Chapter IX

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life before."

-Winston S. Churchill

  Salvin huffed in annoyance as he glance out the motel window. Rayna was on the bed behind him, staring at the ground while Draco held the remote and shuffled through the various channels the motel had available. This was not how Salvin wished his life would go.

  After the party he took Miranda to, some black figures tried to kidnap them, but they ran away. They'd been living with one another for over a month now, cross crossing the country in attempts to keep them off their tail. However, about a week ago, they stopped attempting to find them.

  Rayna said it was good luck, but Draco mumbled about this having some sort of hidden meaning. Draco was an odd one. He believed that the figures were supernatural beings because he'd seen two of them with demon horns and the other performing magic. However, Rayna nor Salvin trusted him because he had been drunk off his ass that day.

  Draco groaned. "Where are we headed next?"

  "I dunno, what about St. Louis?" Rayna said, sarcasm lacing her words.

  Salvin chuckled lightly. "I think we would be able to head home now, don't you think?"

  Rayna shook her head. "I doubt it. What if they are waiting there? I mean, we all have family there, but we can't risk it."

  "You're right, Rayna." Draco hummed sadly to himself as he shuffled through five more channels.

  "Nothing's on, don't even bother." Salvin muttered as Draco cursed under his breath after going through another five channels.

  Rayna nodded. "Come on, we have to decide where to go next."

  After debating where to go, they decided someplace in Washington would be best. Rayna suggested finding a small town there, so research was their next option.

  Salvin sat in the library as he searched the internet for small towns. Rayna sat besides him, staring at her cuticles. Draco was on his other side, flipping through a book that talked about demons. Salvin wanted to snatch the book away, but that would probably cause a scene, something they didn't want.

  Suddenly, Salvin found just the town. "There is this place called La Conner. It's supposed to be a great place for a weekend get away." He said, practically dying about the fact he'd be able to rest up.

  Rayna nodded. "Sounds good."

  Draco mumbled something, but then nodded. "Sure, whatever floats your guys' boats."

  The group stood up, heading back to the motel to get ready to leave.

****

  Salvin sat at the wheel as they made their way to La Conner. They had been in Casper, Wyoming, so it would be a bit of a drive. Salvin glanced at Rayna, who was seated in the seat next to him. Draco was slouching in the seat directly behind him. He sighed as he looked back to the road. 

  Frowning, Salvin looked at the gray clouds beginning to blanket the sky. He exhaled sharply before looking back at the road in front of them. Rayna leaned forward as she looked at the clouds. "That's odd." She murmured. "There was nothing that said it would rain today."

  Draco looked up from his lap as he checked outside. "Looks pretty bad. Might even be a monsoon."

  Salvin chuckled lightly. "Did you know monsoon meant season? So whenever you say 'Monsoon Season', you're really saying 'Season Season'."

  Rayna smiled sweetly at his comment. "What were you studying in college, Salvin?"

  "Oh, I was in school for teaching. Specifically Science in the middle school area."

  "So, seventh and eighth graders?" Rayna asked, looking at him.

  "Yes." Salvin said, his eyes starting to tear up as he thought of his old life.

  "I wanted to be a designer." Rayna started. "I had done art and business and marketing for three years, and then this happened."

  Salvin turned to her. "I'm sorry you may not get to continue your dream."

  "What about you Draco?" Rayna asked after nodding in thanks to Salvin.

  "I don't know." Draco sighed. "I really was just going along with everything."

  "That is pretty bad, considering you are a senior in high school."

  Draco muttered a 'whatever' before closing his eyes to take a nap. Salvin exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself down. he knew he shouldn't freak out over the thought of his old life, but he still did.

  In all honesty, Salvin needed to get his priorities in order. There were people out there who were under the influence of terrorist group and heard gunshots and bombs every night. What gave him the right to freak out about this? Sure, it was abnormal, but it wasn't the worst that could happen to him. 

  After about forty more minutes of driving, Salvin looked at his companions as they stopped at a red light. Rayna was out cold, and Draco was snoring softly while muttering incoherent phrases in his sleep. Salvin smiled at his younger companions. As the oldest of the group at twenty-two, he needed to keep his head on straight. He couldn't let anyone else get out of wack because he couldn't keep his head on straight.

