Ruby Ring

Chapter 7: BREAKING NEWS

JUSTIN

"I just got a phone call from one of my coworkers," Madeleine announced when she entered Justin's motel room. After two hours of travelling, Justin and the search party were too tired to continue, so they crashed at a cheap motel. Madeleine said that she couldn't afford to spend money. The search party understood.

"Oh, really?" Justin raised his eyebrows. He prayed it wasn't his dad who called.

"She said that there was another disappearance last night,"

"What?!" Justin shouted. Good thing it wasn't his dad. "Who was it this time?"

"I dunno," Madeleine shrugged. "Be ready in five minutes. We're having breakfast,"

"Alright," Justin said as Madeleine closed the door.

"Another disappearance? I've got a bad feeling about this," Patrick said as he began dressing up. Justin then felt a chill down his spine. He was wondering who disappeared this time. He got out his phone and hastily texted Marcus, asking him about the incident.

---

"Another disappearance?" David gasped. He was eating a stack of pancakes drenched in maple syrup.

"Yup,"

"According to CNN, the witness, Daniella Sakai, said the victim was lured in by the captor. How, she did not specify," Jackie took out her phone. Just then, Justin's phone beeped, indicating that he got a text from Marcus.

I know about what went down last night. I wasn't there, but I talked to Daniella about it. That was what he had texted.

Daniella...that name sounded familiar. Who was she, again? Justin couldn't remember. He replied back. What did she say?

Marcus replied right away. This time, he said, It was Hunter. Hunter West.

Hunter West?! He was Justin's friend from middle school. They were a part of an inseparable friend group, one of them no longer being with them. After they graduated middle school, each of the five friends went their separate ways. Hunter and his deceased friend went to Kingsley, while Justin and another guy went to Wikstrom. The fifth guy in their friend group was Marcus, who went to Greenwood Academy, Kingsley's rival school.

You didn't answer my question. What did Daniella say? Justin sent a text.

She said that the captor claimed he saw Hunter's future, saying that he will die a most unpleasant death. He told Hunter that he could prevent it from happening if he chose to go with him, so that's what Hunter did. And they disappeared in a flash. This took a while for Marcus to write.

"Everything alright?" Madeleine questioned as she helped herself to a sausage.

"Yeah. I was texting with my friend Marcus. He said the person who disappeared this time was my friend from middle school, Hunter West," Justin hastily put his phone away.

"You mean that kid who helped start a petition to get Matthew Kendrick fired? Remember, the mean coach of JV Basketball?" Patrick murmured.

"Yeah, him,"

"I can't blame him for wanting to prevent his most unpleasant death from happening. We're all afraid of death," David interjected.

"So what's the plan for today?" Justin queried. "Surely, we're not going back to talk to Daniella about this? We've gotten pretty far, why go back now? We've got a mission to accomplish,"

"We have no plans to talk to Daniella about this," Madeleine clarified. "We're going to continue finding the lair,"

"Alright," Justin nodded. Lux claimed he had a map to the lair in his book about supernatural creatures. That's how he was able to help Madeleine navigate.

Suddenly, an azure Mazda screeched to a halt, and out stepped a blonde girl with hair that sprouted in all directions. She entered the restaurant and collapsed on the floor.

"Oh my God," Madeleine went up to the girl and knelt by her side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the girl ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm Daniella. Daniella Sakai,"

"Oh! So you witnessed Hunter West's disappearance last night!" David cried.

"Do you know anything about that?" Jackie followed up.

"Right after he disappeared, I went after them using a map another witness gave to me," Daniella explained.

"There was another witness?" Lux raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. I don't know her name, but she had brown hair and pale skin. Anyway, I was able to reach the place where the man took Hunter. I was able to record some stuff," Daniella got out her phone. The search party gathered around it. On the phone screen, they could see John Morrison and Hunter inside a dark room.

"Now tell me how I can prevent my own death," Hunter demanded.

"That, I cannot tell you. You must find out for yourself," John stated as he lit a candle with a match.

"How can I do that?"

"Simple. Drink this, and you will know. But drink it at my signal," John gave Hunter a chalice full of a bubbling blood red mixture. Hunter wrinkled his nose as John blew out the candle. He then proceeded to light up a fresh one with a match. He clapped three times. Catching the signal, Hunter nodded and chugged the mixture in a matter of seconds.

"What is he drinking?" Justin grimaced.

"I don't wanna know," Daniella shook her head as the video stopped. "Oh great, I remember---my phone died so I wasn't able to get much. I was then spotted and had to escape ASAP,"

"Well, at least that's something," Patrick nodded.

"We did hear about Hunter's disappearance just before you arrived, Daniella. A few days before that, my girlfriend and a girl from school got taken by a guy named John Morrison. He's strong enough to lift up my car, which indicates that he's a creature with super strength," Justin explained.

"Justin recruited us to help us find them and John's lair," David finished.

"Oh, really? Can I join too? We need to save Hunter and Justin's girlfriend, along with that other chick," Daniella pleaded.

"Sure. The more, the merrier," Madeleine nodded. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah, let's," Jackie nodded as Madeleine placed the check on the table. Everyone then proceeded to exit the restaurant.

"I'll go with Daniella," Justin announced as he headed towards Daniella's azure Mazda.

"Alright. You follow us," Madeleine nodded as the rest made their way to her police car.

"Let's do this," Justin nodded towards Daniella as he got inside her car.

"Yeah. We've got some lifesaving to do," Daniella started the car and drove off behind the police car.

---

Author's Note: Now that Daniella has joined the search party, how will she help the group?