Chapter 2:
I hurried down 5th Avenue, finally reaching the busy street fifteen minutes after I left my house. I pushed myself, continuing to sprint. My duffel bag was weighing me down, making me run twice as slow. I passed Central Park and continued down. About half an hour later, I arrived in front of the Empire State Building, breathing heavily. I dropped my bag and bent over, wiping the sweat from my forehead. Man, I was out of shape. That's when I heard a weird sound.
In front of me, the asphalt was bubbling. I stared at it in shock and total surprise. I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was hallucinating because I was dehydrated or was a little too hot. But I wasn't. Was the ground suppose to be bubbling? Should I warn somebody? I decided not to and just continued to stare at the asphalt. Finally, a gray car popped up. It looked like an ordinary taxi only smoky gray and not so solid looking. This must be the cab my sister told me to get in.
The window rolled down and a scratchy, female voice said, "Name? Name?"
"Um, Jessica Aquila."
"Oh yes, yes. I remember. Sister of Cecilia? Sister of Cecilia?"
"Um, yeah." She seemed to be repeating her words and sentences.
"Yes, yes. Now golden coin. Golden coin," she said.
"Oh, right," I replied nervously. I dug the golden coin out and handed it to the driver.
"Get in, get in, get in!" she shouted.
I hurried in and before I could barely even shut the door, she was already pulling away from the curb. I looked for the seatbelt. There wasn't one. What kind of car didn't have a seatbelt?
The driver turned a corner sharply and I shrieked, pushing my hand against the side of the door to keep me upright. She stepped on the pedal and we whizzed past cars, making me nervous. She flew past traffic lights, right through intersections and ran red lights. I was pretty sure that any minute, we would be tailed by a police officer. But nothing happened. The cars didn't seem to see us because none of them even honked. We began to pick up more speed, shooting across the Williamsburg Bridge.
And it was constant like this for a while, to a point where I thought I was going to hurl breakfast all over the car. I kept telling her to slow down but she told me that she was on a time limit for other people who needed to picked up. She was also told that she needed to get me to the only safe place as fast as possible.
"Where is the safe place and exactly what is it called?" I asked.
"No say! No say! No say! Can't!" she yelled.
"Ooook then. Nevermind. Thanks for all your straight, repeating answers," I muttered under my breath.
Finally up ahead, I saw a large hill with a huge pine tree on top. She sped up and my head slammed against the back seat. Then she came to a screeching halt suddenly, forcing me to slam my head this time against the back of her seat.
"OW! What the heck?" I complained. Now I was probably going to have a bruise on both sides of my head.
"Sorry. Sorry. My apologies," the driver said.
"You better be," I murmured, opening the door. I grabbed my bag and she veered away from the curb before I could even shut the door. But that didn't matter because it shut by itself as she drove off.
"Ok then. Now what the heck am I suppose to do here? Wait for someone else?" I said to myself. Maybe there was an accident or my sister forgot to tell me that someone else might be picking me up. I didn't know until a blonde hair girl came down the hill.
"Hey. You're Jessica Aquila?" she asked. I looked at her and noticed her intimidating, cold gray eyes that were running a million miles per hour. I knew that she was probably dangerous and someone you shouldn't mess with.
"Um, yeah. How did you know?"
"Cecilia told me. Yes, I know your sister," she added when she saw my shocked face. "Now come with me.
She didn't even introduce herself. No, I'm so-and-so or hey, how's it going. Just plain out, are you're Jessica Aquila. How rude.
But I followed her anyways, trekking up the hill as I hauled my heavy-as-can-be bag.