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Linda's POV

I can feel the breeze on my face, it tempts me so much, that I lean out the open window. I close my eyes and let the sensation I'm presently feeling take me away. I feel the tendrils of my hair whip past my face with force - forget that Esperanza struggled to help me with it this morning - I just love that feeling that a part of me is free, that I'm a part of the wind.

Air in motion, another name for freedom. Who knew there could be such beauty in that? Well look at me now, Linda in motion, Linda in freedom. I breathe in deeply and smile unconsciously. I just can't help it.

" You remind me of Gabriel, real cute. " Luke says smiling but not looking at me, instead his focus is on the road as he drives.

I sneer at him, squinting my eyes suspiciously.

He turns to look " can't you take a compliment? Jesus! "

" ha! You never compliment me. " I say scowling.

" Luke's right, Gabriel's cute. " Russ says as he leans on my seat from behind. " he's kind of like my little brother. " Russ says smiling and looking into my eyes, as I look back at him.

" how old is he? " I ask curiously.

" four. "

" fine, thank you for the compliment. " I say turning to face Luke who just smiles slightly and shrugs.

" my pleasure " he replies. " after all, he's a bit of a trouble maker, just like you. "

" hey! Gabriel's not a trouble maker. " Russ says glaring at Luke.

I just roll my eyes at their childishness, after all boys will be boys.

" so where are we going? " I ask as soon as both boys fall silent.

" to get you courage and possibly in trouble. " Luke says smiling.

" excuse me? "

" ah, we're here. " Luke says stopping the car.

I look ahead and all I can see are abandoned buildings turned to scraps of metal, some of which are still firm in a way, while the others look like just one push and they'd all crumble down. But in front of this, there is a gate with a no trespassing sign and a really big chain closing it off.

" Are we still in town? "

" yes. "

" funny I've never seen this place before. "

" not a place the town is real proud of. "

" why? " I ask curiously.

" about fifty years back, the mayor of this town made deals with a Mafia gang. They bought this land from him and killed the owner and his family. They did a lot of industrial work here and also made illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroine, just name it and they made it. Even the media never found out about them. Something went wrong with the foundations and so the buildings were destroyed. Many lives were lost and it's said that their souls still linger on waiting to kill whoever chooses to trespass beyond the gate. " he says looking deep within my eyes.

But I just look at him blinking continuously and questioning his mental state.

The guy has got to be kidding me. Seriously, ghosts and mafia in this quiet town? I mean I get the whole thing about the media never finding out, cause Silverado has always been a safe haven away from the media. One reason why dad moved away from New York city and away from everything else.

" Luke, do you have history of mental illness? Because I find it hard to understand why a highly educated individual - even if you're not exactly bright - would believe such fairy tales. "

" First of all, I am bright. Secondly, It's not a fairy tale. Its a real life horror story. "

" so I should be scared? " I ask raising a brow.

" I don't think she scares easy." Russ says to a scowling Luke.

" several weeks back I wouldn't have said so but maybe..." Luke says smiling mischievously. Suddenly the car roars to life and with one last look at me, he drives straight through the gate.

" are you crazy?! " I ask in alarm.

" no, just moving on to today's segment. "

" this is giving me courage? "

" and getting you in trouble. " Russ says from behind me.

Okay these guys are crazy.

Luke drives through and around different buildings at high speed. Soon enough, he swerves at a corner and shuts down the car engine.

I look up and see the remnants of a sky scraper. This looks even more recent than the others but why it was built separate from the others and why it seems hidden are questions I can't answer.

" get down. " Luke says getting out of the car.

As soon as I'm out, Jack's car comes around with Leah's closely behind.

" Where were you guys? " Russ asks cocking a brow.

" getting Leah's car was more trouble than we'd hoped for. " Dave replies as soon as he steps down. " school security almost caught us. "

" so what are we doing here? " I ask taking a brief look around.

" getting you courage. " Luke says cockily.

" don't get. "

" race you to the top " Luke says and soon enough, he and Jack race into the building.

Before I can consider what I'm doing, I'm racing after them.

We race up stairs, some winding up and some winding down. Luke and Jack seem a bit preoccupied trying to sabotage the other.

As I draw closer to them I notice some wire on the ground, one pull on the corner and they'd both trip. I run past them and before they can get close to me, I run to the wall where I just noticed the wire and pull on it and just as I'd thought, they fall down groaning.

I continue running but it's then I realize that I don't know where I'm going to. As soon as I think that thought, I hear footsteps and my hands are grabbed. I look up only to face Russ. My heart skips for a bit in shock, but then anticipation to win this race takes over.

We race up the last flight of stairs, almost tasting that feeling of being a winner but as soon as we shoot through the door waiting for us at the top.

That feeling dies as does the smile I was unaware of on my face.

Standing in front of us are Luke and Jack, looking slightly crazed and appearing cocky at the same time. I seriously don't know how the hell they pull it off.

" how did you guys get here so fast? " I ask slightly annoyed.

" short cut " they both reply smiling.

Funny I've never seen Jack smile, he should do it often, it looks good on him.

" so you tripped us. " Luke says squinting his eyes at me.

" when did I ever do that? " I ask seeing the serious look on their faces.

" must have been a replica. " Russ says coming to my aid.

" yeah, like you said there are ghosts here right? Imagine if one of them looks like me. "

" I don't think anything could replicate that annoyingly ugly face of yours. " Luke says with his ever annoying smirk

" hey! " Russ and I protest at the same time.

" let's toss her over the building. " Jack says giving me a sinister smile.

As soon as they start coming towards me, I dive behind Russ's back and he pretends to fight them. After sometime, Jack holds him down. While Luke grabs hold of me, dragging me to the edge of the building.

" say your last prayer. " he says making his voice deep.

