Keeper's Oath

Chapter 6: Vanish

Livius and Hope chatted along the way. The sun was shining brightly above them. Which was making the snow melt off the roads. Thankfully it made their drive easier than Hope had thought. There were only a few other cars along the long stretch of road.

Most of the way to Chicago, it was Livius who did the talking. He was telling Hope about the stuff he has done in the past volunteer wise since Hope asked about it in the beginning. She didn't mind Livius talking the whole time, she'd rather listen anyway. There were loads of times when Eve would chat away about her shift or something. So she was used to it.

Eve... Hope remembered how her friend looked when she left. She had been waving at her while she waved back. There was good news though, Hope smiled. She'd be back before Christmas.

Few hours later, the two could see the big city in the distance. Hope's eyes grew wider seeing how massive it was from further away. She had never been to anywhere that was bigger than the small town she had lived most of her life in. There were buildings that she could swear that nearly touched the sky.

When they got into the city, there was traffic everywhere. Livius slowed down until he came to a stop.

"I haven't missed this." He began with his hands gripping the wheel tightly. "Traffic, that's why I prefer smaller towns over these. There are more people here though."

"It's my first time." Hope confessed remembering how small her town was compared to this. The bigger city dwarfed her town in a heartbeat.

"There will be plenty of first times I'm sure before the week is over." Livius smiled at her while glancing at her. "I have a hotel room for you to stay for the night. There's a restaurant in the hotel that I think you'll like. It's one of those fancier ones."

Hope looked down at her hands. She bit her lip.

"I-I don't have money with me..." She thought that she'd have to stick with water. Even that might cost money, Hope shuddered thinking she'd just drink in the air. The idea of being with rich and well known people made herself feel more conscious about herself.

Livius laughed so much that the car started to shake. Few seconds later his laughter died off.

"It's my treat, Hope. You won't have to worry about a thing. The hotel is paid for and I'll treat you out for dinner. When we get to the set, there's an inn nearby where you are able to stay. They serve breakfast all day!" Livius told Hope which Hope felt thankful for because she didn't have to take care of anything.

It still felt uneasy for her to get it all for free... she felt like she didn't deserve it. It was random, her name got pulled out for this. She was happy having Livius be such a kind soul. He's been nothing but kind to me, Hope smiled as she was shuffling her feet on the car's floor. She looked out through the window. The massive buildings blocked out the sun but she could still see some rays of sunshine against the windows.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you." She finally said when the car was moving again. Perhaps being away from her home wasn't going to be bad as she thought.

"That's the hotel over there." Livius pointed at one of the shorter buildings surrounded by what she could guess were offices and shopping malls. She wondered how many floors and shops the malls over here would have. "The building with the red."

There was also a tiny bit of what looked like gold on the building to go along with the red bricks. It stuck out from the rest of the buildings. There was a parking lot right beside it that already looked nearly full. She could see that there was one spot closest to the entrance with the number one on it on the cement. Livius parked on top of it.