"It hasn't changed at all," Penny looked at the buildings surrounding the airport. "It's exactly the same. After six years, you would have thought things would have gotten better."

Xander squinted his eyes. "It has changed, brother," He told Penny. A crowd of people walked down the street, holding blankets, clothes, and looked as if they hadn't showered in weeks. "It's just gotten worse, not better."

Penny eyed the streets. "We have to hurry and locate The Passengers. We don't have much time before we get caught."

I felt my body go numb.

The streets were almost empty, other than a few people walking along the sidewalks. The airport was nearly empty, besides the few people that decided to travel to Vienna. I thought it would have been lively, but instead, it turned out lifeless.

Looking down the road, I noticed a phone booth that stood right next to an empty parking lot. My heart began to thump heavily. I reached into the pockets of my suitcase and grabbed two quarters out of my wallet.

Penny and Xander looked at me questionably.

"Ariana, what are you doing?" Penny asked.

I walked across the vacant street and opened the phone booth. Closing the door behind me, I slipped a quarter into the slot and picked up the phone. I typed numbers into the machine and waited for someone to answer. My stomach did turns. I grabbed onto the bottom of my shirt and messed with it, hoping to calm myself down; I was anxious.

The line rang.

Then it rang some more.

And then someone picked up.

"Hello?"

My breath hitched in my throat. "Bill, it's Ariana."

"Ariana?" Bill said, his voice louder. "Where the h-hell have you been?"

"I can explain."

"Eddie and Stan told me they saw you getting into a c-car with two guys. Where are you? W-Why haven't you been showing up to school?"

"Bill, please let me explain—"

"And why haven't you been answering my c-calls? Why are you calling me on this number? I almost didn't p-pick up because I didn't know who was calling."

"Bill!" I shouted. He went silent on the other end. I sighed and put my hand against my forehead. "Please listen to me."

"I'm listening." He told me.

"I'm sorry for not answering your calls, and I'm sorry for not getting in touch with you. Things have been," I paused and closed my eyes. "hectic, lately."

"Where are you?"

I gulped. "I decided to live with my mom for a little while."

What did I just tell him?

"Y-You know where she is?"

I opened my eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, she called a few weeks ago. She wanted me to stay with her since my dad is," I paused, looking at the telephone box in front of me. "The way that he is."

I heard Bill struggle to find words over the phone.

"And you j-just let her back in, just like that? A-After she left you?"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

"Who are you talking to? Richie is getting on my nerves." I heard Eddie's voice. My lips formed a small smile.

"Eddie," I mumbled to myself.

"Ariana," Bill told him.

"Ariana? You're talking to her?" Eddie asked.

"Bill is talking to Ariana?" Richie stepped in.

"I have to go. I'll talk to you when I can, okay?" The lump in my throat widened.

"Wait, Ariana—"

I put the phone on the dial.

It was hard enough to talk to Bill, but to hear Eddie and Richie's voice? It was tearing me apart, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I felt hot tears form in my eyes, and they were soon running down my cheeks. I closed my eyes and pressed my back against the glass.

I opened my eyes and stared at the phone dial. All I wanted was to pick it back up and tell Bill how much I miss him, and how much I want to be with the rest of my friends.

I got out of the phone booth and made my toward Penny and Xander, who were still waiting outside the airport doors. They watched as I walked with my head down.

"Are you okay?" I heard Penny ask.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and blinked the warm tears out of my eyes. Nodding my head quickly, I gave them a small but fake smile. He grabbed my hand with his, looked down at our hands, and then looked me in the eyes.

Penny doing this made it harder to keep my emotions in. I couldn't cry in front of them, not now. We just got to Vienna and I already felt like having a breakdown in front of the two people who are trying to protect me.

"We should get going, don't you think?" Xander cleared his throat.

I nodded my head and looked at the floor.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked them, my eyes wandering up to their faces. Penny and Xander looked at each other and then back at me.

"Somewhere safe," Penny told me.

"Your house?" I asked.

"The good old place we call "home?" Xander mocked me and raised his eyebrows.

"Where exactly is home?" I questioned.

"We're not going to our house," Penny told me and crossed his arms. "We're going somewhere The Passengers can't find you."

"Our parents, nevertheless, might be almost impossible to hide from," Xander said.

"Can you please just tell me where we're going?"

Before they could answer, Xander stepped out and onto the road where a yellow taxi cab was driving. He stood right in front of it and made the car come to a screeching stop.

Xander turned to us. "Ready to go?"

I looked at Penny while he looked at his brother. "Did he just?"

"Yeah," Penny grabbed my hand and walked me towards the taxi to get inside. Penny took my suitcase and put it in the trunk, while Xander got in the car, and Penny followed after him. "That's one way to do it."

"Take us to Hilton," Xander told the driver. "And maybe rush while you're at it. We're kind of in a hurry."

The driver mumbled a quick of course before slamming his foot on the gas pedal.

"Penny, where are we going?" I asked him.

The driver looked in the rearview mirror. "Penny?"

