Consoulia Chronicles: Booting Up [~ read description]

Chapter 19: Memories

Zerrin sped through traffic with Myrtle hanging onto the ceiling handle and seatbelt for dear life, her eyes wide in fear as the hatchback narrowly avoided hitting the back bumpers of other vehicles on the interstate. Zerrin had her feet out the window like it was a day at the beach as one of her hands was on the steering wheel, and the other was holding a phone to her ear. "Hey, old buddy, old pal, old chum, old friend, old buddy, old chum-." 

A sigh from the other side cut underneath the nervous rambling. "We already know about Rhea." 
"How the hell would you know?!" Zerrin screamed into the phone as she switched over to speaker mode. As Myrtle screamed to watch out for the 18-wheeler ahead, she clicked her teeth in frustration. "Ayo hold up, gotta drive. Speak up, would ya?" She threw the phone over her shoulder into the backseat, but Myrtle scrambled to catch it. It bounced from her hands a few times before she held it tightly with two hands. 

"Because," Zander started. "Mia said she ran into someone who gave her a document explaining that Rhea was searching for the "base." Looks like a book report from the way it's structured and has purple marker in the corner, too. Agent Dolphin's the one who wrote it." 
"But how did you-?!" 
"Mia told me and it doesn't help that a dolphin's drawn on the back of it." 
"I thought it was some weird hot dog," Sotoro chimed in the background. 
"That was flying!" Iris squeaked
"With wings," Spire added 

"Look, just don't answer the door, okay? I'mma need all the Consouloids in that house to hide and the humans to just act like nothing's up, got it? Rhea's a piece of work and can make any day a bad one, so don't screw around!" Zerrin warned. 
"What about you?" Iris squeaked again, worried. 
"Don't worry about us. Clover, Zander, I'mma need y'all to keep her distracted while Myrtle and I cop the Revival Chokers from her car." 

"Speaking of.." Myrtle said, watching a squad of cop cars with flashing blue lights and sirens chase the hatchback in the mirror. Looking over at the speedometer, Zerrin was cruising at seventy miles above the speed limit.
"Wait, how do you know Rhea's coming here? How would she know?" Clover spoke calmly, but there was an undercurrent of either annoyance, rage, or fear. Or all of the above. Zerrin couldn't tell. 
"Weeeeellllllll," Zerrin started, putting her feet on the wheel as she filed her fingernails. With a sigh, she continued. "Satara wrote down your address on a sticky note." 
"How did she know?!" Zerrin swore the entire household asked all at once. 
"Becaaauusee she stalked us?? I guess? Question mark? Look, you're asking about someone who wanted to kill me because I somehow killed our dad." She looked past all the cars she was swerving around and put the sirens out of her mind. "I mean, I guess I didn't have to be there. I'd be mad at myself too." 

"Give me this!" Myrtle unstrapped herself, tossed Zerrin aside, and took over. 

"You idiot! Only I can drive like that, I'm the one running a-!" Myrtle drifted off of the interstate, sending them driving through trees downhill. "Compatible game disc that allows me to even do this at all!" Zerrin continued, tossing Myrtle away from the wheel and strapping herself as well as Myrtle in, nearly squeezing the air out of the latter. The second she stepped on the gas, the car righted itself and cut off traffic heading in the same direction on another interstate. Although she was honked at as they dragged mud and plant matter onto the road, nobody was harmed. 

"So uhh, yeah, we'll be there soon," Zerrin waited for an answer. "Guys? Hellooo?" 
"Um.. I.. don't think the phone's here anymore." Myrtle lamented. 
"Son of a- okay, plan B, hold onto your adapters." Zerrin warned, not only undershooting the interstate exit, but driving upwards through the trees at what felt like ninety miles per hour. 

Iris eyed the wall of games on Zander's side of the basement with Sotoro, Mia, and Spire, although Spire couldn't run a single game in his library. The three of them were given permission by both humans to look around at the different games to play and investigate if that was what it took for them to stay down and hidden away. Sotoro had to be persuaded with snacks. 

Upstairs, the siblings had finished pushing a bookshelf over the entrance of the basement. They worked to make the living area as innocuous and not-hiding-anyone looking enough. Clover read over an excerpt of the report again. 

"Do not try fighting Rhea unless you have a death wish. Keep in mind she's tough enough to rip apart an Identity Choker with her bare hands. Do not open the door!"