Chapter Text
If Bobby was honest with himself, when he was younger, he didn’t even know if he wanted kids. Yes, he found them adorable and watching little kids follow their parents around like they were the most important person in the universe—-because to the kid they were—was a sight that always made him awww. He just never knew if he could handle the responsibility that came with it---he never believed he could be the angry dad.
And one of those responsibilities was knowing what to do and how to proceed when your child was angry at you. Like Rumi was now.
Rumi didn’t get angry a lot. She got pouty as a little kid but not angry. Besides, Bobby would always fix it with a teddy bear and a funny noise. So, when Rumi had entered her second week of silence, Bobby started to get a little on edge. He knew the girls were still making Takedown, with Rumi leading that charge now more than Mira or Zoey, and they were busy prepping for the Idol Awards, but he could tell this wasn’t just ‘busy’ Rumi silence. This was ‘I don’t want to risk hissing at you’ violence.
They were a few days out from the Idol Awards when he came to their practice of Takedown. Bobby had walked in with snacks and candy and drinks and anything else they needed when Mira stopped the music after the line ‘a demon with no feelings don’t deserve to live’.
“I’m not doing this.” She declared.
“What?” Rumi turned around in a huff, “Mira, we don’t have anything else to perform!”
“We have Golden. Bobby was right from the start. That’s the song that’ll actually unite everyone. Takedown is…”
“Is hateful.” Zoey added.
“Exactly!” Rumi cried, "Because we hate demons. We hate all demons.” She failed to notice her eyes flashing at that.
“You don’t seem to hate all demons.” Bobby mumbled under his breath. He set down the large container of food as he did, hoping that would mask his comment.
It did not.
“What does he mean by that?” Zoey asked.
Rumi looked away from them. Unable to meet Zoey or Mira’s eyes. Mira, now looking extra suspicious, turned to Bobby with a look that demanded he tell them what he was talking about.
“Rumi’s been meeting with Jinu.” Bobby told them. Both Mira and Zoey’s eyes widened and their jaws slightly dropped. Rumi, also shocked, stared up at her dad with wide eyes and a bit of anger.
“How do you know that?!” Rumi snapped. Her voice was filled with more shock that he knew than anger that he revealed her secret in her voice.
He only lifted an eyebrow, “You’re my daughter, Rumi. I know when you’re trying to hide something from me. Like when you ‘snuck out’ to go to that party when you were 16.” Rumi’s face turned the slightest shade of red but it quickly faded when Zoey and Mira turned to look at her.
“You’re meeting with Jinu?” Zoey asked, “Are you working with him?”
“What?! No! No! He just….I-I mean……he…I believe him, okay? I believe that maybe he wants to be rid of his patterns and he can be on this side of the honmoon when that happens. He’ll be able to live a normal life without Gwi-Ma in his ear and he knows about Gwi-Ma, about demons, maybe he can help us keep people safe.” Rumi’s tone and voice continued to shift as she spoke like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince Mira and Zoey.
“He’s a demon, Rumi. Being on this side of the honmoon won’t matter.” Mira argued.
“Yes, it does. Celine said so.” Now Bobby’s head was lifted up, “She said that if a demon is on this side when the honmoon turns gold then it can save them. Patterns will disappear. They’ll be human.” Mira and Zoey exchanged a look. Why would Rumi be asking Celine about this?
“How does she know this?” Bobby asked.
“Why would she lie to me?” Rumi asked.
Bobby pressed his lips together. For a few seconds, no one spoke a word. No one knew what to say. Then, finally, Zoey stepped forward between Mira and Rumi.
“If you trust Jinu then so do we, but…we also know there’s something you’re not telling us. We want to help but you have to let us.” Rumi’s eyes fell, “Please, Rumi.”
“I…”
A glow from the honmoon interrupted her.
—------------------------------
Bobby heard about what happened on the train from Mira and Zoey. It was the biggest loss of life the girls had ever encountered and, at least Mira and Zoey, felt awful about it. It took Bobby two hours to get them to calm down and talk to him about what had happened. He sat with them for hours after that with snacks and drinks and listening to them vent and talk about what had happened.
“She said I had insecurities.” Mira whispered, leaning against Bobby while he ran his hand through her now hanging down hair, “I know I do but Rumi wasn’t supposed to…she’s never…” Bobby felt his heart twist. Mira rarely showed too many sad emotions—mostly because growing up she always was punished for it—so for her to be leaning against him with tears in the corners of her eyes…Bobby knew she was really hurting.
