There lie a hidden passageway, leading towards the unknown basement. Voices became more clear as I had crept closer, making sure that I did so unnoticed. Fear and worry had slipped under their breath, contemplating their next move.

    A loud whisper came about, “We have to tell him sooner or later.”

    He replied, “I’d rather choose later.”

*pause*

    “Let’s just charge up for the night; we don’t have that much left.”

    All this time I thought they were at work, always disappearing for an hour or so everyday.

    Tell me what? And what are they charging? They don’t have that much left? Of what?

    They’re robots! They have to be. There’s no other logical explanation. No wonder everyone thinks our family is perfect; they were literally designed to be. But every family seemed pretty similar to ours.

    Ahhh what should I do? I could run away and live with Aunt Sally; she’s always been a decent cook. Wait, what if she’s a robot too? Or I could call the police. But how could they believe me? Wait, what if all adults were robots? No one can be trusted except for the children, I think.

    I call Hector. No answer. I call again. Still no answer. It must be too late. They already have him. He’s gone.

I hear footsteps. I escape back into my room, shutting the door ever so quietly as if nothing had happened.

I startled from the ringing of my phone. It’s Hector. It took him a second to catch his breath. He had an anxious tone to his voice, seemed more urgent but partly relieved that I had answered.

“We don’t have a lot of time. Meet me at our place in 15.”

    That’s all he said. So many thoughts and assumptions had ran through my mind. I didn't know what to believe anymore. I began my way to our place. I sprinted out the door, nearly slipping on the grass. Assuming that the sprinklers just went off, I look to my right to find Mr. Johnson watering the grass. Although most of his characteristics made him look human, he seemed lifeless as though he were an actual sprinkler, just moving his hose continually from left to right.

    He didn't say anything at first then all of sudden he snapped out of his lifeless trance, “Good evening Jackson.”

    I continued walking as I greeted him back.

    “What's the rush on a beautiful night like this?”

    My scattered mind tried to come up with a reasonable excuse but all I could find to come out of my mouth was, “Just wanting to get some exercise.”

    “I just renovated our basement into a new gym! You should come and see it, new equipment and everything.”

    Chills ran through my body as he said basement. I could barely go into my own let alone his.

    “Ahh maybe another time. Like you said, it is a beautiful night. I'll just stick to a good walk outside.”

    I continued on my way almost forgetting where I was heading to then quickly remembering again. Mr. Johnson seemed really weird, well, weirder than he normally is. But who waters their grass this late at night? That whole conversation just seemed off. But knowing that it was over, a feeling of relief came upon me. But it didn't last long.

    As I kept on walking, I now felt a little uneasy. The streets were too quiet. No sound coming from the usual laughter of people enjoying their company with each other or the yelling coming from nearby restaurants of countless orders. It was just quiet, nobody in the streets but me.

    The walk seemed to have gotten longer and longer every time I took a step. But finally I found the cairn. I was close. As I took a few more steps, I began to hear distant voices. It sounded as if there was more people than before where it was just my mom and dad. But like them, it sounded as if they were all adults. Everyone was speaking as though they were having a meeting.

    One said, “My children are slowly figuring out that something's up.”

    Another added, “We can't hide like this for much longer.”

    So many thoughts began to enter my head again. I had so many questions. But they were all cleared when all of a sudden I felt a tap on my shoulder. I was relieved, finally Hector found me. I turned around, only to find that it wasn't Hector. My heart dropped then began to race at 1,000 bpm. I started to run as fast as I could but every turn I made, there was someone there. There was nowhere to go. I was trapped. Then we all heard this horrific loud siren.

    I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock to only find the covers on the floor. I struggled to find the strength to hit the dang thing. But once I got it, the sound didn't stop. Maybe it's broken. I glance over my shoulder, it wasn't my clock that was making the sound.