Chapter 8

RYDER'S POINT OF VIEW

Mirabel surprised me two days ago. Just when I was considering letting her return to school and then she decided to mess everything up for herself. How could she even think of leaving me to go stay with some stupid boy who couldn't even afford his own meal? What if he wasn't genuine? What if the attacker was using him to get to Mirabel?

But then, as I thought about it more, maybe I was being a little too much. Staying in the same place for three weeks must have been unbearable for her. I had to do something to make her feel better. I spoke to Theo about my plans and he said it was fine, as long as she would be with me at all times.

"Ryder?"

I looked up from my phone when I heard Mirabel's voice. She wore a white, long-sleeved cropped tee, brown camo trousers and adidas sneakers. Her hair was in a messy bun and she had very little makeup on.

"You look nice." I smiled at her and walked around the car to the driver's side.

"You're acting weird, Ryder. What's going on? Where are we going to?" She carefully came down the stairs.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked, opening the door. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go to. We'll do anything you want."

"You're scaring me." She admitted, playing with her fingers.

I placed my hands on the roof of my car before speaking. "Mira, I know it's been hard staying home all day, and that's why I'm trying to make you happy. I'm doing this to put a smile on your face. You always look sad and I don't like it. I want to change that."

Her eyes welled up with tears. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yes. Get in, let's go."

"Ryder, wait a second."

 I looked at her. "What is it? Did you forget something?"

"No. I want to know how Jackson is doing." She spoke carefully, knowing she was bringing up something I hated. "Where is he? Is he alright?"

I twirled my car key around my index finger. "The kid is fine. Let's go."

She didn't ask more questions and got in the car. This Mira was weird. The Mirabel that was scared to speak in front of me. I missed my talkative and annoying sister.

"Where do you want to go to?" I started the ignition. "The mall? Spa? We could go see a movie if you want."

"It doesn't matter. I just want to spend the day with you."

"The mall it is then." I concluded, driving the car out of the gate.

Mirabel giggled and shook her head. "I didn't mention the mall, Ryder. Spending time with you is more important to me than shopping."

I glanced at her before speaking. "You've been my sister for as long as I could remember, and I know the mall is your place of healing. The feeling of price tags, the feel of shoes, bags, chocolate; those things make you happier than hearing someone say I love you."

"That's not true." She looked out the window, smiling.

This was what I enjoyed seeing. I hoped we would always be like this.

<<<>>>

It had been over an hour since we got to Mirabel's healing place. She would move from one clothing store to the other and just when I thought she was done, she would remember that there was something she had forgotten to get.

"Ryder, just a moment. Here." She held out two shopping bags for me to hold. I was already holding four. "I saw a dress earlier and now that I think about it, it'll look very good on me."

"But..."

"No buts. Please hold this and follow me." She grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me behind her and to where she had seen the dress. "Yes!" She exclaimed when she saw the dress. It was a stripped summer chiffon dress with roll-up sleeves.

"Don't you have that already?" I nodded my head in the direction of the dress she wanted. "I think I've seen it before."

Mirabel turned to me. "That was a strappy plunge bodycon dress." She rolled her eyes. "They are in no way similar."

"No one cares about their names, Mira. Get the dress and let's get out of this place. I think I'm going to lose my mind if I stay here longer."

"Alright, alright. Sheesh." She pouted as she picked the dress and showed it to me. "It's nice, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mira, it's absolutely fantastic." I forced a smile, and she slowly nodded her head.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll take it."

"Hey, wait a minute."

Both our head snapped to the right to see who had spoken. Just wonderful.

"Elena." I said, and she smiled, "I didn't think I'd see you here."

"Well, it's a mall." She giggled. "It's only natural to see people here, right?"

"I guess so."

I knew Mirabel wanted to ask questions, but she was being sensible. She just watched the awkward conversation. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't even told her someone crashed into my car.

"That dress..." Elena pointed at the one Mirabel was holding. "I want it."

Please don't do this to me.

Mirabel looked at Elena from head to foot and straightened up. What was she doing?

"I saw it first and I am going to pay for it." She said, her tone changing from the excited teenager I had been speaking to and to a grown ass business woman.

"I'll exchange it for this." Elena dug into her shopping bag and brought out a black, flowing, beautiful dress with a carefully constructed V-neck. It had box pleats on the front and a tie on the waist. "This is a Sten-"

"A Stendhal dress." Mirabel cut her off. "I know it when I see it."

How I wished she knew geometry like she knew dresses. But this was slowly becoming a very interesting dialogue.

"I'll trade you that dress for this one. I'm even giving this one to you for free, you know."

Mirabel was silent for a while, obviously thinking about Elena's offer.

"What do you say?" Elena asked impatiently.

