Chapter 6
For the next few weeks, it seemed like Nick had made a place on our team and we had all gotten into a routine. We attended school, social functions, we trained, and we hunted. There was no fighting between Nick and me. Nick was just another member of the team. Even his trainer, John, was at our training sessions. I had tried to figure out what the argument that night between him and my mom was about, but neither one gave any clues or mentioned that night.
It was a Saturday, and since homecoming was two weeks away, the girls and I were checking out a local dress shop in search of dresses to wear to the dance and festivities.
“Sam, I think this dress would be perfect for you,” Taylor said, holding out a short red dress towards Sam.
“Taylor,” Sam moaned. “No way, that dress is way too short.”
Poor Sam; the girl was hit with an extra dose of modesty when she was born and refused to wear anything that shows any bit of unnecessary skin. The dress Taylor picked out was beautiful, but our friend wouldn’t be caught dead in it. So, I couldn’t resist seeing if she turned red when I agreed with Taylor. Taylor lived by the philosophy of the shorter the better when it came to fashion.
“You know, Sam,” I said, “it really isn’t that short.”
Hannah, who was also with us, nodded in agreement. “Yeah, with your height that dress would look great on you.”
“But guys,” Sam started to say turning red in the face.
“Oh come on,” Taylor interrupted, “you can even pick out dresses for the rest of us.”
“Or, you know, make some suggestions,” I cut in.
This seemed fair to me because honestly I was tired of looking at dresses. They were all running together and all looked worth wearing to me at this point in our shopping trip. I just wanted to go home already. We had a late hunt the night before, and my bed was calling my name.
“I guess I will try the red one on.” She nodded to herself looking at the dresses we had each tried on. “Taylor that pink one looked best. Hannah, the long green one, and Riley, that white is the one that works with your dark hair and green eyes.”
“Works for me,” I said. “Right, Taylor?” I gave her a look telling her to agree, even though I knew that she did not like the color pink at all.
“Yep,” Taylor finally agreed, giving me the evil eye.
“Alright then guys, let's buy these because my bed is calling me back to my home.”
After we purchased our dresses, we said our goodbyes and I started walking the two blocks to my car from the dress shop. It was already dark out, and I was feeling tired from all of the constant missions and training sessions mixed in with school. I was so thankful that we did not have a mission and that I could sleep when I got home.
When I finally got home, I walked right into John Rossum coming out of the front door. This was an unexpected surprise.
“Hello,” I greeted him even though I actually wanted to ask him why he was at my house.
“Hello,” he replied back.
We stood in silence and stared at each other for a few seconds, but of course it was an awkward silence that seemed to drag on forever.
So, I decided not to beat around the bush. “What are you doing at my house?” I hoped I got a good response that would possibly give me insight onto the scene I witnessed a few weeks ago.
He did not look phased by the question. I actually think he expected it. “Just catching up with an old teammate.”
“Oh,” I replied. I have no idea why I didn’t think of him having that reason. He and my mother had both mentioned that they were teammates at one point when they were active.
“Yes,” he went on, “I suspect you will visit your old teammates when you are older as well.”
“Right,” I agreed though I couldn’t help but to feel like I had just been told to mind my own business.
“I will be going now,” he said. “Have a good night off.”
He started to walk away, and I pathetically mumbled a “Thank you, goodbye,” as he walked off to the expensive black sports car that I had failed to notice was parked on the road across the street from the house.
Entering the house, I called out, “Mom, I’m home.”
“In here.” She surprised me poking her head out of the living room, “how was your shopping?”
“It was fine.” I held up my shopping bags. “Got a dress and everything. But the real question is why was the new trainer guy here?”
“Oh, just talking about old times.”
“Right,” I said looking disgusted by the faraway look in her eyes that suggested more than that. “You totally have a thing for that guy.”
“Riley, this is not elementary school.” She squinted at me. “He is just an old friend I have not seen in years. We were just catching up.”
“Okay,” I relented, holding my hands up in defense.
“Show me your dress.”
“This is it,” I said, unzipping the garment bag and showing her the white short halter dress that Sam had chosen for me.
“Oh, that is a beautiful dress. It will look fantastic on you,” she said. “Are you hungry?”
“No, we ate earlier. I think I am going to head up to bed and crash early tonight.”
