"Mason?" He repeated, excited. Carter hadn't noticed it, but her eyes widened when he brought up the name.
Not that Mason was an uncommon name. "A different one." She said in confidence.
"Mason Montez." He said, it sounding like a question.
"You know my brother?" Carter asked quietly. She didn't want to get her hopes up. Montez is a common name as well.
"You're Carter?" He asked. He was clearly getting more excited the more the conversation progressed. And though she was more guarded, Carter was too.
She nodded her head. Everything was surreal now. Mason Montez? Surely there were several out there. But a Mason Montez with a sister Carter?
Then suddenly, "Who are you?" Carter asked.
"I'm Jeremy." He answered, "Your brothers roomate. Your face is all over the news, y'know, he's been waiting for you."
Taken aback, Carter thought back to when Mason ran away years ago. His disappearance was posted in the news papers in the Super Center. Have You Seen Me? Maybe he had ended up on the news as well, Carter thought, though when was too busy being chained in the doghouse to watch much TV.
When Carter didn't say anything, Jeremy hiked his thumb over his shoulder. "Whaddya say I take you to Mason?"
¤¤¤
It took over nearly two hours to get back to Jeremy's house. The walk was, for the most part, quiet; Carter not being particularly fond of Jeremy, first impressions and all. Should she even be following this stranger back to his house?
Stranger Danger! Carter could practically hear Vee shout. But what more could Jeremy do to Carter that hadn't already been done? Besides, she's already run away from two houses- one more would be manageable.
Not far from the city, there was dirt. A lot of dirt, and hardly any trees. Houses scattered the area, separated by barbed wire fencing. Goats and chickens followed Carter and Jeremy, and Carter would've stopped to play with them had they not been rushing to meet her brother.
Carter felt nervous upon the thought. She could barely keep track on how long it's been since she's seen this boy. When he left the house so many years ago he was scrawny and weak- it's always been in the back of her mind that he died out in the woods.
But, supposedly, he lives. He lives here. Carter stood at the end of the property, mesmerized. The house was small, but larger than Carter's old home. She enjoyed something about it. Maybe it was all the animals; the goats, the dogs, the cats that wandered the open space. They gave it a positive vibe.
"You ready?" Jeremy asked, guiding Carter through the fencing. She did her best to ignore the cold pebble that seemed to have settled in her stomach- was she really about to follow some guy into his house? Carter wasn't even certain where she was.
But... he knew her brothers name. He knew hers.
Jeremy led Carter inside. The layout was similiar to her own home, immediately entering into the living room. Except this time, the
TV was alongside the wall with the door, and whoever was laying on the couch was visible. There was a girl on it now, with blankets piled high.
"Is Mason in?" Jeremy asked her.
She made a sound Carter couldn't quite pick up.
"Mason! You have a visitor!" Jeremy shouted so suddenly Carter jumped.
After a moment, Carter heard a door swing open. She slowly pulled off her hood as a boy entered the living room, his hands on the top of his head while he cursed fluently at Jeremy for waking him.
