Finding Her Our Way... (Chapter IX)
It was still a dark and cold day... It was only 3:00 PM and Jui had been writing for hours. We were so hungry but too scared to leave. We were trying to write down every memory we had from that night to today. There’s so much time lost, it didn’t make ANY sense to us. Fourteen days of NO memory!? What happened? Is all we could ask ourselves.
None of the ideas and memories were fitting together. Also, where is Jorie? It’s been all day since Jui texted and called him. Maybe he just had a busy day at the University today. He was, most of all, a full-time student on a scholarship so it makes sense. Hopefully, he will call her back tonight.
5:00 PM, Jui finally looked at me in hunger.
“Let’s go get some food and go for a drive...”- Jui
We both got up and got dressed and had showers getting ready for what’s to come. Jui was packing a backpack and asked me to do the same. Mine was filled with the daily essential and her’s was packed with essentials for what seemed like investigating equipment. She had a magnifying glass, two notebooks, pens, two light rain jackets, two black outfits, two black toboggans, two flashlights, a hunting knife, and Hannah’s box of matches.
I wasn’t sure what to think of it but all I knew was, I was ready.
Jui grabbed an extra duffle bag that carried extra clothes and extra daily essentials.
We both quietly snuck into the night and got into her car. Right now, we were dressed in normal everyday clothing. We wanted to look and be as normal as possible while getting food. We went to the small diner that was in the middle of town. We both got chocolate milkshakes and veggie burgers with fries. We then headed down to the store down the street to get daily foods. It was 9:00 PM, we were getting tired so Jui bought two sleeping bags and two lanterns. If anyone asked, we were going camping on a Monday...
Luckily, Spring Break was the following week but I know it’s still weird claiming to camp on a school night... We got into the car and drove off to the next town. Mom had tried texting and calling Jui but she doesn’t want to talk to Mom. Dad was out of town working.
I don’t know where we are going or what we are going to do next. All I know is, we left home and we left town but for how long? What was her plan?
Me and Jui had gotten closer the last 13 hours. I just realized we still haven’t heard from Jorie... Is that suspicious? Is what we are doing suspicious? Like I said, I don’t question anything anymore at this point.
We finally made a stop in the next town at a camping ground. Jui made all her purchases in cash so no one would find us. We made our way through to our camping spot and set up camp. We needed a legit alibi for both of us.
Jui finished setting up camp and we checked the time, 12:00 AM... It had been an exhausting rainy day so we went to sleep and dealt with everything the next morning.
—— The following morning —— Day 15 --
I finally woke up from what seemed like an eternity of sleep. I got up, got dressed, poked my head out of the tent, that Jui had in her trunk, and saw Jui making breakfast for us.
“Wha-a-at time is it?”- Sasha
“8:00 in the morning. Here, have some breakfast.”- Jui
Me and Jui had a nice breakfast in the nice spring breeze as the sun beamed down on us. Nature is amazing this morning. This was worth it. Jui had texted Mom she will call her in a bit but that we were alright. We just wanted to go camping.
Mom and Jui talked after breakfast and Mom was understanding. We were both shocked because Mom has always been the proper one and strict parent. Mom wanted Hannah to be found so she could have answers about her Daughter so, she helped us out with a plan.
Mom was ok with us camping two towns away as long as we checked in very hour by texting her we are ok. We never texted updates just in case. All of that was via talking over the phone in a secluded area. We went hiking in the state park and enjoyed the day. The plan was taking over at night. Jui wanted me to feel normal for the moment. To be a kid for a while. So that’s what we did. We played and enjoyed the park. It was the best day of my life since Hannah went missing.
The sun was finally setting so we went and showered and got ready for the night.
Jui packed us some turkey and veggie sandwiches and some waters for us to eat later. She cooked us a dinner so we could be full for the next adventure. I’m not even sure where we are to be honest. I just know we are two towns from home.
We walked on foot, I guess so we wouldn’t be seeable in the car. We went into town and kept low. We wanted to see if we could find anything. I kept wondering to myself, “Why this town?” It was a small town where everyone knew everyone so it was dangerous for us to even be there. I’m not sure why HERE. Why not a big city where it’s easier to blend in? What did Mom and Jui know?
We snuck into a back alleyway that was dark and we couldn’t be seen. It was 9:00 PM. Jui knocked on a big door and told the person on the other side of the door a secret word. She opens the door to let us both in while checking the alley and the street to make sure we weren’t being seen or followed.
“Welcome to Alleytown, Ontario! I’m Miss Steele but you can just call me, Steele.”- Steele
“Hey, I’m Jui and this is my Little Sister, Sasha. You know our Mother?”- Jui
“Why, yes I do! We were pals back in college! We got into a lot of shenanigans back in the day. Kind of like what you two are doing now.”- Steele
“What do you mean by that?”- Sasha
“Why, my Twin disappeared as well. He was kidnapped and killed but this case sounds a little different. Your Mom updated me on all the details. Especially, the lost time you two are going through by not remembering anything.”- Steele
Me and Jui gasped and looked at each other.
“Don’t worry, children, your Mom knows, she told me about you two being in a daze until two weeks after the accident and you two were oddly back to normal as if nothing happened. You two didn’t even remember about Hannah missing.”- Steele
We were stunned.
“How—“- Jui
“Mothers know everything!”- Steele
“So, how are you going to help us, Steele?”- Sasha
I was so suspicious about her but liked her at the same time. How was that possible? There’s so many questions with so little answers.
Where is Jorie? Is he involved? Why did Mom not tell us about her friend until now? Where is Hannah? Why did they close the case? Why are we here? Why did we come this far from home?
I guess we will see what will happen and what we will find out...
