Thorn

Chapter Eighteen: News Headline

We ran across the road to the Seven Eleven and to the outside bathrooms. Thorn opened the door as we all filed in (Except for Naoki who was still over Thorn's shoulder). He stepped in last and locked the door. We all took a moment to catch our breath and calm down but there was no hope of drying off. A few minutes later we had to discuss what we were going to do next.

"We can't live in this bathroom, we have to think of something." Nick said

"How did your dad even know you would be in the car?" Thorn asked.

"I don't know" I replied

"Hello? What are we going to do?"

Thorn sighed and said "We need a car for one and two we need to get to a hotel room so Naoki can rest." A couple minutes of silence, then Nick said "Anyone know how to hotwire a car?"

<<<

The next thing we knew was that we were standing in the rain while Thorn hotwired a car. Now I was wanted for being kidnapped and stealing a car. But who needed it more? The guy chowing down on donuts inside or the four teenagers who were on the run for fake kidnapping? I was sitting there and looked inside for a split second, but that was enough. Rough sketches of Nick, Naoki, and Thorn were next to my school picture. The headline was:

Teenage Girl Originally Thought Dead Actually Kidnapped

The news lady was standing behind the car we ditched while the captions on the bottom of the screen read:

The teenage girl, Allison Constantine, who was originally clarified dead by the Brunswick General Hospital, was seen by her father in the back seat of a black Honda accord, the one I am standing in front of now. They escaped by pulling her into the woods. Police have been searching the woods now for almost an hour now with only one account of the missing girl. Sheriff Tawning, what was your experience?

The police officer that had grabbed me came onto the screen and the captions read what he had to say:

I was sitting down for a moment because I had twisted my ankle by stepping into a rut and I heard a whisper, it sounded feminine so I stopped. I saw someone a few feet away, I waited and she came closer and I heard her say "are you okay? I'll stay with you. I'll help you." I didn't answer, you know, didn't want to scare her off. The next thing I knew was that she was close enough so I grabbed her wrist. She struggled and tried to get away I told her that I was there to help but I think she thought I was one of her captors because she still struggled. When I finally got close enough though she slipped out of my grasp and ran away." He shook his head on TV then the News lady asked:

"What did she look like?"

"She was wearing a darker colored sweatshirt, she had black hair and her face was gaunt almost, she looked fairly skinny too, like she hadn't eaten in a while-"

I cursed, Thorn looked at me and I pointed at the TV, then it was his turn to curse. Nick's face darkened. But finally the engine roared to life. Soon we were all driving down the road in an awkward silence. Naoki was still passed out Nick and Thorn were in the front seats staring straight ahead. I found myself dozing off and soon I was fast asleep.

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