11. Evan

                                    

                                          
                    
                          
The house was empty when I got there after school. The front door was locked, nothing was broken. I grabbed a knife from the kitchen anyway before I went to check my room. 
                          
            I pried open the floorboard by the window. The lockbox was still there. I sagged in relief and put it in my bag. The file on Project Bluebird was gone, along with all the paper stolen from the building Downtown, but that didn't bother me very much. Madix had a nearly photographic memory. He had spent a whole morning reading it; if push came to shove, I could have him write it all out again. Nothing else in my room seemed disturbed, but a wave of paranoia washed over me at the sight of the curtains pushed aside. 
                          
            I retrieved my old duffle bag from the closet and shook it out. Maybe it would be a good idea to stay with Madix for a while; no one had gone to his house yet. Something felt off in the walls. Cameras, maybe. Or sensors. I could feel the extra electrical pulses whenever mu fingers brushed against the walls and doors. Whatever Colton had left here, I wanted no part in it. 
                          
            Once I had enough necessities to last a week, I threw it over my shoulder and grabbed my book bag. I didn't look back when I shut the door. It seemed too final. The lights in the hallway were off, even though I was sure they had been on the previous day. In my haste to look for the lockbox, I hadn't noticed. Goosebumps broke out across my arms when I stepped forward. It felt cold. Empty. I cracked open the door to dad's office. 
                          
It was clean and organized. Colton's men probably hadn't spent much time in there. I sat down behind his desk and leaned back into the rough leather. The smell of old books and spices normally calmed me down, but it only agitated me more. I had reassured dad that morning on the phone that everything was fine, that I was going to spend the night at Madix's to work on our history project. He sounded distracted, too distracted to remind me that I was supposed to be on lockdown.  
                          
            "I'll see you soon. Try to keep out of trouble until then, kiddo."
                          
            "When-"
                          
            The line went dead. 
                          
            He hadn't called me kiddo in years. Not since I had grown a foot and stopped playing baseball. I ran my fingers over the calendar. It was blank. That in itself was suspicious. Maybe he really was planning on moving us. 
                          
            I swallowed around the lump in my throat. It wasn't the house I couldn't bear to part with so much as the memories. Dad had talked about moving out of Notting Falls for years when I was younger. He had been convinced that I wasn't reaching my full potential in a public school. There were more job opportunities for a pediatrician in New York, he had said, than in a small town in the Midwest. Do the math, Evan. 
                          
            A tear hit the calendar. I tried to wipe it away but it only smeared the ink. Moving wouldn't keep Colton away from me. I already knew that. It wouldn't keep dad safe. The entire group would be weaker separated than we would be together. I couldn't let it happen. 
                          
            There had never been a time in my life when I stood up for myself against my family. They were masters at making me see things their way. Madix thought that I couldn't see it, but it was always in the back of my mind. It was a daily game if asking if dad was doing this for me, or was he doing it for himself? I wiped my cheeks off and stood. I wasn't going to bend on this. Madix, Damion, Gemma. They all needed me. We had to win against Colton, or I wasn't sure we would survive to see graduation. 
                          
            Some-time around dusk, Gemma decided it was time to test exactly what we could do. The four of us met at the abandoned warehouse that Madix refused to call anything but the Base. It was blessedly quiet. Damion was waiting for us, perched on a small pile of rubble. Madix tossed him a box of takeout rice.