NOT IMPOSSIBLE CHAP. 8

CHAPTER

8 

I N T O   T H E   L I G H T

“Danny, wake up!” 

I sat up and gasped. “What is it?”

“They’re coming, I hear them!”

Loud thunderous rumbled echoed through the deep dark halls. I scrambled to my feet, grabbed Trinity’s ice-cold hand and ran for our lives.

We almost slipped a few times, but in a half-second we were back to our feet. 

“Danny, it’s getting louder! Where’s the end of the tunnel!”

“I don’t know! Just keep going!” I ran so fast, my chest was starting to hurt.

And then heaven came to earth.

“Danny, look!”

I looked. And I almost cried.

Light. Light was peeking out of the ceiling in the distance. We picked up our speed and ran to that light like we were literally having armed-troopers run after us. My first instinct was to bang on the top of that sewer lid-type thing, you know, the things you see in New York where monsters would crawl out of them in the movies? No? Ok…

I banged so hard, screaming for help, though really should’ve been trying to somehow unscrew it. 

Suddenly, through the holes I saw hands lift it up and out of the way.

“Andy!”

“Come on!” 

I lifted Trinity up and then I leaped up into the air and they both grabbed my arms and pulled me up.

“We have to run! They’re after us! Got a ride?”

Andy stepped out of the way and revealed my now painted motorbike.

“Thank God for you, Andy,” I said breathily and quickly got on, Trinity behind me.

“What about you?” I said to Andy, my hands revving up the engine.

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch up with you. Go to my Aunt’s house in Wyoming. You can trust her.”

I nodded. We had gone there plenty of times and I knew her address by heart. But how would I find it?

“Thanks so much, Andy.”

Just as he went to respond, we heard shouts and loud footsteps.

My heart skipped a beat. “Bye, Andy!”

“Bye!” He mouthed and disappeared down the road somewhere. We were far from Trinity’s house and I barely recognized this part of town anywhere. But that was good. I hit the gas pedal and we roared down the lonely road into the woods.

Little Post

 Hi everyone, I know I've barely been posting anything, and I have just a few chapters that are already finished, I'm just waiting to post them, because I've been trying to drag it out. 

I'm not saying I'm quitting or anything, a lot of things have just been coming up lately, like newborn kittens (we have eight!) that we've been busy with and I'm kind of losing inspiration for this kind of book. 

You'll probably get the next chapter in the next two days or so.

--Elena

NOT IMPOSSIBLE CHP. 7

7 

I N T O   T H E   T U N N E L S 

We traveled farther than I thought we could go. Deep, deep, into the small confined black space. It was quiet, but I could hear muffled footsteps above us.

“Daniel…you shut the lid, right? They have no idea we’re down here…”

I froze. “Um…no?”

Trinity flinched so hard, her back hit the hall. 

“Quiet!” I shushed her. “They can probably hear us!”

“Daniel, we’re going to die! They’re gonna find us! You didn’t even shut the lid!”

I groaned in frustration. The space was too small to turn around, so I just had to speak to her facing the endless black trail. 

“Trinity, listen, we are not gonna die. You’ve seen thriller movies, right? The good guys face a lot of dangerous obstacles in the beginning, but in the end, they always get to safety.”

“But that’s a movie, Danny. This is real life!”

It was deathly quiet. And then—

“Trinity?”
“What?”

I straightened up just a little tiny bit, and to my surprise—I didn’t hit the ceiling right above me. I straightened more. Then I sat up. “Trinity, there’s an opening, look!” I shone my flashlight, but I could see was the little streak that cut through the darkness. Slowly, we made our way farther through the tunnel, until I took her hand and we stood up. 

“What is this place?” She whispered.

“It’s…it’s just these tunnels.”
“But now it’s a whole room.”

Darkness. And a hiss.

“Daniel?” Trinity grasped my arm and gasped. “Wh-wha-what was that? Is-is it a sn-snake?”

I tried my little flashlight. Nothing. 

“Um…what would you say if I told you, the flashlight’s dead?”

A scream.

