The Demon's Gift

Untitled Part 13

I thought all day about what I would do when I went back to Lily's that night. Everything I thought of was stupid, of course. I ended up pulling out Nat's laptop and watching a movie to distract myself from more awful ideas.

In the middle, though, Colton burst into my room. I was a little surprised, pausing the movie, wondering what the hell there was to talk about. "What did you change in the tracking program?"

"What?" I asked, lost.

"You changed something when you first got here, and now it's going off. What did you change? What were you looking for?"

It hit me all at once, and I jumped up, pushing past him and running to the computer lab. He chased me down the hall and down the stairs. I had only turned right at the bottom a handful of times since I arrived, but I did this time, going down the hall and bursting into the computer room on the right. Mateo was in there on the main computer, trying to figure out why it was going off.

"You found her?" I asked, taking a few steps towards him as I caught my breath. "She's here? In the city?"

"Elizabeth Beckett?" he asked. I nodded. He hit a few buttons and the monitor changed, turning into a blurry as hell photo on a street corner. I squinted, scanning the faces, and saw one I nearly recognized. "This is only one of many. The system has been flagged three times in the last hour, and a credit card in that name has been used once."

"Where is she now?" I demanded. He exited out of the picture, going into his files and digging up recents. Colton entered the room, breathing heavily.

"Auden, what the hell-"

"She was last seen downtown near the arch. She used her card at a restaurant called Ruth's Steakhouse twenty minutes ago."

I turned to leave immediately, but Colton blocked the doorway. "Auden, what the hell is going on?"

"I need a car," I said, trying to push past him. He didn't budge.

"You can't drive."

"Then drive me!" I yelled. "There's no time, come on." I looked back at Mateo. "Call me if she moves."

I left before I could get a response, and Colton was helpless not to follow. I rushed out the door, going straight to his car. He jogged to catch up with me, unlocking it and willingly climbing in. He started it immediately, waiting until we were en route to ask, "What the hell is this all about?"

"My sister," I told him, not believing the words that left my mouth. "She's here."

"Christ," Colton said, looking over to me. "How long has it been since you've seen her?"

"I don't even know," I whispered. "I was eight when the accident happened. She was six."

"Christ," Colton said again. There was nothing else to say as he sped towards downtown, and somewhere in the midst of chaos Nualily crossed my mind. I pulled out my phone, going to the recent calls and hitting her number.

She seemed a little surprised to be hearing from me. "Auden?"

"Lily," I said. "Listen, a family thing came up, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get to you before it's dark, but I will be there. Be careful, okay? Lock all your doors."

"Are you okay?" she asked. I grinned.

"I'm better than I've been in a long time," I told her honestly. A beat of silence passed before I hung up, shoving my phone back into my pocket as we approached downtown. Buildings got higher and higher, and I saw the arch looming in the distance, getting bigger every second. It was a matter of minutes until we were pulling up to the restaurant, parking in the first spot we saw before rushing inside. I looked around frantically as we waited to be seated, but it wasn't until a waitress lead us back that I saw her. All the breath I was holding left me.