The Gods Among Us

Chapter 27: Gone

Alieen:

I yawn as I wake up. I stretch my arms and legs and crack my neck before pushing myself up. Once up, I look toward Leia's bed.

"Hey Leia," I say, rubbing my eyes. "Leia?"

I push myself off my bed and walk over to her bed.

"Leia?'

Leia's bed is empty. Her blanket is crumpled and thrown at the end. Her pillow had a dip in the middle of it. As I look over her bed some more, I remember last night.

"Then what," she said," Then I can leave? Then I can go? Fine by me! Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Don't expect to see any more of me."

"No way. Did Leia really leave? Judging by her bed, she must have gotten up early."

I shake my head at the thought of Leia just leaving like that.

"No. No, there's no way Leia would have just left like that. Yeah, we got into a fight, but that doesn't mean anything. Right?"

I start to check around the room. I open Leia's drawers and notice a few of her shirts and pants are gone. Running out of my room and down the stairs, I check for Leia's shoes but they're gone as well. Finally, I check the kitchen and the drawers. Our car keys are still there, meaning Leia didn't take them.

"She walked out," I thought. "Leia really did just walk out. I can't believe it."

I walk out the door and down the apartment's stairs. I look up and down the street, but I still couldn't see Leia.

"I know she didn't take our cars, but she's not that slow of a walker."

Still, I couldn't give up. I can't. I may not have known Leia very long, but she's still one of my best friends.

"Alieen," someone shouts. I turn around and see A standing in our doorway. "What are you doing?"

I run up the stair to A.

"Leia's gone," I answer.

"Gone," A repeats. "Wait, what do you mean by she's gone?"

"What do you think I mean by she's gone," I yell. "Leia is gone! She took some clothes with her and then just left like that! Did you hear anything? You slept on the sofa. In order to get to the front door, you need to walk past the living room. A, did you see anything? Did you hear anything?"

A doesn't answer me right away. It looks like he was thinking about what to say at first before answering.

"No," A says slowly. "No. I did not hear anything. I did not hear Leia walking past me. That is strange."

"Strange," I repeat. "Strange? A, even since you came into my life, even since you came into our lives, every day had been strange. No, it hadn't just been strange. It had also been dangerous! And now one of us is missing!"

When I finish, I hear myself panting like a dog in the summertime. While trying to catch my breath, I look up and see A with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, A," I say. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that, but, but I just have to go now. I need to find Leia. Excuse me."

I push past A and walk into our kitchen. I grab a set of keys and walk back out. I jump into our car and drive away.

Matt:

While walking down the stairs, I hear the sound of a car's engine coming on. I rub my tired eyes and look through the front door just in time to see one of our cars driving away.

"Hey," I shout, the sleepiness vanishing. I run down the stairs and through the front door, only to stop when I run into A. A feels like an iron statue. As I run into him, I bounce off of him and fall onto my butt. "Ouch!"

"Oh," A says, helping me up. "Sorry about that, Matt. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I lie, rubbing my sore bottom. "A, what are you doing? Who was that that stole our car?"

"That was Alieen," A answers. "She is looking for Lafayette."

"Lafayette," I repeat. "Wait, Lafayette is missing? Where did she go?"

"I do not know," A answers. "According to Alieen, she disappeared early this morning."

"Leia disappeared early this morning," Alfred says from the stairs. He runs down the stairs and joins us. "What happens?"

"I cannot be sure," A starts, "But this much I do know. Alieen had taken one of your cars and is searching for her. I will do the same."

"You can drive," Alfred asks.

"No, but I can fly and teleport."

A turns and is about to leave but before he does, he turns to look at us.

"Do either of you two know where Lafayette could have gone," he asks. "It will be a waste of time to fly around aimlessly. I need a clue to go off of."

Alfred and I look at each other and try to think of where Leia could have gone. I could literally hear the gears in our heads turning as we think.

"Does Leia have any family nearby," Alfred asks. "I mean, besides us."

"No," I answer. "I don't think so. As far as I know, I don't think Leia ever mention anything about her family before. Wait, what about her job? Doesn't she have a shift today?"

"And class," Alfred says with a snap of his fingers. We nod our heads and look toward A.

"A listen," I start. "Even if Leia had run away."

"Which we doubt," Alfred adds.

"Yeah. There's no way she would run from her responsibility."

"Her responsibility?"

"Her responsibility at work and as a student. Leia works as a gas attendant at the USA gas station on South Town Ave. She's also a student like Alieen, Alfred, and myself."

"What is the college?"

"What else? San Francisco State University."

"Okay," A says, "I'll go to the university first, and then to the gas station."

As A prepare to teleport or fly away, I run ahead and stop him.

"Uhh, maybe you should just try the gas station. I'm not so sure how you, a completely random, non-student person, could explain why you're walking around the campus?"

"But if I cannot go search, then who can?"

"Us," Alfred answers, pointing at himself and me. "We're students there."

"Very well," A says. "I will go to the gas station. You and Matt go the college. Be sure to call Alieen as well. She must be worried."

"Of course."

With that, A disappears into a cloud of black smoke while Alfred gets the car key. Meanwhile, I call Alieen and tell her the news. At least, I try to call Alieen.

As I hit the green call button, I hear music coming from up the stairs, on the second floor.

"I get the feeling Alieen forgot her phone," I say, ending the call.

"We'll talk with her later," Alfred says. "Come on. Let's go find Leia."