“We’re trapped in the dark? Daniel—” Trinity slipped and fell on something slippery and landed in the sloshy mud with a hard thud.

“You okay?” I asked reaching my hand down in the blackness to find her hand.

Trinity sat deathly still and shaking, whispered, “Daniel, there’s something on me.”

I tried to keep calm, for her sake. I could hear the slithering of a snake.

“Trinity. I don’t know what kind of snake that is, but if you keep calm, it won’t bite you.”

Trinity swallowed and closed her eyes, or at least I think she did. After a minute, she lightly flinched as the snake slid away down another hole somewhere.

I sighed with relief and helped her up. She wiped off her skirt and wiped her face with her hands. “We’re never going to get out of here alive. Two wanted criminals.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and tell her to be quiet. 

Patience, Daniel. She’s just scared.

“Hey, Trin? Can I call you that?”

Trinity sniffled. “Call me whatever you want. It’s not going to change anything.”

“You must be pretty brave to go through all this with someone you barely know. You could’ve just kicked me out and told me to look out for myself.”

“No one would do that.”

“You’re wrong, though. A lot of people would shut the door in my face and go back to their life. But not you.”

I could feel her smile, though I couldn’t see anything.

“Let’s keep moving.”

…

We hiked on, hands extended out in front of us for miles it seemed. I was beginning to think there was no end to this underground world. And we would die down here.

“Daniel? Where are you?” Trinity’s hand released from mine for a moment and she stumbled and fell to the ground.

“It’s alright, I’m right here. It’s gonna be okay, we’re going to make it out of here alive.”

Trinity found my hand once more and released a long breath of air. “Can’t we rest? I’m so tired.”

I decided this was probably for the best. We needed our strength if we were to escape from the troopers later on. 

We sat down and all I could hear was the soft trickling of water somewhere. Just a few drips sliding down the edge of a wall.

My breathing started to get heavier.

“Daniel? You alright?”

I breathed again. “Um…yeah.” I remembered what my doctor had told me, If you ever feel you may have an attack, just take deep breaths and try your very hardest not to panic. Panicking can effect your Asthma way worse, if you’re not careful.

I reached in my pocket needlessly. I was looking for my inhaler, though I knew it wasn’t with me.

I laid my back up against the wet dirty wall and sighed. 

“Please…” I whispered.

Trinity sat beside me. “What is it?”

“Nothing, I just…”

“It’s definitely something. You sound terribly bad.”

I didn’t know what to say. “You know I have Asthma. And well, now it’s kind of catching up to me. So I have to stay real calm or I could have an Asthma attack. The farther we go, the harder it’s getting to breathe.”

“Oh, Daniel. Here I was, complaining the whole time over me, when I had no idea you were suffering from serious breathing problems. I’m sorry, I'm so annoying...”

“No, it’s fine. It distracted me. I didn’t really notice it until now.”

…

I couldn’t tell if it was night or day, as we had been in there for a whole day, I think. But I was so tired, all I could think about was sleep.

And sleep, I did.

NOT IMPOSSIBLE CHP. 6

C H A P T E R 6 

I N T O   T H E   T U N N E L S

I looked out the window. A uniformed trooper was out there.

“Daniel?”

I turned around and Trinity stood in the doorway, all dressed. “I need to go to work. Stay hidden.”

I nodded. 

She smiled and left. I stayed in the spare room almost all day, pacing and keeping quiet, sometimes talking to Andy. But finally, I decided to take just a short rest. I needed it.

Later in the afternoon, I woke up as a ray of sun stretched over my face. It felt good. And for a minute—just a minute mind you—I forgot I was suddenly being hunted down to die for committing a murder I didn’t do.

I looked at my watch. I suddenly was transformed into a memory of my twelfth birthday, when my father had bought me that watch. I had gotten birthday money from both my grandmas and Dad took me out to spend a little of it.

“What do you want, Danny? A drone? A remote controlled watch?”

“Hmm…” I rubbed my imaginary beard and scanned the place with my eyes. “That karate guy, Jason Kults has a really cool watch, you know. I saw it in the new commercial.”