" come on it was only a little wire. " I say laughing hysterically

" it will only be a little drop. " he says mimicking my voice.

He throws me over his shoulder, I catch a glimpse of how much of a little drop he meant. I immediately start squirming and screaming.

" put me down! Oh God! oh God! " I scream as he rocks me on his shoulder.

" nah, I don't think so. "

I can feel the blood drain out of my brain. Closing my eyes, I let out a piercing scream as he lets go of me. But when I open my eyes, I realize I'm not falling. Instead I feel my legs touching the ground. I turn around with with wide eyes to see everyone and by everyone I mean Dave, Leah and Russ laughing at me.

Those traitors!

I start heading back to the car when Luke pulls me back.

" Come on, we were only joking around. "

I refuse to answer or look at him.

" you should stop giving us the silent treatment. " Luke says giving me a lopsided grin.

I turn around, staring holes into the wall me.

" I should have really thrown you off the building. " He says looking peeved.

I step on his feet real hard, making him jump and giving me the chance to run behind Russ.

We continue doing this for sometime, playing around and not exactly caring about anything else.

It's nice, this feeling of being a normal teenager and actually having fun.

I lean over the building despite my fear of heights because Luke says doing minor things like this to get a little courage is a huge step to put myself out there. I've already made up my mind, I'm going to fully discover myself. But I hope I'm not making a mistake. It would kill me if I'm betrayed again.

I breathe in. " ah... this feels good, helps to think. " I say to the others who seem a bit bored doing nothing.

" yeah right. " Luke says slowly walking over. He leans over the building and breathes in, taking in the view and closes his eyes for a few seconds. " I think you're right. "

Everyone leans over the building facing different directions.

At the same time, we snap our heads up, as we hear the engine of a car. No not one, more than one. We hear doors shutting and head towards Jack. We all lean over to see black cars and men in black holding weapons.

" holy shit. " Dave swears loudly.

The men must have heard him because they immediately raise their heads up. " there are people in the building. Get them! "

Don't panic, don't panic.

I see the look on the faces of the others and I start to panic. " they won't hurt us right. It's not like they're gonna kill us or anything. I mean they probably only want to question us right? Those only happen in movies, them hurting us. "

" Linda I'm sorry but I think we're gonna have to go with the movie version. We don't know what those men want. Cause as far as I know, this property is off limits. "

Luke grabs hold of my hand and we all run like hell. We all get separated at some point now moving in pairs but I hardly care about that.

I feel my heart beating widely and my pulse accelerating.

Luke squeezes my hand and I'm forced to look into his eyes. I feel the tension slowly slipping out of my body as I see the reassurance in his eyes. But we come to a halt when we hear fast moving feet coming our way. Luke grabs me one more time, pulling me to a hidden corner, where we squat and hide and at the same time watch the men enter.

They prowl around as if waiting for us to pop out of somewhere.

I feel like crying as their steps draw them closer to us. My heart goes hay wire. But they finally give up and leave the room. We wait it out for a few minutes, then start heading out. We step out and I'm pulled back, a hand on my mouth and another at my stomach. I notice two men trying to hold Luke down. I try very hard to struggle against the person holding me back, but it seems to be to no avail.

He flips me around so fast, that it could give me whiplash. But at that moment, I'm left speechless.

Dark eyes, brown hair, huge frame, same face.

" you! " I scream unable to hide the fact that I recognized him after all these years.

He steps into the room smiling at me like he always did, but I feel tension in the air as he looks at her.

She doesn't pay attention to him. She's lost in her own world and I want to help her but I can't cause I don't know what to do.

" they want to speak to you. "

she follows him out, barely a shell of herself.

I miss her already.

Soon enough I hear her screaming and crying. She says it's all their fault, she's says they're monsters and she doesn't want me living with such. She runs back in, picks me up and I'm breathing the cold air and seeing his face, hearing him scream at her to come back.

That's the last time I ever saw him or her.

" Imelda? " he asks, his words laced with shock.

It's that which snaps me back to reality. A name I never wanted to hear again.

Luke pushes him to the side but he's still in shock and so just sits on the floor doing nothing.

We both run out and find the others waiting for us. We get into our cars driving away but they come out shooting at us.

" seize fire " he comes out yelling at them.

I look back one last time to see Miguel still looking so lost.

" do you know him? " Luke asks from beside me.

" no " I say closing my eyes, trying to hide from his inquisitive stare.

It's all in the past it stays in the past.

~ ~ ~

We take another route so they can't follow us. After sometime I open my eyes to find Luke driving through a park. One I remember quite well.

Hoping she'd come, crying silently but never showing my tears cause Miguel taught me never to. But she never came.

" what route are we taking? "

" it's an old route that leads to town. " he answers never taking his eyes off the road.

" why is it so empty? "

" no one comes here anymore. " Russ says sounding slightly annoyed.

" why? " I and Luke ask at the same time.

" just a bitter old winter story. " he answers looking out the window.

" so what exactly... " I try asking him the story when he interrupts looking more peeved.

" will you just drop it already?! "

To say I'm shocked would be an understatement but I should have been expecting this all along.

After sometime, I hear Russ sigh. " I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just a lot of bad things happened here, it's difficult to talk about it. Not my story to tell. "

" I know bad things happen and it's easier to pretend it never happened. " I barely felt the tear which went down my right cheek. But somehow I was aware of Luke's eyes on me just as I'd been aware of that faraway thoughtful look that'd passed through his eyes when Russ had spoken. And something in his stare told me this conversation was far from over.

We drive home in silence, picking up Becky and Dave's siblings.

I and Luke cancel our group reading for the day.

All thoughts of eating leave my mind as soon as I see my bed. I just want to sleep, hoping that it can help me escape even for a couple of hours.

Author's note

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