soon, she dashed towards the truck, sliding on gravel as
she reached the passenger door. With one quick mo on,
she pulled the door open and slid in, instruc ng Jus n to
drive.
know is a lie,” He paused and she looked at him expect‐
antly, “I don’t know what exactly is going to happen or
when it is going to happen, but when it does happen,” He
stopped again and looked at her, “You will know. Get out
as fast as you can. Take this with you and run, don’t stop
running. You’re going to learn something that will frighten
you beyond imagina on, but know this, Annabelle. What‐
ever is said about me, you can’t believe it. No ma er
what.”
He nodded and pulled out instantly, flinging grav‐
el up just as her father did. As Annabelle gasped and took
deep breaths, she eventually regained her composure.
However; by the me she had calmed herself, they were
pulling into the parking lot for the mini‐market, just 10
miles from her house.
Jus n shut the truck off and quickly pulled out his
wallet, handing her two 20 dollar bills, “Go inside, and get
as many protein bars, granola bars, or any other healthy
snack you want, okay? I’ll explain when you get back, hur‐
ry.” He could tell how annoyed Annabelle was, having to
wait even longer for a simple explana on. However, she
could see she was not going to be able to get him to simp‐
ly tell her. So reluctantly, she took the money and hustled
into the store, grabbing an array of packaged snacks with‐
out even looking at what they were.
Eager to finally gain some knowledge on the situ‐
a on, she quickly dropped the various boxes on the belt
in front of a cahier. Not so pa ently, Annabelle waited for
her to scan each box and bag it, painfully slowly. Finally,
Annabelle paid the woman and jogged out of the store
with her mysterious purchases.
When she was inside the truck again, Jus n had a
black book bag, semi‐full with things si ng in his lap. He
snatched the bags from her and began tearing the boxes
open, dumping the contents into the bag. “Jus n, what
are yo‐,” He shushed her, cu ng her off mid‐sentence.
“Look, we don’t have much me,” He sighed as he shoved
the remaining bars down into the bag, allowing it to zip.
“Here, take this and keep it by you at all mes. You need
to be ready,” He handed the bag to her and she threw her
hands up in the air in frustra on, “Ready for what? Will )