The raised brow didn't drop. Jacob let the silence hang in the air for a moment before he slightly pushed down his glasses and looked at Mattie over their tops. "Nope," he said. "I'm not going to try. Ever again." He then rolled the window up without waiting for her response and began creeping his vehicle along to the motel. The food bags were gathered up his arms, and with a little struggle, he unlocked the motel door, flung it open, set the bags on the counter--

There was no Nicholas.

With a mixture of confusion and concern on his face, Jacob took his sunglasses off to be sure it wasn't just the dark playing tricks on his vision. It wasn't. Nicholas was no longer on the bed. The bathroom door was open. Nicholas was just not there. But the rock was.

He immediately ran back outside, not even bothering to close the door. Using his science-given mutant speed, he caught up with Mattie quickly. "Mattie," he called out to let her know he was coming up on her, voice a slight growl, "Nicholas isn't in the motel. Where did he go? What happened?"