“I know. She shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what’s going on with her lately but it was not your fault, Mira. It’s just a bad patch. You know Rumi still cares about you both so much and she’s doing all of this so you guys can win at the Idol Awards.”
“It just hurts that she can apparently spend all this time with Jinu and probably tell him about what’s bothering her but not us.” Zoey mumbled, biting into a chip.
“Wait, Jinu? Is that where she is?” Honestly Bobby had assumed she’d gone to her room but he should have known she would have snuck out again.
Zoey nodded, “She’s not in her room. She could have gone out for a walk but…we think she went to see Jinu again.”
With a sigh and a head in hand, Bobby let out a very long breath, “I’ll talk to her before the Idol Awards.” He promised, “How are you two feeling?”
“Okay.” They weakly nodded.
“Want to watch some really bad rom com movies and rant about the celebrities?” Bobby asked.
“....Can they be American rom coms?” Zoey quietly asked.
“Sure!” Bobby smiled.
“Then yes.”
Zoey was already on her way towards the couch with the gears in her mind turning about what movie to watch. Bobby was helping Mira stand up, keeping a hand on her shoulder.
“Everything will be okay after the Idol Awards. I promise.”
“Thanks, Bobby.”
“Always.”
—-----------------------------------------
“Why do you have so much hair?”
Laughter fell out and Rumi turned her attention away from Derpy and his constant need to pets, “I grew it out.” Jinu, who had been braiding Rumi’s hair for her while she pet Derpy—a fair trade if Rumi was judging—had also been complaining for the past ten minutes because Rumi’s hair only got longer when out of its braid.
“Since you were a baby?” Jinu asked, “This is Rapunzel hair.”
“Hey! You watched the movie.”
“I was bored last night and wanted something to do so I watched it. Although it was really weird seeing a……painting move?”
“Not a painting. A drawing.” Rumi corrected, “Animation.”
“Okay.” He slowly nodded, “So it’s drawings that are moving?”
“Pretty much or, at least, that’s the best way I can describe it without making things too complicated.” Rumi said.
“Hmm.” Jinu resumed braiding her hair, “Is there a reason you wanted to meet up the night before the Idol Awards or…?”
Rumi suddenly became very interested in both Derpy and Sussie, focusing all her attention on them and desperately trying to come up with anything to avoid the topic, “Okay, so I’ve been meaning to ask, why does the bird wear a tiny hat?”
“I made it for the tiger, but the bird keeps taking it.” Jinu gave Sussie a little glare. Just enough to remind her of that last time he spent two hours chasing her through the demon realm trying to get the hat back, “But that doesn’t answer my question.”
“This wasn’t supposed to happen. Everything was going so perfectly. Mira and Zoey were happy, the fans were happy, appa was happy, we never lost a train full of….of people.” Jinu winced, “And then-”
“We screwed it up.” Rumi gave Jinu a look that just screamed ‘I don’t know what to do.’
“They know we’ve been talking, Jinu. I want you to be on this side when the honmoon closes, I really do! And I’m sure we could talk to the other Saja Boys and maybe they’ll want to come over too. It doesn’t sound like you guys are really ones for the whole ‘eat everyone’s soul’ and everything.”
“You put a lot of faith in the honmoon not just kicking us demons back to the demon realm once it turns gold. We help you and five seconds later Gwi-Ma…” Jinu didn’t have to finish his sentence for Rumi to get his point.
“Well, if the honmoon kicks out all the demons, then I guess I’ll be right there with you.” Rumi tried to smile but Jinu didn’t return it, “Look, I wouldn’t propose this plan if I thought that you would just go straight back to Gwi-Ma once the honmoon turned gold. I really think this could work. I think…I think it already has worked.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just before you and your friends showed up, my patterns hit my throat.” Rumi pulled down her turtleneck to reveal patterns growing on her throat, “When it happened, I didn’t know why. I told Mira and Zoey and they didn’t know how to fix it, how to fix me. I thought I had doomed us all. That I would be the reason Huntrix couldn’t turn the honmoon gold and more demons would arrive and kill people. Then I met you. Then I let myself talk about what I was feeling with someone. Someone who didn’t just give endless support no matter what. In the last few days, my voice has been coming back. We go live tomorrow and I know we’ll be a success. I know…Golden will work.”
