Together for Heat & More

Chapter 4: The Rescue Plan

By: TooniverseTraveler

Franky Franklin stared at the clock on the wall of the hotel room, his leg bouncing nervously as he glanced over at Anya. It had been three days—three very long days—since Loid and Yor had left on their "family ski trip," and they hadn't heard a single word from them since. The storm had hit hard, and despite the efforts of rescue teams and local authorities, the roads were still blocked.

Now, Franky was stuck watching Anya—alone.

"How did I get roped into this?" Frank muttered under his breath, running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

Anya, who had been sitting quietly on the hotel bed with her dog, Bond, perked up. Her large eyes blinked curiously at him, but she remained silent. Well, mostly silent.

Frank's thoughts echoed loudly in her mind. This is bad. What if something happened to them? What do I even do with a kid? His inner monologue was a jumble of worry, fear, and mild panic. Loid's going to kill me if anything happens to her. I can't handle this responsibility. What if she wants to go outside? What if she gets bored? What if I lose her?

Anya stifled a giggle, her small hand patting Bond's head. The large, fluffy dog wagged his tail lazily, blissfully unaware of Frank's growing anxiety. But Anya wasn't worried—not yet, anyway. She had a plan. Or, at least, the beginning of one.

"Franky," Anya piped up suddenly, swinging her legs off the bed, "we're going to find Papa and Mama!"

Franky's head snapped up, his eyes wide. "What? No, no, no, no," he said quickly, waving his hands in front of him. "We're not going anywhere! You heard what the people on the news said, right? The roads are completely blocked. There's nothing we can do until the storm clears."

Anya pouted, crossing her arms. "But Papa and Mama need help! Bond and I can find them!" She glanced down at her dog, who seemed ready to go along with whatever Anya decided.

Frank stared at her, his expression a mixture of disbelief and dread. "Anya, you can't just go running off into a snowstorm. That's dangerous! We have to stay here and wait for the authorities to clear the roads. Besides, how would you even know where they are?"

Anya just smiled, tapping her temple in that cryptic way that always made Frank uneasy. Of course, she couldn't tell him the truth—that she had read his mind and the minds of everyone else in the hotel, picking up on their worry about the missing skiers and the blocked roads. She had already heard the hotel staff discussing the situation in the lobby earlier that morning.

Why does this kid seem so confident? Frank thought, staring at her with growing suspicion. Does she not understand the seriousness of this?

Anya tilted her head, still grinning. "I just know. Bond knows too." She gave Bond an affectionate pat on the head, and the dog barked softly, as if agreeing with her.

Frank groaned, rubbing his temples. "Look, Anya, I'm sure Loid and Yor are fine. They're probably just stuck somewhere safe, waiting for the roads to clear. The last thing we need is to make things worse by wandering around in the snow. We have to stay put, okay?"

Anya's lips formed a small pout, her plan not going as smoothly as she'd hoped. Maybe I can't tell Franky the whole plan. But I can still try it later. He won't even know... she thought, already plotting ways to sneak out of the hotel with Bond.

But Frank's worry wasn't the only thing on her radar. The entire hotel was buzzing with tension. People in the lobby were whispering about the storm, some of them anxious about loved ones who had gone missing on the ski slopes. Hotel staff were frazzled, doing their best to keep guests calm while managing the storm's chaos. Every mind Anya tuned into carried the same thread of concern—no one knew when the roads would be cleared, and no one had any information about the missing skiers.