ADOLESCENCE - The Unfortunate Disappearance of Autumn Usher

Chapter Sixteen

    <We are almost there, Shiloh. The auto mechanic is one half of a mile around this corner,> Flux informed.

    "Great," Shiloh said. "Well I guess I can say this is the first time I've ever ridden in a car without anyone in the driver's seat," he joked.

    <You could say I am in the drivers seat, but virtually! Not physically,> Flux responded.

"Wait, hold up," Shiloh said, peering out of the window.

<What is it?> Flux asked.

"There's a girl crying and running down the sidewalk."

<She does not seem to be running for exercise,> Flux observed.

"Yeah something's wrong," Shiloh responded. "Pull over."

Flux made a U-turn, and cruised to a smooth stop along the sidewalk the girl was running on. Shiloh hopped out.

"Hey!" he said, trying to get her to stop running. She saw him, collapsed onto the sidewalk next to the car, and tried to catch her breath. She had finally found a safe spot. Shiloh sat down with her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, while looking around. "Why are you running so fast?"

She kept stumbling and couldn't get cohesive words out. Tears ran down her face and her mascara was smudged down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I've done a lot of crying today."

Shiloh didn't know how to respond to that. But this girl looked so beyond broken, he had to keep prying.

"Were you... running from home?" he asked.

"No," she said while swallowing. "I was running away from a place they call the Nest.

"What's the Nest?" he asked.

"Well, it's actually an auto mechanic," she explained.

"Wait, an auto mechanic?!" he asked. "Flux, did you catch that?"

<Yes I did,> the car responded.

"Wait," she said, looking up to the vehicle. "Your car talks?"

"Um, it's not actually mine," he said.

"You stole it?!" she asked, now losing trust.

"No, no," he stressed. "I didn't steal it."

"You're one of them, aren't you?!" she accused.

"No! I'm not! Tell her, Flux."

<It's true,> Flux replied. <This car belongs to Agent Carla Matches, and she left it in Shiloh's care.>

The girl turned white.

"What's wrong?" Shiloh asked.

"You're Shiloh—" she said in disbelief.

"How do you—know my name?" he asked suspiciously.

"Shiloh," she said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "I'm Rory."

"You're—" he said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Rory laughed through her tears.

"You're Autumn's girl," he said.

"And you're Autumn's best friend!" she smiled.

"I can't believe it," he said. "What are you doing here?!"

"I was at the Nest," she explained. "I was with this kid and your sister to try and maybe figure out what happened to him."

"What?!" Shiloh asked. "My sister?!" He jumped up. "Oh my gosh what did she get herself into this time. Where is she, is she okay?!"

"I have no idea," Rory said, while Shiloh swung her to her feet. "She ran inside the Nest alone. Me and Ash tried to go and save her, but we got stopped by his scary ex-girlfriend and—!"

"Say no more," Shiloh said. "Get in," he said while opening the driver's door to the car.

"Where are we going?" Rory asked. "And I'm driving?!"

"No, Flux is driving," he explained. "You're coming with us."

"To where?!"

"To the Nest, obviously!" he said impatiently. "My sister is in danger, and so is everyone else in this city as long as this Nest exists."

Shiloh and Rory hopped into the car.

"Flux, take me to my sister," Shiloh said.

<We're on our way,> Flux responded.