We're the Last

by G Sasaki

  Hailey glanced back at Grace. “This way.” Hailey stepped to the left and continued down the slope. She came to some uneven indentations in the surface of the dirt that functioned as stairs. At this point, the tall grass disappeared and, to her right, the secluded beach revealed itself. The blaring sun shone above and made her feel small in comparison. She wiped drops of sweat resting on her forehead. Below, Hailey could see the water eagerly rushing to the shore. The small rock formations that rested in the middle of the water usually held resting seals, but today, they were gone. Instead, green algae covered them. She continued down the path as the cliffs in front of her began to tower over them.

  A rope rested on the dirt in front of her, designed to keep people from slipping down the final slope to the beach. She gripped it, turned her body, and stepped down the steady decline until she plopped down and sunk her shoes onto the sand. She held out her hands out to Grace, who leapt from the rope into Hailey’s arms and landed next to her. The girls looked ahead at the stretch of sand.

  The beach sat empty with no sign of life, just a field of sand, seaweed, and the occasional water-soaked branch. There was no Alex, at least not in plain sight. Hailey and Grace walked side by side. With each step, their shoes dipped and they had to shift their weight to keep steady. The gentle crashing of the waves filled their ears with a soothing calm. Hailey glanced around, dismayed by the absence of… anything. If Alex isn’t here, where could he be? She always worried about what would happen when she found him. And now it dawned on her that she might never actually do that at all.

  They looked inside the nooks of the cliffs. They climbed over rocks. They peered around the corner at the end of the stretch. As time went by and places to look dwindled, hope begrudgingly started to choke on its way to death.

  Hailey always knew failure was a probability. She thought if she tried her best, she could find him. But this helpless feeling radiated through her. “Forget it,” Hailey said. Her head ached with stress and she crashed her knees into the sand. She leaned forward and buried her face into her palms. “It’s over. Alex is gone.” She thought she would cry. But she didn’t. Her eyes weighed down like bowling balls and her mind raced. What do I do now?

  Grace stood above Hailey. They had been through so much. Hailey was going to give up just like that? Grace looked for any way to bring hope back and Hailey with it. “What about what the woman at the hospital said… about the riddle?”

  Hailey leaned back and the unrelenting sun tickled her face. Hailey squinted her eyes and peered at Grace standing over her. Every piece of Hailey limped with surrender. Her mouth lazily slurred, “I don’t even know what that means. It’s useless.”

  Grace sat on the soft sand next to Hailey and looked out at the ocean. At the bright bits of sunlight dancing off the rippling water. Hailey’s baggy eyes looked out with her. Grace said, “You’re right. It is hopeless.”

  That’s not what Hailey expected to hear. She gasped a deep breath from the breeze that blew in and Grace continued, “It was hopeless when the bats were fighting outside the hospital. It was hopeless when two bats were about to kill me at the high school. When everyone came to the grade school. When I was stuck in the back of that police car. Every minute has been hopeless. And here we are.” The waves tenderly crashed and massaged the wet sand in front of them. The smooth air revitalized their tired skin. The cove was a quiet place. Peaceful. It wasn’t a place where dreams came to die. Grace said, “This isn’t the end. Just because Alex isn’t sitting here waiting for you with open arms doesn’t mean we give up. Alex is alive. You know it. He came here to solve a riddle. And we’re going to find him.”

  Hailey shook her head and huffed. Her muscles ached in exhaustion. Nothing Grace said had any effect. It just made her more tired. “The seals aren’t even here.” Hailey laughed in disgust. “Can’t you just let me give up? I’m done.” Hailey shook her head and avoided eye contact with Grace. Then, she heard a distinct sniffle. Tears peered out of Grace’s eyes and hiked to her soft cheeks. Does it really bother her that much?

  Grace wiped away the tears with her wrist. Hearing Hailey talk about giving up stabbed at her. Her lips resisted her efforts to speak. Her vocal cords strained. She didn’t think she would ever tell anyone what she wanted to say. But Hailey needed to know. “I can’t let you give up, Hailey… because you’re the reason I didn’t.”

