Secrets

Chapter 9: Alice and Sons

Chapter 9: Alice and Sons

"Do you want to stop and eat somewhere?" I said I was getting hungry even though we were only riding in the car for about an hour.

"Sure," Ryan said. I pulled into the first rest stop I saw, it was called "Alice and Sons" It was the most run down place I ever saw, the ceiling was falling in and mouse were scurrying across the floor. "Table for two." Ryan asked. As we walked to the table I felt like the floor was going to crack underneath us. Even the menus were all broken but it was peaceful, there was no one else in the restaurant except us. The menu choices were nothing extravagant, burgers were the main opinion.

"Hey Ryan, what are you going to order?" I asked him.

"Honestly nothing looks good on the menu," Ryan said. A young waitress who could be approximately our age walks up to us. Instantly googling her eyes at Ryan. I mean I know he is cute but lay off. I give Ryan a look so he realizes what is going on but he appears to be enjoying it.

"Can I take your orders?" The waitress said kindly.

"I'll have the....." I was cut off by a ringing that went through the air. It was the sound of something sharp hitting a person's skin. A bullet went straight through the owner's chest who was standing at the guest stand to welcome new people in. As quickly as I could I grabbed Ryan from across the table and dragged him under the table, the waitress hid under the table with us. The shooter looked from one corner of the restaurant to the other and then walked into the kitchen. As stealth as a tarantula hiding in the bushes he walked out of the kitchen with a handful of food and hurried out the door.

Witty with fright the waitress asked, "Is he gone?" No one spoke to answer her question, all we could hear was the sound of our heavy breaths under the table. Slowly I pushed myself up and took a look over my shoulder, there was no one in sight. Bam... I turn around, the ceiling fan was no longer on the ceiling anymore but on the cracked floor. Little cracks began to form, starting next to the fan and spreading quickly. The moment was peaceful just like when Ryan and I first walked into the restaurant. The calm before the storm. Piece by piece that floor started to disappear.

"Run!!!" I yelled; the floor was caving in, it was my fear that we all were going to get stuck under the table. Our feet struggled to be faster than the floor. With each step the cracks were getting wider, they were wide enough that someone easily fall in. After about a billion minutes, the waitress slams the door behind Ryan and I. The waitress, Ryan and I all run into Ryan's car and he starts driving.

"Ryan! The GPS isn't on! Do you know where you are going?" I gasped.

"Cynthia, I don't care where we are going! All I know is we need to get away from that restaurant. What if the person who was in there was the person who killed my Mom or the one who killed my Dad? Or..." Ryan rambled, while he could not stop shaking.

"Ryan we don't know if your Dad is dead yet that's what this whole trip to North Carolina is about," I said desperately as I tried to calm Ryan down.

"Oh my gosh! Stop panicking! It was just my ex-boyfriend, Chad Bennington, he likes sabotaging all my plans. Ugh!" The waitress said out of the blue.

"Excuse me? Who even are you? Before you tell us information about your anxious killer ex-boyfriend." I wanted to know more about this random lady who is now sitting in the back of Ryan's car.

"Oh, sorry." The waitress said while blushing as her eyes traveled to Ryan. "My name is Melissa, I have worked at that restaurant, 'Alice and Sons' for less than a week and now I'm stuck with you two lovers."

"What? We aren't lovers." Ryan said obviously he wanted to make it clear that he is single.

"Ugh," I groaned, "It doesn't matter! We need to find the GPS, program it and learn more about the killer." I was on the verge of screaming. The glove box was wide open but the GPS was nowhere to be found. "Where is that stupid thing?"

"Let me see!" said Melissa and with that she leaped into the front seat with without even giving me a chance to move. I squeezed myself into the back seat of the car hardly making it through. "Ha! I found it. See Cynthia that wasn't that hard." She said sticking her tongue out. As the GPS was being programmed there was an extensive moment of silence. I kept my eyes on Ryan but keep his eyes on the Melissa.

Out of the blue Ryan commented "You're so pretty," Although I hated Ryan for saying that I could not blame him, Melissa was pretty. With bright blue eyes and deep brown hair which was still in a perfect braid even after we went through so much stuff, I was nothing compared to her.

"So, why are we going to North Carolina anyway?" Melissa said

"It's complicated." I sign, it is. To explain the whole story to this stranger we just meet. She would never understand. Why I have come along, and why Ryan and I agreed that we had to make this trip.

"Cynthia, why don't you explain it to Melissa. She deserves to know." Ryan said so confidently. He does not realize that something is wrong.

"RYAN!! Pull over and get out" I screamed. We were on the interstate and cars were passing by but Ryan obeyed my wishes and pulled over. I got out of the car quickly. My face was red as a stop sign due to how furious I was.

"What!" Ryan asked, certainly not concerned. I glanced at the car window and exactly online with my thoughts, I was meet with the face of Melissa staring right back at me.