“No more Takedown?” In their repeated encounters, Rumi had told Jinu about Takedown and about the lyrics.
“No more Takedown.” She confirmed, “Jinu, we can win with Golden. We can turn the honmoon gold. We can-You can join us over here! You might have to suffer through another 30 Disney movies-” That got a smile from him, “But you’ll be happy here and we’ll both make our families proud. Wherever your sister’s descendants ended up, I know they’d all be proud. I know your mother and sister would be proud.”
“I don’t…The thought of being free of him, being able to live again without him constantly in my ear, sounds so nice. You have no idea how much I want that, Rumi.”
“Then trust me. Please. Trust me.”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“Then I’ll come to the demon realm myself to get you.” Rumi pledged.
Jinu let out a soft laugh, “Big talk.”
“Hey, I’m a demon hunter. Fighting through demons is kind of my job and if that means fighting through the giant wall of fire then so be it.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Jinu said, “to make sure the Saja Boys lose tomorrow. But you better be serious about coming to get me….and Baby. He can come with us.”
That Rumi actually laughed at, “I promise.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow night then? On stage?”
“Yes, you will.” Rumi smiled. She undid Jinu’s work from her braid, allowing her hair to fall down all the way, “I’m sorry you just did such a bad job.”
“Sorry. Not a lot of hair styling jobs in the demon realm.” Jinu chuckled, “....Once I’m up here all the time you’ll have to teach me.”
“Maybe I will.” With that, she and Derpy left the scene, heading back to Huntrix’s tower.
—-------------------------------------------
The following morning, Rumi sat down in the main room with Zoey and Mira. Both of them were still pretty upset about the train and about Rumi keeping something from them, she could tell that much, but she also could tell that they had hope. Hope that she was ready to talk.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I haven’t been a good friend lately. I’ve been distant and ignoring you guys and flaky and…and you don’t deserve that. You don’t deserve to be treated like that. You two are two of the only people in the world I feel safe with. That I feel like I can be a jerk and not be perfect Rumi. But I should have realized you guys would feel cut off with me constantly leaving.” Finally, she looked up at them from where she was sitting on the couch, “I’m so sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“….Why? Why was closing the honmoon so important? Why were you and Celine talking about demons losing their patterns when the honmoon turns gold?” Mira asked.
“Because I want to be human.” Rumi’s voice was so quiet but so loud at the same time. Mira and Zoey didn’t dare move or speak a word out of fear that they would do something to make Rumi stop talking, “You have to book a separate bathhouse, you flinch whenever you see my fangs, my patterns act up during missions, it’s something else we have to hide from the fans, it would just be better if I was human.”
Zoey had her arms wrapped around Rumi the moment she finished speaking, “Before I joined Huntrix, the only person who would listen to my lyrics was my mom. Everyone else told me they were weird and trash but you and Mira gave me a place to belong. I place to feel like I matter.” Once again, Zoey pulled Rumi into a hug, “You matter as you are, Rumi. Patterns or no patterns, you’ll always have me and Mira.”
When her name was spoken, Zoey and Rumi turned to Mira, who was still sitting on the glass tables with her eyes now down, “Look, I'm kind of a difficult person. Overly blunt, short-fused, highly aggressive. My whole life, those things were a liability. I was told I was wrong for being that way and I needed to correct myself. You were the first two people who told me they were okay.” Finally, Mira looked up at Rumi, “Your patterns were never something we had to deal with or work around, Rumi. Just like how you told me being blunt wasn’t something that would hurt Huntrix when ever news station was saying otherwise.”
“Thank you, Mira, and thank you, Zoey. You two have no idea how much I needed this.”
“Good. So, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, are you okay with singing Golden?” Mira asked.
Rumi nodded, “I am. It’s the song that’ll unite our fans. That’ll get us to the golden honmoon. Then, once we’re all done, we’ll go on a real hiatus.”
“I’m holding you to that. You owe us three months of couch time.” Zoey said.
“You got it.” Rumi chuckled, “Happy fans?”
“Happy honmoon!”
———————————————
The Idol Awards arrived before anyone was ready. Rumi, Mira, Zoey and Bobby all arrived early to get to the dressing room and set up for anything that might happen that night. Not only had they prepared for being sabotaged on stage but they also prepared for being attacked before and after performing, the fans being attacked, and the Saja Boys faking an attack. All their bases were covered.
