Unpredicted Variables (Across the Years Part Five)

Forever and Ever

"Cassie?!" Carlos shouted as he shifted the eggs around in the pan. "Are you ready?!"

"Coming!" her voice shouted down the hallway. Carlos heard her stumble through it, and she exited into the kitchen, hopping on one foot as she pulled her shoe onto the other.

"You're fine getting to school today?" Carlos asked, quickly sliding the scrambled eggs onto her plate.

"Yeah," she said, grabbing a piece of toast and stuffing it into her mouth. She grabbed her plate and fork and placed it on the table, before going back and getting two cups for both of them.

"Are you sure? I can drive you-"

"It's only a few minutes' walk," Cassie replied, grabbing the milk from the fridge and placing it onto the table. She poured it out as Carlos placed his own food onto his plate and turned off the cooker.

"Alright, then," Carlos nodded, taking his own plate and fork down to the table.

They ate in silence. Carlos kept looking up, wanting to break it somehow, to reach her, but Cassie was focused on her food. She gobbled it down quickly, before walking over and putting her dishes into the sink. "I'll brush my teeth and grab my stuff," she said, going back down the hallway.

Carlos sighed. Part of him wanted to tell her what he was doing-maybe it would help her understand. The problem was, Carlos himself wasn't fully sure what he was doing.

He hoped that this investigation would somehow help him find Gregory, but there was really no way to be sure. So, for now, he would remain quiet.

And hope that one day, Cassie would understand.

* * *

"What's the damage?" Vanessa asked, walking up to the construction workers. They in the Raceway, which appeared to have completely collapsed in on itself. The track had almost shattered, with pieces breaking and some having sunk into the earth. The entire side opposite of the entrance looked destroyed and demolished.

Apparently, the sinkhole had opened up late last night, or maybe early in the morning. A few shockwaves had been sent out, but nothing that constituted an earthquake. Nevertheless, the Raceway was fully unusable. It was a good thing they'd decided to remain closed for a while longer.

"Not great, but I think you could probably see that," the construction worker who seemed to be in charge said. "The ground beneath is completely weakened, but it appears to have caught itself again. I'm...not sure exactly how, we definitely checked the ground and ensured it was solid before you guys built here, but it seems like the bottom has been excavated somehow. It's empty space down there, which weakens everything above it."

"Does this have to do with the cave system? I know it's down there," Vanessa asked.

"I don't think so. That's too deep, and the rock between is too solid. The problem is that the space right under the Raceway was somehow opened up.

"Can you stabilize it?" Vanessa asked, worried.

"I think so," the construction worker nodded. "No way to be sure, but we managed to finish excavating the space right under. We can put in metal supports to stand in for it, and once they're set in we'll start repairing the Raceway itself."

"Good. Do that," Vanessa nodded, turning and starting to walk away. This was just another headache...she'd been joking when she talked about a sinkhole opening up...

"Wait! One more thing!" the man shouted from the top.

Vanessa turned, facing him. "What?" she asked, managing to disguise her annoyance.