Small Anomalies (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 17: Trip to Pittsburgh

Evan's POV

I sit up in bed, my heart pounding. My text alert wakes me up suddenly, and from a nightmare, too. I feel around in the darkness for my cell phone and when I find it I disconnect it from the charger.

Open the door. -B

I check my alarm clock and sigh. Only Bee would wake me up at four in the morning for something like this. With a sigh, I roll out of bed and pull on a t-shirt from the floor. I carefully make my way through the piles of clothing I've thrown on the ground.

My door creaks open and I sneak past Mother's room. She wouldn't handle it well if I woke her up this early. I slowly creep down the stairs, cursing the old house I live in.

As soon as I turn the handle, I see a flash of Bee's blonde hair. She pounces on me, enveloping me in a hug. I wrap my arms around her small figure, sensing something wrong.

"Bee, what is it?" I tap my foot impatiently once we break the embrace. She's never like this unless she wants something.

"Well..." she holds up a clipping from an old newspaper. "You may want to see this."

I take the paper from her hand and beckon for her to come inside. Once we're in my living room, I turn on a lamp.

"Be quiet," I whisper. "My mom's asleep."

"Aunt Summer wouldn't be that mad if we woke her," Bee states. "This is about Raeann's disappearance."

"She didn't disappear," I correct. "She ran away."

"Right, right. Just read it."

I hold the clipping under the dim light provided by the lamp. I see that Bee underlined a few words with blue pen.

...Anne Giry, the ballet instructor at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Remind me why I'm awake at four because of this," I sigh in annoyance.

"That's the woman from the woods," she points at a black and white picture of the lady we saw in the sports car.

"What does she have to do with anything?"

"She knew something," Bee insists, determined.

"Are you suggesting we go to Pittsburgh to talk to her?" I joke.

"Yeah," Bee says seriously. "That's what I'm suggesting." I shake my head at her plan.

"Bee, I don't even have a driver's license!" I exclaim.

"Who said that?" She reaches into her pockets and fishes out a small rectangular card. When she hands it to me, I see that it's a fake driver's license.

"Bee!" I throw the license to the floor. "What the hell?!"

"I got it from Josh," she shrugs nonchalantly and I sigh in frustration.

"Josh? My best friend, Josh?"

"Yeah, that would be the one," she says with a gleam in her blue eyes.

"What the-? How did I not know about this?" I run my fingers through my hair.

"Well, he's made a lot of money from it," she shrugs again. "You'd be surprised by how easy it is for a thirteen-year-old to buy one."

"You bought one," I repeat in a daze. "From Josh."

"Yes," Bee grows impatient. "Now can we please get a move on?"

I shake my head and frown. "I never agreed to this."

"What choice do we have? I want to find Raeann, and I know that woman knew something. It's worth trying. It's the best we can do right now."