"Wait, you are not even listening to me, Syd. We'll be moving out again?" Ellie shot the question at Sydney the moment they were back home. She has asked the same particular question multiple times when they were still at the coffee shop. However, she failed to get a good enough reason from Sydney as to why they had to move out of this neighborhood and ASAP at that.
They've lasted up to a year here and this neighborhood literally has everything they need. A good, clean, and safe environment, so what is the sudden rush to move out of it? Ellie absolutely isn't happy about this.
"Can you allow me to go up and lay Roman on his bed first before we continue with this again, Ellie?" Sydney requested politely, turning around to face Ellie. Her shoulder was starting to hurt as she had to carry Roman in her arms back home since he still hasn't woken up after eating the cookies Ellie made for him.
Whatever it was that she put in that cookie, which is making him sleep this long, Sydney was happy.
She would have gotten headaches nonstop if the boy didn't fall asleep, trying to make sure that she kept him on track since he was the type to walk around and would go missing instantly if she took her eyes off him for a second.
"Of course, but be quick. You still haven't given me an answer regarding why we have to pack our things right away, because we'll be moving out first thing tomorrow morning" Ellie said with a slight use of sarcasm, using the same words that Sydney told her in the coffee shop.
"Shut the door first, Ellie. You didn't close it after you got in!" Sydney yelled out to Ellie, reminding her to close the door that she was standing a few feet away from. She forgot to shut it after entering the house as she was too busy attacking Sydney with millions of questions regarding the reason they had to move out first thing tomorrow morning.
They haven't found a house yet, as if Sydney herself even knows where in the world they would be heading to tomorrow morning as she claimed.
****
It took Sydney exactly five working business days for her to just carry Roman up to his room, lay him on the bed, and then get back to Ellie. Who had to keep herself busy with an afternoon snack while waiting for her to come downstairs, and then meet her with a satisfactory reason, which had to do with their unplanned immediate departure from this place tomorrow.
"Finally, you came down. I thought you weren't going to. I almost fell asleep waiting for you" Ellie got off the couch with a tired yawn to prove that she did feel sleepy.
"That's good, you could go have some rest. You've been working all day, you seem to be tired" Sydney tried to avoid Ellie following her into the kitchen she entered to get a drink from the fridge. However, she had to pause abruptly when the girl quickly zoomed past her and then stood in the way, blocking her from advancing further inside the kitchen.
"Can you please move, Ellie? I really don't have time for this right now" Sydney folded her arms and shook her head in disapproval.
"Don't you think that we've got something to discuss, Syd? I'll move out of the way when you are ready to talk about it" Ellie folded her arms as well, refusing to agree to move out of the way for Sydney. She's not going to do that until Sydney is ready to talk about what she wants.
"Okay fine. What the hell do you want us again to talk about so badly, Ellie? You've bothered me enough for today already" Sydney threw her hands up in defeat and sighed her frustration, finally surrendering to Ellie to hear her out.
"Are we going to stand here to talk about it or go sit on one of the couches?" Ellie asked and made way for Sydney to be the first one to make the move back into the living room before she followed suit shortly.
"So?..." Sydney inquired rashly when Ellie had her butt hanging halfway in the air and was still yet to sit next to her on the couch.
"So, why do you strongly insist on us moving out of this place first thing tomorrow? I hope you haven't packed your bags yet because I don't want to leave, Syd" Ellie grabbed Sydney's hands with a pitiful look on her face. She hoped the look would do some magic by making Sydney want to listen to her.
"Well, guess what? Whether you like it or not. We are all still leaving tomorrow morning" Sydney was sorry to break this down to Ellie again, however, she did since it was for the best.
"Why? Just why do we have to move out again? How many times is it now that you've had to move from where you used to stay? Will we have to leave the country too if one of your family members happens to find you again one day? hmm, Syd? For how long are you going to have to keep running away from them? Didn't you say that Shane was the only good one?" Ellie poured out her soul while asking all that.
She could only pout in disappointment when Sydney kept her hands back to herself and said.
"Shane's the only good one doesn't mean that I can trust him to keep it a secret from my Mom and Dad and probably Henry too that I live here. You just don't know how bad this will turn out to be if they ever get to find out where I am, Ellie, do you? That's why we have to leave now, we still have the chance before it's too late" Sydney took her time to explain, though she was still feeling stressed out and didn't really have the strength for this conversation. But would Ellie be able to understand that?
"What's the worst that can even happen if they find out that you stay here, Syd? I mean you are not a kid anymore, you fend for yourself now. Your family no longer has any control over you. I think you are just not ready to face them, I think you are scared. What if after we move out tomorrow and your brother, Shane, still finds us? Are you going to disappear from the face of the earth then?"
Ellie could tell that Sydney probably didn't see the last two sentences of hers coming, as she seemed to be frozen and gagged by it, unable to speak for the moment when she was asked that.
"I mean come on, if Shane was eager enough and was able to find you despite how long you've been hiding after leaving home. What makes you think he won't be that eager enough to find you again? You don't have to be scared, Syd. I mean what's the worst that could possibly happen if we chose to stay and don't run away from anyone this time?"