"Bye, guys!" Hunk yelled loudly, going through the back door. Harper followed him out. "I'm thinking that we head to Daibzaal. It's shady and dangerous there, so maybe James's abductor is there?" Harper stated, jumping into the passengers side of the van. "Sure, we can do that." Hunk agreed, plugging in the key into the van.
"Blake, do you even know how to ride a motorcycle?" Lance cautiously asked. "No." Blake said in a sarcastic manner, rolling his eyes. "Really? And you were going let me ride with you?!" Lance backlashed. "I'm kidding, idiot!" Blake shook his head slightly.
"Oh." Lance nervously giggled.
"Don't kill us, Nadia." Keith said loud and clear. "I'll try." She mumbled slyly. She seeked vengeance for whoever dared to mess with her friends. "You're really that upset? We'll find James, don't worry, Rizavi." Keith comfortably smiled as Nadia threw a helmet his way. "I'll make them miserable, Keith. They won't get away with hurting them." She bravely stated.
"Okay," He nodded. "Then let's go." He determinedly encouraged.
"Veronica, are you alright? I know we didn't get to talk about much, and-" Romelle sighed, feeling a little flustered. "And, Harper and I are truly sorry that we ratted you out." She rephrased. "It's okay, Romelle. None of this is your fault. It's mine. All of mine. If James hadn't insisted on picking me up h-he wouldn't be missing." Veronica rambled.
"Ronnie, none of this is your fault. You have no reason to take the blame. This psychotic pushover is overdoing the scary factor." Romelle said, dabbing one of her cuts with a swab. "I just hope this person doesn't go farther with the scary factor." Veronica sighed.
"Me too," Romelle reassuringly smiled.
"I bet they're happy about terrorizing us." Pidge groaned. "Mhm," Shiro said, not really paying attention. "Earth to Shiro! We're looking for James, dummy!" Pidge exclaimed, knocking him on the head. "Ouch! Okay, sorry. I'm a little distracted is all." Shiro looked away, mostly to his left side.
"Why can't you focus?" Pidge looked at him with concern. "Would you focus if a shadow person was hunting you and your friends down?" Shiro despondently glanced at her.
"Shiro. A shadow person is hunting my friends and I down." Pidge said in an irritated manner.
"Whatever. The task at hand is finding James, and James only. Not finding this shadow man or woman." Pidge reminded and Shiro nodded, not wanting to argue.
Allura disliked the idea of pairing Veronica and Romelle together. It didn't seem suitable. She didn't want to deal with all Adam's explanations, so she let it be. "You seem...bothered?" Adam said as a question.
"Hmm? Oh, no. I'm fine." She sweetly smiled.
"Allura, I know you're upset about something. What is it?" Adam was afraid to ask. "Adam it's all perfectly fine. We need to focus on getting James back. I guess I'm just a little anxious." Allura lied swiftly. "James is fine, I promise you that. He's the type of kid who would want to get out by himself." Adam smiled. "Yeah," she nodded, exhaling sharply.
Hunk drove slowly on the Daibzaal roads, they were all bumpy and unsafe to actually drive on.
"Let's just look around a bit, then we'll come back and go home if we find him." Harper suggested, and Hunk agreed. "I would think that we could go around the back area, and search there." Hunk said as he and Harper exited the van. Harper smiled in a manner of great assent.
"Blake, slow down!" Lance squirmed. He was flailing his arms all around, it was funny to Blake. "Hey, calm yourself." Blake chuckled, just stepping on the gas even more. They were on a quiet road, being nobody could see or hear them... or could somebody be watching them?
"Blake, this isn't safe!" Lance whined, and Blake pushed the brakes. Yet, the motorcycle didn't stop.
"What the actual fu-" Blake and Lance came to a sudden stop. "Oh thank goodness." Lance breathily said. "The brakes weren't working, Lance. Did Keith ever tell you that they don't work?" Blake abruptly turned back. "No, they work fine every time Keith and I ride." Lance answered, peering forward. Blake's face went from confusion to stone cold fear.
"Maybe there was a malfunction with the bike o-or maybe-" Blake was scared to press on the gas again. "Blake, we should move. This dull neighborhood is giving me the chills." Lance shivered. "Y-Yeah. Just a second." Blake looked around. A black BMW pulled up at the other end of the street. No one was waiting on anybody, because they didn't honk. The windows were all tinted.
"N-No." Lance was eyeing the car up and down.
"Blake we need to move. Right now." Lance anxiously ordered. "Wait, Lance, if we move too fast again, I-I don't know if we can stop." Blake bit his bottom lip. Lance scooted up a bit to whisper.
"Somebody could be waiting fo snipe us from that car at any moment." Lance lowly said.
Blake didn't look over, he just stepped on the gas, going slowly. As soon as the two boys took off, the black BMW followed. "Not this again..no." Lance wished.