“Rumi?” Bobby grabbed her shoulder while Rumi was messing with her jacket, “Can we talk?”
“Can we talk after the show, dad? I’m a little busy right now.”
Letting out a sigh, Bobby stepped a little closer to his daughter, “I just wanted to make sure that you…that you know I love you very much and I know you’ll do amazing out there.” A smile overtook Rumi’s face as she turned to face her dad, suddenly cursing the extra height the heels gave her and hugged him.
“I love you too, dad.”
“And we will be talking after the show.” Bobby promised, “But, I’m going to head to my spot backstage. I’ll be watching the screen the whole time. Just give me the signal if something goes wrong.”
“We got it.” Mira nodded, “But nothing is going to go wrong. We got this.”
“I’ve never been this nervous before a performance.” Zoey flapped her hands and jumped up and down.
“Relax. Everything will be fine. You remember the choreography?” Rumi asked.
“Memorized.”
“The lyrics.”
Zoey just lifted an eyebrow.
“Then you’ll do fine. Just remember to smile and we’ll get through this.”
“Yeah. Time to beat those Saja Boys once and for all!” Zoey cried, “Or…not beat them? I don’t know where we stand with them.”
“Time to beat Gwi-Ma and make sure those demons never steal another soul ever again.” Rumi’s confident words gave Zoey and Mira proud grins. They still had a little time before they were supposed to go on stage but it was coming. Now was the time for final preparations and making sure they were ready.
However, only a few minutes later, Bobby came running into the room, telling them the Saja Boys were fighting and that they were on. Rumi didn’t need to say a word for Mira and Zoey to understand that this was Jinu’s work. Against their secret beliefs, he really was doing it. He was making it so the Saja Boys never performed and they would win. The honmoon would be sealed.
After a quick talk with the stage directors, the girls got on stage and began performing.
—-------------------------------------
She could see it! She could see the gold! They were so close! It was right there!
Rumi continued to swing over the crowd with practiced grace and poise, singing as loud as her voice would allow. Despite the crowds cheering, she secretly feared her voice may go out again but, so far, that didn’t seem to be happening. The song was nearing completion, the fans were shouting with joy, she could see a golden honmoon about to be formed.
Everything was going amazing.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw it.
Demons. And not just two random demons that were trying to mess with her—that had actually happened last year and the stage design had nearly fallen on her—but two demons disguised as people with something, someone, in their arms.
They had Bobby and they were taking him away. They were hurting him.
He was screaming for Mira and Zoey.
Screaming for her.
Rumi’s eyes turned to slits.
“Get me down!”
Everyone was in shock. The stage staff didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know why Rumi wanted to be let down or why she wasn’t singing anymore. Everything seemed like it was fine and there was no reason for her to be upset. But that didn’t stop Rumi from thrashing back and forth.
“What’s going on? Is this part of the show? Is she okay?” The fans had stopped cheering by now and were talking amongst themselves. All worried and, by now, recording Rumi’s freak out.
“Get me down now!” Finally, the staff processed her words and lowered her back down to the stage. The moment she was close enough, Rumi bolted from the stage without hesitation.
—---------------------------------
Off stage, Abby looked at Jinu in shock. All of the Saja Boys were gathered around their screen, watching the performance to see what would happen. They had planned on Zoey and Mira running off, yes, but not Rumi.
“Is that supposed to happen?” Abby asked.
“Rumi. Don’t do this.” Jinu whispered, “....stay here. Watch the screen.” Jinu was out the door before any of the others could stop him.
—-----------------------------------------
The demons had a head start but that wasn’t going to stop her. She knew what the backstage of the Idol Awards looked like thanks to her, Zoey and Mira scooping out the place in case of a demon attack. Rumi made her way down the halls, gaining more and more speed every second. She could faintly hear Zoey and Mira behind her but the movies didn’t stop her and she didn’t turn around. If she did, she would have seen both of them running at top with speech with fear in their eyes. It wasn’t the speed that was concerning Zoey and Mira, both of whom were on Rumi’s trail: it was her demon side.
Her tail had broken free, her horns were pushing through her hair, her claws had come out on both hands, and, even though they couldn’t see, Zoey and Mira had no trouble believing Rumi’s fangs were out as well. They’d never seen her go this much into her demon side before. So much that they weren’t even sure Rumi would recognize them if they pulled her back.
