"Keith!" Allura almost slipped a few times as she ran down those wooden steps. He grunted in response. "Keith, it's seriously important!"
Romelle's voice rang. His hearing wasn't great, half his body was asleep. Was this another dream? No, it couldn't be. They sounded in distress, in fear, like they all needed help.
He panicked, wanting to open his eyes quicker than his body was capable of.
Keith blinked a few times, getting up from his position. "What's the matter?" He groggily asked. "Harper and Lance may be missing." Allura incoherently spoke. "What do you mean missing?" Keith was quick to adjust. "By missing we mean... kidnapped." Blake hesitantly said. Keith's stomach turned upside down, he suddenly felt like he needed to vomit.
"Why? Why were they kidnapped, what happened?" Keith's heart rate increased at a quick pace. "I was awake, I went to get water. Notes where left at places I could easily see.
I thought it was Lance or Harper, so I went up there to see an empty bed. Allura woke up, I-I looked in the other part of the house." Romelle was all over the place, it was clear that she was shocked by the sudden problem.
"They weren't there. They left their phones. I-I mean, what does this person want!" Blake grit his teeth, his jaw clenched. Tears swelled in the brims of Keith's eyes. "No." He was already tired, when would the shadow person give up?
"Some-Somebody call Shiro!" Keith's lips trembled, his body shook. "Why them?" He wiped his tears with the back his hand.
Allura rushed to his aid, crying a bit herself. Blake decided to dial Shiro quickly. Romelle just paced around the room, thinking.
"I know you're scared for them..but.." Allura began, gasping for another breath of air.
"We need to find them before something and happens. We can't waste time sulking." Allura she bravely continued.
Keith nodded weakly. "I'm going to wake Pidge and Hunk." Romelle had a frown taped to her face, she looked so small. Meanwhile, Blake tried ringing Shiro multiple times. Finally, he got a grumpy answer.
"Shiro, we need you at Pidge's house as soon as possible. Please, please, please.." He pleaded, waiting for a response.
"Why, Blake? I don't want to see Lance chug orange juice again." He rolled his eyes from the other end of the phone. Adam shifted from his loud voice, not fully getting up.
"No, that's the thing. We can't find Harper, nor Lance. We think they've been kidnapped." It pained him to say it, but he really believed that Harper was kidnapped. His little sister, his only biological family, was gone. Blake held his salty tears back, not wanting to cry. He'd cried enough throughout the years.
"Pidge, Hunk?" Romelle knocked. Pidge was a light sleeper, and she was smiling when Romelle turned on the yellow light.
"Hey Romelle. What's up? Did you have another nightmare again?" Pidge asked, the concern spread in her voice.
Romelle couldn't take it anymore, her sobbing was covered by her hand. "Harper, Lance." Her voice made it's way through the cries. Pidge bolted from the bed to her friend.
"What about them?" She wrapped her tiny arms around Romelle. Once she had contained herself, Romelle took a heavy breath.
"We have some reasons to believe that they've been kidnapped." She waited for Pidge's reaction. She started to laughed, it was definitely forced. "You're kidding, right?" She said in a panicky tone. "N-No." Romelle shook her head.
Her giggles turned into screams, into cries.
"What- how?" She weeped, her eyes now red and puffed. "I saw notes, telling me to go upstairs. I thought it was a joke, I swear. But, I couldn't find Harper or Lance anywhere." Romelle started tearing up again.
Pidge wasn't ready to see Hunk cry. She didn't want to wake him, but she had to. It wasn't right to keep something this big, hidden.
"Hunk." Pidge shook her boyfriend softly.
"Yeah?" She smiled softly, looking at the girl was still harshly breathing.
"It's Harper and Lance."
Shiro's car pulled up on the curb, rather slanted. Adam was distinctly crying in the car, his face full of sadness. He darted for the front door, leaving Shiro behind. The first people he saw were Blake, Allura, and Keith.
"Oh my goodness." He mumbled, going to join the hug between Keith and Allura.
Shiro and Blake's eyes met, and they exchanged looks of regret. Shiro was angry with himself, very much so. If he and Adam hadn't slept at his apartment, none of this would've happened. He blamed himself.
Blake felt regret for leaving his sister behind, and going to sleep somewhere else.
Keith eventually stopped his rash sobbing, and Allura also did. Romelle and Pidge held hands, walking down the stairs slowly. Hunk was now in Pidge's room, asking to be alone for a minute or two.
His tears weren't salty, his sobs weren't loud.
Hunk sat up on the bed, his heart now aching.
Two of his life long friends had been taken away, and he couldn't except that. He wished for Lance and Harper would just come back by themselves, and this whole thing would be a misunderstanding. Just a huge mistake.
Though that never happened. The remaining group members were now enclosed together, not daring to set a foot outside. Pidge, Keith, and Hunk would now usually keep to themselves. Blake, Allura, Romelle, Adam, and Shiro were strategizing a plan.
"We should buy guns." Blake suggested.
"That's a good idea, oh wait. Guns are illegal in Altea without a license." Adam rested his chin on his hand. "Who says that we don't have a license." Keith falsely smiled from across the table. "All I know is that Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and I have one. Lance also does." Keith informed.
"Where are we agoing to buy guns?" Allura asked. She did have a gun license, that was true. However, she doesn't have any idea where to buy one. "I think there's one right out of Daibzaal." Pidge unhappily shrugged. Muffles was all Romelle heard. She was gazing off into the distance once again.
"Romelle!" Hunk clapped in front her face suddenly. "Huh?" She blinked multiple times.
"We should go at separate times." Shiro continued, his statement made sense. If authorities saw a few teenagers running around town with guns, that would definitely draw some attention.
