The Survival of Four

Chapter 16

I finished up my small bowl of cereal and placed the empty dish in the sink. A loud ring filled the silence around me. I fished out my smartphone from my back pocket and raised it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, have you talked to Dylan this morning?" Kyle asked.

I leaned back against the kitchen countertop. "No," I informed him. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. I can't find him. He isn't at his house and he isn't answering his phone."

"Maybe he is out trying to get ahold of his dad again."

"No, he would have told me if he was," he insisted. I heard shouting in the background of his line. I recognized a few of the voices, but I couldn't make out the words. "I'll call you back," Kyle told me. The line went dead as he hung up. I sighed and placed the phone back into my pocket.

I left the kitchen and made my way up the stairs, to Carson's room. I loudly knocked on the door and the only response I got was silence. I slowly opened the door and peeked inside. He was sprawled across his bed, tucked under the bedding and hugging a pillow. "Carson, it's almost noon," I informed him.

He sadly groaned. "Give me a few more minutes," he pleaded. He was facing the opposite direction. All I could see of him was his crazy blonde hair.

I rolled my eyes. "No, get up. We need to go help look for Dylan."

My brother flipped over to face me but kept his face buried into the white pillow. "Where is he?" he questioned.

I sighed. "We don't know. Kyle can't get a hold of him."

He nodded and finally sat up. He yawned and stretched his arms, still without opening his eyes. "Can you make me some scrambled eggs?"

"Yes, if it gets you out of bed," I told him. He nodded and finally opened his eyes. Once he climbed out of bed, I walked back down the stairs and started on his eggs.

He arrived in the kitchen just as I had finished cooking his breakfast. While he sat down at the dining table, I placed his plate in front of him. A ring filled the air. I pulled out my phone and quickly answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, sorry I had to hang up earlier," Kyle apologized.

"Don't worry about it. What's going on?" I brushed it off.

"A border guard saw Dylan running away this morning."

"Why didn't they stop him?" I asked.

I heard him sigh on the other end of the phone. "Just get Carson and meet me down at the southern border. I can explain the whole situation in person," he told me.

I nodded, not realizing until after that he couldn't see me. "Yeah, we will be down in a minute."

He hung up and I pushed my smartphone back into my pocket. "Come on, we are meeting Kyle at the southern border," I told my brother.

Carson nodded and stood from the table. "Is there any news on Dylan?" he asked, placing his empty dish in the sink.

I walked to the front door with my brother close behind and slipped a pair of black converse onto my feet. "Yeah, he is going to further explain the situation once we get down there."

We made our way down to the southern border, where we spotted Kyle talking to a group of Ares demigods. The border guards were armed with sharpened swords and shining chest plates. We jogged up to Kyle and the large group of trained demigods. "Keep looking," Kyle told them. "He could get killed being out there by himself and without a weapon." The son of Hades turned toward us and the group he was talking to dispersed. With a wave of his hand, he gestured for us to walk with him to the head house.

"What's going on?" My brother asked him.

Kyle sighed and ran his fingers nervously through his black hair. "Dylan ran passed the border guards earlier this morning. They say he looked frantic as he sprinted into the woods," he explained. "Whatever he was doing, he was really eager to do it."

I followed the boys inside the head house and into the connected kitchen and dining room. My best friend picked up a familiar golden sword off the wooden table and flashed it in our direction. "I found his sword in his bedroom," he told us with a sigh. "This is his favorite sword and he didn't take it with him. If he doesn't use this one then he doesn't use one at all."

"So, he left Safe Haven without taking a weapon with him," I concluded. Kyle nodded and placed the golden blade back on the table. "Someone claimed they were going to kill people yesterday. Why would he be that stupid?"

"I don't know," he returned with a shrug.

"Do you have any idea where he was heading?" Carson asked.

"No. Some Ares demigods tried following him, but he started flying and they couldn't keep up with him."

"We need to go look for him," I insisted.

"I know."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I questioned. "Let's go." The boys nodded and quickly followed me outside. We each pulled out our weapons and headed toward the southern border of the haven.

"The three of us are going out to look for Dylan," Kyle told the guards. "We won't be any longer than a few hours." He turned toward Elliott. "Elliott, I'm leaving you in charge." The boy nodded immediately, willingly taking on the responsibility.

I was the first to jog into the woods and the boys quickly followed behind me. We looked around together for over an hour. We were miles into the trees and couldn't find a trace on Dylan. We had run into a few monsters throughout the search, but there wasn't anything we couldn't easily handle.

"We aren't going to find him at the same rate we are going," I announced after a short while longer. "We need to split up," I told them.

"We aren't going to split up; it's too dangerous," Kyle spoke up.

"Why not? It's a better chance to find Dylan," I insisted. "We can cover more ground in a shorter amount of time."

"There are monsters living out here in packs, Riley."

"So? It's not like we don't know how to fight them."

"Kyle, she's right. Staying in a group is only going to take more time to find him," Carson agreed with me.

The son of Hades looked between us. He obviously hated the idea—I could see it in his dark eyes. His eyes fell back on me when he sighed. "Fine, but we meet back at the haven in no longer than two hours. If two hours pass and one of you aren't at the haven, I'm sending out a search party." My brother and I nodded. "Carson, are you sure you think you are trained enough to venture off on your own?"

My brother nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty confident in my fighting."

Kyle sighed once again. "Okay. I'll go this way. Riley, you go east and Carson you go west." 

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**Until next time:)) ~Emily