“Rumi!” Zoey yelled.
She didn’t listen.
She wasn’t listening to anyone.
When she finally caught up with the two demons kidnapping Bobby, she didn’t listen to Zoey and Mira yelling at her that it wasn’t Bobby.
She didn’t listen to the demons screaming in pain when she tackled them to the ground and attacked them with a blind rage of someone who thought she was about to lose the person she cared about the most.
She didn’t listen to her dad’s real voice behind her.
She didn’t listen to Mira and Zoey trying to grab her off one of the demons and prevent her from doing something she would regret.
And she didn’t listen when her dad tried to gently touch her arm and she whirled around and brought her claws down along his face.
“AH!”
“BOBBY!” Zoey and Mira screamed.
“Rumi, stop!” Another voice moved in fast, grabbing Rumi’s wrists and forcing her up. Rumi hissed at this new force, kicking him in the stomach and forcing him to let her go.
The demon under Rumi took the opportunity to disappear along with his friends—both of whom were now terrified. The demons gone, Rumi’s anger disappeared almost as quickly as it emerged. Her hatred melted away to an almost calm like sense if her breathing—going from heavy to soft—was anything to go by. Looking up, Rumi saw Jinu holding his stomach.
“Ah.” He winced with pain but was still on his feet, “Rumi?”
“Jinu? What’s going on?”
A worried voice behind Rumi caught her attention, “We gotta get him to a hospital.”
Rumi turned.
Zoey was holding Bobby. One hand on his back and the other examining his face where four long scratch marks went down from his forehead to his neck. Thankfully, nothing life threatening but way too close to the eye for comfort and the blood dripping down wasn’t a good sign. Nor was the fact that Bobby had a hand over his injury and was wincing in pain.
“Dad?”
Mira stood in her way.
“What are you doing?” Rumi asked, “I-I-I need to see him.” Her demon features hadn’t gone away since the fight. She’d calmed down—yes—but still remained completely in her full demon form. A form Mira and Zoey hadn’t really seen before. Sure, they’d seen bits and pieces but never the full thing.
It was a lot. Especially now.
“Not right now.” Mira said.
“What-What do you…” That’s when she saw it. The blood on her hands. The blood on his face, “No…no, no, no, no-“
“Rumi, just calm down.” Mira whispered, “It’s okay-“
Rumi tried to wrap her arms around herself but the second the blood touched her bare arms she froze and began trembling, “I didn’t mean-you know I’d never-! The demons! They had him-“ Her tail was thrashing behind her.
“It was an illusion. They just had a demon who looked like Bobby. Rumi, you got…intense.” Rumi couldn’t hear Mira anymore. She could only see Bobby still on the floor and in pain with Zoey casting him concerned looks and giving—what Rumi thought—were glares in her direction.
“Rumi, I’m so-” Rumi’s expression fell. Slowly, she turned to face Jinu as the pieces of the puzzle fixed themselves in her mind.
“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?” Rumi yelled, pushing him down with strength he didn’t know she had. A purple shock wave shot through the honmoon, “I hurt him! You made me-I trusted you.”
“I didn’t mean for—....you weren’t supposed to hurt him! You were supposed to keep performing!”
“Oh!? I’m sorry for not going along with your backstabbing plan! How inconsiderate of me!” Jinu, patterns now fully visible all over him, couldn’t look Rumi in the eye. He’d been prepared for another plan, a plan just as backstabbing, just as heartless, but this? This felt worse.
Rumi lost her interest in yelling at Jinu and turned back towards Bobby when she heard him wince, “Appa? Appa, I wouldn’t do this. You know that.” The words came tumbling out. She didn’t know what else to possibly say.
“I know.” Bobby winced when he tried to sit up, “I know, sweetie. It’s okay. I’m okay.” Zoey kept a hand on his back and face.
“I don’t like how much blood there is, Mira, or how close it is to his eye.”
“Bobby, you and Zoey leave and get to a hospital.” Mira ordered.
Bobby shook his head. His hand still hadn’t left his face though he seemed much more alert now than he was before, “I’m fine. It’s just a little scratch.” He didn’t get up. The claw marks hadn’t touched his eye, but the injury still hurt, “Rumi-“
“Dad.” Rumi tried to move closer to Bobby only for Mira to stop her, placing a hand on Rumi’s shoulder. Mira opened her mouth, ready to assure Rumi they had this and she should back away but the half demon wasn’t having it, “Get off me, Mira. I need to help. I can help!”
