"Mike?" I called softly. Beside me stood Raven and Trevor. Trevor held a flashlight and wore a stern look on his face.

"Daddy!" Raven hollered.

Trevor called, "Joseph!" I picked at my nails fretfully. Walking down this dark hall by ourselves just didn't seem safe. What if someone was here? What if Mike and Susie and my dad were hurt? What if we got hurt? I shook my head slightly. I needed to stop asking unanswerable questions.

I froze, "Wait. You hear that?" Around a corner, or behind one of the office doors, or maybe back in the main room, I could hear murmuring. Talking.

Trevor nodded, "Yeah." He pressed his ear up against one of the walls to try and hear better. I turned around and peered at the length of the hallway that we had just walked through. Without the flashlight in front of me, the hallway was pitch black. I shuddered. I turned back to face Trevor. He pushed some blonde hair out of his eyes, and pointed the flashlight at a large wooden door on the opposite wall. The quiet talking was nearby. Could that door be it? Trevor took a step forward, and placed his hand on the golden knob.

I tugged at his dark hoodie sleeve, "Trevor, wait! We don't know if that's them."

He pulled his hand back slowly, "We've got this. Don't worry." Don't worry? That's easy for you to say, I thought.

"Can we at least knock first?" I pleaded. Trevor looked back at me, biting his lip for a moment.

Finally, he said, "Okay, yeah," and firmly knocked on the door. The voices grew a bit louder. I heard footsteps, and became extremely anxious. I quickly pulled Trevor by his arm out of the direct path of the door. He glanced at me, a bit confused. The door creaked open... God, the suspense. I let out a sigh of relief as I recognized Mike's dark-skinned face.

"Daddy!" Raven ran up to him, pushing the door open completely and giving him a hug. "I was worried, you left me alone with these children!" I expected him to chuckle, to smile that we were safe, or even to get worried at the fact that Susie wasn't with us. But instead, Mike's face was cold and hard, and angry.

He said lowly, "You kids need to go back to the main room. Now." I peered past him, standing on my tippy-toes, and looked at the office he was in. My eyes widened as I saw my father holding a pistol in his hand and-

I gasped, "What are you guys doing? Who is that?"

Mike pushed Raven away and closed the door almost all the way, "Leave. Now." He slammed the door shut.

"Wait, Liam, what did you see?" Trevor asked, his blue eyes wide. I looked back at him with equally wide eyes. I was shocked.

"I- I... I saw... A man. Tied to a chair... Held at gunpoint..." I looked away. My own father, holding a gun at that man... I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't. Without really thinking, I began to walk the way we came, my hand on the wall to guide me through the darkness. Trevor and Raven turned and followed me, and lit my path with the flashlight. We walked in stunned silence. And once we got to the main desk, we sat down in stunned silence, too. We sat on the floor behind it, by the cardboard boxes.

Trevor was the first to break the silence, "So... Are you guys hungry?" I nodded slowly. I actually hadn't thought about it, but my stomach ached with hunger. I guess I had been too busy worrying and being wrapped up in my head to realize it.

"Who do you think that guy was, the one being held at gunpoint? They had him strapped to a chair..." I sighed deeply. My hunger was already off of my mind, and that image of my father holding a gun, with such a stern look on his face, was filling my head.

Trevor stood up, "I'm getting something to eat. Where did Mike put his bag?"

I glanced up at him, "Oh. Uh... I think over by the door?" Trevor nodded, and walked away from me and Raven. I wondered if he had his own flashlight. That was when I noticed Raven's watery eyes. She was still just a kid, and she didn't deserve any of this, even though she was a bully. I shouldn't have said anything. I should've kept quiet, and told Trevor privately, so Raven didn't have to worry. "Raven, it's okay. Whoever was in that chair probably would've hurt us if they hadn't of threatened him." I said. I didn't know what else to do to comfort her. Should I take her hand? Move closer to her? My words were all I knew.

She sniffed, wiped her eyes, and then glared at me, "I don't need your pity." She stood up and stormed off after Trevor, taking the flashlight with her. I sat alone in the dark. I could hear them shuffling through Mike's bag, opening some snacks, mumbling to each other. Probably talking trash on me. After all, I was just a free loader to them. I just took up space and resources and offered nothing to the group. My dad had just held someone at gunpoint. They had so many reasons to hate me.

For some stupid reason, I began to cry. Tears filled my eyes and rolled down my face silently, and I knew that if I could see, my vision would be blurry. I placed my head in my hands, praying my tears would dry. No. I prayed that things would be okay. That tomorrow, the sun would rise. That one day my dad would not blame me for my mother's death. That he would be the dad I needed and wanted. That he would love me. I prayed that Raven would be okay, that she would be kinder to those around her, that she would be able to live a good life. A better life than I. I prayed for Trevor. I prayed that he would also live a full life. He was the school jock, with amazing grades, and I knew that he would be so successful once things got better. I prayed things would get better, for him, and for everyone. I prayed that Mike would be able to relax. That Susie would gain confidence. Wait. Where was Susie? I hadn't seen her in the room with Mike and my father... Probably in the bathroom, but my mind couldn't help but wander to darker places. I worried. I worried so much, way too much. I worried how this would end. I worried if I'd ever feel safe again. I worried for those around me. A tap on my shoulder, and I jumped.

