I walk out the door, the sun beaming down on my skin. A slight wind gently blows my light brown hair off my shoulder. The sun was finally shining after a week of rain. It felt amazing. It's summer and all the kids were outside playing, finally breaking their cabin fever.

"Skylar!"

My little sister, Claire, runs out our front door and squeals in delight as I pick her up.

She looks at me with her dark brown eyes. "Can you play with me?"

I smile and put her down. "Of course!"

"Let's play hide and seek. I'll count, you hide."

"Okay." I run off and climb up the tall oak tree in our yard. I hide behind the branches. While I'm sitting here, I look at our little community. So little that everyone knew everyone and everything that was going on in it. All of the people who live here are deemed as different. As a threat. We all have psychic abilities. Some had more than others or were stronger. The government put us all together due to many cries from others to not kill us. In our community, there's a barrier over us so we can't use our abilities. To them we're just an experiment. Rumors had been circulating that the government was growing tired of us being here. No one wanted to believe it, but it was the topic of most Sunday night dinners for the past month. Parents didn't want their kids to know what was really happening. What they didn't know is I have already had an uneasy feeling for the past year.

"I'm coming to find you!" Claire runs to find me and spots me in the tree. "There you are!"

I smile and jump down from the tree. "You found me!" Claire's stomach growls and I look at her. "You want some dinner?"

Claire nods eagerly and I take her inside the house. My parents are sitting at the table with some friends who live down the street. Their eyes turn when they see me and the conversation abruptly stops.

I turn my gaze down to the floor. "I'm so sorry, Claire just wanted something to eat."

My dad looks at me, his eyes slightly narrowed. "Go upstairs and I'll bring her some food in a little while."

"Okay." I take Claire's hand and lead her out of the kitchen. I let her go upstairs as I stay behind and hide behind a wall to listen. My uneasy feeling is the strongest it's ever been.

My dad begins talking again, this time in a whisper. "We have to figure this out. These people, these kids from our community are getting taken away. Why is that?"

My mom answers. "Maybe they are doing something the government doesn't like."

"That could be anything. The government doesn't even like us being present on this earth."

I think about what they just said. Why are they getting taken away? Is it a threat?

I hear the chime from our mailbox meaning we had a notice from the government. I walk out the door and open it. I also see a small letter with the words "The Shift" on it. There's a small indention below it that says "Tap for info."

I put it in my pocket and go back inside. My parents and their friends get up and start to make their way to the door. I go upstairs and past Claire's room to see her playing with her toys. I sit down on my bed and try to process everything I heard and saw. My dad knocks on my door.

"Hi. I'm sorry for acting like you were a bother earlier." He has a plate with a sandwich on it and places on my nightstand.

"It's okay." I give him a half smile and Claire comes into my room.

"Food!" She takes the sandwich and bites into it.

My dad picks Claire up and takes the plate. "Let's eat this in your room."

————

I go into Claire's room and tuck her in.

I kiss her head. "Good night."

"Sky? Are monsters real?"

"No, of course not."

"Then what are those?" She points to the shadows that the trees outside her window are making on her wall.

"Those are shadows. The trees make them."

"Okay."

I smile at her. "Now go to sleep. No monsters are going to come and get you. I love you."

She smiles back at me. "Love you, Sky."

I walk out of her room and pull the card I found in the mail out of my pocket. I touch the indention and hide it in my drawer. I get into my bed and try to let my racing mind relax.