Rita was reeling, her gut told her Ava was in trouble and they needed to find her fast. It was late afternoon and the sun was getting ready to set. Rita could tell that it was everyone's mind that they needed to keep searching and find Ava tonight. "Let's use our moon rings again." Serena suggested.
"Not out here in the open," Nixie said, "let's go into the bathroom."
"Sorry Zac." Lyla said letting her fingers brush his hand lightly. The group walked into the bathroom and like they did before they put their rings together and focused on what they wanted the rings to show them. This time they saw Ava on a couch with the man she was with earlier, he raised a bottle of beer to her lips making her drink. She was uncomfortable but did as she was told. The image went fuzzy and vanished.
"Great," Nixie complained, "that didn't help." Serena swallowed hard, she was beginning to understand the kind of trouble Ava had fallen into. The girls looked at each other, they all saw the same concern reflected in each other's eyes. Even Nixie let her guard down momentarily and exchanged a look of concern. Then they turned to Rita hoping she would know what to do.
Rita was struggling to keep her emotions in check. Living the life of a mermaid had been simple. The pod stayed together, everybody had looked out for each other, and there were few dangers young mermaids could get themselves into. She felt out of her element, even though she lived the life of a human she had not come accustomed to all the problems they had on land.
She thought for a moment, separating herself from the situation. She knew if she put too much thought into what she had just seen that she would fall apart. "Do it again girls," she instructed, "but this time will the rings to show you a way to find her. Think about where she has been, think about the rings showing you the outside of the building she is in." Rita didn't know if this would work. It may not be specific enough for the moon rings and the girls thoughts and wills could be so different they may not be able to control the power.
The girls were a little apprehensive as well, Rita's instructions were so vague, but they could see how upset she was and didn't question her. They put their rings together and focused on trying to see where Ava had been. One thing all stuck in their minds and that was what Rita had said about seeing the outside of the building. By sheer luck, that's what they all thought about and what they tried to will the rings to show them.
An image appeared above them. The man was leading Ava into a house. It was earlier in the day, as it seemed much brighter and they could hear the birds. They knew they must be seeing what happened earlier in the day. Ava wasn't resisting much and followed the man with reluctance. The outside of the house had a lawn covered in white stones instead of grass and the drive way was lined with bushes. The house was made out of what looked like brown bricks. They walked up to a white door with the number 631engraved on it in gold. Behind Ava on the other side of the street from the house they were able to see a board walk. Ava and the man walked into the house and the image disappeared.
Rita was smiling, at last they had something to go on. She walked out of the bathroom with the girls following behind her. Zac was waiting right outside the door and he could tell by their faces that it was good news. Lyla filled him in on what they had seen. Zac took her hand again, "I don't want to lose you." He said to her, "I'm afraid something might happen to you when we find this guy, he sounds dangerous."
"I'm a big girl." Lyla said, but she was smiling and didn't pull her hand away. Nixie and Serena just rolled their eyes.
"I hope she knows what she's doing." Serena whispered to Nixie. She nodded in agreement. Rita was too preoccupied to pay attention as she was walking outside the café and scouting out the board walk. When she spotted it she called the girls and Zac over and she took off down the board walk. They all began looking for a house with brown bricks and a lawn covered in white stones. They found a couple of houses that fit the description but when they would walk up to the door, it wasn't 631.
"There!" Serena shouted, pointing out a brown stone house, with white stones for a lawn, a white door, and a driveway lined with bushes. The group practically ran up to the door. It was white with gold numbers, 631.