Chapter 15:
I woke up at dark. The sun was completely down, but I knew that dawn was coming. I stood up and stretched, hearing nasty cracks from my back. I had woken up right next to Liam. Liam was sprawled out when I got up, and he turned onto his side. Jade was staring into the sky, with a blank expression. Her eyes looked like they had been crying. “Jade.” I said softly. She looked at me and came over to me. “I remember once I got on your back, Ariel was trying to get on, and Victor grabbed her and ran off with her. She couldn’t scream because he had covered her mouth, and I couldn’t get her because we were already taking off.” She said sadly, tearing up again. She hugged me and started crying. "Jade, it's not your fault. It's mine. But we’re going back! Right now!” I said very loudly, after I finished comforting Jade. Liam jumped up, alarmed. “Where?” Obie asked. He was sitting next to Jewl, who was leaning on his shoulder, and Jewl looked as if she had been crying as well. “Back to the lab! Maybe Ariel is still there!” I said, hoping. “How are we supposed to refind it though? We don't even know where it is.” Jewl questioned. “I can turn into a bird maybe? We can fly above all the trees. The building was tall, big, and had Sander’s Science Facility on the front, i'm pretty sure. I don't think we can miss it.We didn't run that far.” I convinced everyone. “If it means possibly getting Ariel back, then I’m in.” Jade said confidently. I rarely see her smile, because she's just that kind of person. Liam walked over and tried to kiss me, but I pushed him away. “We have more important things to do than this right now. Later, okay.” I said. He looked sad, but he got over it. “I’m hungry. Can we stop at that Taco Stand over there?” Jade asked. I didn't want to say no, so I said "Quickly!” I was ready to get my Ariel back into my arms, safe and sound. We walked over to the stand, and Liam went up and got us all two tacos with some money he randomly found in his pocket. We all shared an extra-large sprite, because the smallest drink was 4 bucks, and the largest one was 6 bucks. I didn’t want to start anything, so we all tolerated Sprite. We ate quickly at a small little picnic table. I was shaking like crazy, but Liam grasped my hand, and I felt a little better, believing that Ariel would be okay soon. Story chomped everything down in less than 4 minutes. That's a new record. She must’ve been really hungry. After we were done eating, we went behind the gas station, and I prepared to morph into a large hawk. I quickly morphed, and everyone jumped on. I made sure everyone was on my back before I took off, because I didn’t want to lose anybody else in my family. I had already been an idiot enough to lose Ariel. I knew that would come back to haunt me for the rest of my life.