“On a Saturday night?” she asked trying to check my forehead to see if I had a fever. “Get some rest.”
“Oh, I will. Goodnight.”
I left the living room and walked up the stairs to my room. Once inside, I took my dress out of the bag, hung it in my closet, and then changed into a set of pajamas. Pulling out my phone, I climbed into my bed and placed the phone on my night stand. Seemingly right on cue, my phone buzzed alerting me to a new message. Picking the phone back up, I saw that the message was from Nick. I rolled my eyes at his timing. Since our truce, we had started an odd friendship. We truly just texted a lot and did not talk about it. No one else actually knew we were friends.
The message he sent was a simple one:
Hey.
Hi, did you know your teacher was at my house today?
No, I didn’t know that. He just teaches me how to fight and about stuff. I don’t know what he does the rest of the time.
I frowned at this.
I know, I just thought it was weird.
You think everything is weird.
“Humph,” I caught myself saying out loud as I read his last message.
I do not think everything is weird. Just you.
Oh I know, you let me know. All of the time.
Nah, only sometimes.
Whatever you say.
What a jerk. If he picked on me while being his friend, I only could wonder what kind of hell I would receive if we were still enemies.
Well I am going to go to sleep, my pillow is calling my name, and it would be extremely rude not to oblige and get some sleep.
Well goodnight. You should totally get that rest if you think a pillow is talking to you.
“Ass,” I said out loud, shaking my head.
Night back, ass.
With that, I put my phone back onto the table and switched off my bedside lamp and tried to get as comfortable as I could in my bed.
Closing my eyes, I was asleep almost immediately.
The next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by my mom frantically shouting my name. Adjusting my eyes to the bright light in my room, I turned toward my mom and saw a panicked look on her face.
“Mom,” I said in a hoarse voice, still trying to wake up. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Sam,” she said quickly. “No one can find her. Her mom just called, and she didn’t make it home last night.”
I sat up immediately and tried to form words, but I didn’t know what to say.
“Her parents, your grandfather, and some others are waiting at her house,” she told me. “They are waiting for you, Hannah, and the rest of your team to get there. They would like to know when you saw her last.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Let me get dressed, and I will go.”
“Okay,” she said. “I will wait for you downstairs.”
I quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a school t-shirt and threw on a pair of sneakers without even bothering with socks. I grabbed my phone and started to run down the stairs. On the way down I tried to call Sam’s cell phone several times, but every time I did it went straight to the voicemail.
At the front door, my mom was fully dressed, waiting for me.
“Let’s go,” she said, holding her car keys and belongings while leading me out the door.
In the driveway, I got into the passenger seat of my mother’s car and quickly buckled up while she did the same and started the car.
“I hope she is okay,” I whispered.
“I am sure she sneaked out, or it will be something simple,” my mom said trying to ease my fears.
What my mom said didn’t ease my fear at all because part of our training was to let another teammate or someone else know where we were at all times. Looking at the time on the car dashboard also let me know that something was wrong; the team was rarely ever out past three in the morning, and it was now five.
“The last time I saw her, we were leaving the dress shop,” I told her, “and I haven’t spoken to her or any of the other girls since.”
“Well, I am sure there is just some confusion,” my mom said, even though I could tell there was a bit of doubt in her voice.
“I hope so.”
We spent the rest of the drive in silence, and I tried to think positively that she would be there when we arrived and that everything would be ok. It was all just a colossal misunderstanding.
We parked in front of Sam’s house, and I could see several familiar cars in front of the house and in the driveway. Getting out of the car, I walked over to my mom’s door and waited for her to get out while I nervously wrapped my arms around myself. I couldn’t help but to feel like a small child and accepted it when my mom grabbed my hand, giving it a small squeeze as she walked me to the front door of the house. Without even knocking my mother entered the house, and we walked into the living where everyone was gathered around having an informal meeting.
We were the last to arrive, and when we walked in, I let go of my mother’s hand and joined my teammates where they were seated. I sat next to Taylor, whose eyes were red ringed from crying. Ben, who had recently started dating Sam, didn’t look much better than Taylor did. Kyle looked worried and kept looking over at his aunt and uncle and parents who were talking to my grandfather, John, my mother, and Taylor’s dad. Looking at my last two teammates, their expressions were the opposite of the other’s Lucas looked like he hadn’t fully grasped the situation and kept his face emotionless.
