gone

17

"damn you, elijah!" I yelled, kicking my feet on the back of his seat.

he said nothing- just sent me a dirty look in the rear view mirror in response.

"you are gonna pay for this."

"and whys that, kenny? I told you I was going to come back home. and I did." he said, smirking at me through the dirty mirror.

"because you're freaking kidnapping me!" I yelled, becoming agitated at his smart- alec tone.

"who said I was kidnapping you? I could just be taking you out to icecream. you know, like we always used to do?" he asked me, knowing it would make me upset.

I ignored his last question, then spoke again, "because you came into my room at three in the morning, punch my best friend/ basically brother repeatedly for no reason, and then drag me out of my house violently to take me out for ice cream? yeah, that totally makes sense." I snorted sarcastically.

"he is not your brother!" he yelled, banging his fists on the wheel, but not taking his eyes off of the road.

"neither are you!" I yelled back just as loud, and with that he slammed on the breaks and whipped his head in my direction. "you're sick, elijah! you're not the same! you would never hurt me, much less kidnap me! what is wrong with you?!" I yelled again.

and after that, all I was saw darkness.

HAYDENS POV (right after she is taken)

how am I supposed to tell her parents that their daughter had been taken- again- and I was right there when it all happened? and that their 'dead' son was the one who took her? yeah, they'll really believe that.

this is all my fault. I should've done something more. now she's gone- again. if she doesn't come back this time, I don't know what I would do.

I think I love her.

all of those years we've been friends, and I'm just now coming to my senses about this. I can't lose her- not again. not now.

I snapped out of whatever state I was currently in, and ran down the seemingly endless sets of stairs.

"help!" I yelled once I was almost to the first floor.

"john! amanda!" I yelled, frantically running towards the hallway their bedroom was located. I heard a voice behind me. "hayden? is that you?" the person asked, flipping the hallway light switch on. then I realized it was amanda, kendall's mom.

"oh my god." she said, embracing me into her arms. "what's wrong?" she said, rubbing her hand up and down my back. "what?" I asked her, confused at how she knew something was wrong. she pulled apart from our hug and looked up at me. "you're crying. and I heard yelling upstairs," she said, lightly chucking at the fact that I didn't know I was crying; her smiling slightly faltering when she mentioned the yelling part.

"oh dear, hayden what happened to your face? you look like you just got into a fist fight! and where's kendall?"

oh god. amanda is a tough woman. she's been through a hell of a lot, losing her children like she has. somehow, she always has a smile on her face and I just don't know how she does it. I know kendall looks up to her mom a lot, and I think it's adorable.

"amanda.." I said, not wanting to tell her what just happened.

"yes, hayden?" she said, waiting patiently.

I took a deep breath before starting, "it's kendall and lijah."

"l-lijah?" she asked, her bottom lip beginning to tremble.

"amanda, lijahs not dead.." I told her, placing my hands lightly on her shoulders. I had to be prepared for any type of reaction now. honestly, I have no idea how she would react to being told that her son wasn't dead after three years of trying to convince herself that he really was gone.

"what?" she asked, taking a step back and shrugging my hands off her shoulders.

"and he has kendall." I said, letting out the breath that I was apparently still holding. she rubbed her hands up and down her face, walking out of the hallway and into a room that had large plush chairs sitting in the corners, with a nice sized coffee table sitting in between. their house was huge, so this was a room that was unfamiliar to me. on the main level, they typically only used the dining room, living room, kitchen, basic rooms like that.

"what do you mean he has kendall?"

"last night, I stated upstairs with kendall. we went to sleep, and I woke up to her yelling," I paused, taking another deep breath. "there was a guy standing over her, who I soon found out was lijah. kendall told me last night that it wasn't any random guy that brought her back home- it was him. she didn't want to tell you guys yet, because he told her that he would come around soon on his own time. she believed him, and I think she thought that he wasn't a threat to her- even though he was apart of her being taken in the first place. oh, and he was the one who had grace." I told her, waiting to see if she believed the truth.

"what do you mean, 'had grace'?" she asked, obviously confused as to what I was referring to. apparently kendall hadn't told her what happened when they took you there. thanks a lot, ken.

I guided her over to one of the chairs, motioning for her to sit down in one, then kneeling down next to her.

"when they took the girls there, they raped them and abused them." I told her slowly.

she instantly placed one hand over her heart and the other over her mouth, gasping. "oh my god." she said, in absolute shock. "please tell me you're joking. my baby girl did not go through this. no no no." she began to cry.

"amanda, she did, and I'm sorry to do this and make you go through this, but right now I need to know what we have to do." I told her, and she nodded her head, sniffling into a tissue. "have you told the police that she was back yet?"

she shook her head, signaling that she had not.

"do you have a phone number for the detective working with you guys?" I asked her, trying to be gentle with her. she nodded her head, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her robe. she unlocked it, and then dialed he number, handing the phone to me.

after it rang a few times, a groggy voice answered the phone. "this is gary," the man said. "hi, um.. this is hayden, kendall's friend. I'm with amanda right now, and we have some things to tell you about kendall.." I said, my voice trailing off. I put the phone on speaker so amanda could hear what was going on.

"okay, go right ahead." he said, and I heard a pen click in the background.

"you're on speaker. but okay, I'm just going to get to the point.. kendall came back last night. lijah dropped her off, and about fifteen- twenty minutes ago, he came into her room and took her again." I told him all in one breath.

"I thought elijah was dead..?" he said, but it came out as more of a question.

"he apparently faked his death."

"well that's going to be an issue. were you there when he took her?"

"yes sir." I replied.

"I'm going to need you to come down to the station.."