Cyber Love;; Chapter 8
By IT'S THE JENNSTER.

- Sorry for not writing for so long. Iunno, life has been busy. So here it is now. I actually wrote this a long time ago, but I never knew it was here… so enjoy!

-

Her feet pounded the ground, and the rain splashed all around her, drenching her clothes, her face, her hair, her new shoes.

She didn't care.

Her tears blended with the rain. But the rain brought her ease, and the sky demonstrated her internal fury and confusion.

The lightening seemed to illuminate her broken face, and the thunder represented the knot in her stomach, the pounding of her heart as she seemed to die, her heart running faster, ready to explode. She let out a small, but long, painful scream. Her steps slowed, but she was still faster than a cautious rabbit running from an obsessed child wanting to pet it.

She ran into the forest for some shelter after running about 3 miles straight. She sneezed and shivered, but the tree's leaves seemed to cover her, and only a few drops of water drenched her.

She tilted her head heavenward and whispered, "Thank you."

Her head seemed to turn and her eyes spotted a huge rock next to a tree. Perfect. She jogged to the rock, her vision blurring as she suddenly tripped and fell. She landed onto the muddy ground. She glanced back quickly and found a sharp knife-like branch sticking out from somewhere deep within.

She let out a strangled cry as a vicious pain spread through her body. A pool of red blood formed on the ground as she stared at it in dismay. She gazed at the deep bloody cut on her ankle, her tears doubling as she clutched her ankle, trying not to let out another cry of pain. Her heart exploded with emotion as pain swirled all around her.

She limped to the rock, and used the tree to lean on. Don't lean on friends. Lean on trees. They don't confuse you. To be more specific: don't lean on guys. They make you mentally insane.

She looked at the clouds above her head, and the lightening still flashing. She hoped a tree wouldn't fall on her. Not like how her life did. The pain had died down, but it still pounded faintly, yet loudly in her aching head.

No one would get her here. No one would find her. The birds on top of the tree flew away. She was all alone again.

"You found me… when no one else was looking… how did you know just where I would be?" the words seemed to flow out of her mouth.

She wished that was the case.

Her eyes closed and the steady pounding of rain seeming to soothe her, the heavy pain pounding in her head growing louder and louder, softer and softer…

And everything stopped.

-

"Ohmygod!" Aelita screamed over and over again. She threw herself against Jeremie, sobbing.

About two hours had passed, and Yumi had not come back. She had called her house a few minutes later after Yumi had left, but no one had picked up. Yumi was a fast runner and a good athlete. She would have reached her house in two minutes tops.

But she hadn't. And now Aelita was going insane.

"I'm sure she's fine, Aelita." Jeremie reassured.

Aelita took deep breaths. "It's been two hours, Jeremie!" she was close to tears, and her voice had reached a high-pitched shrieking panicked level. "I'm going to Ulrich's room and telling him. Then I have nothing to do to call the police."

"I'll come with you." Jeremie automatically said.

Aelita nodded gravely. She grabbed the blonde by the hand and both ran to the other side of the school where the boy's dorms were, and knocked frantically at Ulrich's door.

"Hi." Ulrich seemed tired.

"Yumi!" Aelita cried.

"What about her??" Ulrich seemed alarmed. He could tell by Aelita's tone that something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

"She ran away." Aelita explained. Ulrich blanched and his face turned five shades paler.

"She… there's something wrong. I can sense it." Aelita's eyes teared up. "We have to call the police." She sobbed as Jeremie intertwined his fingers with hers and stroked her hand, as an attempt to soothe her.

"No, we have to call her parents first." Ulrich shook his head. He took out his cell phone and handed it to Aelita. "You do it. I'd probably scare them since they have no idea who I am."

Aelita nodded, and dialed Yumi's home number. Her mother picked up, sounding a bit alarmed. "Aelita! Where is Yumi? I've called her numerous times but she has not picked up."

Her cell phone must have been back in her room. "Mrs. Ishiyama, Yumi has escaped."

"ESCAPED??" her mother shrieked. She issued a number of Japanese words in fury. "Where has she gone!"

"I don't know, ma'am." Aelita said somberly. "I don't know."

"We must call the police at once!"

"Yes, I'll do it." Aelita nodded, even though Yumi's mother wouldn't be able to see it anyway. "We know more information."

"Please call me as soon as possible."

"I will."

They hung up. Aelita looked at the two boys in despair.

She gulped as she dialed 911, a number she hoped never to need to dial.

She told the officer the information, and the officer said they would look for her.

"That's not enough." Ulrich said sternly. Hah, he fit his name. "We have to look for it yourself."

"What?" Jeremie asked, a bit nervously. "Shouldn't we leave this to the officers? It's pouring rain out there."

"It's only a slight drizzle, Belpois." Ulrich answered, getting his coat.

"But Ulrich-" Aelita began as well.

Ulrich gave them a tight, somewhat forced smile.

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

-

They piled into Ulrich's sleek car, all worried sick. Ulrich swallowed down the lump in his throat. He failed.

He turned on the radio, trying to soothe himself.

"You Found Me" by Kelly Clarkson.

"Is this a dream? If it is, please don't wake me up from this high…"

Ulrich listened to the lyrics, his heart sinking.

"Ulrich?" Aelita asked, a bit concerned. "Are you okay? You look like you're on the verge of headbanging and crying…" She added, "And it's sort of scaring me."

"Oh. Sorry." Ulrich turned the key in the ignition again, and the car purred to life.

They drove out of the parking lot, and roared away.

Ulrich opened all of the windows, even in pouring rain.

"I hope you don't mind your car soaking wet." Jeremie said, as Aelita called out into the evening.

"I can always clean it," Ulrich answered absentmindedly.

Jeremie sighed, took a deep breath, and plunged his head through the window, joining his girlfriend in the yelling, soaking his head with the pouring water.Ulrich opened his window, the wind blowing his hair messy, but he didn't seem to care. His voice wasn't as loud as Aelita's panicked shrieking, but it was the one filled with the most heartbreak and remorse.

-

A/N: I know, it's not that great. But I really don't feel like making it better. Looking back at my old writing, it sucked. I'm going to try more and make myself better. I wrote a lot more for CL already but I'm not bothering to fix it. What I wrote is what I wrote. I can only improve now.

So, please read and review!

-IT'S THE JENNSTER.