"Liam?" It was Trevor's voice. I quickly wiped my tears away, and turned to face him in the darkness.

"Yeah? What's up?" I asked. My nose was stuffy, but I did my best to sound normal. I was thankful he hadn't of brought a flashlight, or he would've seen my puffy red eyes, too.

He said, "Do you want anything to eat?"

"Oh. Uh... no. I'm okay." I responded. Which, I don't really know why I said that. I was starving. I guess I just didn't want to face Trevor and Raven at the moment. I could wait a while before I ate again.

"Alright. Me and Raven found some goldfish though, if you're interested." Trevor began to turn back around.

"Do you think SASE is working on a solution?" I asked. Trevor paused.

He said, "I don't know... What kind of solution do you have in mind?"

I replied, "Well... What if we completely relocated? Like to another planet with a sun and a similar atmosphere as us?"

"That's crazy talk," Trevor chuckled. "Someone will convince those scientists to turn the fake sun back on and things will go back to normal."

I stood up and spun around to face him, despite being unable to see in the darkness, and said, "No! Things never were normal! You remember the protests? The pollution problem? There was a reason that secret came out at a car protest! At a pollution protest! Global cooling isn't from pollution. It's because the fake sun isn't strong enough."

"What?" Trevor seemed skeptical.

"Think about it. The sun controls heat. That's why it's so cold now, because the sun is gone." I explained. "The real sun is a flaming ball of gas. The fake sun is probably just an ultra strong heater with lights. You decide if those are equal or not."

Trevor sighed, "But you don't know that. Nothing is confirmed yet. Aren't you always saying how you hate people who jump to conclusions and don't base things off fact?" Dang, he was right. I did complain about that a lot.

I huffed, "It's just a likely theory," and sat back down. Trevor chuckled. Then he paused.

"It does make sense..." He walked away, back to where Raven was. I sighed deeply. So many unanswered questions. I didn't have the internet to do research. I didn't have a teacher. All I had was me, some theories, and an overthinking problem. I wiped my face, sniffled, and stood and stretched. I wondered what time it was but simultaneously didn't care. It seemed like it was always midnight. I peered over the desk to where Raven and Trevor sat, digging through the large military-type bag, and munching on snacks. Raven moved the flashlight to underneath her chin, said something I couldn't quite hear, and they both burst out laughing. And... I smiled at that. It warmed me to see them not worrying so much like I was. Wait. It actually warmed me. It had been teeth-chattering, finger-numbingly cold up until that moment. Was it getting warmer or was it just me? Now that I think about it, I felt kinda nauseous, kinda dizzy. Was that because I was hungry? When was the last time I'd eaten? My mind spun, and so did my vision. Did I stand up too fast? I slowly sat back down, and felt my forehead with one of my hands. Cold sweat filled above my eyebrows. Was I sick? Maybe I was feeling worse now that I was focusing on it. The darkness made me incapable of seeing my own vision go dark.

I awoke to a familiar face, but I couldn't pinpoint who it was in the dim light. "Trevor?" Who was holding the flashlight? What was so stingingly cold against my neck?

"Say anything and I will shoot." A deep voice said. I paused. Ohhhhh. The cold think was a gun and I recognized this man because he was the-

"You were the man who was tied up!" I exclaimed quietly, realizing what he had said only after I had spoken. The man grunted, and pressed the gun further into my neck. I bit my tongue. It took a moment for the situation to become real for me. Tears welled at my eyes as I realized I was probably going to die. His breath smelled like alcohol as he looked over me, and I shivered. He oddly reminded me of my dad. I glanced to my left, then to my right, wondering if there was anything that could help me. An idea popped into my mind. I sneakily snuck one of my hands into my hoodie pocket, grateful for the dim light. The handcuffs clinked.

"What's in your pocket?" The man growled lowly.

I simply said, "If you shoot me, everyone will hear, and they will find you."

"Don't try anything, smart-ass," The man pressed the gun further into my neck, as though to intimidate me, and it began to hurt like a bruise. For some odd reason, I was strangely calm, for once.

"What did you do here?" I asked.

"Shut up."

I pressed further, "Did you kill the police here? Hide their bodies?"

"I said shut up!" He yelled. Although it was difficult to see, I could tell his face changed to a look of oh no.

"Over there!" It was a nearby voice. A familiar voice. Mike's voice. I let out a sigh of relief. But it wasn't over yet; now the man could kill me without fear of being found, since he was already found. That made me nervous. My life was at sake, and I had nothing to lose, so I did what any sane 16 year old kid would do. I just started rolling. I pushed myself with my legs and arms and rolled the same way one would roll down a hill.

The gruff man said, "Hey! What are you doing?" And pulled me back. So I kicked him. And yelled. And flailed. I probably looked like a cat struggling to get away from a little kid. Time sped up. I used my elbow to push the pistol in his hand against the ground, and I head-butted his mouth with my forehead. He grunted, and used his other hand to hold my chest down. He was much stronger than I. This was it. The end-