24 HOURS

Drip. Drip. Drip. Bing! The water splashes down from the roof onto the garbage can, constantly making noise. I didn’t close my umbrella yet, because it might start to rain again. I pull up my beige trench coat sleeve and take a glance at my plain white watch. 12:03. It’s pitch black around me, not another person on the street. “Where is she?” I find myself thinking. Suddenly, I’m having second thoughts about coming here. Maybe Amara forgot again. But out of the corner of my eye, I catch a neon orange blob approaching. I turn to find Amara walking over with her neon orange umbrella. It’s usually the only bright thing on the street at this time in the night. Well, besides her bright red sneakers. 

“Hey! Sorry I’m late. My ESL teacher assigned,” she started. But I stopped her with a raise of my hand. 

“Let me guess, a last minute paper due tomorrow. The excuse is getting a bit too old, Amara,” I laugh, “Why can’t you just tell me the truth that you forgot until like 5 minutes ago that today is Tuesday?” 

“Actually Venn, it’s technically Wednesday.” 

“Great. I highly doubt that today being Wednesday is more important than what new info you got today.” I say, hoping Amara has something useful. 

“Yea...aaa…um…, I kinda got nothing for you today…,” she doesn’t meet my eyes. 

“What do you mean by nothing? There has to be something, anything! Amara, you know how important this is to me! We’re so close and…, and I’ve been waiting for this for two years! I’m so close…, I can’t give up now!”

She shakes her head in what seems like disappointment. “I know, I know Amara. I asked every person, searched every corner of the building you told me. 24 Hours Lane, right?” 

“Yeah,” I confirm, “24 Hours Lane.” 

I check my watch again. 12:07. “Maybe we can check it out together tomorrow. Right now I need to,” I look up, and Amara is gone.

“Venn!” 

I looked towards the area from where I heard the scream. It was definitely Amara’s voice. I see a glimpse of her red sneakers drag behind the stop sign. 

“Amara? Amara! AMARA!!!” I shout, as I run towards the stop sign. My heart is racing so fast I could feel it through my trench coat. “AMARA!!!!” All I hope is that she doesn’t face the same fate as the rest of them. All I hope is that she wasn’t taken by THE ONE.

But by the time I reached the stop sign…, she was gone. 

“Venn! Venn! Wake up! Venn!”

I find myself waking up and panting. My voice is hoarse as if I’ve been screaming all night. My vision is  a blur of light. When they refocus, I find Adia and Kaira grabbing either of my hands. 

“Venn! Thank goodness! You're ok! Phew!” Kaira let out a sigh and walked over to her bunk. 

Adia’s hazel-grey eyes started into my sapphire ones as she loosened the grip on my arm. “Are you good?” 

“Yea, I’m fine,” I lied. 

“Another nightmare?” 

“Yea.”

“Don’t worry Venn. We’ll find a way to get her back. To get them all back,” Kaira put her books in her bag. 

“Yeah. We promise,” Adia smiled. 

“Ok. You guys go ahead. I’ll join you in the cafe after a bit.” I mutter. 

“You sure? I can stay with you awhile,” Adia offers. 

Kaira grabs the keys and heads for the door. “I think she needs some time alone Adia.”

“Ok then. Come down in 10. We’ll be waiting.” Adia grabs her bag, and follows Kaira out the door. I sigh. I just can’t help feeling guilty about Amara. If I hadn’t called her to our spot that day, THE ONE wouldn’t have taken her. It’s all my fault. And only I have to fix it. Which is why I decided I’m not taking Adia and Kaira with me. How can I? I risked everyone dear to me already, and I can’t bear being the cause for their disappearance either. Just being the cause of Amara’s disappearance haunts me day and night. And in the end, I don’t even know if they are all even alive. THE ONE might as well kill them and tell me he didn’t. I sighed, grabbed a paper and fountain pen, sat on the  and began writing. 

