Bedburg Hills

55

JACE POV

I front door opened back up and Kira walked in with Jessica.

"Jace we need to talk to you," Kira whispered, "in private." I stood up and walked into the kitchen. 

"What's up?" I asked. 

"Remember how Jessica was having that bad feeling?" she asked, "it's why I went to meet her."

"Yeah," I nodded, "what happened?" 

"Well Justin has been having the same feeling," she explained, "so at first we thought it was Grace but when we called the school and she was there and safe. So then we-"

"It's Esme isn't it?" I sighed while my hands pushed against my head, "isn't it?" 

"We don't know for sure," Jessica shook her head, "but we do think it is the case."

"What are we going to do about Justin?" I asked, "you know he's going to absolutely flip his shit when he realizes she's missing, if she is. How are we even supposed to figure it out? We don't know where she lives." 

"No but Justin does," Kira nodded, "I will have to talk to him about it or something. I just don't want him to worry if he doesn't have to." I nodded my head and like clockwork in walked Justin. 

"Hey!" he said, "I'm gonna head out of here soon for a little bit. I'm going to go see Esme." He ran up the stairs before anyone could say anything. I turned to them, both unsure what to do. 

"Should he just let him figure it out?" Jessica asked, "like should we let him leave and if he comes back saying she's missing then we will know."

"No," Kira stood, "I'll go talk to him." I watched as she walked past us and up the stairs. I listened closely. She walked through the door. 

"Justin," she said, "can I talk to you about something?" 

"What's up?" he asked.

"So Jess has been having a bad feeling too," she explained, "similar to yours. Since you are also having it, we think whatever is wrong is associated with you. At first we thought maybe something was wrong with Grace but when he called the school and was told she was fine we- well, we thought that maybe it was about-"

"Esme?" he asked, "you think something is wrong with her?" He pushed by her, running out of the room, "I have to go! I'll be back!" He ran down the stairs and out the back door. 

"Oh shit," I sighed, "that did not go as planned I'm sure." I watched for her to walk out, when she finally did she looked sad, defeated. She walked down the stairs. 

"That did not go the way I wanted it to," she shook her head, "I assume he will be back shortly to let me, us, know." A couple hours passed and the back door opened. 

"She's gone," he rushed in anxiously, "she's no where in the woods. I can't catch her scent, I can't hear her, I- I couldn't find her. She's not  at home but I- I found a somewhat fresh deer that she killed by her home. I-"

"Relax," Kira walked over and wrapped her arms around him, "it'll be okay. We're going to find her." 

Grace walked out from her room, "Justin what's wrong?" 

"Nothing," he cleared his throat, "nothing's wrong. Everything is fine, just go play." She stood at the top of the stairs for a few minutes before going back to her room. 

"We have to find her," Justin started talking again, "I have to find her." 

"We will," I stood up, "maybe the girls can perform a locator spell of something. Do you have anything of hers?" 

"Oh my god I am so happy you brought that up," he reached in his backpocket and pulled out a scrunchy, "I brought this for that exact reason." Kira took it from him and walked over to the kitchen table. Jessica helped her setup everything and before long the two of them joined hands. Justin dripped his blood onto the map and the candles lit up. 

The two of them muttered a spell and when the candles went out, they unlinked their hands to look at the map. 

"What the hell is she doing there?" Justin asked while looking, "that's almost two hours away."

"I don't know," Kira sighed, "but we need to go." Justin took off up the stairs and to his room. I could hear him rummaging around. Before long he made his way back down. 

"I'm leaving," he said, "I can't wait." 

"Go," Kira nodded, "just be smart. We will be right behind you." He nodded and left the house. 

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let him alone?" I asked. 

"Jessica I need you to portal us there," I turned, "if he wants to run, he's gonna run but that doesn't mean we have to. Come on." Jessica stood and warped a portal which me and Jace stepped through. 

"Be safe," Jessica smiled, "I'll take Grace tomorrow morning. I'll see you guys later and you know how to get ahold of me if you need me. I love you. Be safe." 

"I love you too," Kira smiled while waving, "thank you so much Jess." The portal disappeared and we were standing in the woods behind a house. I could smell Esme inside. "She's in there," Kira nodded. 

"I agree," I said, "I can smell her." By the time Justin arrived we had a plan set in stone. 

"How did you guys get here so fast?" he walked up to us. 

"Jessica portaled us here," Kira explained, "had you waited a couple minutes you'd already have been here." 

"Well excuse me," he growled, "I'm scared out of my mind right now." He caught her scent and snapped his attention to the house, "she's in there."

"Me and Jace will distract," she explained, "we will literally go up and knock on the door. The basement door is around the back, I assume that's where she is. You can go in there after we knock on the door. That way you can get her out and we can hopefully leave within ten minutes."

"Good plan," Justin nodded, "ready?" 

"Take it off!" the three of us heard, "take it off! Get it off of me! Please take it off!" 

"Please!" she screamed out again, "please take it off!"

"Esme!" Justin shot up. 

"Justin wait!" Kira stood and ran after him.

Fuck fuck! FUCK! I stood and took off after them.