  Hailey stared, unsure what she meant. Grace continued, “That night. We were in our old classroom at the grade school. We slept in shifts. When you went to sleep… I wanted to give up. I took one of the guns from the backpack. The one you showed me how to use...” Grace’s breath scattered. She felt afraid of what Hailey would think. She was ashamed of this truth. “I put the gun to my head. I mean, what reason did I have to not pull the trigger? Everyone was dead and I was probably going to die in the morning anyway. But I had to be completely sure it was what I wanted to do. I thought I was convinced… that I wanted to die right then. My finger leaned against the trigger and started to pull. And then, somehow… I don’t even know… I put my other hand in my pocket and…”

  Grace leaned back, stretched out her leg, and reached into her pocket. “…and I found this.” She pulled out a folded up, crinkled piece of paper and dropped it into Hailey’s lap. Hailey unfolded and opened it. Her eyes scanned along the handwritten words as Grace recited it from memory: “I’ve heard people say that things change when you graduate from 8th grade but I hope that some things don’t change. I hope me and Grace will stay friends. Sometimes I think she doesn’t like me as much anymore but that’s okay. I hope she hasn’t forgotten that we became sisters in Kindergarten. It means a lot to me. She is someone I care about very much. She is my best friend.” Hailey’s heavy eyes lifted from the ink on the page and turned to Grace, who said, “I changed my mind and put the gun down. I didn’t give up because of you. So I won’t let you give up.”

  Grace pressed her palms against her eyes, rose to her feet, and extended her bandaged hand in front of Hailey’s face. It rested in the air, fingers extended, waiting for her to grab hold. Hailey stared at the white gauze wrapped around Grace’s hand. Grace had almost killed herself. Hailey couldn’t imagine being without her. She never would’ve survived this long. Hailey ignored Grace’s injured hand and rushed to her feet. And wrapped her arms around Grace.

  Grace whispered, “I’m not strong like you.”

  “Yes you are,” Hailey responded. Grace’s soft hair brushed against her face. Hailey rested a hand on the back of Grace’s head and rubbed her scalp. “I need you.” Hailey snugged her hands against Grace’s back. Grace’s story hurt like a dagger to her heart and she couldn’t help but be even more grateful to have Grace around. Hailey pulled back her head and looked into Grace’s eyes. In her peripheral vision, she noticed the soothing sight of the ocean. “Let’s just stay here for a minute.”

  The cliffs behind dwarfed them. The two stood, absorbing the soothing sight of the waves for as long as they wanted. The horizon of the water extended forever. The clouds above bubbled like a pastel painting; their magnificent structure polished the bright blue sky. No, this wasn’t a place where hope went to die. Without realizing it, Hailey and Grace wore natural smiles as the waves broke and the sun beamed upon them.

  Later, they emerged in the parking area to rejoin Mike, Dave, and the rest of the bats. Grace addressed them for Hailey, explaining they had not found what they were looking for. While Grace spoke, Hailey stared off, looking at nothing in particular, focused only on her thoughts. Her wandering eyes noticed something that stuck out in the distance. She inched closer. A street sign pointed in a direction parallel to the cliffs that overlooked the beach. What it said rang an immediate bell in her mind.

  ANDRENE AVE

  Hailey had seen it before, written on the sticker on the leather journal at the hospital. “If found, please return to 61 Andrene Avenue.”

  Their destination wasn’t the cove of Pirate’s Cove… It was a house overlo
oking Pirate’s Cove!

  “Grace!”

  36

  Hailey, Grace, and Mike stood in front of 61 Andrene Avenue. A charming ranch whose back windows overlooked the cove below stared back at them. The neighboring homes spread so far it felt like a house that rested alone. With everything intact and a lawn still reasonably under control, the house looked like it could still be actively used. On any other day, this would be a welcoming place. But not today.

  As they stared at the deceptive menace in front of them, Hailey uttered, “You coming with us this time, Mike?”

  Mike glanced at Dave and asked, “Can you give us just a little bit?”

  With the army of bats behind him, Dave replied, “We’ll be waiting.”

