Dragon Mirror- Ties Between the Veil
7:Road Trip, A Heart to Heart, Another Discovery

The next morning, Tito sat on his kitchen countertop with his laptop and googled the address. She was wearing purple camo cargo pants with a tight black tank top with white paint splatter skulls across her chest.

Zhao stared at her head, which was mostly shaven, excluding long, black, side swept bangs. He saw a small tattoo of a dragon in flight behind her right ear. She wasn’t even seventeen, not even the legal age to get a tattoo.

She glanced up at him, then rolled her eyes. She leaned over to her black carrier bag, which was surprisingly plain, and pulled out a purple wig and threw it at him.

“It's more efficient than frying my hair.” She made a popping noise with her mouth. “That is if I had any…” Unconsciously rubbing her shaven skull, she flipped the laptop to face him.

“It's going to take us about seven to eight hours to get there.”

With another sideways glance at her haircut, he put the address of the town on his phone and considered the surrounding area on the map. It was less than an hour from his parents’ cabin and the thought of going back to where he was a suspect for murder made him jittery. He had no idea what he would tell his parents if they found out he had gone back.

“We can stay at the cabin, but I don’t want to be seen on that side of town. Maybe a motel is better.”

“Ooooh, the lil’ love nest? Every girl’s dream!” Tito ignored his sardonic look and snapped the laptop closed as she jumped down, swiping her bag as she went. “Let’s ride.”

The ride to West Virginia was predominantly set to Tito’s 90’s grunge and emo-punk playlist, interspersed with idle talk. At one point, while Tito was driving, she suddenly turned down the volume and glanced at him from the road.

“I never believed you hurt her.”

Zhao turned his head away, hiding the look that passed across his face. He still hadn’t told her what he had seen happen. He was still unsure he should.

“I figure Pani was involved with some type of mafia dealings.” Tito shot another quick look. “She would disappear sometimes. For months. And she always had money.” Her fingers drummed the wheel nervously.

“I just can’t figure out how my sister is involved. Maybe she’s been promised as some mob boss's bride. Human trafficking. That type of shit.”

He ran his hand over his face, leaning back on the seat. “It wasn’t the mafia.” He mumbled.

“What?”

“Ugh. It wasn’t the mafia, Tito!” He suddenly sat forward, gripping the dashboard with both hands. He felt the frustration and helplessness boil over.

“You aren’t going to believe me.” And he told her. He told her the whole thing, from his plan for their special date for their first time, to the light tunnel, to hiking across the Appalachians for almost a week.

There was a long silence after he finished.

“So…” Tito began slowly, pulling a strand of her bangs behind an ear. “You're telling me… after nearly two, no, three years of dating… my sister is a fucking virgin?”

Zhao gaped at her.

“THAT’S what you take from this story? Holy shit, Tito!” He started laughing uncontrollably, until it wound down into a hiccupping sob. “Your sister is missing, I’ve been trapped in this nightmare, and you’re focused on your sisters lack of sex life?”

Tito scowled out at the highway. “Look, I’m sorry. I was just really set on some type of mafia scheme. Now I have to open up my theories to aliens?” She pointed to her phone in its holder on the dash.

“This is our exit. Ten minutes.”

They spent the rest of the ride in silence, neither of them turned the stereo back on.

The lobby was small, and the elderly clerk behind the desk raised her eyebrows when Tito came up and held out the key. The woman sighed and looked down at the fob, she turned to her computer and clicked a few keys.

“Panillia Holliday?” She turned to look at Tito with raised eyebrows.

“No, I’m her granddaughter, Tanya Vasquez. She passed away several months ago.”

The woman’s gaze softened and she pursed her lips, “I’m terribly sorry for your loss. Proof of ID, and did you happen to have the death certificate?”

Tito nodded. She turned aside to Zhao after handing over the documents out of her leather carrier bag. “I’m glad I thought of it before we left. But mom had me help close all of Pani’s accounts and things related to her estate.”

She side eyed him, “Raina was preoccupied with… you.” Zhao rolled his eyes.

The woman cleared her throat. “If you’ll wait in the office over there, I will bring the lock box to you.” She handed the key back and promptly disappeared through a door that revealed rows of shelves.

They went and sat in dark leather chairs, Tito nervously fiddling with her purple hair, and Zhao staring at his hands.

“What do you think it is?” She said after a few minutes of waiting. “Some kind of magic portal stone?” She lowered her hand from twisting her hair, a look of awe on her face. “Some freaky magic weapon?”

Zhao looked at her sideways. He couldn’t decide if she was being serious or not. “I have no idea. I have been out of my depth since she disappeared in a flash of light.”

Tito leaned forward to say something else, but the door swung open.

The woman carried a metal box that was a foot and a half square on the top and six inches tall. She placed it on the coffee table and nodded to the fob in Tito’s hand.

“Should unlock with no issues, the last time it was opened was six months ago, by your uncle.” She turned to before exiting out the door. “Leave the box after you’re done and come up to the front desk, we need to file some paperwork or close out the account completely, if you decide to close it out, remove everything from the box.”

Frowning slightly, Zhao turned to Tito. “I didn’t know you had an uncle?” She had already put the key in the lock and was turning it to open the box.

She made a rude noise with her mouth as she flipped open the box.

“I don’t.”

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