“It will be ok,” I whispered to Taylor. “She will walk through that door and tell us some crazy story about falling asleep in her car somewhere silly.”
“Yeah,” Taylor replied attempting a small smile. “I hope so.”
I stared at the floor for what seemed like forever, waiting for something to happen. The front door opened, and we all turned our attention to it, hoping Sam would walk through. Instead of Sam, it was Officer Lucy Spencer, my mother’s younger sister whose only activity in the organization was to run interference with the police department. While she no longer actively participated in hunting or any kind of training, she does help if something serious is going on with the organization. Like a member coming up missing.
She came into the living room and gave me a small, sympathetic smile before walking over to the group of adults talking in the center of the room. I got up to see if I could hear what she had to say and walked over to the group. I stayed to the back out of my grandfather’s sight.
“Any word on where she is?” Susan, Sam’s mother, asked Lucy.
“No, not yet, but we have found her car abandoned near Green Ridge Park,” Lucy replied. “I wanted to let you guys know first and get a key, so I don’t have to break in and potentially disturb anything.”
Susan nodded but did not look relieved at all. She left the room to retrieve a car key.
Lucy looked around. “Does anyone want to go with me to check her car?”
I was the first one to speak up. “I do.”
The adults just looked at me, and I quickly explained myself. “Sam is on my team, so maybe I will be able to notice if anything is out of place that you guys might overlook.”
My grandfather looked deep in thought for a moment before he frowned, looking straight at me and finally nodding. “Alright, Lucy, take Mike with you and Elizabeth. John, Nicholas, and Alexandra will follow as a separate group.”
Nobody objected or questioned the orders my Grandfather gave. I could also tell that Mike, Sam’s dad, was relieved to be doing something, even if it was visiting his daughter’s abandoned car. Susan returned with the keys momentarily and was informed about what the plan was. Then my grandmother walked in from the kitchen and lead Susan away, suggesting that they have a cup of tea to soothe her nerves. My grandmother put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed as she walked passed me. Everyone was ready to leave quickly. As we started to file out of the door, my grandfather stopped me as I walked past him.
“Alexandra, you tell them everything you might think is important on the way to Samantha’s car,” he told me, and I nodded in agreement.
Out at the cars, Mike followed Lucy to her squad car while the rest of us walked over to my mother’s car. I sat in the backseat behind the driver seat while my mom drove, and John sat in the front passenger seat, with Nick sitting on the other side of the backseat.
When we pulled away, my mother was the first to speak. “Riley does not actually know anything. We talked about it on the way to Susan and Mike’s house tonight.”
“Okay,” John said, “when was the last time you did see Sam, Riley?”
“Getting into her car while I was leaving the dress shop on Miles St. earlier,” I told him.
He thought about it for a moment. “Do you recall what time that was?”
“Right before I ran into you leaving my house last night.”
That ended his questioning, and I only hoped that I got my point across that I honestly had no idea what could have happened to Sam. After driving a few more minutes, we pulled into the park right behind Lucy and Mike and parked next to Sam’s empty car. We all got out of the cars, and Lucy asked Mike to unlock Sam’s car. After he unlocked the car, they moved back, and I started to look around inside of it from the passenger door. On first glance, everything looked the way it always did but when I looked at her steering wheel, I found a note taped to it. Her keys were still in the ignition.
Grabbing the note and her keys, I climbed back out of the car, handed her dad the keys, and started to read the note.
You came back, so we took the girl. She will make a lovely addition to the family.
-VR
“Here is a note from someone with the initials VR, and they took the girl it says because someone came back,” I told them. “I think they got the wrong girl, right?”
John grabbed the note from my hand and quickly read it. He showed it to my mom and then to Lucy and Mike. The adults huddled together and had a conversation in hushed tones that I couldn’t make out. Nick and I gave each other the same confused looks because neither of us had any idea what the note meant.
John was the first one to speak. “We will find her and fix this. They will not hurt her.”
“Do you guys want to share with us?” I asked them and motioned to myself and Nick. “She is our teammate and my friend. I want to know what is going on.”
“Riley, let us handle it from here,” my mom said.
“But,” I started to say.
“Listen to your mother,” John interrupted.
“Excuse me?” I questioned. “Sam is our teammate. We have a right to know what is going on.”
