Music In Me

Chapter Eight

They were gone for one week, three days. They were known for singing for money and hitchhiking rides around town, and ever since July thirtieth, they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

 Mason's family offered a $25,000 reward for anybody that would bring their son home. They had shirts, posters, press confreneces, and even a billboard on the busiest highway in Silverdale.

 Lauren's mother cried in her bathroom, eating vanilla ice cream, chugging bottles of wine; while her dad still laid in Jail for abuse charges not giving a fuck, and everyone else didn't like her enough to care. 

 I think we all know who was more effective.

 There were many sightings, but the police were never there soon enough. 

 The police were almost convinced that they ran away and were under the alias as 'Annie and Kely Russo'.

 The Hudsons told the media that Lauren was a bad influence to thier son. She would listen to white-boy rap and metal, she would dress strange and they believed she had a history of violence. They considered her as a satanic, goth, horrible, mean, bipolar imbecille who probably came up with the idea of running away.

 An interviewer once interviewed Jennifer and Matthew Hudson to dicuss about the story. "Mason would never plot something like this." Jennifer said. "He was a happy boy. He has a whole life for himself. He wouldn't do that to himself."

  Matthew agreed with his wife. "Mason is an amazing poet. He is well-liked, came from  a nice household, we belong to the Catholic church. He is a healthy boy and we never had any arguments prior the running away."

 "So, you believe it was Lauren's idea to run off?" The interviewer asked. 

 Matthew nodded. "We didn't like her from the very beginning. She seemed too nice, then too 'sarcastic'. We let him hang out with her because we knew she was veberbally abused and bullied her entire life and she needed someone."

  Jennifer looked at the reporter. "She said she was Agnostic, but I wouldn't be surprised if she worshiped Satan."

  "Really? How come?" 

  "She wore black, white and sometimes red. She would wear strange bracelets and she was always depressed. No one could make her happy." Jennifer said.

 Matthew said, "She gave us a bad vibe. Yes, she's cute and funny. However, I never wanted that Satan worshiper around our perfect child."

  "Wow, they just threw me under the bus," Lauren grumbled as she watched the interview on the display of televisions in an appliance store on August 9, a week and half since they left.

  Mason rolled his eyes. "That's why I left! Dad lied like always. We had at least five fights before I left. And my mother never thought you were Satanic, that was my dad." He stuffed the blankets in his bag.

  "Look, if they think I worship the tool who made sadness and anger, fine." She said, turning around. "But they never had a valid reason."

  "Exactly!" He stopped to look at her. "You don't worship-?"

   "I'm Agnostic, I promise." She walked up to him and gave his cheek a peck. "So, where we gonna go today?" 

   He looked in his pocket and pulled out the fifty dollars they earned within the past two days. "Well, we haven't eaten for a good 14 hours so, how about a McDonald's first?"

  She grinned. "It's a date!" She went to the side of the road and pulled her thumb out. They were master hitchhikers.

  "You look beautiful when your hair isn't brushed." Mason complimented, rocking her back and forth behind her.

  "I can't say that to you cuz your hair is perfect all the time." She said back, messing up his hair. 

  He didn't let go until he saw a car in the distance. And the car stopped in front of them and the passanger rolled her window down. "Hey! You kids need a ride somewhere?"

  "Uh, yes. I'm Eli and this is my friend Dani." Mason introduced. "we need a ride to the nearest McDonalds please?"

  "Sure, get in the back." The Driver, a man with huge musceles, said.

  When they got in the backseat, the passengers were asking many  questions.

  "Where's your parents?" The man asked.

  Lauren answered, "About a week ago my parents kinda... left us in a Seattle resturant. I didn't have a cellphone, and his was dead, so we were kinda screwed."

  "We would go to a family members, but we're visiting from Arizona, so yeah." Mason finished.

   "I'm sorry, kids. Your parents must've been careless, Dani." The girl in the passenger seat, a slim blonde woman,  said.

   "Yeah, they are. Very careless." She looked down to her shoes.

   The blonde facepalmed herself. "God, we are so rude! We forgot to introduce ourselves!" She looked at them through the rear-view mirror. "I'm Bree, this is my boyfriend Shane."

   After that, they were at McDonalds and the kids thanked them as Bree and Shane parked in front of the door. 

  Ten minutes later, after  they ate, they went back to the car and sat back down in Bree and Shane's car. "Thanks, can you please take us one more place, please?" Mason asked.

  "Sure, kid." Shane answered, smiling. 

   Mason said, "Can you drop us off at the Safeway on Pike Road, please?"

   "Sure thing." Shane answered. Then he told Bree something under his breath and she relunctintly nodded her head. 

   Lauren was listening to her iPod and Mason was playing with his hands so they didn't notice that they passed the Safeway until they left Pike Road. 

   "Um, Shane?" Lauren asked, looking up.

   "You passed the Safeway.." Mason said slowly. 

   He smirked. "Oh, I know. You're not going to Safeway."

   "Were are we going then?" She asked, starting to get really scared.

    Mason could see Bree through the rearview mirror. Bree started developing tears in her eyes, but said nothing.

   "You'll see," Shane said, evily. 

   Before the kids could say anything else, Bree turned around with a pistol in her hand. "Shut up before I shoot!" She demanded weakly with tears in her eyes.