[[ i have a snow day today and tomorrow, so i'll gladly start it off! give me a little bit. i call being the getaway driver >:D ]]
[[ editing: omg guys if Aaron and Dakota had babies, they'd be liger shifters LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL omg i crack myself up xD ]]
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[[ tagged: everyone
location: outside his house
feeling: curious and weary ]]
Isaac had told the others to meet him at his house at midnight, and he was really hoping no one would be late. From the moment they had been discovered as the shifters that they were, they'd been facing unwanted attention from everyone in town. Not to mention the consequences after they reached the national news and the world turned their attention to the biggest story in at least a century--them. Of course, Zac himself had reveled in the limelight for a few days before something happened to change his mind. He'd been at work at the town diner when a strange man had entered, sitting in his section alone. He only asked for a coffee, and when Zac brought it to him, the man held out a badly crumpled piece of paper. Zac had taken it from him with weary eyes, terrified to discover the story about him and his friends. Something about this man told him he was not merely looking for an autograph. Their names had been listed, but not pictures and Zac felt a flutter of apprehension in his heart, fearing he'd been found. But the man asked him if he knew the kids, just like he wasn't staring straight at one of them. It wasn't until then that Zac remembered; his name was listed as Isaac Ransom, but his name tag merely read "Hello, I'm Zac." There was no way the man would realize this peculiar nickname was a variation of Isaac. He exhaled in relief, handing the paper back to the man and telling him he had seen the kids around, but didn't know them personally.
It was from the back of the room that he called his two best friends and told them about the strange man. What he figured out next was the most disturbing information he'd heard in his life;;this man was a hunter, and was being paid to hunt the eight of them down and kill them. Although Zac wasn't necessarily close to all of the other shifters, he'd left work early that day (faking sick, of course) just to be able to contact them and warn them. They'd come to a consensus soon thereafter.
Pelican was no longer safe for them. They needed to run, and run fast.
They all planned to be at his house at midnight, packed and ready to go. He told them not to bring much and to say nothing to their parents. It was something he struggled with himself. How do you stare your parents in the eyes and not tell them you won't be home tomorrow? That you'll never come home again? He'd packed hastily before dinner and hid his bag under his bed for fear of them discovering it. Dinner had passed slowly and painfully, with Zac making small talk with his 15-year-old younger sister, Madeline. He wondered to himself, while they conversed, whether or not she'd end up developing abilities like his own. He could only hope she wouldn't, and that his absence from her life wouldn't be too painful. She looked up to him like he was this huge role model. Him abandoning her might crush her, so he was sure to be extra nice to her.
Finally, the time came around to just wait. He sat in his room, staring out the window and praying that the hunter wouldn't discover one of his companions before they could leave. He hoped beyond all hope there weren't any more in town, searching with him. And he could only let himself think that they would make it out of town safely.
Midnight came, his parents asleep in their beds and his sister just having turned her light off. He pushed his door open as quietly as he could, his bag draped over his shoulder tentatively. His blonde hair had been mussed up in all of his stressing, the typically well-styled quiff falling into a whole family of messy spikes. His eyes were blood-shot and his face was oddly pale--more so than usual. He made his way down the stairs, trying to keep his weight off of the creaky steps, and unlocked the front door with a quiet click. Locking it behind him, he immediately glanced up at the second story windows, watching for his parents light, or even Madeline's. When nothing happened, he silently cheered in his head, knowing they'd be a lot safer without him around. But he also felt a pit in his throat, near to tears. This would be his first time leaving home. How was he supposed to feel about that? He swallowed it, not letting himself dwell on his sadness, and dashed across the large front yard to the old barn they kept out back.
The barn was worn down and beaten up by the weather, the red paint having chipped almost completely off. But inside was an old, rusty red truck that he knew his father wouldn't miss. It was supposed to be something he and his father were going to work on together, but so far he'd been repairing it on his own. His father spent a lot of time working out of town, and Isaac really wanted that old truck for when he went to college, so he'd had no other option. Now that it ran decently well, Isaac knew it was his for the taking. He'd earned it, after all. He wasn't even sure his father was aware of his reparations.
Isaac pulled the barn doors open, darting inside and going over to his prized possession. He knew it was a weird thing to love so much, especially because it wasn't even the nicest vehicle in town, but it was more than a lot of people had. And he had put so much work into it. He pulled the driver's door open, having taken the keys off of the wall. He didn't put the keys in the ignition yet, however, and just sat in the barn.
11:57. His phone screen lit up the small, dark space and all at once Isaac became aware of the malevolent shadows all around him in the large, old barn. Even sitting inside of his truck, he felt like he wasn't safe. He knew he was imagining it, but he felt like something was moving around in the shadows, threatening him and taunting him with impending danger. He shook it off, waiting silently for his friends to arrive.
