Chapter 9?Nicole • RobynIt was getting closer to midnight, and Nicole was counting down the minutes. Fifteen, ten, five, twomore minutes before she would leave her house. It was the only one on the block that was still illuminated,and it made Nicole feel self-conscious. She looked back at the clock and jumped. It was time. One minutepast time to be exact. She grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter where they had been resting, and ranout the door, forgetting to lock it behind her. She dashed to the car, and backed out of the driveway,panting from exhaustion. Nicole was surrounded by silence, by peace, by a sense of…she couldn’t quiteplace it, but it made her feel at ease. “In five-hundred feet, take a left. Your destination will be on the right.”She glanced ahead, to see a large, lit field. She checked the time. It read 11:58. Two minutes early, yes! Shesilently congratulated herself, and pulled into an empty lot beside the field. Only one other car waitedthere, and it looked almost familiar. Nicole turned off her car, locked the doors, and began to walk towardsthe field.“Nicole?” Robyn asked. He had been sitting in his car for about five minutes now, waiting for something tohappen. Nothing had, until he saw her car pull into the parking lot. He hadn’t believed it was really her, buthis suspicions were confirmed when she stepped out of the car. But, what was she doing here? Hewondered.“Robyn? Is that you?” So it was her.“Yeah, it's me. What are you doing here?” He asked. Robyn thought he was the only one invited. Then again,his character was in the passenger seat, but he still couldn’t comprehend that Nicole might have actuallybeen part of this.“Well,” she responded, “I found this package on my front porch,” she pulled a small box out of her handbag,and continued. “It’s some, weird, car, thing-a-majig. It also has a little figure in the front seat.”Robyn stared at her, gaping. It was the exact same model as his own, but it was made out of Ruby, not atall like his own, and he was right. Her character sat in the seat next to his. He pulled his own package out ofhis car. And displayed the small toy. It gleamed gold, and he could see his face reflected in it.“Woah.” Nicole looked at it mesmerized, but quickly shook herself. She looked back at Robyn. “Sooooo…doyou have any idea why we’re here? I thought it was for Kitty, but…” she stopped, looking dismayed.Robyn felt bad for her. She had come here for answers, but all she had found was…well…him. “Nope, but I’mpretty sure we’re not the only ones signed up for this,” he said, as they both turned around, and a smallwhite car pulled into the lot. Chapter 10?Sadie • XanderSadie looked hesitantly out her front windshield. Two more people were there, talking, and holding…what looked to be the same car figure that was in her bag. She reached inside, checking to see if it was stillthere. Of course it was. The last week she had spent daydreaming over the possibilities of adventure thatthis little car could lead to. She stepped outside into the cool breeze, and was met with uncertain glancesthat matched hers. She had spent enough time with people, and she could tell that they were close.Almost like brother and sister…“Hi I’m Nicole, you can call me Nikki, and this is Robyn.” The woman pointed to herself, before gesturing tothe woman and man next to her. The woman was fairly tall, taller than Sadie, with dark thick hair that waspulled back in a tight ponytail, and piercing gray eyes. Robyn stood a good few inches taller than Nicole,had dark hair, like Nicoles, and green eyes.She looked at them for a moment longer, assessing them, before speaking. “I’m Sadie. I’m assuming youboth have figures like mine?” She pulled out a sapphire car with a character sitting in the second row.“Yeah.” Robyn and Nicole replied in unison, holding out their own cars: one ruby, one gold.“So,” Sadie started, “I’m guessing you are from Chicago too?”They both looked at her in confusion. “No, we’re from-”Xander pressed lightly on his horn, accidentally scaring the people that had been standing theremoments before. He scolded himself inwardly for not being prepared for other people. He was almost late,and he had come speeding into the lot, to see three other people already there. He wasn’t surprised. Heknew there must be other people, because of the seven other empty spots. He was just glad he wasn’t thelast one. He grabbed his miniature car, and stepped out of his real car. A navy blue SUV.“Sorry about that guys, I was just terrified of being late, and I forgot that there might be other people. Ohand by the way, I’m Xander.” The others looked at him a little stunned. Nevertheless, he held up a smallpearl car in his hand and showed them the figure displayed inside. “This is the invitation that I got, and I’mguessing you all live in Chicago. Oh, and lastly, I'm a doctor.” He paused to take a breath, before the othersintroduced themselves. Nicole, Robyn, and Sadie. Sadie. She was familiar, like he had seen her before. Heasked her, “I know this might sound odd, but do you work at a medical center in the heart of downtownChicago?” She looked back at him, a little perplexed.“I…do. I work at the front desk. How do you-”He cut her off,“That’s where I work as well.” Sadie nodded, and as she did, her blonde curls bounced in the wind. She wasn’t very tall but had the most striking blue, almost green, eyes that he had ever seen.Nicole spoke up, pulling Xander’s attention, “Ummm, I don’t know about you guys, but Robyn and I aren’tfrom Chicago. We’re from New York City,” she continued, “And I don’t know why you would think thatwe’re in Chicago, because…well…this is a five minute drive from my house.” Sadie looked to Xander, hereyebrows scrunched in confusion.“No,” she started, “this is a five minute drive from my house.” Robyn held his hands up, in an attempt tostop the noise.“I have no idea what’s really going on right now, but we should probably move to the grass so that wedon’t get hit by that Jeep.”