Chapter Eight
First we tried my house. My Dad was a wreck when we walked in. You could tell because he had all the funeral papers out on his desk, and dark circles under his eyes. "Lexie, is that you?" He called when I opened the door.
"No it's me, Dad," I called back.
Dad appeared, and put his hands on his head. "Taylor," He started, "I'm a complete..." He looked at Mason, and raised an eyebrow. "You're not Nikolas," He whispered.
"No," I told him, "This is Mason...we're good friends."
"Mason Slatter," He said, holding out his hand to my Father.
"Joseph Rodes," My Dad said, shaking his head, "Sorry about the break down."
"Don't worry sir," Mason replied, "I've had many of those before too." I found this hard to believe, but I didn't press the matter.
"Mason came to help me," I explained, "We're going to check here first, and then I have a few places where I think she might be."
Before my Dad could respond, I led Mason up the steps by the hand, and into my room. "Lexie, it's me, are you in here?" I called. I looked under both of our beds, and then in our closet. There were no crawlspaces, so I didn't need to worry about those. I checked Dad's room, the bathroom, the small basement.
"Okay, she's not here," I muttered.
"I told you that," Dad growled.
"We'll be back," I told him, and then grabbed Mason by the wrist, dragging him out the door. "Mind if I drive?"
"Be my guest," He laughed, thinking it was a joke.
I got in the driver's seat, and held my hand out for the keys. Mason reluctantly put the keys into my hand, and I shoved them into the ignition. "So where are we going?" Mason asked, holding on to the nearest handles.
"Hey I'm not that bad a driver," I grumbled, accidently crashing into someone's trash cans. "Ops."
"Uhhh huhh," He laughed, holding tighter.
"Okay well I think I have an idea where she is," I whispered, "And if I'm wrong I'll admit that I have no clue where my sister is."
"Wow," Mason commented, "Felling pretty strongly about this notion?"
"Yup," I answered, and put the car in drive. Mason didn't ask where we were going, he just held tightly to his life, and waited for the car ride to end.
The rain started coming down slowly, and then faster. "Oh great," I muttered, because I just knew that by the time I got to Lexie she would be soaked.
As if reading my thoughts, Mason told me, "I've got a blanket in the back if she needs it."
Finally we were coming close to our destination, and I slowed the car down. "Where are we?" Mason whispered.
"Home," I replied. Before the car even stopped, I zipped my coat up, and ran out the door. "Lexie," I yelled, looking around, "Lexie!!"
My old house was black. Burnt down almost completely. The sight made me sob, and I held myself tighter. "Lexie," I cried, "Lex, it's me."
"Tay Tay," Someone whimpered.
I ran towards the sound, and when I heard crying, I ran harder. "Lexie," I screamed. Her shadow formed on the front step, and I ran towards her. "Mason grab the blanket," I called behind me.
"Got it," Mason said, opening his trunk.
I ran right up to Lexie. "What are you doing out here?" I whispered, standing over her. When she started to cry, I didn't care anymore. I sat on the front step next to her, and held her tightly. She rested her chin on her sisters forehead, and let her cry it out.
Mason came racing over with a blanket. "It probably wasn't the best idea to bring a blanket out to warm her up, out into the cold rain," Mason mumbled, shaking his head.
Lexie looked up at gave a small laugh through her tears. "Come on," I whispered, picking her up, and walking to the car with her. I climbed into the back seat with her, and Mason gave us the blanket. I wrapped it around her tightly, and held tightly to her.
Mason got into the driver's seat quietly, and started the car. "He didn't mean to Lex," I whispered, wiping the wet hair out of her face.
"I'm not going back there," She growled.
"Yes you are," I told her.
"No," She said, looking up at me, "I'm not."
"Lexie..." I started, but Mason interjected with a, "Okay."
Lexie and I both stared at him in the front. "What did you just say?" I asked.
"Trust me, I have an idea," Mason told me, turning the car.
"You're really not going to take me home?" Lexie whispered. I looked at Mason through the window, and hoped I was staring at him with death eyes.
"Nope," Mason answered, turning again.
"Mason, please take us home," I growled.
Mason didn't listen to me, he just kept driving. My anger burned inside me. What made it worse though, was that Mason was smirking the whole way. I wanted to climb into the front street, and take control of the wheel, but instead I sat in the back seat with Lexie, and held her tight. She shuddered, under my warm touch, but snuggled closer.
Finally Mason pulled into a parking lot, but the windows were too foggy, and I couldn't see where we were. Mason turned around, and smiled at me. "Wait here," He whispered, smiling brightly.
"Mason..." I started.
"Don't argue, Taylor," He warned, and then got out of the car. He slammed the door closed, and ran towards the building.
"What's...what's he doing?" Lexie stuttered, her teeth chattering.
"I don't know," I whispered. We waited for what seemed like forever. The heat was still on, and we were warm, but I still felt chills running down my back.
Forever continued, as we waited for Mason. I was going to follow him in, but knew that he would either probably get upset, or I'd ruin some surprise. Lexie huddled closer to me, and I decided it was time for me to talk to her. "Lexie, he didn't mean to yell or hit you," I told her, "He was just anger. Everything is hard on him too."
Lexie narrowed her eyes at me, and pointed to the red spot on her cheek. I kissed it gently, and hugged her closer. I was hot, and sweating a little, but it seemed like every time I pulled away from my youngest sister, she would shudder and hold herself tighter in the blanket.
Finally the door opened in the back seat, and Mason's head came in smiling. "Alright," He said, "Come on in."
I helped Lexie out of the car, and we walked into the ice cream parlor. Lexie smiled as she noticed it. We walked in together, and in the middle of the room was a single table with all the other tables and chairs pushed aside. Three chairs sat around the table, and Mason was already behind the counter. "Go ahead Lexie," He announced, "Any flavor, and any topping."
Lexie's eyes lit up with joy, and she ran to the window, pressing her face against it. "Mason-" I began, but he held his hand up.
"Go ahead Lex," He repeated, "Pick what you'd like."
Lexie picked bizarre flavors, with gummy bears on top. She walked over to the table with big eyes and her mouth watering. "And for you ma'am?" He laughed.
"I'll just have vanilla," I sighed, rolling my eyes a little.
"Boring," Mason sang, but scooped me some ice cream any way.
"So you're going to reward Lexie for running away?" I whispered, cocking my eyebrow.
"No, it's a proposition," He answered, and winked at me. My heart stopped, and I watched as he walked over to the table with our ice creams. He sat down across from Lexie, and I sat down next to him. We waited a little for Lexie to eat a lot more ice cream before we talked. I even waited for Mason to say something, because I didn't know what to say.
Finally he leaned forward. "You like ice cream?" Mason asked, smiling.
"Of course," She cried, "I'm a kid, and I'm five, I LOVE ice cream."
Mason and I both laughed.
"Well I have a proposition for you," Mason said.
"He has a deal to make with you," I explained.
"Right," Mason said, "You want to hear it?"
At this point, even I wanted to hear it, but Mason just sat back in his chair and ate more ice cream.
Isn't Mason a cutie??? Well I mean if you like Nikolas.....he's ight. hahahhaa jk he's an a**......
but u have to continue reading to find out:P
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Cheesehead:)