

I pull back. "Wait. Harper, do you...do you know what just happened?"

She seems to take in her surroundings for the first time. "Uh, no. Why am I on the floor?" Brushing off her clothes, Harper stands and stretches. "Agh. Why do I feel so sore?"

"Maybe because you spent the night sleeping on the floor." I mutter. "Do you seriously not remember any of this?"

Harper looks at me. "No, I don't, Vix."

My mind starts combing through possibilities. "What's the last thing you remember?"

She pauses. I wait. Nearly a minute later, she says, "Um, I know I was...I was out somewhere. I don't know why. But it was uh, sometime in the afternoon. The sun was pretty bright. And I was with someone. It wasn't you. I, uh, I think I knew this person...? But, uh, you weren't supposed to know about it. And, uh, yeah." Harper says, casting nervous looks at me.

I sigh. "Harper. It's fine. I don't care if you were out and about with some rando. You're 20. You can take care of yourself. Just, please, please, tell me you can remember anything more specific. Or anything after that. Or anything right before it. Please."

She bites her fingernails, a habit she's had since 3rd grade. "Um." she keeps thinking, "No...?"

I run my hand through my hair, distressed, and begin pacing the apartment. "I don't know what just happened before you came to, Harper. I--I don't even really know how to explain it. Your eyes were all white and--and you lifted--lifted!--me out of the air and I was just stuck there, and--"

She sniggers.

I stare back at her. "What?" I demand.

"I lifted you out of the air?" she snorts. "Please. We're probably both sleep deprived or whatever. Just go do something else. I'm fine now."

With an exasperated sigh, I pack up my computer. "I'm going to work now, Harper. Please don't do anything stupid."

She hits me with a wry smile and I add as I close the door behind me, "Oh, and please don't go to the park."

I slip in unnoticed, quietly unloading my backpack at my desk. "Hey Viiiiiix," a familiar voice rumbles. I throw my head back and see Clyde dancing towards me. "Hey Clyde the Dried," I greet back. He purses his lips. "Unnecessary, really, considering I did use some lotion today." I blink back. "Okay, well, yes, I see that you're not going to stop calling me that regardless. Anyways, did you see the news?!"

"Clyde. I just got here. No." I retort.

"Okay, okay, no need to be spicy, Vix, but you might want to read it before the writers' meeting in, oh, two minutes and counting?" he replies, sliding off my desk and wiggling his fingers in a mock goodbye. Blowing him a sardonic kiss, I turn to my phone and pull up the first Washington Post article I see. "HIGHLY-CONFIDENTIAL EXPERIMENT LOST BY SCIENTISTS: MAY BE ON THE LOOSE IN PROVIDENCE." I roll my eyes. Nothing interesting ever happens here in Providence. Still, I click into the article and skim through the first paragraph before Gerard blows the air horn. Gerard's a great editor, but despite two years of trying, we writers haven't been able to convince him not to deafen us with the annoying blare. Still, we all shuffle into the room, notepads at the ready.

-unfinished-