  Salvin looked to the side of the road and saw a motel. Glancing at the clock in the car, he realized it was past ten thirty. They had gotten a late start, so it was acceptable for it to be this late. He pulled into one of the parking spots and shut down the car, gently walking up Rayna and Draco.

  The two were like zombies as they grabbed their stuff and Salvin got them a room. A two bedroom room, one with a single bed, and one with two singles. Salvin and Draco would take the double room while Rayna would be on her own.

  That night, Draco had been seated on the bed while Salvin pulled his shirt over his head and pulled off his jeans. His head turned to Salvin's. "Hey, Salvin?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Do you believe in the stuff they show on Supernatural?"

  "No, why?"

  "That night, at the party...there were three hooded figures, right?"

  "Yes..."

  "Two of them ended up losing their hood as they tried to grab me. They had demon horns and smoke was wafting around them. I swear, it was right out of a movie, or something."

  "You were drunk off your ass that night. Blame the alcohol."

  "Before they could grab me, however, the other one came running up, exclaiming about how this 'Jacob Smoke' fellow had found 'Andrea Silver'."

  Salvin frowned. He grabbed his bag and pulled out his laptop, quickly logging on and opening up Chrome. He typed in her name, and immediately the first thing that popped up was a newspaper from a small town in Washington called Points Brooke.

  He opened it, and then told Draco to grab Rayna, just in case. 

  The article was an online version of the newspaper, and was an excerpt of part of it, detailing how Andrea Silver had been missing for a week. When Salvin looked at her picture, he couldn't help but think she looked familiar. It was like he was supposed to know her, but didn't.

  "That's Andrea Silver?"

  "Apparently, Rayna." Draco said.

  "Maybe you weren't as drunk as we thought." Salvin murmured as he zoomed in on a picture of Andrea in what looked like the town square.

  She was smiling happily into the camera, her brown hair piled into a bun on the top of her head. One man, who he presumed was her boyfriend, had his arm wrapped around her. Blonde toughs of hair poked out from his beanie, and he was smiling as well. However, in the background, another teenager was shown. The only thing about him was that he had what looked like a forked tongue and a tail, though it was pretty faded.

  Draco's eyes widened as he stared at it. Rayna inhaled sharply when she realized what they were. "Holy Mother of..."

  "Sin?" Draco finished off, winking slightly.

  "Yeah, whatever." Rayna muttered as she leaned in closer.

  Salvin bit his bottom lip. "Whatever the case is, we know she was kidnapped by the people who tried to grab us."

  "Yes, that seems to be what happened." Draco said, nodding.

  "So then," Rayna drawled out "what are we gonna do?"

  "We are going to go find her." Salvin said. "We'll go to Points Brooke instead of La Conner."

****

  "There is only one room available, and it has a queen bed and a twin bed, all in the same room. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." The person at the desk said.

  Her red hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her name tag read 'Charlotte'. Salvin smiled at her. "It's alright, Charlotte. We'll survive." Salvin said, smiling kindly at her.

  Charlotte nodded as she took the credit card he held out. She scanned it, and then handed it back to him. Then, she vanished as she bent over and opened a drawer. Salvin waited for her to come back up, and when she did, she produced a silver key.

  Salvin took it, smiling at her. She gave him a weak smile. Draco frowned. "How come you seem so exhausted?" He asked, leaning towards her.

  "One of my friends is missing. Her name is Andrea Silver. Here, take this." Charlotte said, handing them a flyer. "It has all the information on her in it. If you find her, please, call someone." 

  "Is that her boyfriend?" Salvin asked, pointing to the teenager that had his arm around her waist.

  Charlotte shook her head. "That's her best friend, Mitchel."

  Rayna raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I think he may view them as more."

  "Yes, we are all aware of his crush on Andrea. However, her boyfriend is the one suspected of kidnapping her. He's the one portrayed in picture down below. His name is Jacob Smoke, and she went to his house and never came back. He also has vanished, so either they were both kidnapped, or he's the culprit. However, considering his record, it's probably not the latter."

