Moon & Star Vol. 1

Chapter 26: Grace Sneaks out

Soon after Grace had dinner with her family she went back to her room and went on her computer. She looked up bus tickets to Simmer, found one for tomorrow at noon, bought and printed the ticket. Her mind was mind up. She was going to Simmer, no matter what happens. She had to see Mason, she needed to know and make sure that this wasn't some weird dream that, just maybe, Mason would remember her. There was a soft knock on Grace's door. Grace jumped and quickly minus out of the bus ticket website. Her mother poked her head in and looked at her daughter. "I was coming up to see how everything was going." Her mother said. "I'm starting to worry about you, Gracie." Grace swerved her chair toward her mother.

"I'm fine, mom." Grace said. "Really. I just need to time to process things, I'm sure I'll back to normal soon." It was lie, but anything to make sure her mother wasn't suspicious of her. Which seemed to work. Her mother slowly nodded her head.

"May I come in?" She asked her daughter and Grace shrugged.

"Sure." Her mother walked in and took a quick look around her daughter's room. "Is there anything you need?" Grace asked. "Or anything you wanted to tell me?" At that moment, Grace was half-hoping that her mother was tell her about the dragons. Her mother hesitated.

"No-oo." Her mother said slowly. "I wanted to check on you. I'm your mother, Gracie, it's my job to worry for you kids and make sure that you're safe."

"What would I need to be safe from?" Grace pressed. Again, her mother hesitated. Grace looked at her mother's eyes and knew. The truth about her ancestry, her hidden life, the feud, the dragons, everything.

"From everything," her mother finally said. "The world is a dangerous place. Point proven when those goons nearly ran you over the other day." Grace paused at the word goons. She had only heard the word goons be said by one other person in her life. Mason. And that was when he was talking about his father's workers.

"How do you know that they are goons? Were they working for someone?" Grace asked and saw that her mother had made a mistake. She could tell. Her mother stopped talking and looked like a guilty kid caught in an act.

"I don't." Her mother said and started towards the door. "I'll leave you to what you were doing then, Grace. Good night." With that, her mother left. Grace slumped back her chair. She was so close to having her mother tell her everything. Sighing, Grace decided to take a shower and go to bed. Though sleep was hard to come, especially since she had a busy day tomorrow. Because tomorrow, she was going to sneak out.

~~~~

Grace got out of bed early that next morning before anyone else got up. She snuck downstairs and to the front door. As she opened the front the door, she felt something cold and wet on her hand. She paused, afraid that she has been caught. But glancing down she saw her dog Dip looking up at her, wagging his tail. Grace sighed and bent down towards the dog. She cupped his head in her hands and gave his nose a kiss, which he returned. "Bye, Dip." She said softly. "I gotta go, ok?" Dip responded by giving her another kiss. Grace smiled and back away from Dip.

"Bye, boy. I hope I'll be able to see you again." Dip tilted his head and watched as Grace opened the front door and snuck out of the house. Grace made the long journey to the bus stop since she didnt have her license yet. She made there with the hour and decided to buy herself some breakfast at the local McDonalds as she waited for the bus. Noon finally arrived and so did the bus. Grace showed the bus driver her ticket and hopped on. She found and settled in seat and looked out the window. The bus hissed and started to move soon after. As the bus rolled out of the station, Grace couldn't help but noticed a familiar black car parked on the other side street watching and waiting. Grace could only hope that they didn't follow her.

~~~~

Lauren Michael had just finished breakfast when she called for daughter to come down for food. She placed plates in front of her husband, her son, her and in Grace's empty seat. A few minutes passed and Grace didn't come down. Drumming her fingers on the table, Lauren called up again to her daughter but to no reply. Something was wrong, very wrong. She climbed up the stairs and to her daughter's room only to find out that has been abandoned. "Nathan!" Lauren shouted her husband's name. A few seconds later Nathan came up the stairs and into Grace's room.

"What?! What's the matter?" He asked flabbergasted.

"Grace is gone!" She said getting worked up. "She's gone." Nathan's eyes grew wide.

"Grace!" He shouted but to no anvil, their daughter had disappeared. "I'll call her cell." He said fumbling with his.

"No use." Lauren said walking over to her daughter's computer desk and picking up Grace's cellphone. Nathan growled and banged his fist on the door frame.

"I'll call the police and maybe her friend Ben to see if he knew anything." Grace's father then walked out of the room and downstairs to make his phone calls. Lauren was about to follow when something caught her attention on the computer screen. On the hot bar at the bottom of the screen, Mrs. Michael could see that internet tab was glowing, signifying that there were open tabs. Curiously, she opened up the internet. And what popped up made Lauren fall into tears. The page of the bus website had come up with Grace's destination in.

"Oh, Gracie." Lauren said. "What have you done."