  Grace nodded with approval at Hailey. It was time to enter the house.

  Hailey, Grace, and Mike walked up the driveway. The group of bats in the street watched them creep forward. Other than the waves in the distance, the air stayed oddly quiet. What lied inside the home and waited to be discovered was left to everyone’s imaginations. The bats, young and old, man and woman, stood united, believing this journey would soon be coming to an end.

  The three arrived at the wooden front door. Hailey took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob. Her fingers wrapped around it and, as quietly as she could, she turned her hand. To her surprise, the knob turned with it. The door creaked open and revealed the inside of the house.

  Looking in, Hailey could see a large window at the back revealing the pastel clouds overlooking them. Two couches rested inside that formed the basis of the living room. A TV sat idly across the way. It was a plain sight, but more impressively, a clean sight. The inside remained untouched by the insanity of two weeks ago.

  Hailey put a finger to her lips and looked at Grace. Then at Mike. They had to be quiet just in case someone lingered. They snuck inside and walked gingerly on the soft carpet. To the right of the family room, a deep hallway littered with doors stretched for miles. All of the doors remained open except one.

  Hailey glided into the core of the family room. Against the wall, a stone fireplace ridged its way to the ceiling. She stood in front of the mantel, where in the middle, a fancy clock still worked. Every second, it ticked, sending a slight shockwave into her ears. Sitting to the left and right, frozen images of unfamiliar faces looked back at her. On the left side, framed pictures of a boy smiled back. On the right side, a girl. The pictures spanned across different ages of their lives. The boy’s began at about age three and didn’t seem to show him at a particularly old age. Around high school seemed to be the oldest they went to. And in those later pictures, he was bald and without eyebrows. His smile bent nervously and a lack of confidence glazed over in his eyes. He seemed brighter and full of life in his younger photos. In those, he wore a natural smile and had curly hair sprouting from his head. Hailey couldn’t help but grin at the cute little boy who had seemingly grown up to adopt a sickness of some sort. As Hailey shifted to the right side of the clock, she observed a beautiful young woman smiling back. Her wavy brown hair flowed to her shoulders and alluring green eyes squinted with a feminine sweetness. Her most recent picture showed her older than the boy. Grace and Mike stood next to Hailey and joined her in examining the pictures. Hailey whispered, “They must’ve grown up in this house.”

  Mike looked at the brunette girl’s pictures. She gazed at him through long eyelashes and wore a radiant smile. Although beauty exuded around her, the images had an eerie quality to them. His imagination took over when considering what could have happened to her. No one enjoyed a nice fate from two weeks ago.

  Of the plethora of pictures of the girl, one captured Hailey’s attention. She lifted the frame and held it in her hands. Two little girls, around six years old, stood outside, in front of a park, and embraced. They both wore adorable pink dresses and their cheeks rested together. Tiny backpacks rested on their backs and their faces lit with innocent joy. They smiled at Hailey. And she couldn’t help but smile back.

  A slight noise erupted. In the silence, it was enough to stun their ears. It sounded like something solid had fallen in the distance. Hailey looked at Grace and Mike, whose eyes bolted open with shock. Without a word, Hailey asked with her eyes if they had made the noise. Grace and Mike shook their heads.

  Hailey placed the picture of the two girls back on the mantel and peered down the hallway. She pointed, confident the noise had come from that direction.

  Hailey, Grace, and Mike inched around the furniture and moved into the hallway. Its narrow entrance threatened to push them away and the lack of light begged it. The lone closed door at the end represented their most crucial worry. Hailey moved toward it until the first open door on the left distracted her.

  The inside contained an office. Bookshelves surrounded a desk that sat in the middle of the room. A small, wide open safe that rested on a shelf behind the desk caught her eye. Hailey squinted at it, wanting to get as good a look at it as possible. Her instincts screamed for her to investigate that sight. With her fingers, she signaled to Mike and Grace that she was going in.

  Hailey stepped inside and tiptoed around the desk without taking her eyes off the safe. Whatever once rested inside was gone. Hailey partially closed the safe door and looked at the front of the lock. A digital panel with numbered buttons lodged there. She reopened the door and peered inside. Nothing. She shrugged and stepped away. Then, a scrunching sound crinkled under her shoes. She lowered to her knees to examine it.