Whether she meant it or not, Rumi’s final word caused a pink glow to travel along the honmoon. More than that, her yell had caused her claws to come back out and lunge forward—not for Mira but to try to get to Bobby. Claws that had, only seconds ago, hurt Bobby. Claws Mira had been taught to hate.
She raised her weapon.
“Back away, Rumi.” She’d heard that voice before. They all had. It was the same voice Mira always used with demons.
Rumi’s anger and desperation faded into fear and sadness. Her tail, once wild and twisting behind her, was now cowering as if it could sense the sadness Rumi felt. Jinu knew that expression. He knew that movement of terror mixed with heartbreak. A part of him yelled to reach out and do something, say something, but the rest of him held him back. He didn’t deserve the chance to explain himself.
Rumi turned once back to him, “I’m sorry.” He whispered, “I really am.” With that, he teleported away, leaving Rumi all alone and faced with Mira’s weapon.
Zoey didn’t dare even look up. She just kept her attention towards Bobby and the torn piece of cloth she’d taken off to clear the blood on his face. Bobby had both his eyes closed due to the pain. He couldn’t see what was happening to his daughter.
“Daddy.” Rumi whimpered.
Finally, Bobby forced himself to look up, to actually open his eyes and see once again what was going on. When he did, his face, the scratches, the nearness to his eye, it all came into perfect view.
Rumi ran.
—————————————
“RUMI?!? RUMI!” Bobby screamed.
“Bobby, you need to get to the car. We have to take you to the hospital.” Zoey told him.
“NO! No! I-I need to find my daughter!! RUMI?!?” Bobby screamed, “Ah!” A hand to his face showed Bobby that he was still bleeding.
“Bobby, Zoey’s right-”
Bobby flicked Mira’s hand off his shoulder, “I don’t want to talk to you right now, Mira.” The red head stepped back like a child who’d been yelled at, “You raised a weapon against my daughter.” Zoey, recognizing the growing hostility, tried to step in again.
“You’re hurt. You might need stitches or, at least, you should have someone clean the wound.”
“Will Rumi be at the hospital?” Mira and Zoey remained silent, “Then I’m not going.” Gently pushing himself away from them, Bobby continued on his path, screaming and calling out for Rumi as loud as his voice would allow him to go.
“What are we going to do?” Zoey asked, looking up at the sky. Even if she’d never seen him in person, Zoey knew what those colors meant. Mira’s gaze was on the breaking honmoon and the falling picture of Huntrix on the side of the Idol Award’s building, “Gwi-Ma’s coming.”
“There’s nothing we can do.” Mira whispered, “Rumi’s gone and she’s not coming back. Not after I….why did I do that?”
Zoey grabbed Mira’s hand with understanding in her eyes, “You were scared. Rumi was scared. She knows you wouldn’t hurt her. She knows we’re a family.”
Mira opened her mouth to respond. She wanted to believe Zoey’s words, believe that Rumi knew her and would understand why she’d raised her weapon. Then a thought—a voice—came into her head.
You hurt her. The only family you could have had and you hurt her. You don’t deserve a family.
“Mira?” Zoey whispered.
Mira yanked her hand away and turned to Zoey with a glare, “Just leave me alone, Zoey. We’re not a family.”
“Mira-”
You thought you actually belonged in this group? To this family? You’re too much and not enough. You don’t belong here. You don’t belong anywhere.
Bobby had been so busy with his search for Rumi around the center that he didn’t notice Zoey and Mira leave his side and start walking until someone pushed into him and he finally turned around to see the giant mob of people heading somewhere. None of them looked like they were really there. It was like someone else was controlling them.
From the crowd, he could see Mira walking with them. If Mira was in the crowd then Zoey was to, “Mira! Zoey!” Bobby yelled.
You lost your daughter. You let her down. You thought you made a good life for her, for all of them, but you failed. You’re all alone, but you don’t have to be.
“NO!” Bobby slapped his hand over his face, “...probably could have done something less painful.” Pulling out his phone, Bobby dialed the one person who might know where Rumi is, “Celine? It’s Bobby. We need help.”
