Mrs. Mouri watched after him, clearly still puzzled. “Well, that was weird.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kento had one foot out of the shower and onto the soft bathroom mat when the phone started to ring. He fished for the towel sitting on top of the toilet seat and immediately yelled, “Somebody get that!”
The response was also immediate. “You!”
“Oh, for cryin’ out loud,” Kento complained loudly. He jumped out of the shower, spraying droplets of water on the rug and tile, and hastily wrapped the towel around his lower body. The young man walked quickly for the door, threw it open, and ran as fast as dignity would allow to catch the phone in the kitchen. When he passed the living room where his sister Rinfi was sitting, she glanced up from her cross legged position on the couch and away from her book. He heard her shriek and throw something as he sped by.
“Perv!”
“If somebody would have answered the phone, I wouldn’t have had to!” he hollered back at her.
Mei Ryu and Chun Fa were sitting at the breakfast nook with bowls of food in front of them when Kento ran in and made a grab for the phone.
“Eeeww!” Mei Ryu yelled.
“Kento’s naaakkidd!” Chun Fa shrieked and giggled, and dropped her spoon to cover her eyes.
Kento rolled his eyes and picked up the ringing receiver. “Yeah, what?”
“Kento?”
“Cye! Jesus, I rush downstairs from the bathroom to find out it’s you?” Kento added the next part in a louder yell, “Which I didn’t have to do if the other three people in the house could’ve picked it up!”
“I can’t reach the phone!” Chun Fa said, her high pitched five year old’s voice muffled by the small hands covering her face.
“I didn’t feel like getting up,” Mei Ryu shrugged.
“Lazy brats,” Kento mumbled into the receiver.
“Kento said a bad word!”
“Channy, give it a rest! Now what’s up, Cye?”
“Everything’s all right?”
Kento paused. “Yeah, other than the fact that I’m dripping water all over Ma’s floor, everything’s fine. Why?”
“I just…” Cye’s voice turned into a ragged sigh on the other end. “Had an odd feeling. Thought I’d check on everyone.”
Kento switched the receiver to his other ear. His other hand kept the towel pulled tight around his waist. “This isn’t…” Kento lowered his voice, casting a brief glance in the direction of his younger brother and sister. Chun Fa still had her eyes covered, but was taking giggling peaks through her fingers. Mei Ryu has resumed eating and was staring out the window. “This isn’t related to the body-less wonder, is it?”
Cye’s chuckle was strained, but it was there. “I wasn’t sure. Everyone seems to be all right. Just felt a little off.”
“Gotcha.” Kento let it go for now. They could talk more when everyone got together later. “See in about an hour, all right buddy?”
“Yeah.”
They hung up simultaneously and Kento put the phone back in the receiver. Immediately, gagging and choking noises came from the breaskfast nook. He looked over and found Channy and Mei Ryu, hands to their throats and feigning death rattles amidst giggles.
“Aw, you don’t like this?” Kento did a slow turn in his towel, showcasing gleaming muscled abs still dripping water and strong biceps that flexed while he held the towel up.
“Gross!” Mei Ryu yelled, and Channy broke into a fit of giggles.
Kento sniggered. “Little monsters.” He sauntered out of the kitchen, walked through the living room past a still horrified Rinfi, and made his way back to the bathroom.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The muscles in his body contorted strangely and the girls watched, slightly sickened, as the boy changed much like Regan imagined a werewolf would change. Strange popping sounds emanated from his bones, and dark fur raced across the pale skin. He dropped to all fours in the middle of the hallway, and his back arched as the change completed. Nausea rolled in Regan’s stomach as hands elongated into claws; similar claws that were responsible for the burning slashes in her lower back. His face lengthened into a wide muzzle, and his body bulked into the giant muscle of the monster from only twenty minutes before. Robyn made a sound of disgust next to her.
Don’t let him finish. With that sudden thought in her mind, Regan gathered thrumming energy and violently pushed it away from her and into the nearly formed beast.
Robyn gasped. She could feel the well of incredible energy coming off of Regan, and it was enough to make her stumble back. Simultaneously, as the invisible energy surged forward, the hall shook. The glass on either side of the girls burst and rained down on their heads. Instinctively, Robyn covered her face with her arms. The glass on either side shattered further down the hall as the energy traveled like an unseen entity bashing it to pieces with a bat as it made its way down the hall towards Jason.