  Mike and Grace stood in front of the shut door in the hallway. The brown wood stared at them, daring them to open the door. They silently waited and listened to the inside of the room. With Mike’s enhanced hearing, he caught the sound of heavy breathing. No… it wasn’t just breathing… it was sobbing. Someone was crying inside!

  Mike instructed Grace to step back, motioning her away with his hand. He wrapped his fingers on the door handle. He looked into Grace’s blue eyes and paused. Anything could be behind that door. The safe thing would be to walk away. Mike took a breath. And thrust the door open. He used his foot for extra measure, causing the door to fly open with such force, no one would be able to react in time.

  The room inside clearly belonged to a boy. The blue walls were covered with posters and sports equipment lied on the floor. Sitting on the bed was a boy with a frightened face. His half-naked body sprang tall and looked at Mike with horror painted over his face. He wore red shorts that looked unusually tight… which made sense because he was a fully transformed bat. But the weird thing was: he had no fur. It took precious seconds for Grace and Mike to recognize him. Jeremy! Confusion choked the room so much, no one knew what to say.

  Hailey jumped at the sound of the door blasting open. Her hands gripped a crumpled stack of paper that she found on the floor. There had to be at least 50 sheets. One edge of the pages was ripped; it had been separated from whatever binded it together. The handwriting on the first page looked immediately familiar: the loopy letters belonged to a girl. She had seen this before. The truth plowed into Hailey: these pages came from the leather journal at the hospital! How did they separate from its cover and end up here?

  She glanced at the bottom of the first page and learned the name of the owner of the leather journal. It read, “Whatever happens, I will always try my best. - Nicole Rogers”.

  37

  Several years earlier, life was normal. Nicole Rogers, a 14 year-old girl, already started to adopt the stunning appearance she would eventually grace. Lately though, it would be hard to tell. Bags constantly drooped under her eyes and she didn’t bother with her messed hair or with wearing makeup. There seemed to be a dark, grim aura surrounding her.

  Nicole obediently wore her school uniform: a blue skirt and a white button-up shirt. School had ended for the day so she walked along the street with books tucked against her chest and wind breezing at her long brown hair. As she stepped, she didn’t particularly look at anything. The palm trees and homes around her hued with rich col
or. But she passed them by and could only see pale tints. Inside, the only emotion she felt on this sunny day belonged to sorrow.

  Truthfully, she wished she could take Ava’s pain and make it her own.

  Ava walked next to her. Her long blonde hair rivaled Nicole’s. With striking blue eyes, Ava embodied the All-American girl: popular at school, active in extracurriculars, with friends abound. There was barely a time where Ava could be spotted without wearing her signature dimpled smile. But under that, she worried. Because her best friend’s spirit had spiraled. She asked Nicole, “Why do you always look so sad?”

  Nicole put on a smile that looked as fake as it felt. With a soft, struggling voice, she responded, “I’m sorry. I’m trying… I really am.”

  Ava felt Nicole’s despair too. She just owned a better way of masking it. Secretly after school, Ava would go into her room, close the door, and cry. But that was a side she wouldn’t dare let Nicole see. It would break her. Ava suggested, “Let’s put our stuff in your house and head down to the beach. What do you say?”

  Nicole nodded. “Okay.”

  In Nicole’s room, they plopped their books onto her bed. Throughout their lives, Nicole and Ava were inseparable. They met in preschool and practically grew up together. Every birthday Nicole could remember, Ava was there. Every time she felt down, Ava lifted her up. To them, they were more than just best friends, they were sisters.

  Nicole and Ava left the room and traipsed down the hallway. “Hey!” a high-pitched voice yelled from behind.

  Nicole rolled her eyes. “What do you want, J?”

  A short young boy stood at the end of the hall in front of his room. It was Nicole’s little brother. Full of unending energy, he never slowed down. He bounced as he asked, “Want to play with me?”

  “Not right now. Me and Ava are going for a walk.”