It was exactly Midnight. I knew this because I was staring at my phone, the blueish light reflecting onto my face. My gaze was fixed on one particular message. It was from Skylar. I’ll be there soon. It said. I stared at that message while I waited for her to arrive. I was shivering, even with Uncle Ben’s arm wrapped around my shoulders and a thin blanket on my lap. Come on Skylar! I thought. As soon as she arrived, we would leave and then we could turn on some heat. My phone now said 12:03.
Uncle Ben and I had walked to the garage where he was keeping his helicopter. Since it was across town, my feet had ached by the time we got there and it was a cold night. The metal of the helicopter didn’t make it any better. Our only plan so far was to fly back to Uncle Ben’s house in the mountains where we would reconvene with my parents. Skylar has insisted that she come too, although I hadn’t liked this idea. Her mom wasn’t a big fan either, but when Skylar wanted something badly enough, she got it. And so it was decided that she would be coming with us.
At 12:05 Uncle Ben and I heard her car drive up. I wanted to greet her, but I was tired, and the cold had made my muscles stiff. Uncle Ben stood up instead, patting my hand and saying, “Stay here, kiddo,” before going outside. A few moments later they both came walking back in. Skylar was the only one out of us who was prepared. While her parents had to sort things out with the police, Skylar hurriedly put together a bag with the essentials we might need. This consisted of clothes, a toothbrush, a flashlight with lots of spare batteries, a first aid kit, jackets, blankets, and other basics.
“Hey, Robin,” Skylar said softly, sitting next to me. “How are you doing?”
“Good,” I said sleepily. She looked like she might laugh. “What?”
“You’re tired.” This wasn’t a question. She knew exactly how sleepless my nights were.
I was thinking about what my reply to this would be when Uncle Ben called, “Hey girls! It’s time to prepare for flight.”
Skylar shouted back her answer which I didn’t listen to, then turned to me. “You know what that means.”
I sighed. It meant we had to move to the small seats in the back of the helicopter. I wrapped the blanket around my shoulder and made my way to the seats. Skylar handed me a pair of earmuffs to block out the sound of the helicopter’s blades. Then she shuffles around for a minute, looking for another pair.
“Mr. Ben?” she called.
“Yep?” He answered, coming out from the pilot room.
“Where’s the other pair?” She asked, holding up mine.
“Hmm, they should be around here somewhere. Let me check the back.” Then he walked over to the tiny closed off storage room. It wasn’t really a room at all, there was just enough space for a kid about my size to stand up in. As Uncle Ben opened the door, he sucked in a sudden breath of air. Then, from the closet out stepped Josh.

Despite my half-asleep state, I leapt from my seat, banging my head on the top of the helicopter. I let out a yelp of surprise as well and threw the blanket I had been wearing at Josh. Skylar stood up as well, putting a hand on my shoulder to calm me. “Deep breaths,” She said, letting her chest and shoulders rise and fall as she took in a few breaths to demonstrate. Then she looked at Josh. “Seriously though, who the heck are you?”
“And how did you get here?” Uncle Ben demanded, glaring at him.
“I, ahh…” Josh began, and then trailed off.
“Come on, kid. You can’t just sneak on someone’s helicopter and not give an explanation. We need answers here.” We were all staring at Josh, but both Skylar and Uncle Ben were much more calm than I was. They didn’t know that Josh and his father were hunting me. I crossed my arms over my chest to display my annoyance, as well as to hide the fact that I was scared out of my mind. I still hadn’t told anyone about my dream with Josh. Whether this was a mistake or not, I still wasn’t sure.
“I was looking for you,” Josh finally said, indicating me.
I couldn’t help myself. “I knew it!” I shouted.
“It’s not like that!” He argued, raising his voice as well. “I was looking for you to warn you!”
“Like we would believe any of what you say!”
“Hey now,” Uncle Ben said to me. “Let’s hear what he has to say.” Frustration sizzled inside me. I probably should have told them about the dream, and even though now was the perfect time, I still didn’t share it.
Josh rubbed the back of his neck nervously before speaking again. “Umm. My name’s Josh Monarch.” As soon as he said this, he realized it was the wrong thing. Uncle Ben looked like he was about to attack him. So Josh quickly revised his sentence. “I mean, my name is Josh and I want to help you.”
I scoffed. “You want to help us get killed.”
“No, no!” He protested. “Please, let me explain!”
“Absolutely not!” I screeched, throwing my earmuffs at him.
“Ow!” He said as the earmuffs bounced off his shoulder.
“Robin!” Skylar said, grabbing my hands so I couldn’t throw anything else at Josh.
“He’s evil!” I told Skylar, struggling away from her.
“Listen!” Josh said before anyone gave him permission to talk again. “My dad wants you dead, that’s true.”
“And you agree with him!” I shouted.
“No, I don’t!” Josh argued. “I came here to warn you. To tell you that he’s searching for you! And that he’s almost found you! Robin, please! I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life because I believed every word my father told me, but now I realize that he’s the bad guy here! Not you.”
“And this is all because of some crazy legacy?” I ask.
“Legacy?” Josh looked genuinely confused, “No. There’s no legacy.”
Skylar and I looked over to Uncle Ben and found that he was no longer standing there. “Uncle Ben?” I asked, my voice quivering now. And as I waited a few seconds to hear the response, the truth dawned on me. “And that wasn't Uncle Ben, was it?”
Josh shook his head. “No,” he said, and I believed him.