Tutor

Forty Nine

Odell

I can't describe how fast my heart seemed to be pounding against my chest as we headed towards Portland. The police suggested we stay back in LA but there wasn't any chance I was letting that happen. I couldn't just stand back and wait. I need to be there when they find Demi.

"We're pulling onto the road now" I glanced to Marissa who was staring out the car window, nervously nibbling on her nail. I nudged her lightly and she turned to me. She flashed me a smile, her eyes though were full of worry. What are they going to find? "We need you both to stay in the car" Officer James turned to us as he brought the car to a stop in front of the lake house.

"I..." I went to argue but the look he gave me made me back down. I nodded, sighing in defeat. Officer James and Henry climbed out of the car and met up with the rest of the team.

"I'm so scared, Odell" I glanced to Marissa who now had tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Me too" her eyes turned to meet mine. I shuffled myself into the middle seat and locked my arms around me. She nuzzled her face into my neck and began to softly cry. Even as the tears poured down my cheeks, I never once removed my eyes from the lake house front door. I felt so many emotions as I sat there. I felt sadness, worry, anger, fear, excitement. Every single emotion made me nauseous. Am I going to see Demi step through this door? Is she going to be carried through the door? Is she...? Don't go there, Odell. I tightened my grip on Marissa as I tried to hold in my worried sobs. Even as my tears grew worse, I didn't remove my eyes from the door. I need to see her come out.

It felt like forever until someone emerged from the house, officers trickled out and I pulled away from Marissa in the hopes of seeing Demi. I could feel myself becoming excited. I imagined how I'd run up and take her into my arms. I'd kiss every inch of her face and hold onto her so tight. I will vow to never let anyone hurt her again. I will vow to protect her and our baby for the rest of my life. Officer James stepped from the house and nobody else followed. Where's Demi?

"It's empty" my heart plummeted into my stomach. I refused to sit in the car any longer so I climbed out, Marissa hot on my tail.

"What the fuck do you mean it's empty?"

"Mr Beckham, I told you..."

"I'm not staying in the car" he stared at me for a moment before he sighed and turned to face the rest of the team.

"There is evidence that someone has been in the house. The car in the driveway shows that he's on foot unless somebody else is involved. We need to start searching these woods" I sighed as I glanced around, the forest was surrounding us, in every direction there were miles of trees. This is going to take forever.

"I'm going with you."

"Me too" Marissa piped in. Officer James knew that he couldn't convince me otherwise so he pulled a flashlight from his holster.

"Okay, Officer Henry and I, with Mr Beckham and Miss Callahan will go in this direction. Officer..." I zoned out as he started to reel off everyone's names and assigned them to a certain area of the forest. Marissa leant herself against my side and sighed, tears still silently pouring down her cheeks. I wrapped my arm around her, only removing it as we headed into the forest.

It slowly started to get dark and it was becoming increasingly difficult to find anything. We had been walking around aimlessly for over 2 hours. We haven't found anything. I'm slowly starting to lose all hope. I glanced to Marissa who was trailing behind, her shoulders slumped forward. The more we walked and didn't find anything, the harder my heart broke. I can't lose my everything. I can't lose Demi and our baby. I can't.

"It's getting harder to find anything. I think we need to turn back" I rapidly shook my head as I turned to Officer Henry.

"I'm not leaving her. For all we know, she could still be out here. You can go back but I'm not" I continued forward, shining the flashlight on the ground so that I could see where I was walking. I caught sight of something hanging from a branch.

"Odell?" I pulled the piece of fabric off the branch and turned. "Wait, that..." Marissa stopped herself as she stepped up to me. "That's the same fabric of the dress Demi was wearing, right?" I nodded, glancing to the officers over Marissa's shoulder.

"She's here. She's in these woods and I'm not leaving until we find her. That may be with her alive or-or not, but I'm not leaving here without her" a silence fell around us.

We all jumped as a gunshot sounded not too far in the distance. My eyes widened and I glanced to Marissa who had her hands clamped over her mouth, her eyes wide and full of tears.

"This way" we followed behind Officer James. He had pulled out his gun and was holding it out in front of him. My heart pounded against my chest as we headed towards where we think we heard the gunshot sound from. It's difficult to know when you're in a forest surrounded by trees. We eventually came to a clearing and the first thing my eyes landed on was Elliot. He was lying on the ground, leant back against a boulder, a sadistic smirk spreading across his face. He had his hand clamped on his stomach that was covered in blood.

"Look who's finally here" he pathetically chuckled. I frantically searched around for any sign of Demi but there wasn't one. "Looking for your little girlfriend?" my eyes darted back to Elliot who was now widely smiling. "I'm afraid you're a little too late. She's already gone" No. His sick laughter filled the air.

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