and the stars will all come out

chapter twenty-seven! ☆

LANDRY WAS ABRUPTLY WOKEN UP BY A LOUD RINGING SOUND IN THE APARTMENT.

Immediately recognizing this as the phone ringing, she shot up from bed and stumbled into the hallway. Who the hell was calling in the middle of the night?

Worried, she slid as fast as she could into the kitchen, snatching the phone from the holder at breakneck speed. "Hello?"

Her heart was racing, and her eyes were darting around for the nearest clock to check what time it was. From the windows, the sky was pitch black, and all was silent - what the actual fuck was going on?

"Hi, Landry," Hope said on the other line. She sounded drunk. "Uh, I think you need to pick me up..."

Annoyance immediately flooded her. "Can't you call a taxi?"

"Uh, no..."

Resisting a yawn, Landry glanced over at the oven clock.

"You know it's literally three in the morning, right? Where are you?"

Static overwhelmed the other line for a few moments, and for a few seconds, it was impossible to tell what was going on. The panic in her chest only rose.

"You're breaking up on me," Landry said uselessly, shoving her fingers into her ear like it would make a difference in the already-silent apartment. "Where are you right now?"

"I don't know," Hope's voice said, through the static. "Um, I think I'm outside of Baltimore somewhere? There's lots of trees. No one's been down this road for a while."

It took all of the patience Landry had not to groan out loud. "You got lost in the woods somewhere in fucking Maryland? How the fuck are you calling me?"

She almost asked what drugs she had in her system, but refrained: this was a touchy subject to ask up front, and the last thing she needed was for Hope to hang up on her.

Instead, Landry closed her eyes and inhaled deeply: she had to prevent herself from losing her shit, for the sake of Hope's safety. "Can - can you give me more details so I can get there, please?"

She wandered back into her bedroom as she spoke, wondering where she'd put the hoodie she'd been wearing just a few hours ago. If this was going to be a rescue mission, she wasn't going out in her pyjamas. But still struggling to process this, she was stammering.

"Are you absolutely sure you left Virginia? How much have you had to drink?"

"Not that much," Hope obviously lied, her voice slurring. "My phone's almost dead and my friends ditched me, so..."

"It's no problem," Landry responded brusquely, already pulling her shoes on. "I'll be there as soon as I can, you just need to tell me everything you can remember, okay?"

Truthfully, she wanted to scream. Why do I have to be the one to get her out of this situation? Why am I always the one responsible for her?

"I don't think I can remember everything," Hope replied bluntly, completely oblivious to the severity of the situation, making Landry want to strangle her.

"Well, please try to remember," she repeated desperately, slamming the front door shut. "I'm coming to get you now."

☆

"PLEASE TELL ME I'M GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION," LANDRY SAID ONCE AGAIN: it had been twenty minutes since she'd crossed over into Maryland, and her heart was racing as she half-guessed every turn she took and every intersection she ran into. She had no real idea where she was going, anyway, and she didn't want to think about how beyond terrified she was. She felt clammy and cold - anything would have sent her into a panic attack.