Anima: The Bird House

Chapter 10

"Call me ASAP."

The only new text from Matthew. I knew calling him back was urgent, but at the same time, would I want to know what was happening? Could I go with the stress of knowing something big is happening? What If I'm overthinking it?

I sat my phone on my lap and turned to Jeremy, driving the car down the winding backroads towards home.

"Do you know of anything happening back at the house?" I asked him. He shook his head and continued to look forward. I replied to Matthew, trying to act casual and get a feel for the situation.

"Hey. What's up?"

With only a moment's delay, I received a call from Matthew. Hesitating, I answered and held the phone up to my ear. "Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Lyall? Where are you and Jeremy at?" Matthew asked, sounding a little frantic.

"We are on our way back from Pines. We had a holdup and stayed overnight at-" But I was cut off.

"What's your ETA?" Matthew said.

"Probably half an hour? What's going on?" I asked.

I could hear Matthew whispering in the background. Matthew's voice was muffled, but I could hear Nash talking in the background. I heard the phone shuffle, and Matthew spoke.

"Some stuff is going on. We need you guys back here as soon as you can," He said.

"Is it Barclay?" I asked.

"No," Matthew said. "It's Benji. He's been missing since last night."

"What do you mean missing?" I asked, "Like ran off missing?"

"I wish I knew Lyall," Matthew said. "Meet us at the house."

The call ended, and Jeremy looked over at me. I was unsure if he had heard the conversation or could read my face, but he knew something was up. We continued to drive until we made it back into town. Pulling up to the house, I could see quite a few cars parked on the street. We parked the car and walked into the house. Unlike usual, there were a few more people in the house, some of whom were hybrids.

The first person I ran into was Rylie. After seeing me, who looked surprised, shocked, and angry. She walked up to me and immediately stepped in my way.

"Where have you been? What happened to a quick errand?" She yelled.

"We had something come up, had to stay at a hotel," I said again.

"Sure looks like something came up, Mr. feathercheeks" She said as her expression changed to worry. "I'm glad you guys are alright," She wrapped her arms around me in a hug, and my face pressed into her neck feathers as she squeezed.

"Have you heard anything from Benji?" She said, pulling away from me.

"I haven't. What's going on?" I asked.

Matthew interrupted from the side. "Benji got upset over something's last night while you two were out," Matthew said, sighing. "He walked out, and no one has seen him since."

"Do you think...," I started to ask before stopping.

"We don't know," Matthew said. "Nash and a few others are out looking for him. Some friends volunteered to ask around if anyone had seen him. But nothing so far."

"Does he have any family around?" I asked

"No, after his Mom passed, he had no one," Matthew said, "Technically, Damien was his guardian."

"So he's gotta be somewhere around here, right?"

"That's the hope," Matthew said.

"I guess Jeremy and I will drive around and look," I said.