  "What record?" Salvin asked, curious.

  Charlotte sighed. "It's more like blood line. He's not from the kindest line." 

  Suddenly, the phone at the desk rant, prohibiting Salvin to ask his next question. Charlotte sighed before picking it up. "Hello, Points Brooke Motel, how may I-"

  Her eyes widened. "Mitchel, what are you-"

  "You mean more are here?"

  She eyed them. "How many?"

  "Of course. Come over right away."

  "I know that! I already found them, just get over here you dolt!" Charlotte screamed into the phone before slamming it back down on the receiver.

  The group exchanged looks before turning back to her. "What do you mean 'I already found them'?"

  Charlottes sighed. "Please, take a seat. My friend will be here in a little while."

  Salvin did as she asked. Rayna followed him, but hesitated at first. Draco was reluctant, but eventually seated himself down. As they were waiting, Charlotte began pacing.

  Suddenly, the door opened and a teenager who looked exactly like Mitchel ran in. However, instead of the cheerful look on his face, he had dark bags under his eyes. His hair was marred to his head and looked kind of greasy. His skin was paler and his cheeks seemed to have sunken into his face a bit. It was clear he hadn't been taking care of himself. "Charlotte, where are they?" He asked out of breath.

  She motioned to them, so Mitchel immediately rushed over to them. "Okay, I'm going to stare at you, but don't get uncomfortable, okay?"

  Rayna frowned. "How could we not get uncomfortable?"

  Mitchel sighed before staring at her, not moving. Rayna fidgeted slightly. Then, his eyes moved to Draco,Mano remained calm and unmoving. Instead of being nervous, he stared right back into his eyes, confidence radiating off of him. His dark hair was cleaned up today,named his tanned skin looked well and not as sickly as it did before. His green eyes pierced through Mitchel's blue ones. He wore a red hoodie with blue jeans and black, scuffed up converse.

  Finally, Mtichel turned to Salvin. He tried to not be uncomfortable and simply stare at him, but he found himself flinching at times under his gaze. After awhile, Mitchel straightened himself and turned to Charlotte. "These are the ones. I'll have to go get my father-"

  "Oh no you don't." Charlotte snapped. "You're staying here. You haven't slept in days, Mitchel."

  "I have to find her, it's my duty." 

  "You can't find her if you can't stand up properly. Besides, would Andrea want you to waste away your life like this, attempting to find her? She'd hate herself and you know that."

  Mitchel sighed. "Fine. Where can I sleep?"

  "I'm sure Salvin, Rayna, and Draco will let you stay in their room for a bit, right?" Charlotte asked, turning to them.

  Salvin opened his mouth to reject, but Charlotte leaned in and whispered "I'll cut your pay in half." 

  He nodded vigorously. "Of course he can!"

  Charlotte handed Mitchel over to them, telling them she'd be back soon. Once she was gone, they went to their room. Mitchel wanted to sleep in the single bed, but Rayna was insistent that he sleep in the queen. He reluctantly accepted and as soon as the duvet was over him and his head was on the pillow, he was asleep.

  The group sat on the couch and turned on the television, awaiting Charlotte's return.

  Word Count: 2272  

  Hey there! What do you think of thei longer chapter? I typed this all up after I finished my Language Arts test, and I did it on my school issued iPad. So, sorry about any mistakes, I'll go through it once I have time. I read over to a bit, but there still may be a few more. Again, sorry.

  This chapter is going to be dedicated to my friend, Emily. She is moving to Colorado soon, and leaving the glorious Grand Canyon state. Today, we are having a goodbye party for her, and I'll be sleeping over, so this chapter probably won't be able to be edited until tomorrow.

  Also, my school year ends next Wednsday. I'll be a freshman in high school after that. I have tests today and Monday (worst two days, I swear) and then Tuesday we have promotion paractice for an hour, and then Wednsday is promotion. Every other student, excluding the eighth graders at both middle schools in my district, get out a day early because of promotion. So, my younger brother and sister have one more day after me. 

  Anyhow, I just want to thank you all for your support! See you all on Monday!

  -Paige