"It's a deal." Mirabel handed the dress to Elena and collected the Stendhal dress. "This will look good on me, right?" She asked, looking at me for approval.

"You'll look beautiful in anything you wear, Mira."

She beamed. "I know."

I rolled my eyes at her confidence and averted my gaze from her. "We'll be leaving now. It was nice meeting you."

She bowed her head. "Likewise."

<<<>>>

After a very tiring shopping, Mirabel and I finally left the shopping mall. With me carrying most of the things she bought, we headed for my car. She opened the door and helped me put them into the back of the car.

"Starbucks or McDonalds?" I asked her once we had settled down in the car.

"McDonalds." She answered without missing a beat. "Double quarter pounder with cheese! Double quarter pounder with cheese!" She chanted excitedly.

"Alright, missy. We'll take it to go, though. I received a call earlier, so is that okay with you? We can go out some other time."

"It's fine. I'm just happy we got to spend time together after everything."

"And?" I couldn't hide the smile that was forming on my lips.

"I got to hear you complain. It was like music to my soul." She sighed dramatically, staring into the space that was my windshield.

"Be serious, Mira."

She laughed, "Fine. Hearing you complain made me happy, and I wished every day would be like that. I mean, watching you carry my shopping bag and dragging you from one clothing store to another brings me happiness. Above all, I'm happy you're my brother. You understand me better than anyone else and I wouldn't want to ever lose the feeling of being cared for by you."

I brought my pinky hand forward. "No more trying to escape?"

"No more."

We interlocked our little fingers.

She relaxed against the chair and sighed. "This is nice, you know."

"It is." I started the car and maneuvered it out of the mall premises.

We drove for a while, making jokes, laughing, until Mirabel said something that made my blood run cold.

"That car has been following us." She looked into the side mirror. "I didn't think too much of it at first but it's definitely following us. Do you know them?"

I checked the rear mirror and shook my head. "I don't, but whoever they are, it's not good. We have to lose them. I can't risk anything. Grab on to something."

Of all the times they could follow me, it had to be when I was with my sister. From what I noticed, there were two cars on my tail, stalking me. It was a good thing my car could go miles with no gas refill, but that wasn't my major concern. My little sister could get hurt, and I didn't want that.

"Mira, call Theo. Give him our exact location and ask for backup. I don't know if they are armed."

"Alright." She took my phone and dialed his number. Whatever she said next, I didn't quite catch because I was more focused on not getting us killed.

I turned the corner and cursed under my breath when I saw the traffic ahead. Fan-fucking-tastic! I whipped the car around, almost driving over a few pedestrians. Damn, why did I bring my sister out? Perhaps this wouldn't have happened if she had stayed home. God, I was an idiot. What was I thinking?

"Ryder, there's a lane no one ever uses." Mirabel said, holding her seatbelt tightly.

"Huh?"

"Dolphin lane."

"Speak English, Mirabel."

She groaned in frustration. "The road with the abandoned warehouse."

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Damn, this was our getaway express. I swiftly turned down the back road and instantly regretted it. People... There were people.

"Fuck, Mira. Why are there people here? You said people didn't come here!"

"They must be going to the arena. There's a big game today."

"We're screwed."

There were lots of pedestrians waving at me to stop, screaming, running away, and some who were stupidly recording me. My car was at 75 mph down this road. If I didn't stop now, someone was going to die.

I looked into the rear mirror; they were still following us at a top speed. They had no intention of stopping. An idea popped into my head when I saw the abandoned warehouse.

"Mira, get ready to run into that warehouse. I'll be right behind you."

Even though she was shaken to the core, she tried her best to maintain a calm demeanor.

I stepped hard on the break not a second later. The people following us had stopped and gotten out of their cars to point their guns at my car. Though the vehicle continued to roll.

"Why isn't it stopping?" Mirabel asked, alarmed. "Make it stop!"

"I'm trying!" I screamed back.

My car wasn't stopping, the break wasn't working. The men shot at my wheels, causing the tire to become flat. Everything happened so fast because before I knew what was happening, the car spun out of control. Mirabel screamed for dear life, her eyes sealed shut. The car then crashed into the walls of the abandoned warehouse.

"Mirabel." I placed my hand on her arm to see if she was fine.

She turned to me. There was blood on her head, but she was fine, I hoped.

"I'm fine." She breathed out.

I opened the glove compartment and took out a gun I began carrying around after we returned to Ordene.

"You're going to shoot at them?" Mirabel asked, moving her hair out of her face. "I don't want you to have your hands stained with blood."

I didn't respond.

"Get down and run as fast as you can." I told her, checking to see if the men were approaching us. They were; slowly.

"You'll be right behind me, right?"

"I'd be stupid to die and leave you."