"What again, Lance?" Blake sped up, seeing how unsettled the boy behind him was. "They're following us!" Lance frightened tone.
"Go to Daibzaal. It's crowded there." Lance glanced back at the car behind them, and there was a great distance between the vehicles.
Pidge and Shiro were just running in the back streets of Altea, searching for somebody that was yet to be found. "All there is here are useless alleyways." Shiro was agitated.
"Don't give up. If you were looking for Adam, wouldn't you be determined? Imagine how Veronica and Nadia must feel." Pidge encouraged, nudging Shiro's Arm.
"I understand, but it's almost hopeless now." Shiro pessimistically sighed. "It's not hopeless, Shiro. Since when do you give up?" Pidge shook her head. "Since I've been thinking about our safety. We're all gonna die somehow." Shiro tilted away.
"Yeah, but it doesn't have to be because of a person who lives in the shadows." Pidge smiled, trying to motivate Shiro.
• 7:00 p.m. nearly 8 hours later •
Nadia and Keith had searched everywhere. It was unexpected, not finding James. They had their mind set on it. "It's unfixable, Keith." Nadia said in a wretched manner. "No, it's not. There are plenty of big buildings in Daibzaal and Altea." Keith said, lighting a cigarette.
"Since when do you smoke?" Nadia pulled the practical cancer stick out of his mouth.
"When Lance isn't around. I used to smoke more often. This is the first time I've ever mentioned or spoken about it." Keith took the cigarette back from her.
"It's bad for you, don't start it up again." Nadia took the pack out of his hands. She threw it over a nearby fence. "We actually have to put our mind to this." She said, walking back to the steps of a random house. "He could've been abducted.." Keith mumbled. "No. This abductor would've wanted something from us." Nadia explained.
// Incoming Call from Ina Leifsdottir//
Hunk and Harper made their way back to the van with absolutely no progress. Just two teens stumbling around an unfamiliar town, looking for a missing friend. "Hunk, we should head back now.." Harper rubbed her tired eyes.
Hunk yawned, his legs aching. "I concur!" Hunk banged his head on the steering wheel.
"Okay.." Hunk jammed the key into the keyhole of the van, turning it. Nothing lit up, the van didn't start. "What the hell?" Hunk took the key out and turned it again.
"The van won't start." Hunk closed his eyes.
"That's pretty clear." Harper made no hesitation to jump out.
"I don't want to explode." She yelled, walking away quickly. Hunk was already tired from waltzing all over, but he surely didn't want to get a death wish. He followed slowly after Harper. "Great, now we're stuck.." Harper pouted. "We can call somebody." Hunk smiled, still bummed about the van.
"No service?! Are shitting me?" Harper grunted, wanting to throw her phone away.
Hunk excused her wild behavior, being he was the same way if he was tired, frustrated, and hungry. "Mine phone out of service, too." Hunk clicked his tongue impatiently.
// Incoming Call from 1-525-722-1283 //
"Who's That?" Harper asked, peering at the phone. "It's Lance. My phone attends to reading the phone number instead of the contact name when there is little to no service." Hunk answered. He picked the phone up.
"What's up, Lance?" Hunk asked, sounding miserable.
"Hey, we have a familiar black BMW on our tail, so we're coming to meet you in Daibzaal." Lance's voice was choppy from the horrible service. Hunk could barely understand him.
"Okay. Wait-what?! A black BMW!" Hunk panicked. "Y-Y-Yeah." Lance said.
"We're almost there-" The phone call ended.
"He sounds scared. What's so bad about the black BMW?" Harper yawned. "It's not the car that's the problem. It's the people inside of it that is." Hunk sighed.
"Romelle. I'm getting a call...from James's phone." Veronica leaned back on the dining table. "Answer!" She sprinted over from the couch. "Hello?" She said, a tad bit scared.
"Hey, Ronnie?" Ina said from the other side.
"Ina! Where's James? How'd you get his phone?" Veronica asked, relieved. "He's in the Altea's Arbor hospital by Brooklyn Bay. Please come quick, his condition isn't the best." Ina answered. "We're on our way.." Veronica gestured for Romelle to follow her.
"Let's stop here, Shiro. You never know, maybe James wanted coffee?" Pidge was just super hungry, and needed something to eat.
"I agree." He winked. They ordered a giant cookie, and spilt it in half. "Shiro. Shit. Shiro!" Pidge ducked down, but Adam and Allura could still see her.
"Why are they in there?" Allura tilted her head slightly, her brow raising up. "Let's fins out." Adam held the door open for her. "What are you guys doing here?" Adam asked, his hands leaning on the table. "We're freaking hungry, Adam. We didn't eat lunch, or dinner, or breakfast!" Pidge argued.
"Fine." Adam rolled his eyes, sitting next to Shiro. Allura took a seat next to Pidge, stealing some of her cookie. "So what did you guys find?" Pidge asked. "Nothing." Adam and Allura simultaneously sighed. "Don't feel bad. We didn't either." Shiro smiled.
