Charlie was frantically stuffing clothes into a green backpack. He and the gang decided to leave just one day after the dance because they were afraid of running into Mr. Collymore during school. Each member of the gang had one job to do so they could leave. Charlie’s was to pack clothes. Kate’s was to get extra money and information on what to do when they get there. Ian’s was to get a place for them to stay when they arrived. Mateo’s was to prepare everyone about Niagara Falls and the layout since he had visited there a few years prior. Mary’s was to get a way to the airport and on the plane to Niagara. 

Since they needed a parent to cross countries to go to Canada, they decided they were going to go to Niagara, New York so they can get close to the falls and figure out where whatever the note wanted them to find was. 

They were going to leave around 4:00 am, under the cover of the night and wait to get tickets to Niagara. It was 3:02 am right now, and Charlie was about to leave his house to go to the park, where the whole gang would meet up. All Charlie had to do now was leave and hope for the best.

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As Charlie walked towards the park, thoughts swirled throughout his mind. What the heck is going to happen? He thought, kicking a small stone when he was about to reach the sidewalks. And what will that idiot, Mr. Collymore, do next? Is this the first time he’s done this? He started to spiral his thoughts. Are there more teachers at the school like Mr. Collymore? Will this be the end of it all? He glanced at his watch, 3:43 am, the watch read. Charlie picked up pace, starting to run. As he was running, he looked at the houses on either side of him. After about a minute of running, he saw the small house that Kate lived in. Lights out, good, he thought with a smirk as he started to run even faster. 

Charlie stumbled as he reached main street, and his favorite coffee shop, Chubby’s Beans, he stopped and stared at the sign, with a blue frame and a small coffee mug with steam. He began to wonder, was this all worth to leave behind? What will mom and dad think? What will happen in Niagara? He knew he was going to have to go even faster if he was going to make it by 4:00. He sprinted past Chubby’s Beans, tears stinging in his eyes as his feet pounded the sidewalk. He darted towards the park at full force as he was consumed by the darkness of the night.

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“Finally,” Ian murmured as Charlie made his way into the woods, “What took you so long?” Ian added on, impatiently.

“What do you mean, I’m not…” Charlie said in a confused tone, starting to glance at his watch. 4:06 am. He was late.

“Can we just go before someone wakes up?” Kate stated, pointing towards the houses in the distance. 

“Sure,” Mary exclaimed, “Just need to get the uber to come…” 

“UBER?!?” Kate shouted. “WE’LL GET CAUGHT!!!” Kate screamed, forcing Mateo to plug his ears with his fingers.

“It’ll be fine, I came up with a fake story. Pretty much, we come from the small country, Lichtenstein. We came here for our uncle’s wedding and now need to get back to the airport so we can get back home. Also, since they’ll be wondering why we’re traveling ‘home’ by ourselves, we can just say that our Grandma, who takes care of us, wants to stay here for a bit because she hasn’t been to California for a long time.” Mary quickly announced. 

“I guess that’ll work…” Charlie mumbled, looking at the houses in the corner of his eye. 

“Let’s just get this over with,” Kate uttered, “We gotta get there as quickly as possible.”

Mary took her phone out of her pocket and unlocked it. She then opened Uber and searched around the app for a bit. After a few moments, she put her phone into her pocket and led everyone to Main Street, where the Uber should be arriving. The group strolled around Main Street for a bit, until a small brown Honda Minivan came rolling down the road. Since it was night, the only source of light was the low light from the street lights that once beamed lights but now only glowed a fraction of what they used to do. 

“Hop in,” a booming voice commanded the group. Charlie walked up to the car first, then Kate, Mary, Mateo, and Ian. They all squeezed into a small row that only had three seatbelts. They squished together and tried to get the seatbelts on, but couldn’t squeeze them on. 

“Have a good swim.” The voice hummed through the car. Kate got up from the seat and looked at the driver’s seat. The person in it was someone in a black, scruffy, robe. Kate gasped and tried to leave the car as she screamed, nearly giving Mary a heart attack. 

“Who the hell are you?!” Mary screamed as she tried to stumble out of the car only to find the car’s doors and windows locked.

“Like I said, have a nice swim.” the voice chuckled as the car seemed to vanish into thin air. Suddenly, the sound of rushing water could be heard from the darkness. The group was falling, they could feel it. Before they knew it, they were getting sprayed by mist that took the air away from them. The sound of rushing water got louder. Mary and Mateo screamed. Charlie saw more lights in the distance, and new buildings, skyscrapers. Charlie looked down and saw water, rushing over the edge of a cliff. The water was in the shape of a Horseshoe. Charlie gasped as he started to brace himself. 

“This is Niagara Falls!!” Charlie screamed, his eyes widening as he was flung into the rushing water. Kate and Mary impacted the water and managed to stay afloat. Ian shot down into the water, hitting the bottom of the falls river. His leg twisted as he scraped the muddy ground. He shot up out of the water a few seconds later, letting out a final scream before he was flung over the falls. Kate and Mary swam towards each other, trying to figure out what was happening. Before they knew it, they went over the falls too. 

Charlie landed into the water with a thunk! and was swept over the falls. Mateo was still in the air when he missed the river and instead fell down the falls onto a small patch of rocks. He tumbled over the rocks as he screamed. He was sucked under the water and lost all air. Kate and Mary landed onto the water, getting submerged for nearly a minute until they came out from the water, gasping for breath and trying to make it to the shore. Ian fell over the falls, screaming in agony and floating down the rest of the river. Charlie fell into the water and lost consciousness, as the world started to spin and fade away.