Dear Adia and Kaira, 

I’m ever so sorry I’m leaving you guys like this without a proper notice, but I can’t let you come with me. It’s too dangerous, and I can’t bear the idea of losing you two. You’ve been more than best friends to me over the past few years with… the situation with… my parents… 

You understood me and my feelings throughout these 2 years. So I hope you understand now that I love you both so much that I can’t take you with me. I need to do this alone. And I need to do it now. I’m sorry. I’ll miss you both.  

Yours truly, 

Vennela 

I carefully fold the paper and place it on Adia’s bunk. 10 minutes. Adia said to meet them in 10 minutes. They might come back up to check on me. Which means I have 10 minutes to get ready, grab my important belongings, and hop out the window. I quickly use the bathroom, change into my jeans and green sweatshirt, and pull on my black sneakers. In my bag, I put my journal with notes about the disappearances and THE ONE. I also stuffed the letters that THE ONE keeps sending me. I make sure I put my phone, my wallet, and my locket in there as well. 

“This is pretty much it,” I think. I carefully open up the window, and hop out onto the green grass with morning dew. “Thank god we’re on the first floor,” I mutter. 

I run across the lawn into the parking lot, and get to my car. It's a beaten up, silver Honda, but it’s better than nothing. I start the car and get out of the campus quickly. I pull out my phone to confirm the address on Google Maps. Building 12, 24 Hours Lane. It seems to be 15 minutes away. That’s not too far, and I have an hour of time, so I quickly take a detour to Starbucks to grab a frappuccino and a muffin for breakfast. Now I’m back on the route. As I’m driving, I can’t help but get a tinge of hope. What if…, after all this waiting for 2 years…, I’ll finally see them again? Oh I hope I’ll get them back. I really do. All THE ONE wanted in return was this locket of mine. I don’t know why it’s so special, it’s just a butterfly with a blue stone inside the locket. But after years of solving clues and puzzles, I found the destination. 24 Hours Lane. That’s where I’ll finally get them back. Soon, I arrive in front of a tall brick building, with BUILDING 12 painted on it in gold. Quickly, I park the car, and hurry into the building. Inside, there are two glass doors which are unlocked. I open one and enter a dark room. There is a desk and two chairs. Someone is sitting on the chair farthest from me, their back turned. 

“Hello?” I say, my voice still hoarse. 

“Welcome Vennela Stone. Have you brought the locket?”

“First give them to me. All of them.” I say. 

 THE ONE chuckles. “Walk up fellows. Go to her.” he says, to what seems like a wall. 

Out of the corner of the room, I see people huddling forward. 

“Mom? Dad?” I call, my voice eager. I really hope they're okay. 

“Ah, first place the locket on the desk. Then you can take them.” he says. 

“Fine! Take this stupid locket. Now give me my parents.” I throw the locket on the desk. 

The people in the corner of the room move forward, and I see them. Finally! After two years of waiting, I see them again. My mom, dad, brother and Amara. All safe and healthy. But their faces aren’t happy. This doesn’t bother me at the moment though. I let out a big sigh, and ran towards them. 

“Mom! Dad! You’re ok!” I reach out to hug them, but instead, I run into what seems like an invisible wall. I try again, but I bounce away. 

“What is this trickery?! Give me them back!!” I yell. 

THE ONE laughs a wicked laugh. Then he turns to me and reaches for the locket. Then he raises his head, and shows me his face. He is a robot. Half of his face is metal. 

“WHO ARE YOU!” I feel my anger rising. “WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH MY FAMILY!” 

He just smiles and chuckles. Suddenly, the floor beneath me drops, and I’m in the underground ruins of what seems to be an ancient temple. I hear THE ONE’S voice boom all around me. 

“Vennela Stone. You have 24 hours to find a blue stone identical to the one in your locket, except twice as big. If you succeed, you get your family back. If you don’t…, get ready to say bye to your family. Come on Vennela! You waited patiently for two years. All I am asking is to wait another 24 hours and use your 100%.” 

I’m raging with anger, but only one thought comes to my head at the moment. These 24 hours of waiting will feel way longer than those two years of waiting.