Dad looked at me quizzedly. “You mean that stupid guy in the Sugar Flakes ad?”

“He’s not stupid, Dad! They have Jason Kults toys, Jason Kults socks, Jason Kults—”

“Ok, ok, I get it. We can look around for a watch. But what’s so special about it anyway?”

“Special? It’s more than special! One-of-a-kind, limited edition, rare deal watch! We have to get it, Dad, we have to!”

I laughed at my memory. When I was little, some famous guy from a dumb tv show had been my hero. I even took karate lessons for two years, in hopes I’d be just like him or even better.

We walked up and down the aisles and at last my face brightened up. “There it is!”

Sure enough, a shiny, black watch sat on a stand under a glass window box. 

“Can we get it Dad? Can we, can we, can we?”

Dad laughed and gave the cashier his money. The watch was slipped into a little square box and put into a plastic bag. I was so excited that day. Dad had been the hero that time.

Now he’s dead. And all Ohio thinks I’ve done it.

Rapping at the door.

I dashed to the window. Trinity stood on the porch, pounding hurriedly on the door.

I ran and opened it, helping her with her bags.

“Oh, you couldn’t have gone any slower!”

“I’m sorry! What happened, did they question you?”

“They did more than that, Daniel. They’re coming, I saw them! They were following me, and-and I heard one of then whispering—something like…I bet she has him, we have to check it out. Can’t let him escape again.”

“Again?”

Suddenly, a bullet whizzed past my head and Trinity pushed me to the floor. “We have to go!”

Troopers were surrounding the house, pointing their machine guns all around. Normal police officers were blocking off the roads, shouting for the neighbors to stay inside no matter what.

Trinity’s hands were shaking with fear. 

We crawled across the floor, down the hall, and into another spare room. I peeked my eyes over the dresser and saw more men in black army uniforms pointing their weapons right at me.

I caught a glance at the white words printed on the fronts of their black medal plates protecting them.

“The Black Police?” I whispered.

“Come out with your hands in the air!” Screamed one of them.

“There has to be a way out,” I muttered.

“In the basement there’s the crawl space, but it just leads outside near the shed. They’ll see you.”

“We have to take a risk.”
“Danny, we can’t. They’ll kill you.”

“If we don’t try, they’ll kill both of us.” I looked her in the eye. “Trinity. God’s not gonna let anything happen to us until He’s ready.”

She nodded, forcing back tears. We crawled out of the room, and trying to stay flat on the ground as much as we could, hurried to the basement door.

“You’ve got three seconds or we fire!” Screamed the officer in charge.

We ran down the stairs, fast as lighting, and Trinity showed me the little door to the crawl space.

“It leads nowhere hidden. We’re stuck.”

I looked around the dark basement. “I need to see if there’s another way.” I began searching the dark room, running my hands along the sides of the wall to find a door. When all was lost, I stubbed my toe.

“Ow!” I could barely see in the dark, so I fished my pocket and pulled out a keychain. I flicked on the little light that shone out when I held down the button.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“That’s our sewer. It has tunnels all under ground and leads somewhere far away.”

“Is it just water?”

“A little bit…” Trinity’s shoulders dropped.
“Danny, please.”

“Would you rather get blasted through your chest?”

She bit her lip and shook her head.

I found an old heavy tool and smashed it on the thing, trying to pry it open. When I did, I almost gagged. “It-it looks dried up.”

“It’s old. We never used it, but there’s some water down there.”

“It’s our best chance.”

Suddenly, it sounded like bombs exploding. “They’re shooting the house! We have to go, now!”

I took her hand and helped her in. “Brace yourself. I don’t know how long the drop is.”

She swallowed. And suddenly, she was gone. But only a few seconds passed when she shouted up, “Hurry!”

I jumped in and landed in a pile of muddy water. It seem like just a hole. I turned on the flashlight and shined it around. One little tunnel. Five feet tall, maybe.