“Don’t worry about it, Riley,” my mother said harshly. “The adults will handle it from here,
and Sam will be okay.”
I didn’t know what to say because my mother had never spoken to me like that before, so I shut my mouth.
“Alright, we need to go back and tell father what we know, and then figure out how to handle this,” my mother said to the other adults.
“Right,” Lucy agreed.
At this point, I felt put out like a defiant teenager and turned my attention to the woods nearby. I stared as the sun started to peek out from above the trees. I felt terrible for feeling like throwing a fit while my best friend was missing, but they were hiding something from us, and there was no way to help if they didn’t tell us what they knew.
“Nicholas,” my mom said, catching my attention. “Drive Riley home and stay there until I get back.”
“Yes, Ms. Spencer,” he agreed, taking her car keys when she offered them.
“If you get tired, you can stay in the guest room,” my mom told him. “Make sure she does not leave the house.”
Nick agreed with her conditions and ushered me toward the car. I sat in the passenger seat and started to buckle up when my mom opened up the door and knelt down beside me.
“Riley, I love you,” she said and hugged me. “We are just trying to protect you.”
“From what?” I asked.
“From whoever has Sam, all of you kids have to be protected.”
I nodded and pulled back as she stood up and closed the car door. Nick had already started the car and pulled away after she stepped back from the car. “You can just drop me off and leave,” I told him. “She is just being overprotective for whatever reason right now, and it will be okay if you just go.”
“Nope,” he replied. “Did you see the way she yelled at you? I am not risking her anger or the wrath of my teacher for not following orders.”
“Okay,” I conceded. My mom totally would rip him a new one if he didn’t listen to her. “What do you think was meant by that note?” I asked him after a few minutes.
Nick looked thoughtful as he watched the road. “I really don’t know, but I am sure they can take care of it. Just think about it; they have been doing this a lot longer than the rest of us.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Aren’t I always right?”
“No, not even close to ever being right.” We both actually laughed and smiled for the first time all night.
When we finally arrived home, I lead the way to the front door. Inside I placed my mother’s keys on their usual hook in the kitchen so that she didn’t freak out when she couldn’t find them later.
“Would you like anything to eat?” I asked. “We either have some left over pizza or Chinese food.”
He shook his head. “No thanks, I’m good.”
I glanced over at the clock on the stove and saw that it was nearly seven a.m. “I didn’t realize it was this late, or early, I guess.”
“I know,” he said and yawned, showing just how tired he actually was.
“I guess you’re tired, huh?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Whatever. Why don’t you go to the guestroom and rest, and I will go get in my bed and see if I can get some more sleep?” I asked him. “Ok?”
He thought about it for a moment. “Okay, but promise you won’t run off and try to do something that you shouldn’t.”
“I promise,” I told him. “I will go get in bed and not get up without letting you know.”
He looked skeptical. “Swear?”
“Pinky swear,” I said and held out my pinky in response.
He declined with a roll of his eyes, and I lead him out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I pointed to the door at the top of the stairs and told him that it was a bathroom and that the door across from it is the guest room. I also pointed out that the next door is my own bedroom door and that the one across from it is my mom’s room.
“My mom has the cleaning lady clean that room once a week, so the sheets and everything should be ok,” I told him, opening the door to show him the room.
“There’s the bed,” I said motioning to it, “I’ll be in my room. If you need anything, let me know.”
I turned to leave and found that Nick was standing right in front of me. Nick was a bit over six feet tall, and because of my short height I had to look up at his face. Instead of telling him to get out of my way like I had planned, our eyes locked and the weirdest feeling came over me; it was such a mix of different things. I was feeling a mixture of disgust, hate, a strong like, and what I guessed was lust. Disgust and hate I could deal with. But I felt as if the like and the lust were going to take over, and I wasn’t ready to deal with those feelings and what may come with them.
It looked like Nick was in the middle of an internal battle of his own.
Taking a deep breath, I quickly looked away and stepped around him and practically ran out of the door. I shut it behind me, leaving what I am sure was a confused Nick, and mumbled, “Get some rest,” through the door.
Inside of my own bedroom, I quickly changed back into my night clothes and crawled into bed even though I was sure I would not be able to sleep because Sam was still missing and because of the weird feelings I was starting to have for Nick.
Closing my eyes, I hoped for sleep to come, and after tossing and turning, I did find sleep for a while.