I tumbled out of the car, clutching onto my bag for dear life, and hit the dirt road hard. I rolled over, trying to catch my breath. Everything hurt as sharp rocks buried into my side. Ouch. Slowly, I crawled into the ditch on the side of the road. I lay there dazed for a while, watching the clouds pass by. I had to give myself a pep-talk before I even tried to make an effort to move.
I groan as I struggle to stand. I check myself for any severe injuries which, thankfully, I didn't have. My knees were scraped badly and I had bruises everywhere, but besides that I was alright. I looked up and saw my surroundings for once.
Crop fields lined the road for miles and in the distance a border line of trees were barely visible. I sighed. I had a long track ahead of me. I dove into the cornfields. Using the trees as my guide, I reached the forest and found a creek.
Relief flooded me. I had somewhat fresh water, so I would be alright for a couple of days. I found a sturdy tree that I climbed and made my camp. Finally, I sat on a sturdy branch and rested. I closed my eyes and absently fiddled with my necklace. Gently, I pulled out my necklace from my mom, or so I assumed it was from. I had been told that I was found with it around my neck. I stared into its icy depths.
My necklace had a turquoise gemstone in the middle that had the illusion of glowing. A silver band wrapped around the outside of the gem like a snake and connected to the chain. A second gem was intertwined with the silver band, forming something that looked like a tail. I like to imagine my mom wearing it with chocolate brown waves cascading down over her shoulders and a smile on her face.
Tears pricked my eyes. I missed them, not that I have ever met them, but still. I wanted to have parents that loved me. I smiled sadly at the necklace. I gently tucked the necklace back under my shirt. I drifted to asleep in the tree, thinking about what was going to happen to my life. What a great birthday I had.
"Hey, wake up!"
I shoot forward, causing me to lose my balance. My hands slipped and I closed my eyes bracing for impact. But the hard ground never came. Instead, I found myself looking up at a boy. My face flushed as he gently put me down. Standing in front of me was a guy that looked to be about 17. He had cropped tawny colored hair and hazel eyes that almost seemed unnatural. They looked like a hunter's, every sense hyper-aware. He stood about 6'5 with muscles peeking out from his shirt. He wore a red shirt, ripped black jeans, and a black jacket.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Um yeah, thanks," I mumbled, my cheeks still burning from embarrassment. "Who are you?"
"Sorry if I startled you. My name is Gram." He looks down and glances at his watch. I open my mouth to reply when he cuts me off.
"We don't have time for this. Amara, listen. I know we just met, but we need to get you out of here," Gram said with urgency in his tone. My eyes widened in surprise. "H-how do you know my name?"
Gram muttered to himself about people coming or something. "Okay, look. If you don't come with me, then you will have to go with the scientists."
He said this with so much disgust that I started to become nervous.
"Are they that bad?" The look he gave me told the story. "Alright, I'm coming."
I grab my bag from the tree and hurry after Gram. We push through the corn and get into his car. He starts the engine and pulls off into a nearby road. After turning the car around, he kills the engine, and presses one of the buttons on his complex dashboard.
"Okay, we will be safe for now."
I sat there, fidgeting nervously. Amara, how can you be so stupid? You followed a random guy into his car. You don't even know if he has good intentions. I fought with myself internally for a few minutes. Finally, I gave up and reached to turn on the radio. Only, there was no radio. Now, I look up.
Immediately, I noticed that the car had technology I had never seen before. The dashboard has an array of buttons so complex that it hurt my head trying to figure them out. There was also a screen on the dashboard. Tentatively, I reached out my hand and touched it. The screen sprung to life and I took the liberty to explore. I soon found out that it is actually a computer installed in a car.
"Please don't play with that," Gram said.
I reluctantly stopped fiddling around with the computer and watched the road. A few minutes later, two white vans drove past us and stopped where Gram's car was originally. To my surprise, four people dressed in white lab coats filed out and dove into the corn. As they disappeared, Gram started the engine and drove away. I noticed that his knuckles were white.
"Are they going to follow us?" I whispered, too scared to raise my voice. He looked at me with dead seriousness. "I hope not."
As if on cue, the people rushed out of the corn and looked around wildly. Once they didn't find anything, they got into their vans and drove off in the opposite direction. Weird, it seemed like they didn't see us at all.
"Gram, I think they are looking for us."
"I know," he grunted. He glanced over at me and noticed my nervousness. "It's okay. They can't see us. We are invisible."
"What!?" I shouted. Then, I stopped. Wait a minute. We are invisible. The car is invisible! INVISIBLE!! My eyes widen in excitement. I always had a knack for science. I tried to restrain myself, but my curiosity got the better of me. I started blurting out questions before I could stop myself. Gram was completely overwhelmed by my questions and had a hard time keeping up with them.
"Amara, chill! I'm sorry, but I can't answer all of your questions. I have no idea how this thing works, but I will make you a deal. When we get to HQ, you can talk to the engineers. Alright? So, please calm down!"
I blushed at my outburst and nodded in disappointment. I tried my very best to contain myself, but I was failing miserably. In the end, I just looked out the window at the country road. I started to wonder what would have happened if I hadn't gone with Gram. After a while of silence, I found myself drifting off to sleep. And as the world darkened, I thought about how my life had turned upside so quickly.