“Let’s go.” I got on my hands and knees and crawled through the tunnel, the water only up to a little below my knees. It sure didn’t smell pretty, but it was better than being shot. Through the old metal tunnel walls, you could still hear the bullets shooting.

“See, this isn’t so bad,” I called back to Trinity who followed behind me.

She almost gagged. “What if they come down here too?”

“They probably will, which means we have to hurry.”

NOT IMPOSSIBLE CHAP. 5

C H A P T E R

5 

M I S S I O N   I N   A C T I O N

I woke up and shielded my eyes from the bright sun that filtered through the window. Just for a second, I looked around my surroundings, confused. I scratched my head. I didn’t remember even going to sleep. I looked out the window. Kids were lining by the bus-stop and grownups were coming out from their house, rushing to their car.

Then I remembered. Trinity has a job! What will I do, just hide at her house? What if they catch her for questioning?

“Daniel?”

I turned my head. “Hi.”

“There’s some breakfast in the kitchen and…I painted your bike.”

“Wh-what? You found it?”

“Yeah, it took awhile, but…you going out there was too risky.”

“Thanks. Sometime today, I might have to head out. I think they hunt by night.”

She nodded, her head in a daze. She had been so bright and bubbly when I first talked to her, but now she was so quiet and distant.

“I need to get to work.”

“Oh, right, right. If you dropped out, there might be suspicions.”

Just then, my hand went to rest at my side, but accidentally hit the remote and a small box-shaped television clicked on.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I—” My mouth dropped open and my eyes stared at the screen.

“Two state police from Ronny Dr, Ohio, have spotted a terrible murder in action. Seventeen-year- old Daniel Burton has been caught murdering what was found to be his parents. The police say it was in cold blood and the reason for the incident is still unknown. They’re sending out troops all over this part of North Ohio County and it may come to lock-down—”

Trinity flicked it off, but I hadn’t seemed to notice.

No.

“Daniel, is there—”

“No,” I said. “I can’t believe this. If they found me, I could be locked up for life, or worse, a death sentence. And they really…they really did that. Why?” I looked at her. “I’m just an ordinary kid! I haven’t even finished school, and I’m already framed for murder? Just a week ago, I was studying for my history exam and-and preparing for my wrestling class, and-and—”

“Hey,” Trinity sat down beside me. “I don’t know what to say, this is all terrible. But we’ll find a way out.”

I barely looked her in the eyes. “I have my doubts about that, Trinity.”

Just then, hard rapping sounded on the front door.

“Hide!” Trinity left the room and probably looked out the window. 

My heart almost skipped a beat when the front door opened and footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Who is it? Who is it? I breathed rapidly, looking through the crack in the closet door. I shut my eyes and sat very still. And then, the door swung open and I yelped.

“Danny!”

“Huh?” My shoulders dropped in relief at the sight of my friend, Andy.

“Oh, I’m so glad it’s you!” I got out from the closet and laid down on the bed. 

“So. You’re a criminal?”

My eyes darted to his. “Did you think—” 

“No, no, I was just kidding.”
“There’s no time to kid, right now. If they barged in right now, we would all be getting locked up or put down.”

Andy sighed and sat down. “You need to get out, Danny. They’re going to check every house.” His head dropped in his hands. “I’m so, so, sorry, Danny. I-I should’ve believed you, I was an idiot to not. And now your parents are gone and you’re literally on the run from the government and—”

“Hey Andy,” I said gently. “It’s ok. I wouldn’t t have believed me either.”

“Still. I was a terrible friend. I betrayed you.”

I didn’t know what to say. “When I first heard the door open, for a minute I thought Trinity was going to betray me.”

“I won’t do that, Daniel,” she frowned at me. “Don’t you know that?”

“I had my second thoughts. But it’s okay now. What we have to do now, is make a plan.”

NOT IMPOSSIBLE CHP. 4

C H A P T E R

4 

M U R D E R E R

I walked home from Andy’s house lightheaded. I shouldn’t have ever thought he’d believe me. It was stupid. I’m stupid. 

I blindly walked down the sidewalk, my eyes down, trying to decide whether to tell Trinity or keep quiet—at least for awhile. 

