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“I heard someone walk past my swag earlier. Thought one of you fuckers was going for a hike or something.”
My eyes widen, and I turn to see Garrett’s concerned gaze as he looks back at us. Then he practically runs over to Lexi and Ayden’s tent.
“Lex, you in there?”
“Yeah.” Her soft voice murmurs from inside, and the zip opens before Ayden pops his head out.
“What’s going on?”
“We can’t find Rhys. Can Lexi go check the toilets for us?” Garrett asks, but before he’s even finished talking, Ayden gets nudged out of the way, and a blonde mess of wavy hair climbs out of the tent.
“Yep. I’m on it.” Lexi offers a half-smile before jogging across the clearing towards the toilets.
She’s worried. I can tell.
Shit.
Where are you, Cherry?
Ayden climbs out of the tent and talks quietly with Garrett, so I pace, not able to stand still as I watch Lexi disappear into the girl’s toilets. A moment later, she flies out the door, looking panicked.
“She’s not here!” Lexi yells across the clearing, and my gut drops.
“Get up!” I yell and turn to the campsite. “Get the fuck up now!” I start toward Tillie’s tent. Maybe she’s in there. “Rhys!”
I fall to my knees in the pebbled dirt outside Tillie and Bell’s tent and tear the zip open. “Rhys!”
“Hey fuck face. She’s not in here!” Bell hisses as Tillie sits up, startled, her pixie hair all over the place.
“Simon man, calm down.” Jared lays his hand on my shoulder, but I shrug him off.
“Rhys! Where are you?”
My yelling causes everyone to come out of their tents, all with confused gazes.
She’s not here. SHE’S NOT HERE!
“RHYS!!!”
“Garrett!” Lexi calls, and I spin to see her climbing out from Rhys’ tent. “Her phone is gone.”
On instinct, everyone rushes for their phones in panic, only to remember after we try that there’s no phone service here. I tear my hands through my hair, frantic. I need to find her. Where is she? Did those fuckers from last night take her? Did her old foster mum take her? Did she run away? Does she feel like everything is hopeless again?
The distant sound of Paramore drags me out of my panic, and I turn to see Jared holding the satellite phone up to his ear.
“It’s ringing, but she’s not answering,” Jared informs us, and we all look around, trying to figure out which direction Rhys’ ringtone is coming from.
“Rhys!” I call out again, this time with my hands cupped around my mouth.
Lexi, Shaun and Marcus join me, calling out over and over, hoping to get a response.
“Hey, is that someone up at the top of the falls?” Dale asks, his eyes trained high.
We all follow his line of sight, and that’s when we see familiar black boots dangling over the ledge of the cliff—Cherry’s boots.
In unison, we call out to her again, but she either can’t hear us or is ignoring us. Either way, the situation isn’t good. She’s sitting on the edge of a fucking cliff.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
