Chapter 7: All the Flowers in the Field

Aaron woke up. He was still in the hidden room. A figure stood over him. A short figure.

“Aaron, are you ok?” The figure asked. It was the kid.

“What’s happening?” Aaron wondered aloud.

“I was shoving you aside because I wanted to check this room out, but you started screaming, so I put my hand over you to silence you, and then you fainted,” the kid told Aaron.

“Wait, so no one is trying to kidnap me?” Aaron asked.

“No, no one is kidnapping you, Aaron,” the kid responded.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” A voice outside the room called.

“Scarlett?” Aaron yelled back.

“Who said that?” The voice asked.

“It’s me, Aaron!”

“Are you sure? It looks like I’m talking to a wall.”

“Yes, there’s a secret room. You have to crouch down and walk through the back wall.”

And just like that, Scarlett came through the wall.

“Scarlett! You’re not dead!” Aaron exclaimed.

“Nope. I am fully alive. Who are those two?” Scarlett asked, pointing at Walter and the kid.

“That’s Walter, and he works here too. And that’s… well…” Aaron trailed off.

“Nice to meet you Walter,” Scarlett said, shaking Walter’s hand. “Also, you never answered my question, Aaron.”

“I don’t have a name,” the kid said, extending his hand out to Scarlett, who shook it.

“Oh, well that’s very odd! Anyways, what have you three been up to?” Scarlett asked.

“Well, we found out that…” Aaron trailed off again, realizing there was a lot that they didn’t know about the kid. “We found out he… she? Oh, I don’t know. Anyways, the kid has superpowers. Like psy, no, telekinesis.”

“I’m a girl, by the way,” the kid told Aaron. “It’s probably useful information.”

“Ok,” Aaron said. “She has telekinetic powers.”

“How? Was it a lab experiment?” Scarlett asked.

“Apparently so. And on the ground floor right next to where I work, too.” Aaron replied.

“You remember the spider web in your room, right?” Scarlett asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” Aaron asked.

Scarlett figured Walter didn’t know what she was talking about. “To bring Walter up to speed, the spider-web is just a board of clues about missing persons cases in our fine town of Bridgeton. There was one about a three-year-old girl, and it was just about ten years ago. Do you think that it could be her?” Scarlett wondered. “What was her name? Wasn’t it…?” Aaron thought aloud. Aaron, for some odd reason, noticed Walter’s shirt. It was a red button-down shirt with green buttons, and Aaron wondered why it looked familiar. What on earth about the shirt was familiar, he thought. Seeing as he had only met Walter a few hours ago, it was odd that the shirt was familiar.

Maybe it had to do with the kid, Aaron thought. What about the shirt was familiar? The color seemed to stand out to him.

“Aaron, are you alright?” Scarlett asked, breaking Aaron’s concentration.

“Yes, just give me a minute or two,” Aaron replied, standing up. He started to pace around the room, trying to connect the red shirt and the kid’s name. It wasn’t Scarlett. It wasn’t Ruby, nor Crimson, Poppy, or Autumn. Aaron couldn’t figure it out. He tried to remember the spider web and all the articles and photos on it. He could remember the article, MISSING CHILD, 3 YEARS OLD. The name underneath. It was right there. 3-year-old child by the name of…

“Rose” Aaron said, and everything came back to him.

LUKE FANN

Editor at The City Voice

Hello, my name is Luke Fann. I love to read and write myself into a fantastical realm, but I love all genres. Of course, such a task requires assistance from my parents and older brother. I've feasted on alligators and tamed beasts like alpacas (my favorite animal), but none of that compares to my greatest weapon: a pencil. I am an editor here for the City Voice, and this is my second year writing for it.