The Other Prophecy Child

Friendship and Sacrifice

We left the run down building we were staying in, much to the relief of us all, and made our way into the city. Sarah took the lead as she seemed to know where we were and how we were supposed to get to her house. I never actually considered how we would get there since I had no idea where to go, but Sarah obviously knew what she was doing. Actually, it kind of surprised me a bit. She had mentioned that she was sheltered as a child, so how did she know the streets of the city so well?

"This isn't the first time I've run away from home," she told me when I asked about it, "Somehow, I always manage to find my way back."

She didn't say anymore, but I could tell what she was thinking. Despite the fact that she wanted to leave that place, she just couldn't. No matter how much she hated her father and his wife, there would always be that part of her that remembered the time they spent together when she was little. Even now, when she had managed to make it all the way to Nevada by herself, she had somehow ended up going back to him.

We went on in silence, trudging through the city streets and the people along the way. If it was hard to get around in Las Vegas, then getting anywhere in Los Angeles was an impossible task. Despite the fact that the sun was beginning to set, an endless number of mortals were walking the streets, pushing each other out of the way as they moved toward whatever destination they were going to. There were so many cars on the road that it looked like they were at a complete stand still most of the time.

Sarah took us through the winding streets, moving faster as she did. Eventually, she led us into a large suburban area with a lot of nice looking houses, some big and others small, but all of them looked like they cost a ton of money. Justin was awestruck by the sight of them, probably wondering how anyone could afford houses like that.

"Woah," he said, "Where are we?"

"Bel-Air," Sarah answered.

"Oh man," Justin said, "What I wouldn't give to live here."

Sarah shrugged as if all of this was pretty normal to her, which it probably was. "These are nothing compared to my dad's place," she said.

"You don't live here," I asked wondering why we were here if she didn't.

"Well, technically, I don't," she said, "Dad has another house on the other side of town, much nicer place, much bigger and more expensive than any of these. This is like his retreat, a place to go when he wants to have some alone time."

"And what makes you think he'll be here," I asked.

"He always comes here after he gets home from some business trip," Sarah said. She swallowed and hesitated before she said the next part. "And he knows that this is the first place I usually go when I run away."

"Wait a minute," Justin said, "I'm lost now."

Sarah walked on, moving even faster now. She waited a moment before she answered Justin, but she never looked back at us. "When he was away, back when I was a kid, I had a habit of running away from home and coming here hoping to find him. Sometimes I would sit in his home away from home for hours before he came in. That was my way of getting him to come back early." She became distant like she usually did, but she continued on. "That woman, she didn't know about this place back then, so she didn't know where to look for me. Instead, she would call dad, and he would come home early to find me sitting in the house, and then I would be happy...Until he left again."

We all fell silent after that. Justin kept looking off to the side, apparently no longer concerned with the glamour of the houses. I knew what he was thinking about. Sarah's family didn't sound nearly as bad as she made them out to be. Maybe she was seeing things the wrong way and maybe she would realize that once she saw her father again. If that happened, she might decide to stay with him. I didn't want to see her go, but I had to trust that she wouldn't abandon us. In the end, it was her choice to make.