Vestige Read Online Free Page A

Cody.
    “It’s none of your business,” said Micah.
    “Jess tells Amber everything, and Amber tells me everything,” said Cody.
    Micah tried to change the subject. “Are we going to the park after school today?”
    “Nah, man. I have to look for my dog,” Cody said. “He ran away or something. He’s been missing since last night. I let him out around 8:00, and when I went to let him back in, he was gone. I bet my dad left the gate open on purpose. He hates that dog.”
    “That’s weird. My neighbor’s dog ran away too,” Dustin added. “He was yellin’ that dog’s name all night, ‘Daphne...Daphne.... Where are you girl?’ What a douche. I didn’t sleep at all.”
    “I saw a lady looking for her dog this morning,” Micah said.
    “Maybe the same cult that took Jess’s little brother and sisters took all the dogs too.” Dustin laughed.
    Micah thought about the dog from his dream. It was still so clear. It seemed as if it had actually happened. He could almost feel the pressure of the dog’s teeth on his hand. He looked down at his open palm and gasped at the sight of two small bruises. Were those teeth marks? He turned his hand over and saw a matching pair on the opposite side. At first, Micah stared at the marks in disbelief, but then he thought about his hasty departure that morning. He must have grabbed a rough piece of wood or scratched himself on a nail.
    “Let’s meet at the park tomorrow morning,” concluded Cody. “Micah, did you hear me?”
    Micah snapped back to reality. “Yeah, sure...park...tomorrow morning.”
    “Wanna ditch?” Since Micah wasn’t going to see Jess after school, he wanted to skip an afternoon of total boredom. He couldn’t stand the thought of sitting in the auditorium for another three hours.
    “Nah, me and Amber are in the library together. She’ll be pissed if I ditch without her,” replied Cody.
    “I’m in the cafeteria.” Dustin looked at Micah. “Jess is too.”
    “Asshole,” Micah muttered.
    “You’re on your own, Micah.” Cody stood and headed towards the school. Dustin gave Micah one last smirk and followed Cody.
    “Fine.” As Micah slinked away in the other direction, he wondered where he should go. He couldn’t go home, and since he only had a fiver, he couldn’t hang out at the arcade. He eventually settled on the park.
    Ever since Micah was a kid, he loved the park. It was just so…ordinary—an ordinary place where ordinary parents played with their ordinary kids. It became his refuge from the crazy. He would watch these ordinary people and take mental pictures, and these pictures would sustain his daydreams for as long as he needed them to do so. These people gave him hope that maybe one day he might have an ordinary family of his own.
     
    *****
     
    After about an hour of sitting in the auditorium with nothing to do but think about her dad, Clarke’s conscience overflowed with guilt. She couldn’t focus on anything other than what she had done; or rather, what she hadn't done. How could she have left without knowing where her dad was?
    By the time lunch rolled around, she had convinced herself that something horrible had happened to him. If only she had stayed and waited for Mary.... But what if he wasn’t with Mary? What if God had answered her prayers and her dad was…gone? Knowing that she would regret her actions for the rest of time, Clarke now prayed for her dad’s safe return.
    When she prayed for her life to be normal, she didn’t want her father to disappear. She wanted him to be healthy again. Heck, she would have settled for her mother’s return but not this. For the first time in her life, Clarke decided to ditch school. As soon as the lunch bell rang, she slipped out of the building, unnoticed. She walked home as fast as she could, trying to think of an explanation for her actions.
    Once home, Clarke walked up to the front door of her house, gripped the doorknob, and took a deep breath. Heat rose to her face,