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I feel like I’ve been put through an emotional wringer. I’m not crazy. Relief. I was kidnapped. Terror. I don’t have any memory of it. Anxiety. Rhys doesn’t hate me after all. Relief again, maybe even happiness. I’ve been lied to—by everyone. Betrayal.
I need to sort through all of this in my head. Alone. Standing up, I blurt out, "I need to be alone right now."
I’m racing out of the room to grab my keys and purse before Rhys can say much. All I hear is, "Okay."
Chapter Seven
I leavethe house and drive around for a while. It’s already getting dark, and the streets are empty. Today is one of the coldest days of this winter, which seems fitting for how I feel: cold and alone. They’ve kept mein the darkfor ten years.
I don’t want to run into any of my friends. Not knowing where else to go, I end up in the school parking lot.
I park at the end of the lot closest to the football field and turn the lights off. Back here, I’m invisible from the street. I scroll through my playlists and play one random song after another. I try to find something that fits my mood, but thanks to the tornado that just wrecked through what I thought was my life, nothing seems right. I just keep flipping through playlists, then albums, then artists. Eventually, I settle on "A Perfect Day" by Freedom Call, and gut-wrenching sobs instantly start wracking through my body. I cry for everything I just lost—including the knowledge of who I am.
I think about the couple from my migraines. My parents. Shit, what kind of people deposit their daughter with friends after she was kidnapped? My throat constricts. How could my parents keep this from me for ten freaking years. No, I remind myself, they are not my parents. Heather and Tristen? Natty and Rhys’s parents? What the hell do I call them now? I slam my palms against the steering wheel. The tears have dried up, but now I have the urge to scream.
Why did the kidnapper pick me? What makes me so special? Based on my research, that means I’m victim number one. The one all the others are placeholders for. Oh God, I was kidnapped.I’mthe reason these poor girls were taken.
My breathing becomes erratic. The car is all of a sudden way too small—I have to get out. I didn’t bring a jacket during my escape, and the temperature has dropped below freezing, but I don’t care. Crouching next to my car, I gulp in the freezing air and wait for the panic to subside.
When my entire body begins to shake from the cold, I get back in the car and crank up the heat. I lean my head against the headrest. What am I going to do? I can’t just move on like nothing ever happened. I’m not losing my mind, but I don’t belong in this family. I have no idea who I am anymore. And if it’s true what the news says, the kidnapper will keep going until he’s caught, or he gets what he wants—me. My heart rate accelerates again.
Breathe.
I sitin the parking lot for another hour until I force myself to drive back home. The house is mostly dark except for the track lighting in the kitchen, which shines into the hallway. I make my way up the stairs without turning on any of the other lights. Reaching my room, I notice a gleam under Rhys’s door. Huh? I don’t remember the last time he was home on a Saturday night. I know for a fact there is a party tonight; the whole school has been buzzing about it all week.
I decidedin the car that I want to talk to Rhys more, but I’m not ready. I’m freezing despite having the heater blasting hot air at me ever since I got back into the Jeep. The bone-chilling cold inside of me is not from the outside temperatures anymore, but it also won’t go away. I’ve heard that shock could do that to a person. It’s probably fair to say that I’m in some state of shock after tonight’s revelations.
I opt for a hot shower before facing the boy I believed to be my brother and best friend for years.
Procrastinating, I slowly dress in my PJs—gray sweats and a white, long-sleeve Henley. I stare at the chaos on my bed. Everything is where I left it, but the pile of notes and printouts is no longer a big question mark to me. It’s part of who I am. It’s all connected to me.
With one last breath, I walk across the hall to Rhys’s door and knock softly.
"Come in."
It takesevery ounce of strength not to follow Lilly. The urge to make sure she is safe is driving me fucking crazy, but I know that with one wrong move I’m going to lose her forever.
If I haven’t already.
I stay in the family room, channel surfing for a while, but nothing holds my interest. Back in my room, I see that I have three missed calls from Kat and several texts from her, Wes, and other guys from the team.
Kat:Sweetie, I’m here. Where are you?
Kev, from the football team:Dude, this party is lit. Just saw Nora topless in the hot tub.
Kat:Where are you?
Jager:We have 4 kegs. U on ur way?
Wes:Dude, where r you? Your gf is LIVID.
Kat:WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?
That fucking party. I glance at the timestamps. Did they start at what? Three in the afternoon? They’re going to be plastered by eight.Idiots. I don’t respond and put my phone back down. I’ll deal with that tomorrow.
Grabbing the laptop from my desk, I sit down against the headboard. My bed is positioned opposite the door, and my gaze sweeps over the room. It’s similar in size to Lilly’s, but mine faces the front of the house—not that it matters since we live on a quiet street that ends in a cul-de-sac. The size is where the similarities to Lilly’s room end, though. Where hers is neatly put together with its lavender paint and matching décor, my room still has the white walls from the day we moved in. My furniture is mismatched victims of Mom’s remodeling projects. The most modern items are my media setup and mattress, both of which I have barely used in the last few years due to my constant absence.
I haven’t looked intoLilly’s casein a while, and had no idea another girl had gone missing. When it comes to watching the news, Lilly and I have always been on the same page. Sitting through endless debates between Mom and Dad during mealtimes has conditioned us for the future. Unless it’s sports related, I stay clear of any type of news show.