"So being Shiro, Allura, and I are the only real 'adults' we need to spilt up into groups of three. No way in hell are we doing pairs." Adam stopped Shiro before the anticipated words left his mouth. "I guess Pidge, Hunk, and I can be a trio-" Keith began before he was cut off. "Make that Hunk, Pidge, Keith, and I." Shiro interrupted. "I guess Allura, Adam, Romelle, and I will go off then?" Blake disregarded.
Hunk sharply nodded. Keith and Pidge ran for the door, swinging it open. "Shouldn't we call Veronica and James?" Hunk asked. "Maybe Nadia?" Keith followed. "Sure, but only Veronica and Nadia. I don't want us having a bigger group than we're supposed to." Shiro sternly looked at all of them on the balcony.
"We're going to find them. I promise." He reassured. The all weakly nodded. Pidge pulled out her extra burner phone and tossed it to Keith. "A burner phone? Seriously?" Keith narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I don't know if people are tracking are every move." Pidge rolled her eyes.
Everybody's number was already implemented into the phone. Keith started feeling queasy at the thought of telling Veronica her brother was assumed to be missing. "Hunk, you tell her. I'm gonna be sick." Keith covered his mouth, handing the phone over to his friend.
Hunk hesitantly rang Veronica's cell.
Three rings was all it took for her to answer.
"Hello?" She sounded awake, not tired.
"Hey Veronica." Hunk swallowed.
"Hey, Hunk? Is that you? What's up?" She happily replied.
"W-We need you to meet us here at Pidge's house. Something happened to Lance and Harper." Hunk sighed, deeply in pain.
"W-What?! What happened?" She panicked from the other end of the phone.
"He's presumed missing, Veronica." Shiro took the phone from Hunk, who was looking like he was about to cry.
The line ended. "Veronica?!" Shiro desperately called into the phone. He shook his head, looking like he just seen a ghost.
"S-She just ended the call, I-I don't know if she's on her way or..." Shiro was starting to become flustered. "Nope." Keith leaned over the ledge, vomiting on the other side. The other three sorrowfully glanced at him.
"Keith." Pidge rubbed his back, his vomiting stopped, but his tears began. Keith looked completely crestfallen, just his face showed it.
"How are we supposed to tell his parents? Or his nieces and nephews?" Keith dishearteningly sobbed.
"He's not dead." Hunk shakily reminded.
"We're going to find him as soon as Ronnie gets here." Pidge turned to the gate in the side yard, where nobody stood. The gate clinked opened, and a motorcycle roared loudly.
"Nadia." Shiro mumbled, seeing the determined girl get off her rose colored bike.
"Are we going or what?" She sassily yelled for them to hear. The all dashed down the balcony steps. "Where's Veronica?" Hunk asked the obvious. "I dropped her off with Adam and Allura." She pursed her lips, leaning on the back section of the bike.
"What exactly happened?" Nadia crossed her arms, her eyebrows knitted together.
"Romelle woke up, all of that. Then she went upstairs, she couldn't find them. I'll tell you on the way. What happened when we called?" Pidge did the same as Nadia, but somehow she was sassier.
"Veronica woke me up, she was crying. She told me that you guys didn't know where Lance and Harper was. Then I drove her to Shiro's apartment after Adam called." Nadia keenly explained. "Adam called?" Keith utterly surprised.
"We should get going. Wait, where exactly are we going?" Nadia avoided any mention of Adam. "Shopping for guns, apparently." Keith irked. "Do any of you have fun licenses?" Nadia directed. "Yes. All four of us do." Pidge annoyingly smiled. "We don't have a van, so we need to walk again." Shiro was definitely piqued, being he didn't want to walk across town all the way to Daibzaal.
"We can take the train." Keith weakly smiled, remembering when he and Pidge caught a train to Daibzaal in the beginning of their fond friendship. "Good idea." Shiro's eyes sparkled. Nadia scoffed at seeing an adult man getting so happy over not walking.
The walk to the train station wasn't awkward, but surely quiet. Nobody would crack jokes, usually Lance would do that in a tense situation. Nobody started a conversation, like Harper would. Not one of them even had a smile on their face, which isn't hard to understand.
The train ride was dreaded by Nadia. Barely any people were riding the train in three in the morning, and the subways were empty.
Nadia frantically texted Veronica, who never texted back. At the gun store, which was in the middle of an empty field, Pidge was underage to buy a gun. So the boys bought separate ones, and they were on their way back to the house.
The train station walk and train ride were the same, no speaking. Once they reached their destination, they set their guns down.
Now they just waited for Adam and the others to come back. Pidge and Keith were the only ones who really spoke, Hunk usually listened.
Nadia kept checking her messages. Shiro paced back and fourth around the living room.
The doorbell rang, and a suddenly spark of hope lit up. It certainly wasn't Adam and the others, they would've used the back door. Shiro sprinted for the front door, and lord and behold...it was nobody. Just a box.
"Who is it?!" Hunk rose from the table, slamming his hands down. "It isn't anybody. It's a box." Shiro hopelessly mumbled.
"Be careful. It may be a bomb." Pidge reminded. Shiro squinted at the unfamiliar item. He collected the box in his hands, and it thankfully didn't blow up.
Shiro brought to the table, Nadia joined them there. "We should wait for the others." Nadia suggested. "Screw the others, give me the knife." Pidge earnestly remarked. Nadia hesitated skeptically handed her the sharp knife. The brown box was carefully cut open, with one piece of paper inside.
They all peered their heads in.
Another note was awaiting them.
// Hey! It's coming along slowly, but surely! Only 15 more chapters! Enjoy lovelies <3 //