Elena.

We stopped at a store or two to get necessities after we'd gone downtown to get me a fake I.D., it would have obviously taken too long to get an actual one. Why I needed it "this instant" as Ryan had put it, I didn't know. Afterwords, we went to our final destination, which was a car rental place. As Ryan was getting the car only he and I would ride in, Kadin and I waited outside. Kadin was leaning up against the car, while I paced back and forth in front of him. In the car ride, Ryan and him had been catching up, like they hadn't seen each other in years. Kadin seemed almost as excited as Ryan, but every time he realized this he restrained himself and became serious once more. When he heard another subject that brought him happy memories, he would be at the point of laughing, but before he did he frowned again and talked less, then it started all over again. Ryan didn't seemed to mind, his friend must have always been that way.

I paced slower and slower, finally ending up next to Kadin. He moved away a little when I stood by him. I was a little offended so I continued pacing. He started kicking a small pebble at the small building Ryan was in. I put my hands in my jean pockets and was finally brave enough to look at Kadin. He had been looking at me the whole time, but now he looked away. He could no longer hide behind his giant car seat, so I could completely see him. His brown eyes and his scar were barely visible, so I guessed the neon lights had just given the effect that they were more pronounced than they really were. Not only did his hair and his scar make him stand out, I could easily see his ribs poking through his worn-out shirt.
"Do you know Jerry?" I asked. He looked up at me and pushed the hair covering his eyes back so he could clearly see me.

"Nope." He replied. He was about to let his hair fall back into place, so I quickly said something else.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"-Yeah." He had answered my question, but he did it too quickly. I knew he was lying.
"Well, can't you come with us?" I said. He let his hair fall down like curtains over his eyes once more. He must've felt silly holding it up so long or he was hiding his feelings by doing this. I was guessing it was both.

"Mm hm," he said in an almost nice tone now as he folded his arms across his chest, "I need to get out of the country." He said this as if he were telling a joke, but I knew he wasn't kidding. Ryan walked out then, clicking his phone shut.

"We're going to need a ride again Kadin." Ryan said, his jaw clenched. Kadin and I looked at each other with the same confused look, then to him, waiting for an explanation. Ryan must've not even noticed.

"Alright." Kadin replied, answering in the same business-like tone as Ryan. Ryan and him started getting in the car but I tugged on Ryan's sleeve, because he was the closest.
"Why? What happened?" I asked, looking back at the car rental guy, who was helping some other people.

"Just get in the car," Kadin said in the kindest voice he could manage, (which wasn't much). "We'll tell you on the way to wherever we're going."

I was still holding Ryan's sleeve, so I let go and got in.

Ryan took a deep breath, and from between the giant car seats, I saw him rest his head on his left fist. I looked up at the mirror, to see Kadin looking at me thoughtfully. I would've looked away, but I was promised an answer.

"Tell her then." Kadin stated. Ryan jumped as soon as Kadin had spoken so his head and his arm disappeared once again behind the car seat.
"...We're going back to your school...because the students..." He took another deep breath, this time leaning around his seat to look at me. "The students there are beginning to disappear."

"What?" I exclaimed as I sprung out of my seat to be closer to him. He tried to make eye contact a couple times, but he couldn't. "Kadin?" I said looking into the mirror to see him look at me for an instant and then the road, in silence as he started up the car.

"We're not sure of anything yet, which is why we just need to get there."

"What for? This doesn't have anything to do with me leaving-or anything- it doesn't, right?" I said. stumbling with my words. Ryan shook his head. and Kadin still didn't say anything. I was a bit angry at Kadin. He knew something that I didn't get back at the car rental place, and he wasn't going to say anything about it.

"Jerry just thought it best we go, in case it has to do...with people like us." Ryan said. i knew he meant vampires, so i left that statement alone.

"Why didn't you let me talk to Jerry?" Ryan finally looked my in the eyes and gently pushed me back into the seat for the last time because each time I had sprung back.

"We're in a hurry. We can call him back from there." His light green eyes seemed sincere and truthful enough for me to calm down, put my seat belt back on and for my voice to stop shaking. Ryan reached out and squeezed my hand once to comfort me and before I knew it, he was out of sight and completely back in his seat.

"Are you sure it's going to be safe to take her back to that place?" Kadin asked Ryan abruptly. I heard awkward shuffling in Ryan's side of the car.

"Yeah Kadin, Jer and I know what we're doing." Ryan said firmly. I saw Kadin's pale hand reach over to turn the radio on.

"It's going to be a long way back, there's no way you too are going to get there before sunrise." Kadin said pointing up to the now much lighter sky.

"Is the airport close?"

"Close enough." Kadin responded, speeding up a little. I heard Ryan's seat belt unbuckle and in a blink of an eye, he was next to me. I wasn't startled to my dismay, so I didn't mention it.

"We worked on changing your eye color," Ryan said. I looked up at the mirror to see if Kadin was watching, he was until my eyes met his for that second. He turned the radio down and didn't look back in the mirror again.

"Yes...:" I said, not sure where this was going.

"Maybe you can try it with your hair color too." I shook my head and was about to smile until I saw he really meant it.

"Just try." He said encouragingly. I was a little embarrassed with Kadin there, listening, and possibly watching, but tried it anyways. I closed my eyes and thought of the first hair color I could think of. I couldn't possibly know how it worked, but suddenly Ryan started to chuckle.

"Ha! Kadin-Kadin look! She almost looks like your sister!" I saw Kadin move the hair away from his eyes again as he glanced at the mirror to see me, with his free hand still on the wheel. He smiled a little then, but his eyes couldn't fool me. He was sad right now.

Ryan didn't notice though, not until I changed my hair back to normal. He was about to ask why, but I shushed him and quickly motioned to Kadin's seat. He nodded but kept smiling and congratulating me on my new hair color.

"Now change your eyes and hair, to whatever you want, and keep it that way. You're going to need to look as different as you can since you're going back to you're school...they weren't ever going to expect to ever see you again." Ryan said quietly at the last part. I felt my smile fade.

"What do you mean?"

"Your Mom told everyone that you were sick and died." Kadin mumbled.