It slammed into the thing hard and with a startled roar, the monster went airborne and flew into the opposite wall. He cracked the wall when he hit, causing the entire wall and ceiling to shudder. Regan felt adrenaline pump through her veins, and she took a few steps forward, hands shaking. Using her power was always exhilarating; probably not a good thing, but this time she used it to her advantage. It wasn’t enough to injure him; she had to take him out.
Shaking, Robyn lowered her arms. Glass shards winked brightly on the floor all around their feet; small slivers of it gleamed where it lay on the skin of her arms, and shards caught in Regan’s dark hair, glistening like rain drops. Robyn didn’t move from her spot, aware of her bare feet surrounded by all of the glass.
Regan raised a hand, and the beast went sliding up the broken wall. He began to roar, loud and long.
“Shut up,” Regan said out loud. She envisioned closing off his windpipe, cutting off his air supply, and abruptly the monster stopped roaring. A choking sound emanated from his throat, and the beast tried to claw at his own throat. Regan froze all of his muscles, leaving him immobile, suspended and shoved against the wall. She threw her arm to the side, and the beast went flying to the opposite wall. He hit so hard, the mortar of the wall collapsed and the beast landed on the thick, broken pieces. She let go of him mentally and his body lay limply on the rubble, unmoving. She could feel that he was alive, but was positive she had done enough damage that he would not be getting up any time soon.
For a long minute the only sound was Robyn’s shaky breaths and Regan’s slow, measured breathing, which didn’t match the paleness under her tan skin. Occasionally, pieces of ceiling and wall came crumbling to the ground.
Robyn turned her head to look at Regan, who seemed frozen where she stood. The redhead ran a hand through her hair, head still aching furiously, and felt glass pieces fall to the ground as she shook her hair out. She couldn’t help her mind’s reaction to what just happened; she was afraid of what Regan just did. She hated herself knowing that when Regan looked at her, she would see the fear in her eyes.
“It’s okay,” Regan said out loud. Her voice, always tinged with that slightly husky tone that Robyn found soothing, sounded loud in the abruptly quiet hallway. “It scares me, too.”
“I’m sorry,” Robyn said awkwardly. “I don’t mean to…”
“Feel that way?” Regan looked over at Robyn, really looked at the redhead’s pale face. Her pale green eyes still held that faintly phosphorescent glow, although it was fading. Leaving them to look more normal. “Me either.” Regan looked down at the ground to all the glass surrounding their bare feet. The faint thrum of power came back, and all at once, the glass shards levitated off of floor. The pieces gathered in a ball of gleaming shards, and Regan coaxed the ball away from them, eventually setting it down among the rubble.
Robyn touched Regan’s arm, and the brunette looked at her, expression curious. “Thank you,” Robyn said sincerely.
Regan shook her head. “Not yet.” She looked at the limp, monstrous form up ahead. “Your boyfriend’s a real asshole.”
Robyn couldn’t muster up enough humor to smile. “I wish I’d figured that out sooner.”
Not seconds after the words had left her mouth, Regan’s entire body stiffened. A presence was coming their way; the feel of it loomed large in the back of Regan’s mind like a dark hand creeping up on her brain. Regan mentally recoiled from the unwanted touch. It felt unclean in the way Regan imagined real evil felt unclean and dirty.
Robyn opened her mouth to speak and Regan whirled and slapped a hand over her mouth. She leaned in close and barely whispered her words. “Someone’s down that hallway.” Robyn’s eyes went huge. “It knows we’re here.” She loosened a slightly shaking hand over Robyn’s mouth, and it barely registered that the hand Regan pulled away was bloody. Staying close, the girls backed up very slowly, fear keeping them from running away.
Robyn felt a crushing weight on her heart, dropping it into her stomach. She knew who it was. She could feel it now, too; it was Kortez. He was in the building. He was in the next hall. Her breaths were coming in short and shallow, taken in sharply through lips parted in horror as she slowly backed down the hallway, clutching Regan’s arm for dear life.
“I want you to run.”
Robyn jerked her head to Regan, who was still staring down the corner that, with a sharp right turn, contained one of the main sources of evil permeating the air of the hospital.
Horrified, Robyn gaped at Regan. “Are you crazy?” she whispered frantically. “No!”
