Chapter Nine

The room was dark. I could faintly hear someone crying; as I got closer I realized it was Aurora. She was curled up in a corner of the room; her shirt was torn, and her nose was bloody. In fact, her whole body was bloody. I could hear some people laughing and talking in the background. Where was she?

Aurora dragged herself out of the corner; it looked like it hurt her to move. She stumbled around the room until she found a light switch. She flipped the light switch on and some dim lights turned on. It looked like she was in a storage room. There were boxes everywhere, and the floor was made of cement. Aurora's backpack and sign were in the middle of the floor. Aurora limped over to them and went through her backpack.

"Still there," She said. I didn't know what she was talking about. Then she reached into her pocket.

"Damn it!" She yelled. "He took it!"

I guessed that 'he' was the truck driver. That was what he was wanted for…he had robbed a bank.

Aurora sighed and picked up her backpack. She headed for the door and put her hand on the knob. She turned it slowly, and opened the door even slower. There was a dark hallway, but there was a light at one end. Aurora walked toward the light. The light was a room; a bar…and a seedy one by what I could see. The truck driver was sitting at the end of the bar farthest away from Aurora. He looked pretty drunk. The door that led out of the bar was only about two yards away from the hall that Aurora was standing in.

Aurora quickly made sure that she had everything, and then she ran toward the door. No one noticed Aurora leaving; everyone in the bar was either drunk, or engrossed in a football game that was on TV. Aurora kept running until she was far away from the bar. Then she stopped and sat down on the edge of the road. I realized that she was still crying.

"I need to go back," she sobbed. "I really do."

"But I'm this far," She said. I didn't like these arguments that she had with herself. Was she already going crazy?

Then Aurora started rocking back and fourth, "Pony, where are you?" she asked. "I'm scared." It was like she was in a trance or something. Aurora's eyes were glazed, and she was staring into space. Then she shook her head and snapped out of it.

"I need to keep going," She said as she stood up.

Aurora didn't find anyone else to ride with until about six in the morning. A middle-aged woman pulled over.

"What happened?" She asked. Aurora was still bruised and bloody.

"My dad," Aurora lied. "He beats me up. I finally decided to run away. I have grandparents in New York. I'm going to live with them."

The woman in the car reached over and opened the door. "I'm sorry. I can take you as far as Philadelphia."

"That's fine," Aurora said as she got in the car.

The door to the car slammed, and then the car drove off. At least Aurora probably wouldn't get beat up and robbed with this person.

At least, I hopped not.