Fangs

“Esmond, we have to go before they wake up.” my best friend said as he waited for me by the front door.

“Give me a second,” I said looking around my home for the last time.

I walked over to a wall with photos of me and the other orphans. My parents died when I was only three. A car accident killed them and nearly killed me. People say it was a miracle that I survived, and I believe they were right.

“You can wait for me outside Baldwin,” I said, picking up a photo of me and the young caregiver who ran the orphanage. I laughed in my mind, as I remembered when the photo was taken. I had just run my first three-mile run and had almost killed myself in the process. My black hair was full of sweat and my tan skin was super tan from the sun, but my blue eyes showed how much fun I had. That was five years ago when I was in my sixth-grade year

“Okay, I’ll be by the front gate,” Baldwin said.

I heard the door open and close and I slowly sat on the carpeted floor of the three-story, old-fashioned, house in the middle of nowhere.

I felt a small tear roll down my cheek as I stuffed the picture into my running pack.

My life had not been so bad here. I was always treated with respect and was never criticized for anything I did wrong. Evita the owner and caregiver always took great care of all twenty of us as if we were her own.

I looked around the hallway full of photos for the last time, smelling the old woody smell, and left out the front door. The black night engulfed me as I exited my house, but I could see clearly. I walked over to the side of the house where Baldwin was filling up his hydration pack with water from the hose.

“I don’t know if this is the best idea,” I told him putting on my back, clipping on the clips in the front, and tightening it.

“We already decided this, we don’t want anyone to get hurt.” He said.

“But shouldn’t we at least tell someone, maybe they would help us,” I replied.

Baldwin put his pack on and tightened it jumping a few times up and down.

“You have seen the news already if we tell someone they think we are one of the killers.”

“But someone going to come look for us, the school, police, anyone.”

“For you maybe, but for right now, my parents won’t give a damn about me,” Baldwin said. He had recently gotten into a fight with his parents over the mid-quarter report card we received from our school this week. Though Baldwin is a smart kid, his parents thought he could be smarter, so all A’s and two B’s were not acceptable.

“I still think I should at least tell…”

“NOO! You saw Friday Night live last night, they have mutable bounties out for creatures like us.”

I knew he was right, and I hated it.

“Hey don’t worry, we’ll find a way to turn back, but right now we have to get as far as we can. Then we can head to the laboratory.”

“And are we sure they will help us?” I asked.

“I am.”

I shifted nervously on my feet, getting my new shoes dirty from the muddy ground.

“I guess we go then,” I said.

We left the side of the house and crossed the wet grass until we were at a single trail that led into the forest.

“This trail should lead us to the first town, but it going to be a bit of a run,” Baldwin said.

“How far is it again?” I asked feeling nervous even more.

“About 50 miles, From there we will have to travel another 70 miles to the next town.” He said.

“And how far in total?”

“Almost five hundred miles,” Baldwin said, strapping on his GPS fitness watch.

I know the idea is stupid, but we could not risk going on the bus since everyone knows each other in this small town, and we would be found out immediately. I’m also 15 and still don’t have my driver’s permit, or know how to drive a car.

“I don’t know if we can make it,” I said, wanting to back out.

“Don’t worry,” Baldwin said, pulling his sleeve up and revealing two puncture holes in his wrist, “We got the power of the bite on our side.”

“Okay, first thing, stop calling it the power of the bite, and second, it’s not a superpower, it a curse,” I said.

“Come on dud, show your bite, have some fun with it,” Baldwin said smiling, baring his sharp fangs.

I sighed but held my hand out, showing my bite mark that will forever mark me as one of them.

“And smile,” Baldwin said. I gave a forced grin, my fangs pointing out.

“Now that my vamp bro.”

“You’re an ass,” I said hands crossed over each other.

“I not denying it.” Baldwin laughed.

I turned my workout mode on my fitness watch and got into my running stance, Baldwin doing do same thing.

“On my count.” Baldwin said, “One…… Two…..THREE!”

We were off, feet stepping back and forth, step by step, mile by mile.