“Then -” Regan cut herself off and looked behind them. The beast that was Jason lay still amongst the rubble and - there; a hallway branched off a dozen or so feet away. “Go down that hallway,” she whispered. “Wait for me there. He can’t see you.”
“Regan-”
“Don’t argue with me, go!” She bodily pushed Robyn into the other hallway, and when Robyn hesitated, she pushed her the rest of the way, whispering urgently, “Don’t come out for anything. I’ll be fine.” Robyn gave Regan an angered look, but did as she was told. That was all that mattered.
Regan moved back into the hallway, and for a split second regretted her decision. It didn’t matter that Robyn was just around the corner; now she was alone, and she had no idea what she was about to face. It helped a little to feel Robyn’s presence in the back of her mind, like a warm comforting weight. Regan had a few precious seconds to wonder what the hell she was going to do now before, out of the corner of her eye, she watched a figure step into the hallway and turn to face her.
She couldn’t see his face; a brown cloak covered his entire body, the deep hood drawn up over his head. His arms were folded in front of him, and she caught a glimpse of pale, paper thin skin stretched taut over bone in the folds of the sleeves.
He gave off the impression of being absolutely ancient. Regan got the feeling that she was staring at a being older than it had the right to be alive; old in an unnatural way that made Regan’s skin crawl. Being in his presence made something inside of Regan balk and shudder. He made the air around him unclean, and Regan fought the urge to hold her breath to keep from breathing it in.
For a long moment, both stood still, staring at one another, Regan trying furtively to gather up whatever courage she had left from this place, praying that she had it in her to do something good for once. It wasn’t just about Robyn, although it had been a long time since Regan had cared enough about another person to look after their wellbeing. The man in front of her was evil; evil in the truest sense of the word. It turned the air rank and made something precious inside Regan turn away in disgust. She wanted to destroy this thing; she didn’t want to find out what would happen if she failed.
“You are not the one I am after,” the priest said. His voice was dry and crackling, harsh; as if it were painful to get the words out.
Regan shook her head. “No, I’m not.” She was pleased that her voice was only slightly shaky. Standing across from this priest, like two gunslingers in a showdown at sunset, all of Regan’s aches were coming back from the lack of movement. She was suddenly aware again that her back felt like liquid fire, her hands burned, and her head throbbed. Blood was causing the back of her shirt to stick to her skin, and it felt uncomfortable. It was easier to focus on the hurts than the potential for more hurt standing mere yards from her.
“And you can’t have her.” Get ready. Regan watched the priest carefully, looking for any reason to strike first. So far he was just standing there, hood drawn over a face that looked like yawning darkness from her viewpoint. Her thin shed of control might snap if that were truly the case; if he pulled away the hood and a pitch-dark blackness greeted her, and she might scream. She had a horrible mental image of that darkness swallowing her up until there was nothing left. Stop it!
The priest was silent for a moment, and then an unnerving dried up laughter emitted from his throat. Regan shifted, completely unsettled by the sound. “We will see about that, child.” He lifted his arms, and Regan reacted. She pushed as hard as she could in his direction. The invisibly energy left her mind and went hurtling through the air towards him. When it hit, he jerked slightly in surprise, and instead of falling back with the force of the hit, he lifted his hand and absorbed it.
What?
Regan felt her heart drop into her stomach, as if someone sucker punched her in the gut.
Dear God -
Her ability didn’t work on him. He absorbed all that energy by flicking his hand. She tried hitting him again, using more force behind this one, and he barely flinched from it.
“Son of a b-” she barely got it out before he unleashed his own attack and, unprepared for it, Regan sprinted to get out of the way, not knowing where to run as long as it was away from that, but she didn’t move fast enough. An unseen, invisible force slammed into her chest, and for the second time that day she felt her bare feet leave the ground as the force of the energy slammed her back into the wall, knocking the breath out of her.
Instead of letting up, the dark energy hammered pressure into her chest. Regan struggled to take in air, dimly aware of Kortez lifting his hand ever so slowly up. With every inch his hand moved up, Regan felt her body slide up the wall, and for long, agonizing seconds, all she could do was claw the wall and try to breathe.
“Regan!”
Horror washed over Regan as Robyn came into view, and the look of horror on the redhead’s face.
Get away! For the first time, Regan felt true panic as Robyn exposed herself, running to Regan and trying to pull her back to the ground. Regan couldn’t speak to tell her to get back; she could barely breathe. Her ears were ringing, and she could hardly make out what Robyn was saying.
