I am not sure what’s happening, but I can completely agree with the writer of the message.
Another headache bursts in my brain.
What the fuck did Jaxson and Nat do to me? Where the fuck am I?
I sneak my way to the bedroom door and slightly turn the doorknob, but it does not move.
“I’ll check on her,” a deep voice says from outside the door. I can hear footsteps coming towards the bedroom, and I freeze in place. The deep voice I instantly recognize as Jaxson’s.
Another voice calls out to him. A female. I cannot make out what she says, but Jaxson yells back, “Okay, fine!” His footsteps sound like he’s going farther away from the bedroom now.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
I move carefully over the wooden floors back towards the window, careful not to make much noise or step on anything sharp, having no shoes on. While whispering, “Oh please, oh please, oh please,” I get the open window, move the cloth drapes out of the way, and almost scream out loud with joy when I realize I’m on the ground floor of a house. The air is cold, and no one is outside. Like most houses in Ryland, the one I am in is spaced out from any others. All I see is a street and a car going by.
I hear Jaxson again and footsteps of multiple people coming down a hall.
I look outside and know it’s now or never. I pop out a screen window and jump out. Without much thinking, I run down the street, shoeless.
Besides the one car I saw driving down the street, the road is completely empty. The air is chill, and I feel like it must be early morning.
I ran by a large home and think about pounding on its door screaming for help. I worry though that whoever is home won’t open the door to the plea of some beat up looking girl with no shoes.
Instead, I plan on running and not stopping.
Fuck Ryland.
Chapter 3
Lance
I sip my espresso while sitting out on the balcony facing our large property. This may be one of the last times I enjoy this view, so I take my time taking it in.
I have a plan, it’s all set into motion.
I rub the side of my face and can feel pain in my left eye. Jaxson hit me fairly good last night. He got a few good shots in on me. He is tougher than I thought.
Marta comes up to me and asks if I would like more, and I nod my head holding out the cup. She pours until it spills a bit onto my fingers. I wince a bit of pain from the burning dark coffee, and she apologizes continuously.
“It’s okay, Marta, don’t worry.” I smile. “This time, I’ll put the cup on the table to save the rest of my fingers.”
She nods her head. “Sorry, Mr. Cain.”
“What have I told you about that, Marta?”
She gives a thin smile. “Not to call you Mr. Cain?”
“Please. You have been with us for at least a decade now, right? I’m sure that warrants a Lance now and then.”
Marta asks if I would like anything else, but I decline. I go back to taking in the view and going over my plans in my head. There is no room for error with them.
I peer behind me and see Marta still standing there. “Everything okay?” I ask. She nods her head but does not move. “You sure?” I ask again.
“It’s just, Elle, she didn’t come home last night. She went out with some boy, but never came back.”
“I see,” I say. “Who was the boy?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I have seen him here before, but I don’t know his name.” That is good. One less thing to worry about. “That security guard, the dumb one…”
“Bart?”
She nods her head. “He said you took off when he told you she went off with this boy? He said his name, I think it was Jason or something like that.”
“No, I wasn’t going after Elle. I forgot I had an important meeting with the school guidance counsellor. Getting some things ready for my application to university.” Marta looks at me. She is giving me her best poker face to not give off the idea that she thinks I’m full of shit. “Elle’s a big girl, I’m sure she will come back soon.”
Marta lowers her head. “It’s just, with what happened at Mr. Aldridge’s property a few weeks ago and the fire, she has no one out here, you know? I worry.”
“She’s fine, Marta. I promise you, she is fine.”
Marta looks at me with a worried face. I answer her before she can ask, “You should see the other guy.”
“Are you okay? Why did you get into a fight?”
I nod my head. “Boys will be boys, right?”
My father joins us on the patio, and Marta almost immediately leaves. “Mr. Cain,” she says, and my father gives the slightest of nods before she makes her exit.
I turn back to look out at the view, not letting my father’s presence ruin the moment. I can sense him staring at the back of my head.
“What is it now?” I ask without turning.
“Principal Aldridge called me this morning. Apparently, Jaxson never made it home last night. Apparently, Nathanial Price was with him. I checked, and apparently, he never came home last night either.”
I turn to him and smile. “Apparently, they probably went out and are drunk in a ditch somewhere in Ryland.”
“What time did you come home last night?” he asks without acknowledging what I said.
“I don’t usually pay attention to things like that. I came home when I came home.”
“Where did you go?”
I take out a cigarette and light it between my lips. I blow out smoke before answering him. “I don’t think you have ever asked me or cared about my comings and goings. Apparently, you think I’ve done something.”
Arthur Cain thinly smiles. “Noelle Maven hasn’t returned home either. I
