Auroral » Titans

13|| Panic At The Roller Rink

The parking lot of the blue and white roller skating rink was packed with cars. An orange sign hung above the door, the words Scooters written in bold letters.

"You're sure this is the right place?" Sophie asked. She didn't understand why the woman who took Rachel would bring her here. It just didn't seem right.

"It's the right place." Dick said as he pulled the car into a parking spot. He pulled the keys from the ignition and stared up at the roller rink. His brown eyes clouded with thought and his jaw tightened.

"Relax, we'll get her back." Sophie mindlessly placing her hand on his thigh.

He looked over at her, a crease forming between his eyebrows. The reassuring gesture felt so natural it didn't sink in that this wasn't normal for them anymore. But once it did, she forced her a thin smile and pulled her hand away.

She stepped out of the car and breathed in the crisp air. Her head was throbbing like all of her pent up thoughts were trying to burst free.

The driver side door slammed shut and she quickly glanced back at Dick. "I'll find Rachel, I doubt she's going to want to see you right now." She spoke before he had the chance to.

"Yeah." He nodded and he began walking to the entrance of the building. Sophie quickly fell into step beside him.

The glass doors opened as a group of teenage girls came barreling out, laughing and chatting amongst themselves. Sophie grabbed the edge of the door and slipped in after them. Partly holding it open for Dick.

The foyer of the rink was filled with people. Parents, kids, miserable looking employees. It didn't exactly look like the kind of place a kidnapper would bring their victim.

Loud upbeat music from the eighties played over the speakers, making Sophie want to turn and run. She rolled her eyes, catching a glimpse of Dick in her peripherals.

He had a smirk on his lips and a knowing twinkle in his brown eyes. He knew everything about her, including her distaste for early eighties music.

"Come on." He snickered and brushed past her.

They headed down the hall to a large archway that lead into the actual rink. The room was lit by flashing neon blue and purple lights.

Sophie sighed as she began to walk slowly around the rink. Her gaze drifted between each girl that looked like Rachel.

Her headache began to pulse in sync with the strobing neon lights. Even the throb in her arm followed the steady pulse.

There was a small arcade near the far wall. A few kids circled around the pinball machines, laughing as they played some of the classics.

As Sophie got closer she noticed a girl around Rachel's height with black-ish violet hair. She was hunched over a pinball machine, laughing along with a boy whose hair was vibrant green.

"Rachel?" Sophie asked once she was in earshot.

She spun around quickly. Her blue eyes widened as they landed on Sophie. "What are you doing here? How'd you find me?" She asked, sounding more confused than annoyed.

"Dick and I started looking for you the moment we could." Sophie spoke vaguely.

The boy Rachel was with was clearly listening to her every word. He looked nice but he didn't need to know what was really going on.

"Dick's with you?" Rachel asked and Sophie nodded.

As if on cue Dick spoke. "Hey, come on we're going."

Sophie glanced back at him. Her attention was instantly pulled to the woman beside him. Her hair was a vibrant fuchsia and she wore a fur coat over a tight purple dress.

"Why are you here?" Rachel asked, grabbing Sophie's attention again.

"Rachel." She looked back at her.

Rachel's eyes snapped over to her. "What? So you can be mad at him but I can't?"

Sophie rolled her eyes and gently rubbed her temple "That's not what I meant. Please, can we just talk about this outside?" She pleaded.

Rachel glared a second longer before huffing. She gave her friend an apologetic goodbye before she pushed past Dick. Sophie followed after her with Dick and the kidnapper in tow.

****

The glass door that led into the loud roller rink fell shut behind Sophie. She kept pace with Dick and Rachel. The woman, Kori, seemed to hang back a bit; almost like she was observing the train wreck ahead of her.

"How's Dawn?" Rachel piped up after a moment, her gaze turning to Dick.

His jaw tensed. "Rachel." He spoke her name like a warning.

"I read what happened online. Is she gonna be ok?" She spoke quickly and glanced over at Sophie.

"She will be with time." Sophie forced a weak smile and Rachel nodded.

"Whose Dawn?" Kori piped up.

Sophie saw the way Dick's back tensed and how his eyes flickered between Kori and the ground.

"A friend of ours." Sophie answered, taking the question away from Dick. "It's not important right now."

"Look, we need to go." Dick stated before turning his attention to Rachel. "The cops are looking for you. They think you killed your mom."

"That's news." Kori said sarcastically.

"I may have failed to mention-" Rachel started before Dick came to a sudden stop.

"And they're looking for you too." He spun around to face Kori. "Assault on multiple officers, arson, not to mention kidnapping." Dick motioned over to Rachel.

"Like I said, she didn't kidnap me." Rachel glared back. "She saved me when you didn't."

"Rachel it wasn't like that." Sophie sighed as she turned to face Dick and the others properly.

She looked at her and shrugged. "Wasn't it?"

"That's technically true, Dick." Kori crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one hip.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Gee, that's a new one."

Sophie looked between the three and dragged a hand over her face. Her patience was wearing thin. "This is not the time, or place to be arguing."

"Well, I'm not going without her." Rachel said quickly and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What she said." Kori nodded towards Rachel.

Dick shook his head and looked over at her. "Can you please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

"You left me." Rachel said harshly.

Sophie's chest deflated as her gaze fell to the snowy cement. The pain in Rachel's voice was clear.

"No I didn't." He said.

"You might as well have." Rachel glared. "You were going to."

Dick sighed through his nose. "Rachel, I wasn't-"

"I read the note!" She cut him off, her voice raising as her anger built.

"Enough!" Sophie snapped. Both Dick and Rachel fell silent, their attention snapping towards her. She dragged a hand through her hair and glared at them both. "For fuck sake you two. We are standing in a god damn parking lot, save it for later."

Rachel's face dropped and she quickly deflated. "I wanna go back to the sisters."

"Ok, fine." Dick nodded and walked past Rachel to the Porsche.

Sophie shook her blonde head and glanced back at Kori. "You coming?"

Her lips twitched upwards before she walked past Sophie to the blue mustang that led them right to her. Sophie let out a heavy sigh and made her way back to the Porsche.