“Let her go, Kortez! You’ll kill her!”
“You have proven to be a difficult little girl to find, Robyn.”
“You’ve found me - I’m here, now stop it!”
Instead of complying, Kortez stretched out another hand, and with a startled scream, Robyn fell to the ground. Her body started to drag across the tile towards Kortez. Robyn screamed in terror relentlessly, hands skidding across the tile to stop herself from moving any farther. Her fingernails clawed at the tile, and Robyn only succeeded in bloodying her fingertips.
Regan had to watch it all from her pinioned position on the wall, like a bug pinned to the ground. Fight back, fight it! Stop him! Oh, but it hurt! It hurt and she swore he was trying to suck the very life out of her. It was clawing at her, and in the back of her mind she realized that this was what Robyn was afraid of; this was what they could do. She could not let this happen. The energy felt heinous and made bile rise up in Regan’s throat…but it was nothing compared to what it would do to Robyn.
Regan fought as hard as she could, breath coming in short, painful gasps to keep from suffocating, and the pressure lessened minutely, but it wasn’t enough. She could hear Robyn shouting, yelling curses and crying; her own eyes were tearing up at their helplessness in the face of this monster. Regan could see Kortez through half open eyes, and he was…laughing at her.
He was laughing. Head thrown back, joyous laughter. The laughter of Beelzebub as the demon collected souls.
He’s laughing at you. Because you’re weak. All this power, and for what? To waste away in a mental hospital because you’re too afraid of it to do anything? And now, when it really counts - when you really have the chance to think past your own selfish existence, you can’t. Because you’re too. Damned. Weak.
No. No. I can do this. That is it.
I can do this.
Regan’s eyes shifted from him to above him. She focused on ceiling, wanting it to crumble on top of him; to bury him until he would stop laughing and stop hurting her. She pushed and pushed and thought of how badly she wanted cement and dry wall to crash down on him; thought about it so hard it momentarily took the focus off of the pain. She had never wanted anything more in her life than to make him SHUT UP.
The ceiling was cracking. Just as Kortez looked up, Regan gave a strangled sound of frustration, and abruptly the priest felt his connection to both girls snap. He jerked back, and with the snap of the connection all the force coming from the girl flooded toward him - above him.
With a great rumbling crash, the ceiling and walls nearly burst. Hundreds of pounds and tons of cement and mortar came tumbling onto Kortez’s head. It was the priest now who could not move fast enough.
The moment the connection with Robyn snapped, she scrambled to her feet and sprinted away from the falling ceiling, towards Regan. The brunette fell the few feet to the ground, bottom stinging with the impact as the world came down around them. Both girls covered their eyes against the dust and debris as the ceiling and walls buried the priest under their weight. The sound was thunderous, and it appeared the upper levels were coming down with the ceiling, pouring more thick jagged pieces of wall and ceiling down onto the cracking tile beneath their feet.
When the noise and thunder ceased, the silence was deafening. Regan wiped at her eyes and peered out at the heavy dust in the air. There was a giant, gaping hole in the ceiling that looked like it didn’t end, and yards of wall on either side of the hallway were missing. It all lay in a giant pile in the middle of the hall, effectively blocking off the rest of the demolished hallway like a massive cave-in.
The dust was so thick it resembled a dirty white fog. Robyn coughed to clear her throat, eyes tearing against the dust. “Is he dead?”
“No. Just not awake. I don’t know how to kill him.”
Robyn shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. We need to get the hell out of here.”
Neither of the girls knew where the strength came from, but they had enough adrenaline and energy to run. They ran back away from the carnage to the girls unit after being made painfully aware that no shoes that was a very bad thing. The bodies of the nurses and patients were still on the floor; apparently the spell took a while to wear off. The girls only separated to gather their things. Regan pulled out her bright blue pillow case and randomly shoved clothes from the dressers and toiletries from the bathroom inside. She grabbed a pair of brown sneakers and black flip flops, and pulled on a pair of white flat Keds to completely bypass laces. Regan barely spared the room that had been her home for nearly nine months a glance before gathering what other little personal belongings she had and sprinting out of the room.
