Chapter Twenty-Six: Standing Up:

-Phil-

To find Sayuri, I would need some help. That was going to be challenge. Everyone had seen my face. The police are right behind and I can’t get in touch with Sayuri anymore. Still, I had my strength and street smarts to be of some use to me.

I looked out into the busy streets. Trust no one. Luckily, those people at the bus station hadn’t seen my face. Let’s see, I have to get down to Baton Rouge. Maybe if I go there, I could figure out what to do next. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the map that I had stolen either. Despite my best attempts, my eyes began to hurt when I tried to read it. I’m not high school dropout, but I didn’t go to many classes. Map reading has nothing to do with that, but still…

Out of nowhere, a gust of wind came and blew the map out of my hand.

Damn it, I don’t need this! I gave chase after that stupid map. I used one hand to keep my hood down the entire time. It didn’t help that there were too many people in my way too.

“Excuse me,” I kept saying. “Excuse me. Excuse me.” The map kept flying away faster than I could keep up. Just when it was back in my fingertips, that annoying wind would yank it further away again.

“Shit,” I muttered as I kept pushing through the crowds. Not once did I lose sight of that map. I then noticed something off about that wind. No one else seemed to be affected by it. In fact, they didn’t even notice a large piece of paper floating through the air. I didn’t have time to worry about what everyone was thinking about me as I ran. I only had one guess as to why this was happening.

At an abandoned building, I spotted it. Another teddy bear sat in front of the glass doors. I smiled and shook my head. Of course she would leave this for me. I reached over and picked up the small fuzzy brown creature. A giant shock ran through my body. My eyes became blinded with visions. I could barely latch onto one in my head to make out what Sayuri was showing me.

The colors looked faded and washed out. Everything skipped around so quickly that my head began to hurt. However, I kept seeing one shot that came through clear enough.

A giant iron tank stood against a back wall. Thick bars obstructed the little window in the front. Despite it looking still, it gave off a pulse strong enough to knock me onto the ground. Was that her? Was she in there? The image disappeared and I came back to reality as the teddy bear vanished in my hand. I clenched my fists.

I realized what I had to do.

I turned when I felt a breeze blowing against my body. The glass doors of the building had slid open before me. This wasn’t the time to wonder how this was even possible. I smirked to myself.

“Well okay,” I said to myself. “If Sayuri wants me to go in, then I will go in.” I put my arms behind my head and walked through the open doors. I didn’t look behind me as they slid closed.

I didn’t even notice the scenery changing around me as I walked through an empty lobby.