All three of us looked at the taxi driver. I looked at Penny and watched his face turn to a light shade of pale. Xander lost his look of confidence while his face turned stone cold.

"Penny Gray, is that you?"

Penny grabbed my knee. "Who are you, exactly?"

The driver let out a laugh. Getting a closer look at him, he seemed as if he were meant to be a taxi driver. He was short, a little buff but not quite skinny, and his laugh was scratchy and resembled someone who had been smoking for a long time.

"Jeff Chandler, you remember me, right? I used to work for your parents a while back," He let out a large smile.

Penny looked at Xander and back at him. "Right, I remember."

"Speaking of which, they've been looking for you for a long time now. Where have you been?" Jeff asked and frowned.

Penny gave him a fake smile. "Around. I decided to go on my own little getaway."

Jeff chuckled. "Boy, it would be nice to have one of those every once in a while. Why are you headed to the Hilton? Shouldn't you be staying with your family?"

"Right here," Xander snarled.

By the time the ride was over, we pulled in front of a large building. There was barely a parking lot, but the place seemed pretty empty due to the lack of cars driving on the road.

Hilton Vienna Plaza. A large, square building with a bunch of windows and a whole lot of space. If I had to guess, this was where we were staying for the rest of the night.

"Let's get out of here," Xander quickly opened the door and slammed it after him. Penny opened his side and waited for me to get out. I looked at the hotel standing in front of us, and I looked at the roads around us. Penny grabbed my suitcase and sat it on the gravel.

"Tell your parents I said hi," Jeff told Penny and Xander before he rolled up his window and drove off. After he was gone, both Penny and Xander started walking toward the hotel. Penny grabbed my hand and I followed after them.

It was already getting dark outside.

Once we got checked in, Penny and I decided to share a room, while Xander got his own room next to us.

"Don't I feel loved," Xander raised his eyebrows once before walking off with his keys. Penny and I looked at each other before laughing to ourselves.

We got in the elevator and made our way upstairs. They chose the rooms on the 7th floor, which, I'm guessing, was another way to keep away from anyone who tried to come in contact with us.

When we reached the rooms, Xander gave us both a look, opened his door, and shut it behind him. Before we walked into our room, Xander stuck his head out the door.

"Keep in mind, I will be awake for the entire night, because, you know, being immortal and all. So I suggest you both keep quiet or else I will give the staff members something to complain about."

And then he shut the door.

My eyes widened and I put my head in Penny's chest to keep my laughs quiet. Penny shook his head and held in his remarks.

Once we got in our room, there were two beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge, and a coffee machine.

"I think this will work for the night," Penny smiled and sat my suitcase down by the bathroom door. He took off his coat and placed it on a rack while I looked out the window.

I started to think about all the possible things that could happen tomorrow. I had no idea what Penny and Xander were planning, but I knew it wasn't something that I would ever be prepared for. After a few seconds, I felt his hands being placed on my waist. I turned around and snapped out of a small trance. His green eyes were looking into mine, and I gave him a small smile.

"Are you alright?" He asked, pulling me closer to him. I shook my head and the smile remained on my face.

"I'm just thinking," I told him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow," I explained. "Anything could happen. How will your parents react when they see you?"

Penny grabbed my arms gently and traced them until his hands reached my fingers. "I won't let anything hurt you. You understand?"

I nodded my head and closed my eyes.

"Ariana," Penny placed his hand on my cheek. "I know this isn't easy for you. I'm going to try to make things right. I'll make sure you'll get home safely, and you will see your friends again. I'll make sure of it."

"I'm not going back there. As long as they're safe, I'm not going back."

Penny shook his head. "This is my fault, Ariana. You don't deserve to get punished for any of this," He looked away from me. "I forced myself into your life."

I put my hand on the side of his neck and made him face me. "I want you in my life. You didn't know this would happen."

Penny turned around and walked over to one of the beds. He sat down and looked at the floor. I sat down next to him, both of us not saying a word.

I opened my mouth. "Why Derry?"

He looked at me and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Out of all the places you could have chosen, why Derry, Maine?"

The corners of his mouth perked up. "You wouldn't expect a runaway thirteen-year-old to hide in a town like Derry, would you?"

"I forgot you were only thirteen at the time," I played with my fingers. "How did you manage to do that?"

"I was thirteen but I was smart enough to know my way around."

"Did anyone catch you?"

Penny shook his head. "I left in the middle of the night so no one would see me leaving. I even offered Xander to come with me. He rejected my offer."

"Why?"

He let out a breath. "My brother might be a cocky son of a bitch, but he knows when to draw the line. And I was way, way over that line."

"Did you ever regret leaving?"

"No," Penny responded quickly. "I was happy to even make it to the bus stop."

I crossed my arms. The room seemed like it was getting colder by the minute. "Do you know who The Passengers are?"

"Depends what you mean by "know."

"Have you been friends with one?"

"No," He answered. "Neither has Xander. We don't know their names, and we never wanted to."

"Do your parents know them?"

Penny let out a laugh. "My parents work for The Passengers. They've got my parents wrapped around their fingers like some strings on a puppet."

