Lost & Found
By maria the dreamer
This is part four in my series! I like this one. ^^ I hope you enjoy it! It comes after my story called 'Guardian'.
**
Rain fell in sheets onto the streets. Matt half listened to Izzy explaining his theories about the nanotech insects, restlessly looking out the window at the people racing to escape the sudden downpour. It was lucky timing that they had just stepped into a coffee shop and missed getting soaked themselves.
Even though there was a small awning above the window, it provided little protection. Rain pummeled against the glass and ran off the window in streaks. A few people huddled in against the glass for a temporary shelter, then dashed to the next awning and the next, making their way down the street in bursts. Others simply covered their heads with a briefcase or newspaper and made a run for their destination.
When it happened, he was surprised it hadn't earlier. An older man, sprinting in front of the shop with his head ducked down, collided with a young woman who cowered under the oversized hood of a dull silver jacket. Matt tensed, ready to go out and help. But the man stopped, apologized, she nodded, and he went on his way. She didn't move, but instead looked up at the sky. After a second or two, she bent over again, turned and made her way to the window. She stopped just on the other side of the glass and glanced up the street first in one direction, then the other. Abruptly, she turned completely around and looked through the window and right at Matt.
Her face was pale and smooth. Her eyes were dark and sad. Just as he was thinking there was something familiar about her, her eyes grew wide and scared.
At that very instant, he knew. It was her. The girl from the restaurant.
Her gaze flew across his face as she shifted her focus from one of his eyes to the other, as if she were trying to understand.
When he opened his mouth to say something, she bolted.
"Wait!" Matt yelled.
"What's going on?" Izzy exclaimed.
"It's her!" Matt called as he ran for the door. "I have to go."
"Matt, wait!"
It wasn't until Matt had run half the block that he realized he forgot his jacket. By now, his sweater was heavy with water and sagged off his shoulders and over his wrists. Rain poured into his eyes, but he could still see her ahead, dodging people on the street.
She ran with her arms tucked in tight to her chest, twisting oddly. Twice she almost flew over onto the sidewalk, but she always managed to dart out an arm for balance and catch herself. Then she'd tuck it in again. She was making terrible progress.
Just a little bit more, Matt thought, as a strange feeling of anticipation rose up in his chest.
When she finally checked over her shoulder, he was almost upon her. In a panic, she ran into a store.
Matt burst through the door. It closed with a jingle of bells behind him. The clothing shop seemed empty. At first, all Matt could hear was the rain on the street outside. Gradually, he picked up the murmur of a television set coming from the back of the store. He wiped the water from his forehead with his palm and looked around at the racks of clothes.
Slowly, he made his way toward the back of the store. His shoulder brushed one of the racks, causing the hangers to rattle loudly and making him jump. He quickly grabbed them to make them still.
He found her leaning against the wall, partly hidden between a wall rack on one side and a television stand on the other. The television played a noisy children's cartoon, and the area nearby had been set up with a small table, three chairs and some toys.
Her terrified eyes gazed out at him from under the top edge of her jacket hood.
"I didn't do it!" she finally blurted. She stared at him, waiting, her chin quivering.
"I know," he said, trying to make his voice calm.
"But what about" Her eyes shifted over to his shoulder.
Matt grabbed the collar of his sweater and stretched it over to expose his shoulder. Water from his hair dripped and rolled across his skin. There wasn't a mark on him. "I'm fine."
"I thought you'd be dead, " she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I thought you were dead. I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Matt repeated, wondering why she would apologize.
"Those things, they're everywhere," she tried to explain. "I don't know how to stop them."
"What are you talking about?"
"That monster that attacked you, he's been following me. There are others, too. It's my fault you were hurt. I'm just no good for anyone."
"But that was Leomon," Matt explained. "I know Leomon."
The girl's eyes grew wide.
"Yes, Leomon," a voice said beside them.
Matt turned to discover an exquisitely beautiful woman with purple skin and golden eyes standing next to the television set. Her violet hair was very long, and it curled around her waist. She wore black leather body armour embellished with golden spikes that curved from her forearms beyond the length of her fingers.
"And I am Amaiamon, and you are Yamato, and you are Kyoko," she said with a nod to each of them. "I'll have to thank Leomon for introducing the two of you the next time I see him. Obviously, he has made my task of locating you that much easier. Now Kyoko, shall we go?"
She raised one hand toward the girl, long golden fingernails beaconing beneath the golden spikes.
Kyoko shook her head vigorously from side to side and pressed herself firmly against the wall.
Matt stepped forward, but was halted by four golden blades from Amaiamon's other arm pressing against his chest.
Amaiamon glared at him evenly. "Not you. Her."
As if on command, the image on the screen came alive as hundreds of tiny robots poured out of the television set like insects. They spread across the floor and up onto the wall behind Kyoko, making a terrible clicking sound as they moved. She jumped away, but that put her back towards Amaiamon, who grabbed her and pulled her in tightly, Kyoko's back against Amaiamon's chest, golden spikes inches away from her shoulder.
"Say goodbye, Yamato," Amaiamon sneered. The robots swarmed up over her feet, then up her legs and from there onto Kyoko.
Kyoko's eyes bore into Matt's, pleading for help. "Yamato?" she whimpered as a robot crawled up her neck and disappeared under her hood.
"No!" Matt cried helplessly.
Light suddenly flashed from the television set, sucking Kyoko, Amaiamon and the robots away.
Matt lunged for the opening, but it was too late. He fell to the floor on his hands and knees, stunned by the sudden quiet that was left behind.
His ears were ringing so loudly, he almost didn't hear the jingling of the shop door. It was a while before Izzy spoke to him.
"Matt? Are you okay?"
Matt couldn't answer. He felt as though his heart had been ripped out but he didn't know why. Instead, he buried his face into the backs of his hands, letting his tears roll off onto the carpet.
The end...
And if this confused you at all, it probably means you haven't read the other parts, so nows the time to go back and read them! But don't forget to leave a review first!! And if you've read the others and are still confused, tell me to shape up, okay?! Thanks, maria