29 - Communication//Lea

"That's terrible," Lea said as Nora recounted her past. "Do you know what happened to them?"

"No," Nora said, shaking as she recounted the story. "Their team hasn't been seen for almost two years now. All we know is they stayed at a bed and breakfast right outside Paradox City before disappearing."

"So what about your sister?" Lea asked. "How is she involved with all of this?"

"Alejandra ran away from home," Nora explained. "Weeks after my parents accident. She withdrew lots of money from her trust as soon as she turned 18 and just... left."

"But she took a Noiz with her; the pink one," Nora said. "I should have known she was going to do it; I woke up one night and she was photocopying lots of pages from the Mooar Shee, but she made me promise not to tell my abuelo."

"And you?" Lea asked tentatively, almost sure of what was coming next.

"I... ran away too," Nora explained. "I came here to look for Paxton, to get him to explain the stones and their weird powers, but after he showed me their true strength I just... stayed."

"What about your grandfather?" Lea asked.

"He doesn't know where I am," Nora said. "I was so sorry to do this to him after Alé disappeared, but I couldn't stand being in Toronto anymore; just waiting for answers to just knock on the front door. I thought this wouldn't take so long, but it's been a year now..."

"Does Paxton know any of this stuff?" Lea questioned.

"No," Nora said sadly. "He didn't even ask me why I was doing any of this, he was always there for me, his best friend... and now..."

"Now I've failed him," she said with finality. "I've let Alé kidnap him and I don't even know why she would."

"Nora, you can't blame yourself," Lea said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll help you find Paxton, no matter what it takes."

Lea felt a stabbing pain in her heart as she realized what she'd gotten herself into. It wasn't a physical pain, but the emotional guilt she felt was more than sharp enough to compensate. She'd gotten into this for selfish reasons, to get her dad out of prison so her family could go back to the way it was.

Meanwhile, Nora's parents had both disappeared, and her sister had kidnapped her friend.

Yet Nora had offered Lea the wish.

Though they hadn't started off on the best of terms, Lea knew now that she'd do whatever it took to help Nora, starting with finding Paxton.

If only they knew where he was.

A few seconds later, Nora's cellphone rang. As she listened to the caller, Nora's eyes went wide. A few seconds later she put it on speaker.

"Paxton?" she asked with trepidation. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, Nora?" he said. "It's me. I have a plan."