I soon came up the drive to my home and reached for the doorknob, only to stand frozen in shock staring at the blood dripped on the floor. 

I heard more voices and as I rounded a corner to the livingroom, my feet seemed to freeze to the ground and my hands were numbed motionless. 

Mom and Dad. 

Dead on the floor. And beside them, stood three men in black uniforms, holding what looked like machine guns.

I almost whimpered.

One of them with a microphone in his ear, gasped and pointed at me. “There he is!”

I gasped and almost stumbled backward. I dashed out the door quicker than lighting and could only hop on my dirt bike sitting in the garage.  

Where to?

Trinity, I have to warn her!

Sweat poured down my forehead and everything seemed like a blur, I was beginning to think if I was still dreaming or maybe I really was delusional.

I plugged in the ignition and flew down the streets, glancing in the rear-view mirror and seeing the men in black come running out the door. I flew down the streets and zoomed down a corner. Beyond the corner were allies, some leading to dead-ends but two leading to the edge of town.

I need to lose them.

I raced down one way, turning right, driving behind the lined buildings. The farther I went, the damper the roads became and I soon found myself in a part of town I didn’t know existed. 

I had to make sure I was safe, completely alone, so I slowly stopped the bike. I parked it in a corner completely black and almost visibly hidden. My heart raced and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

I’ve never felt like this before.

I was so scared. But the bike was too risky, too loud. I needed to walk to Trinity’s house silently as a cat. I creeped alongside the edge of the dark brick wall, trying to breathe in and out as steady as I could. But my efforts were all in vain. My breath was so shaky, and my chest hurt like a rock. I tried to calm down so I paused for just a minute, trying to think.

Mom and Dad are dead.

I wanted to choke. But I couldn’t cry now. First, I needed to get to safety quick. There must have been twenty guys now looking for me.

But why me? Is it because I saw the murder? Or something more…I remembered my mother’s words, words that had puzzled me so much, and still did.

“His life depends on it.”

Well, now it really did. I was literally on the run. I took a deep breath and walked further into the night.

…

Knock, knock.

I stood on the front porch with my head down. It had begun to rain and now my clothes were drenched. 

Open the door…I urged worriedly. What if they found me? Trinity’s house wasn’t hidden, it was just farther from mine. There was still a risk.

I suddenly heard something. A rustle.

I rapped on the door harder this time.

Finally, someone opened it for me and gasped. Trinity stood there, her hair wet and wrung out, like she took a shower just a minute before. 

“Oh my, Danny? You’re soaked! What happened?” She held open the door and I hurried in. “I’ll explain everything. But first, do you have like a secret room or something? Maybe a basement?”

“Well, the basement’s really moldy and dirty and—” 

“It will do.” I walked past her and swiftly found a door in a corner, that I assumed led to the basement. When we were both downstairs, I flicked off the light and listened. 

“Danny—”

“Shh.”

“Dan—”

“Shh!”

Trinity lightly scoffed. “What is going on?” She demanded. “Why are we in the basement? It’s pitch black.”

I looked at the outline of her figure. “Do you think it’s safe to turn on a light?”

“Safe?” She crossed her arms. 

I reached for the string above me and a little white light-bulb dangled just an inch from my head.

“Trinity. I need you to listen.”

She nodded slowly. “Ok…”

“Tonight my parents were murdered.”

Her mouth fell open slightly. “Oh my…Daniel,  are you serious?” She spoke softly in a whisper, as if she knew I was being chased down by men with guns.

“The government. I knew it for a few days now, and—”

“Knew what?”

“I heard my parents talking in the basement. Something about “they’re coming”, and my life depends on it. And when I came home today, I saw them. Three men in black uniforms armed and ready to kill. Ready to kill me.”

“But why?”
“I think Mom and Dad were up to something. Something that would stop whatever evil plan the government has in store. They had a whole secret room in the basement.”