"But The Passengers want to kill me," I closed my eyes and shook my head in disapproval. "And if your parents work for them, that means..."

He stayed silent before standing up and walking over to the table in front of the bed. He placed his hands on it and leaned over to keep his balance.

"I won't let them hurt you," Penny told me.

"I know," I stated.

He turned around and looked at me. The anger had been replaced with sincerity in his eyes. Penny walked closer to me and leaned down so he could reach where I was sitting.

"I want you to try to sleep, okay? Tomorrow can worry about itself."

I nodded my head. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, but I had to try. I had to be prepared for anything.

I crawled up the bed and grabbed one of the pillows to lay my head down. I wasn't worried about being covered up with blankets or changing into a set of comfortable pajamas. I wasn't worried about anything but protecting and being protected.

Penny laid down next to me and lifted my head to rest on his chest. He wrapped an arm around my waist and placed his other hand on one side of my face.

"Everything will be okay," He whispered. "You're okay."

It took me about an hour to fall asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't remember what I dreamt about. I couldn't remember if I dreamt anything at all. All I remembered was feeling a sudden panic when I first opened my eyes.

I looked up and noticed Penny's eyes were shut. After a few moments, his eyes fluttered open and he looked down at me.

"Good morning," He smiled, pulling me closer to him.

"Good morning," I returned a smile and looked at the alarm clock. It was 9 in the morning.

"How did you sleep?" He asked.

I hummed sleepily and raised my arm to stretch it. "Other than the anxiety, I think I slept pretty good."

Penny placed his hand on the top of my head and kissed my forehead. "It didn't take you as long as I thought it would to fall asleep."

"That's because you were next to me," I told him.

"Maybe so," He shrugged his shoulders. "I think we should be getting up soon. Xander is very impatient."

With that, a loud banging noise came from our door. Penny rolled his eyes and I sat up straight. He got up from the bed and walked over to the door. The banging continued.

"See?" Penny turned toward me. "Impatient."

The banging grew louder.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He said.

Opening the door, Xander stood there with a look of anger written all over his face. He barged in and headed straight toward the window.

"We need to leave," Xander told us strictly. "We need to leave right now."

"What are you going on about?" Penny asked and walked over to him. I laid on the bed and watched them.

"I got up this morning to find this in my jacket's pocket," Xander turned around and held up something between his index finger and thumb.

"What is it?" I asked.

Penny looked closer and then backed away, his face turning a light shade of red. "It's a camera."

"We're being watched," Xander turned around to peek through the curtains and look out the window. Penny rushed over to his jacket and felt in both pockets before pulling something out.

It was another security camera.

"Damn it," Penny snapped. "They've been listening to us this entire time."

"The Passengers?" I questioned.

Xander took both cameras and threw them on the ground. Taking his right foot, he stomped on both of them, crushing them.

"How did they end up in there? How did those arrogant dolts get us so easily?" Xander asked Penny with a forceful voice.

"I don't understand, how did they get so close to us that they managed to sneak cameras into our pockets?" Penny thought while Xander paced around the room.

I sat there. I was useless, again.

"What about the driver from last night?" I asked, and they both paused to look at me. The driver.

There was a knock at the door.

"Penny? Xander? You guys left something in my car yesterday, I was hoping I could return it."

"Jeff, you son of a bitch," Xander quietly walked over to the door and looked through the peephole. "Oh my god, he has more people with him."

"What?" Penny raised his voice. "We need to get out of here."

"That's what I've been saying!" Xander snapped at him.

I could feel my heartbeat start to quicken. All I needed to do was do what Penny told me. I needed to listen to him.

"I should have known," Penny grabbed my suitcase. "I should have known he was one of them."

Xander opened the window and stuck his head out of it. "It's a long drop, but we can make it if we try."

"You want me to go out the window?" I demanded an answer. I couldn't believe we were doing this.

"C'mon guys, I know you're in there."

"Jesus Christ. Do you want to live or not?" Xander's eyes widened as he looked at me. I looked at Penny, watching as his eyes gave me the answer that I needed.

I slowly walked over to Xander. He reached his hand out to grab mine and guided me out the window. He placed his feet on the brick edge and began walking on it. I copied his move.

Penny looked back once more as the knocking got even louder. They were going to break down the door if we didn't answer soon. He climbed out the window and shut it behind him.

Penny grabbed my hand and I kept my eyes ahead of myself. I didn't want to look down. We were seven stories up.

We heard the door being torn down. I felt my heart race even faster, and Penny must have realized it too because he squeezed my hand a little tighter. I looked up at him and he gave me the same look he gave me when I found out we had to leave my home. I'm sorry was written all over it.

"Where'd they go?"

➢➢➢

A/N: Hey, loves. Just to clear things up, Ariana is seventeen in this timeline, as well as the rest of The Losers. Some of ya'll were thinking that she was a child because she was eleven at the beginning of the story. This is seven years later, so she's seventeen (turning eighteen), and Penny is nineteen!! :) Anywho, I hope you amazing people liked this chapter!!

                                      I love you guys!