Robyn had to step over Thora to get inside her room. She couldn’t help but look down at the vivacious blonde, now pale and still under the spell. Robyn wasted no time gathering her small amount of possessions into the purple backpack they had come in. She pulled on her white sneakers, and was ready to go after stepping over Thora once more. Robyn paused, looking down at the girl, and leaned down momentarily. She touched her hand to Thora’s pale blonde hair. “Goodbye,” she whispered.
“Ready?”
Robyn nodded. She could feel the tear tracks drying on her cheeks from Kortez’s horrible method of come hither. “Yeah.”
The two girls followed the exit signs, raced down steps, and broken open doors before finally making it outside. Warm night air greeted them, but neither of them stopped to enjoy it. Regan immediately led Robyn out to the parking lot. Robyn didn’t bother asking why Regan would go there; how the hell else were they going to get out of this place? Walk?
Regan chose a black Pontiac Grand Am. The locks snapped open, and Regan hesitated before opening the driver’s door. Their eyes met from across the roof of the car.
“I better drive,” Robyn volunteered. It had been nine months since Regan had driven anything, and she was much more hurt than Robyn was. They switched places, walking around opposite ends of the car, and Robyn pulled open the driver’s door. Regan fairly collapsed in the passenger seat before throwing her pillow case into the back seat.
Robyn felt odd getting into the driver’s seat of someone else’s car; a stranger’s car, one that they were stealing; however, she couldn’t bring herself to feel guilty yet. Let the guilt come later; for now, she just wanted out of here alive.
“How do I-”
The engine turned on before Robyn could finish the question. She looked at Regan, who had closed her eyes. The brunette smiled faintly. Grinning a little, Robyn put the Grand Am in reverse and tried not to kill both of them as she careened out of the parking lot.
As they drove off, the night still black as velvet around them, Robyn felt laughter bubble up her throat. She giggled, giddy with relief, and adjusted the rear view mirror. “Where to?”
Regan’s head lay back against the head rest. With one hand she pressed the button to roll down the window, and the breeze played with her hair. “Anywhere but here.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Robyn drove until the Pontiac nearly ran out of gas. Twenty miles away from Oakburg, she merged onto a highway that led southwest to New Jersey. Robyn stuck to the highways and took exits for anything that led further into New Jersey towards Pennsylvania. Surprisingly, Regan stayed awake, her eyes half open as she watched the scenery brightened by the highway lamps go by. Twenty minutes into the ride, Regan reached over and turned the volume knob up to turn on the radio.
Robyn nearly jumped at the sudden noise, and Regan hit the seek button a few times to find a good station. Mellow alternative music filtered into the car, and a smile spread on Regan’s face. It was the first truly joyful smile Robyn had ever witnessed Regan make. That smile stayed on Regan’s face as if she didn’t know it was there for a while as she listened to the music.
Robyn left Regan to her obvious enjoyment of the radio, and turned her eyes back to the road. It would suck on so many levels to get this far from that place only to get pulled over by a cop. Somebody had to be looking for them by now. Kortez wouldn’t know where to look, and neither would the others; they had found her because she stayed in New York. If Robyn put distance between them, it would be harder next time. Next time…Robyn shuddered. She hoped there wasn’t a next time.
“I’m sorry,” Regan unexpectedly announced.
Stunned, Robyn looked at her briefly. “For what?”
“For not believing you.” Regan was quiet for a moment. She sat a little awkwardly in her seat; head resting against the seat, but back slightly arched away from the cloth. It must have hurt to rest her back against it. “I didn’t fully believe you when you told me. Now I do.”
Robyn shook her head. “It’s something you have to see to believe. I never wanted you to have to see it.” Robyn chewed on her lip, eyes steady on the nearly empty highway in front of her. She could Regan sitting uncomfortably next to her in her peripheral vision. “I…” Robyn wanted to thank her. She wanted badly to express how grateful she was that Regan did that for her, but just saying thank you felt inadequate for the enormity of what just took place.
At that moment, however, Robyn didn’t need to say it. Regan looked over at Robyn and smiled. The look on her face reminded Robyn that Regan knew what she was feeling; she could feel Robyn’s gratitude.
“You’re welcome,” Regan responded to the unspoken thanks.
Regan fell asleep around ten minutes later, and Robyn found herself plunged in silence despite the quiet noise of the radio. She couldn’t help but look at the outside with awe; they did it. They both got out. Here they were, driving away from that awful place (stolen car notwithstanding), putting miles between them and the hospital. Between her and the demons. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t really over; she couldn’t think like that right now. Just concentrate on putting as much distance between the two points as possible.
