Where This World Ends, Another Begins

Chapter 9: Sarah

"Hold on, my mom is calling me," I said answering my phone. "Hi, mom! What's up?"

"Where is your sister?" she demanded. She sounds like she's filled with anger.

"Um, I don't know. She said she would come soon, but she hasn't shown up yet. Why, what happened?"

"She left the house." She sounded like she was going to kill someone.

"What do you mean?" Then she hung up on me. I was really confused. Then I got a text from my mom. It was a few pictures of the house. It was like completely destroyed like a tornado had gone through it like fifty times. Then my mom asked me where she was again and I said I didn't know where, but I would try to find her. My mom thanked me. I'm guessing she left to go clean the house or releasing her anger. I stood up. I think I know where Sophie is. If she is where I think she is, I'm not going to be very happy. "Hey, um I have to go."

"Aww, why?" Liana said, sitting up.

"I need to go, um get Sophie."

"Oh ok," Liana said. I said goodbye and walked to my bike. I biked to Ryan's house. He was in his garage, digging around.

"Ryan!" He poked his head out and saw me waving at him. He walked over to me, covered head-to-toe in dust. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at my grandma's old stuff."

"Oh. Um, do you think you could spare some time?"

"Uh, sure. Why?"

"Sophie's gone."

"Oh no. Do you think she would really go there?"

"I told her to stop, but I don't know what happened." I showed him the pictures of the house. He ran to get his bike and came back.

"Let's go."

~

We reached the house. We knocked on the door. "Ugh," said a familiar voice.

"Please, I really need to ask you something," I pleaded. The door creaked open and out stepped a boy. His name is Kian. He had black hair with electric blue tips. He was also really buff and one of those people who you don't want to mess with. Unless, of course, you're Ryan.

"I thought you said you'd never come here again," Kian said.

"Well, I thought I made myself clear to her, but I guess not."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"No, no I don't."

"Yes, yes you do! So, where is she?" I tried to keep my voice at a reasonable level, but I was getting pretty worked up.

"If you're talking about Sophie, then I don't know. I thought you were keeping track of everything she did," he said, sarcastically.

"I was protecting her."

"From nothing. You just made her life boring."

"No, I didn't! She could have been in danger!"

"She wasn't. You just couldn't handle it. Sophie finally found her place in a world that accepted her for who she was. But you couldn't handle it. You didn't want her to be happy in a place where she felt happy." He got really close to my face.

"She wasn't happy." He glared at me and I glared back. I knew I was probably crossing into some dangerous territory. And that was confirmed very quickly. He put his hands on my shoulders, threatening to push me off the steps. Before he could, Ryan stepped in between us and pushed his hands away. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Kian tried to punch him, but Ryan moved out of the way. Here's a quick back story. A long time ago, in like eighth grade I think, Kian and Ryan got into a fight. I don't remember why, but I do remember that Kian started it. Well, actually I'm not really sure about that, but Ryan isn't the type of person who would start a fight. Kian definitely is. They were pounding each other and rolling on the floor. There was not a clear winner since two teachers pulled them off of each other. Kian was clearly very angry afterward, since, for once in his life, someone actually posed a threat to him. He was no longer the toughest bad boy in school. But Ryan decided not to take his place. He's not that kind of person. They avoided each other for the rest of the school year, and all the way until now. Kian was glaring at Ryan. Usually, he would be yelling at him. But this time, he looked hurt. Then it hit me. How could I not see this earlier? Sophie would have never been hurt. I was the one who hurt her. Because Kian loved her. And she did, too. But I separated them because I was worried about her. But I had no reason to be. It took her a year and a half to forgive me. I had no idea. I looked over at Kian. He looked at me for just a second. But in that second, I saw how hurt he was, but also how much he hated me. Then everything happened so fast.

Kian charged at Ryan, pushing him down the steps and falling with him. I was so shocked and frozen in place. I watched them roll around on the ground punching each other, just like they did years ago. I watched them beat each other up for a few minutes before I could finally move. I pulled Ryan off of Kian. Their faces were bruised. Ryan spat out a bit of blood. Kian stood up and nearly fell over.

"Just tell me where Sophie is, please," I pleaded.

"I don't know," he said.

"Are you sure? She's not at home."

"I'm sure. Wait, what do you mean she's not home?"

"She totally destroyed the house and then disappeared." I took out my phone and showed him the pictures. He looked at it and then zoomed in, then quickly zoomed out.

"Maybe she just went on a ride around the block or something."

"Um, yeah. Maybe?" We decided to leave. Kian was really dismissive and Sophie wasn't there. I biked with Ryan to his house, and we had to explain to his mom that he fell off his bike. She didn't seem to believe us but she didn't question us. I biked home. My mom was cleaning up.

"Where is she?" she said, sternly.

"Um, I don't know."

"Is she with...what's his name?"

"No." I feel so horrible. When I find Sophie, I'm going to apologize and maybe try to fix this.