Page 298 of 912321

But every explanation dies the second I think about it. A dead battery doesn’t stop her from picking up her brother. Car trouble doesn’t stop her from borrowing someone else’s phone. Nothing explains why she disappeared.

Nothing except—No.

I shove the thought away immediately. Not him, not after all this time, not after years, not after everything she survived.

The cat lets out another small sound.

I look down. He’s still staring at the door, waiting, expecting to hear her keys. I scratch gently behind his ear, then grab my keys from the counter.

“Stay here,” I whisper. “I’m going to bring her home.”

Play - Payphone by Maroon 5, Wiz Khalifa

I tear through the academy looking for her the moment I park there.

The classrooms, the halls, the offices, the fucking stairwells. I check every place, calling her name even though some small part of me knows she isn’t going to answer. Nothing.

I push through the doors, search outside, scan the courtyard, every corner. Then I reach the parking lot. And I stop. Her car.

My heart drops as I move toward it, already shaking my head, trying to tell myself there has to be another explanation.

The driver’s door is shut, the car is empty, but on the ground beside it I see it. Her yearbook.

She came here for this, she wouldn’t leave it behind.

I look around the parking lot again, but it’s fucking empty.

My fingers tighten around the yearbook until the cover creases beneath my grip. Fucking think, Damien. Think.

There’s only one person I can think of who could make her disappear without her choosing to. Her father. And the next thing I know I’m in the car, speeding there.

129

Damien

Play - Vienna (In Memoriam) by The Army, The Navy

Find me

By the time I get to her house, I’ve called her so many times that I stop counting.

At some point, the ringing itself started making me angry. And it’s not even at her. The stupid phone is pissing me off, the silence, the fucking universe is killing me for standing between me and hearing her voice.

The entire drive over, I kept expecting her to call back. Every time my phone lit up, my heart jumped into my throat before dropping again. Emails and fucking spam calls. Everything except her.

The worst part is that I can’t stop thinking about the little things. I keep thinking about the fact that she left her sweater at my house. The drawing she started is still on my coffee table with the small paper stars she left in an empty mug there. The canvas isn’t even dried yet. Blue was probably sitting by the front door when I left. I told him she was okay. But I don’t know if she is. I don't know anything, I don’t even know where she is.

I park next to her dad’s house and the front door opens before I can knock a second time.

Her father is standing there. I’ve never liked him much. I’ve tolerated him because she loves him, because despite everything he’s done wrong she still finds reasons to defend him, because every time I thought she was finally done with him she somehow found room for one more chance.

But right now none of that matters. The only thing that matters is the look on his face.

I’ve seen people afraid before, I’ve seen them grieving, and carrying guilt. What I see in his eyes is all three.

My pulse immediately begins hammering harder.

“Where is she?” The question leaves my mouth before I’ve fully stepped inside. He just stares at me, confused about who I am. “Where. Is. She?” I repeat.