“I-I don’t understand—”

“You don’t need to understand. You just have to trust me. I’m trying to protect you. But in the mean-time, I need someplace to hide. They’re out looking for me. Maybe they think I know something. They have no idea I’m completely clueless about all this.”

Trinity looked down. “I…I don’t know what to say. It sounds pretty dangerous. But you can stay here as long as you like. Did you tell Andy?”

“Oh, Andy? I thought he was in on it this whole time, until I discovered he thought I was crazy instead. I think it’s safest not to say a word. After all, my parents looked into it. Not his.”

She nodded her head and then glanced at the stairs. “Let me get you something to eat. And also, my brother left some of his clothes here before he went to collage. Some of them might be your size.”

I smiled. “Thank you so much.” We went upstairs and I took a hot shower and then changed into dry clean clothes. They were a little big, and I guessed her brother was an athlete, as most of the shirts were printed on them a sports’ team or something. When I came out from the shower, I took a seat on a stool in the kitchen. Trinity placed a bowl of chicken soup before me. I thanked her and dug in. You had to be quick, since no one would ever know how close the enemy was.

She sat across from me, her eyes distant. Just a day ago, we were both simple strangers. Now she was my only ally.

“What are you gonna do?” She finally asked. 

“Well, I really should leave town. I left my motorbike hidden in an ally, but I’ll wait a day or two to get it. The problem is, they’ve seen it, so now It’ll be recognized.”

“How about you? Have they seen you?”

I took another sip of the glorious warm filling my bones. “Only for a second. Hey…you don’t happen to have any spray paint, do you?”

“I do. Do you want to disguise your bike?”
“I think it will be good. And Trinity—”

She looked at me. “Yes?”

“Thanks for all this. You know, if they saw you, your life would be on the line. You didn’t have to do any of this.”

“It’s alright. I’m not gonna let some crazy group of of cop-like things kill you.”

I smiled. “Thanks.” I glanced out the window.

What’s gonna happen now?

NOT IMPOSSIBLE: CHAPTER THREE

C H A P T E R

3

M I S S I O N—A C C E P T E D

I got home from track practice the next afternoon and found the answer-machine beeping. I clicked the button and surprisingly, it was Andy’s voice.

“Hey, Danny! Meet me at my house at four.”

I blinked.

Maybe it’s about the secret.

After showering and changing, I left the house and skateboarded to Andy’s, not even noticing that once again my parents weren’t in sight.

“Andy? You here?” I came inside, after discovering the door was unlocked.

Andy came out from the kitchen, a cup with a straw in hand. “I have come to a decision, Danny.”

“Well, what?”

“We have to send out troops.”

My mouth fell open.

“I mean, spies. We have to spy. To see if there’s any threats.”

I looked skeptical.

“First, we’ll go to Mr. Rodiwro’s house. He’s pretty mysterious right? Who knows what he keeps up in his attics. Maybe he’s helping the government too.”

I nodded, curious where this was going.

“And then—and then we’ll check Mrs. Rosalie’s house.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Mrs. Rosalie’s just a nice old lady. Why would she be helping the government?”

“Who knows why people do things…” Andy looked distantly. “I have a theory.”

“Really?” I came forward. “What is it?”

“I think—” Andy looked around the house, making sure no one was in sight. “That she trains her cats to be assassins. And we’re all going to be ambushed!”

My shoulders dropped and I felt all light in me dim. I almost grew bitter for a second. “Really, Andrew? You don’t believe me? You asked me to come all the way down here just to make fun of me?”

Andy sighed, an amused smile on his face. “What, you didn’t think I’d really believe you, did I? It sounds crazy.”

I stiffened. 

Traitor.

“I’m done here. I have to go.”

Andy stood from his chair quickly, and blocked my way out. “Wait, wait, wait! C’mon, Danny. It’s just a joke. You’re not mad, are you?”

I looked at him blandly. “Why would I be mad?” I responded flatly. But I could barely keep it in. 

How could he? My one friend.

“You’re going to be sorry. But I’m going to figure out what happen and save me and everyone else, if something were to happen.”