"I wonder if the others are okay." Allura thought.
"BLAKE! SLOW DOWN!" Lance complained for the millionth time. "Lance, I don't wanna get killed!" Blake whined back. They saw Hunk's blue mini van in the distance. Blake took his foot off of the gas, letting them roll faster. They finally stopped, and ran back Hunk's van.
"We're here!" Harper waved lazily. "Come on, we don't have time." Lance took her hand, dragging her to the bike. "I'm sitting on you, Hunk." Lance stated, and Hunk groaned.
"It's the only way we can fit." He reasoned. They took off, the BMW no longer tailing them.
"That was too fucking close." Lance gulped.
Nadia picked up Ina's call.
"Ina, what's up?" Nadia wearily answered.
"Meet me at Altea's Arbor hospital. James is here." Ina anxiousness was getting the best of her. "What?! Okay, we're o-on our way." Nadia smiled brightly.
"What is it?" Keith asked as he put his helmet on. "Ina located James." Nadia jubilantly said.
Keith smiled in returned, and Nadia sped off.
Keith took his phone out and rang Shiro.
// Incoming call from Keith Kogane //
"Hey, meet Rizavi and I at Altea's Arbor." Keith simply said, then hung up. "We gotta go. I think they found something." Shiro hopped out of his seat, so did the other three. Pidge made sure to bring her cookie with her, though.
"They found something at Altea's Arbor hospital at Brooklyn Bay." Shiro determinedly sprinted. Pidge stopped.
"That's all the way across town." She argued.
"We need to be there for Nadia and Ronnie." Shiro smiled. Pidge softly smiled and continued on. "We gotta run!" Adam said, sprinting the fastest out of all of them.
Shops were beginning to close, and store owners saw four idiots running like there was no tomorrow.
Romelle and Veronica reached the hospital first, being they were the first ones told.
"Ina!" Veronica embraced her tear flooded friend. "Hey." She mumbled. "James should be waking up in a few minutes.." she said, pulling back from the hug.
"That's great! By the way, this is Romelle." Veronica smiled. Ina smiled at Romelle, and she did the same in return. The three waited patiently for about 25 minutes, then an unfamiliar man walked in. He looked just as nervous, probably even more.
"Ryan?" A doctor said from a far. The three girls watched the scene that was about to play out, even though it was none of their business.
"James said if anything happened to him, the medical association should contact you, correct?" The doctor lowly said, but the girls heard him. "No possible way can that be-" Ina gazed at the facial features.
"Ina. Who is that?" Veronica asked, judging that he knew him by her expression. "Ryan Kinkade!" Ina smiled. Ryan turned his head toward Ina and the others. "Ina Leifsdottir?" Ryan's anxiousness turned into somewhat of a relief. "I'm glad to see that James still has you. Is Nadia here, too?" Ryan seemed to know Ina very well from what Veronica and Romelle could tell.
Nadia and Keith came rushing in, and the girl's helmet dropped to the ground when she spotted her old friend. "Ryan." She smiled.
"Nadia," Ryan, Ina, and Nadia now shared a giant hug. "I am sorry that we have to reunite under horrible circumstances." Ryan apologized. Keith exchanged looks with Romelle and Veronica: confusion.
He cleared his throat awkwardly, Romelle and Veronica now standing beside him. "Who's this?" Keith softly said, not trying to be rude.
"This is our elementary school friend, Ryan Kinkade." Nadia presented. "It's a pleasure." He slightly bowed.
"Does he come from a royal family?" Romelle whispered to Keith. "I don't think so.." Keith pursed his lips. "He does look like a prince." Keith tilted his head. "You're right." Romelle nodded to agree. Hunk stumbled in next, his legs aching him to the maximum. "Ouch." He groaned.
Harper, Lance, and Blake seemed to be fine though, just weary. "This is Ryan, James's elementary school best friend." Veronica secretly told the four who just walked in.
"Oh," Lance's confusion was now cleared.
"Apparently Ryan, James, Ina, and Nadia have known each other since childhood " Romelle told Harper. "That's cool, I guess." She shrugged, not thinking much of it.
Lance smiled, walking over. "Hi." He popped up like a jack in the box.
Nobody was really paying attention to their encounter. "Oh, hello." Ryan shyly greeted.
"The name's Lance." He held his hand out.
Ryan shook it carefully. "I'm Ryan." He nodded. "Nice to meet you, Ryan." Lance
felt...weird. Almost awkward. For an extrovert, that was completely not normal.
"Excuse me, Ina? James is up. He asked to see Veronica Serrano." The doctor informed, walking away right after. Ina looked at Veronica with a worried expression.
"Call me immediately if anything is wrong."
Ina smiled.
// Hello! Thank all of you for getting to book to 900+ reads! It means a lot to me, and I greatly appreciate it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! What would you guys want for a reward? //