Shatter

Chapter Seven

Wednesday, September 30, 2025

Sylvia

"Where is she?" Sylvia muttered, pacing back and forth near the large glass window of her apartment. Rain streaked the class, making the sparkling view of the city outside hazy. "It's been ages since she left."

"Surely it wouldn't take her four hours just to talk to Ash," Willow murmured.

Sylvia gazed out the window at the millions of stars scattered in the night sky. Rain scattered the glass window, making the outside world blurry. "Let's go to Ash's house. Scarlett could be in danger."

***

Sylvia was still, unfortunately, trying to find Ash's house. Without a designated address, she found quickly that it was extremely difficult to locate a specific house. She was sitting in her car, moping about life when an idea came in her head.

Because they both shared a car, that meant Scarlett would have walked to Ash's house or taken the bus. It was most likely the latter, and there was only one bus that stopped a few blocks away from their apartment complex. Sylvia could ask the bus driver if he'd seen Scarlett.

Sylvia quickly drove over to the bus stop. To her luck, the bus was there by the time she parked her car and boarded. She turned to the bus driver frantically. "Hello, excuse me?"

The old man, who was casually smoking, turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Have you seen a short girl with orange hair and brown eyes?"

The old man leaned back in his seat and dropped his cigarette on the floor. "Maybe, maybe not. Why should I tell you?"

"She's my sister! And she's been gone for a while now..." Sylvia's eyes turned watery for the first time in hours. It was already 10:00 PM, and Sylvia was nowhere near finding Scarlett. The man seemed to notice how desperate she was and reluctantly turned to her.

"I think so. Someone like what you were describing boarded the bus two hours ago or so."

"Can you please take me to where she got off?"

"Hm, alright. But I have to wait at every bus stop for five minutes, so just sit down and wait."

Sylvia thanked the man and sat in the front seat, her leg bouncing nervously. After a few more people boarded on, the bus stopped several times before it arrived at the stop Sylvia was getting off at. She quickly ran off the bus and was met with a long row of ancient-looking houses. Great.

It was dark outside, setting an ominous feeling. The moonlight's rays seeped through the trees, making goosebumps appear over Sylvia's arms. Her eyes caught one house near the middle of the row. It looked almost identical...but something felt almost off about it.

Sylvia strode towards the house and stepped over some withering plants in the front yard to get to the house. She scanned the front door, which was a red ochre color. The door knob's iron layer was peeling off, leaving shiny metal behind. Sylvia pressed the doorbell and waited patiently. There should be someone inside - there was one car in the driveway.

A good looking college student which Sylvia assumed to be Ash opened the door. He frowned. "Um, hi. Who are you?"

"Uh...do you know Scarlett Rose by any chance?"

Ash seemed startled. "Yeah, why?"

"I'm her sister, Sylvia. She's been gone for a few hours...do you, maybe, know where she is? She was heading here the last time I saw her."Fuck," Ash muttered under his breath, before he raised his green eyes to meet Sylvia's. "No, I don't....But I think I might know what happened to her."