“Danny,” Andy sighed. “Listen to yourself. I always knew you had a big imagination, but—you’re seventeen. And you think we’re all about to just randomly die?”

“Andy, I heard them!”

“Maybe you heard wrong…?”

I gave up on trying to convince him. “I’m going to tell Trinity. I know she’ll believe me.” I tried to move past him, but he didn’t listen. 

“Daniel. If you tell her this now, when she barely even knows you—you are going to make her never talk to you again. I’m telling you, she’ll think you’re crazy.”

I pondered this for a moment. “You’re right. I’ll tell her just in time, before they attack.”

NOT IMPOSSIBLE CHAPTER TWO!

C H A P T E R   T W O
W H A T   T H E Y   W A N T   Y O U   T O   B E L I E V E 

I got home and was surprised by all my friends, Mom holding a cake out to me beckoning me to blow out the candles.

“Happy birthday, Danny!” Mom cried, her blue eyes glowing. She still had her computer glasses on, and a pen resting on her ear.

She must have been working on something…

“Well, aren’t you going to make a wish?” My friend Andy nudged me.

I laughed. “Sure,” I took a step forward and in one breath, blew out the seventeen glittery white candles that formed around the cake in a circle. Everyone clapped and embarrassed me, and I dipped my finger in the gooey icing.

“Ooh, chocolate!” I exclaimed, causing more laughter.

That night, me and Andy sat outside in the grass, just as the stars were beginning to appear.

“You like the cake?” He asked me, licking his finger.

“You kidding? It was awesome.”

“What did you like more? The drone or the air-pilot manual?”

“I don’t know, I really liked the dictionary from Aunt Samantha.”

The two of us laughed and laid down on our backs.

“Nights like these—perfecto.” 

I took a deep breath. “You’re right. There’s nothing more normal and perfect than right now,” I tried to sound alright, but my voice held hesitation that I couldn’t control.

Andy looked at me, his brown curls in the grass. “Daniel?”

“Hm?”

“Is something wrong?”

Wrong? What could I say to that?
“Wrong? What do you mean?”

“You seem…quiet. You’re never quiet.”

“Nuh uh. You’re the loud one.”

“Yeah right,” Andy shifted his one hand behind his head to the other one.

“Actually, there is something.”

“I knew it.” Andy stared at me. “Spill.”

I leaned on my side and twiddled with my fingers. “I think my parents are up to something.” 

“What, like a vacation?”

“No, no—I mean I think we’re in danger. I think…I’m in danger?”

Andy looked at me like I grew a third eye. “How do you figure that? We have a great government system who actually takes care of us. How could anything dangerous be here? Threatening you…?”

I dwelled on his theory about the government. “You really believe that?”

“Believe what?”

“About the government…”

Andy shrugged. “Course. Don’t you?”

I opened my mouth but no words came. “I guess I never really thought about them,” I mumbled, plucking a stem of grass. My eyes rested on nothing, just the grass lit by the deck lights.

“Danny,” Andy tried to look me in the eye and finally I did so. “What’s going on?”

“I saw Mom and Dad in the basement. They were working on something in a secret room I never saw before. And there were these weird neon lights flashing and—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. The basement? Not even your Christmas decorations go down there.” Andy hugged himself. “It’s creepy.”

I suddenly came to the conclusion of something. “That’s why we never went downstairs. They might’ve been doing this all along!”

“Doing what?” He snapped.

I looked up at him a little surprised.

“Sorry, it’s just—why would you think anything against them?”

I sighed. “Because my parents. I heard them say, something like, my life depends on it.”

Andy looked at me curiously. “You’re sure you heard that? And it was about you?”

“I’m almost positive. All this—” I motioned my hand around the yard, “this is what they want you to believe. But I don’t think it’s real. I think they’re working backstage.”

“Interesting theory.”

 “Look, I know it sounds crazy. But I think I’m onto something. And I aim to find out what.”

“I’m in,” he shrugged.

I stared at him. “Wait, you believe me? And-and you’re in? For real?”

“What’s wrong with a little adventure every now and then?”

I grinned. “Not a thing.”