Eli sat on her brother's bed, flipping through his journal.
Ben kept extensive records on the monsters he haunted and the places he went. After Mr. Smith had hung of the phone, Eli had ran straight to her brother's room to search for his journal. She'd been surprised when it was under his bed where he usually kept it. If he had gone on a hunt, he would have taken it with him.
Mr. Smith hadn't explained anything before he hung up, but Eli was able to infer at least that he was in a hurry. He'd sounded out of breath, as if either he was running from something or after something.
The last thing in Ben's journal was the hunt they had gone on together almost a month ago. It had been easy enough, just a werewolf loose a few towns over that Ben had deemed harmless enough for Eli to come along.
The last time Eli had seen Ben had been this morning, when he had kissed her goodbye for school. He hadn't seemed off, it had just been a routine morning.
Eli's mother, on the other hand, had left sometime last night, and Eli hadn't seen her since she left.
Maybe Ben found out something had gone after their mother and gone after it?
Eli didn't hear the door open, so when Mr. Smith burst into Ben's room to find her sitting on the bed deep in thought, she actually fell off the bed in a desperate attempt to retrieve Ben's knife off the nightstand.
Mr. Smith sighed deeply when he saw her, leaning his elbows on his knees while Eli attempted to regain what little of her dignity she had left, shaking the slight pain out of her leg.
"Elizabeth, you're alright," He huffed in his thick accent.
Elizabeth raised her eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm safe. Was I in danger?" She carefully closed Ben's journal and leaned against the bed, not letting Mr. Smith answer before she launched her next string of questions. "Where is my brother? And my mother, I haven't seen her since last night. How do you know they're missing?"
Benny held up his hand, silencing her while he straightened his posture and rubbed at his back. "I'm getting too old for this," He mumbled before approaching Eli. He sat down on the bed next to her and took a deep breath.
"Eli, your brother called me this afternoon." Elizabeth stood up, almost tripping over her feet and cringing again the pain in her leg in her rush to stand.
"What did he say? Where is he, is he alright? Where's my mother?" She yelled at Mr. Smith, temporarily forgetting her manners in her concern for her family.
Mr. Smith covered his ears and shot her a look. "Calm down, I was going to tell you if you'd just let me get a word in." Eli bowed her head and sat back down. Mr. Smith nodded his appreciation before resuming his explanation.
"He didn't say much, he simply told me I had to get you out of here." Eli opened her mouth, but shut it quickly after a look from Mr. Smith silenced her. "He directed me to some old friends," He stood up and made his way to Ben's closet, tossing Eli Ben's old hunting backpack.
"We have to go to Kansas."
Eli tossed the now filled, old brown canvas bag into the trunk of Mr. Smith's old red truck. She was still confused as to why Mr. Smith was taking her to Kansas, but she trusted her brother and Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith hadn't packed his own bag yet, so Eli sat in the truck while he ran inside to pack his own bag. She sat in the passenger seat with her elbow leaning against the door. She had her own hunting bag in her lap, in which she kept Ben's journal, her sketchbook, and her personal entertainment and their corresponding chargers.
It only took fifteen minutes or so before Mr. Smith emerged from his apartment, locking the door behind him before tossing his bag into the backseat and starting the truck.
He turned to study Eli's face for a moment before pulling out of the lot.
"We'll find your brother Eli. He's a tough guy, takes after your dad."
Eli nodded curtly before leaning her head on her window, watching the scenery slowly turn from the city streets to the wide open space of the highway deserts.