Quinn had no idea where Eric could be, but she figured that those record freaks had him, and the doors were locked. Quinn had already checked for side entrances and any windows.
She decided to call the most educated person she knew about this stuff. Daniel.
"Hello?" Daniel answered the phone.
"It's Quinn. I'm at the record store. I need help. Quick. Come alone." Quinn sobbed. She hung up and slumped down in front of the store with her head down.
Daniel showed up a few minutes later and saw Quinn distraught. "Hey. What's wrong?" Daniel asked.
Quinn immediately got to her feet. "It's Eric. I was in the record store with him and some girl took me in the back and then Eric was gone. His car is right there and I tried calling him thousands of times and he's not answering."
"So then why did you call me and not the police?" Daniel asked.
"You know the most about this stuff. The police would notify his parents and I can't have his parents worked up right now." Quinn explained.
"Okay. Did you check for any side entrances or windows?" Daniel asked.
"Yes. No windows and one side entrance bolted up." Quinn pointed to a side door completely covered with chains.
"Okay. That's not ideal. Well, it's just closed right now. We can come back tomorrow as soon as it opens and demand that we look around." Daniel suggested.
"No. I can't wait until tomorrow. If Phoenix was locked in there, you'd find a way. The question is, what way?" Quinn wandered around the building and stopped when something fell off of the roof. It was a leaf.
"That's it!" Quinn cried. "The roof. Maybe there's a trapdoor or something like that worth looking at. Do you have a ladder?"
"On hand? No. But we can climb this. This should be easy." Daniel looked at the top of the building. "It's not too high. We'll go at night. We might need multiple people. Me, you, Phoenix, and Mimi." Daniel misted.
"And Kris. Kris is good at some stuff. She might come in handy." Quinn added.
"Or she'll just slow us all down and we won't be able to get Eric." Daniel pointed out.
"No. I trust Kris with my life. She's coming." Quinn raised her eyebrows.
"Fine. I'll meet you back here with everyone as soon as the sun goes down. Okay?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah. I'll be in Eric's car. I don't want to leave in case I see something or someone." Quinn pulled Eric's keys out of her pocket.
"How do you have Eric's keys?" Daniel asked.
"He gives them to me every single time we go somewhere because he doesn't trust himself with his keys. He thinks he'll leave them somewhere." Quinn laughed.
"I'll meet you here later." Daniel walked away. Quinn went to Eric's car and sat in the driver's seat.
A couple hours later Quinn was passed out in Eric's car, and Daniel knocked on the window. She woke with a start.
"Come on. I have everyone you said to bring." Daniel ushered Quinn out of the car.
Quinn got out and saw Phoenix, Kris, and Mimi gathered on the other side of the street. Mimi ran up to Quinn.
"Quinn, Daniel told us everything. I'm so sorry about Eric. But I know that we'll find him. My uncle used to work for a ladder company, so I know a lot about climbing." Mimi led Quinn and Daniel across the street. "So follow me all of you, and I will tell you exactly how to climb."
"Should we trust her?" Phoenix asked.
"It's the only choice that we have. I need to get Eric back and it looks like this is our only choice." Quinn went around to the side of the building.
"Is this the most uneven brick layout wall of the building?" Mimi questioned.
"Yes." Quinn confirmed.
"This will work. Everyone make sure to only step on the uneven bricks. Once someone gets to the top, which will probably be me, we can help each other up. Sound good?" Mimi asked.
"Yeah. I'll go first." Quinn insisted.
"Uh no. I'm the expert climber." Mimi pushed Quinn out of the way.
"Your uncle owned a ladder company! You know how to climb ladders. Not scaling walls. My boyfriend, I go first." Quinn started to climb.
"Fine." Mimi climbed shortly after.
The wall was very easy to climb, and everyone was on the roof about five minutes later. Quinn was already scanning the roof by the time everyone was on the roof.
"See anything?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah. There's a trapdoor, but it's locked. There's no way any of us can get in there." Quinn shook her head.
"Great. So let's go home." Mimi sighed.
"No. We can find a way in. I was watching a meme compilation once and this guy opened a lock with only his fingernail. Anyone who has small fingernails needs to jam their pinky into the lock and twist it to the right twice." Kris recalled.
"Okay. I think Daniel has the smallest hands." Quinn looked at Daniel.
"Ugh fine." Daniel unlocked the lock.
"Wow Kris. Your meme knowledge came in handy." Mimi sneered.
"Shut up. She did more than you did." Phoenix whispered.
Quinn looked down and saw bright flaming orange hair. "It's Eric. He's down there. I see him." Quinn pointed down. Phoenix stood next to her.
Eric looked straight up and Quinn's eyes widened.