The car belonged to a girl. Robyn figured that out after taking in a good deep breath. The air inside smelled like vanilla. The car insurance card tucked into the visor helped her figure it out, too. The woman’s name was Rose. Sorry, Rose. You’ll eventually get your car back. We need it right now more than you do.
The rolling plains and cornfields were quite boring after twenty or so miles, and Robyn could feel the adrenaline leave her. Fatigue came rolling in quietly to replace it; fatigue and hurt. Robyn could feel her head throbbing with heat and pain, and she tried to ignore it and the growing exhaustion in favor of concentrating on the road ahead of her.
That plan worked for another hour; halfway through that, Regan woke up again. They worked out a way to deal with the car and the rest of the night, because the girls needed to stop somewhere to sleep and tend to their wounds. Robyn would drive through the rest of New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, and they would abandon the car in Easton, which was right on the border. In Easton they would call a taxi, and with the ten dollars or so that Robyn had, pray that it would be enough to get the driver to take them to the nearest town with cheap motels.
Easton was bright street lamps, dark buildings, and closed shops. They drove over a bridge that gently sloped over a river leading into the town, muggy air streaming into the car from the open windows. Robyn weaved through the darkened buildings, following the distant lights to more populated areas. Something had to be twenty four hours in this town.
They found it in downtown Easton. The restaurants were dark, but the Kmart was twenty four hours. Regan had her head nearly sticking out the window, eyes taking in the darkened signs for Red Lobster, Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart. Regan’s stomach audibly growled, and both girls laughed. Their laughter was loud in the car and sharp with relief. Instead of pulling the car into Kmart’s parking lot, Robyn drove it further down the plaza the Kmart was connected to. There was an empty Laundromat at the end of the string of businesses, and Robyn drove it around to the back. She parked it behind a dumpster, and after satisfying herself that it wouldn’t be visible from any roads, she put it in park and Regan shut it off.
The two girls gathered their things and left the car behind, walking slowly towards the Kmart.
“I’ll go in,” Regan offered. “Your hair stands out too much.”
“Because the claw marks on your back won’t stand out,” Robyn pointed out. In the street lamps, the blood on Regan’s back looked black. Robyn couldn’t get a good look at it in the lack of light, and it was just as well. They couldn’t do anything about it right now.
Regan frowned slightly, and then rummaged through her pillow case. She pulled out a gray long sleeved shirt and dropped her bag to pull it on. She visibly grimaced as she pulled it over her head.
Robyn sat outside on the curb while Regan went in. After being momentarily blinded by the brightness of the inside of the store, Regan made quick work of asking for the number of a taxi and locating a phone. There was hardly anyone in the store at this time of night, and the cashier on duty barely spared Regan a glance as she brought out a phone book and handed Regan the phone. Minutes later, Regan had a taxi on its way, and she thanked the cashier before leaving the Kmart.
Robyn looked up from the ground as Regan came out. “How long?”
“Fifteen minutes.” Regan slowly sunk to the ground next to Robyn, sitting carefully on the curb and stretching her legs out with a sigh. She reached into the waistband of her dark blue pajama bottoms and pulled out two Hershey bars.
“Where did you get those?” Robyn exclaimed, delight widening her eyes.
“I stole them,” Regan said simply. Robyn snorted, and both girls laughed as Regan handed Robyn one of the candy bars. The two tore into the wrappers and pulled out the chocolate with identical sighs of happiness. Regan bit into the chocolate, and as the warm, delicious taste filled her mouth, she let out an involuntary groan of delight, closing her eyes as her taste buds savored the flavor.
Robyn chuckled. “Is that good?”
Regan made a noncommittal sound of agreement, and the two descended into silence as they ate every bit of their chocolate bars.
The taxi pulled up ten minutes later, and the girls slid into the back seat.
“Where to at this time of night, ladies?” the man asked as they got in. He peered back at them through the rearview mirror with interested brown eyes, middle aged face mildly concerned.
“There’s a town about ten miles from here, further down route 22,” Regan responded.
“Middletown?”
“Um -”
“Bethlehem?”
“Yes,” Robyn said. Weird name, but it sounded all right. “We have friends there.”
“Too much partying?”
Robyn made a face, and Regan replied. “Yeah. Best time of my life. Now we’re ready to go home.”