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THIRTEEN - Aiden

"Avery? Avery, are you there?"
"She's not in here." Axel said, peeking his head through the doorway.
"Where is she?"
"Does she have her location turned on for you? Is there any way you can see where she is or has been?"
"That's... that's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that? God, I'm so stupid." I cried. Axel hurried over to me and took me in his arms. "Hey," he whispered. "Don't be so hard on yourself, this is stressful for you. Just check your phone." We pulled away and I scrambled through my phone before finally finding something I'd never once thought to be so important. "Well, did you find anything?" he asked.
"Yeah, actually I did. We need to go, like, now."
"Where is she?"
"I'll explain on the way there. Get in my car."

"Aiden, you're scaring me."
"She's in her house."
"What?"
"Yeah."
"Why would she be there?"
"Is it not obvious to you?"
"Is what not obvious to me?"
"Jake: I always knew there was something off about him."
"Jake as in, Jake her boyfriend?"
"Fiancé." I corrected through gritted teeth. A silence hovered over us.
"Look, I get you might not like him, but that doesn't mean you can accuse him of something like this." Axel said.
"What else would it be?" I snapped. "Avery wouldn't just walk home without telling us! And then that phone call, that wasn't like her at all."
"Aiden-"
"No, Axel. Can't you just trust me for once?" he didn't reply. A few guilty seconds ticked by. "I'm sorry for being so moody. I'm just really worried about her." Again, there was no reply. The rest of the car ride was painfully silent.

We arrived outside and I'd never seen Axel move so fast. He pounded his fist against the door as I jogged up the stairs to the porch. He went to knock on the door again when the doorknob turned slowly. "Hello, can I help you?"
"Are you James?" I asked quickly.
"No. I'm Damon Adams, are you a friend of James'?"
"We're actually friends and in my case, the brother of Avery Turner."
"Please give me a second." he closed the door. Axel and I stood in silence. The door opened again. "She's not here."
"You're lying." Axel said.
"She isn't here."
"You're lying." he repeated.
"Axel, I wouldn't do this if I were you." I warned.
"It's your sister, Aiden," he looked at me in disbelief. "You said you were worried about her, so do something." Without another word, he barged past Damon. Immediately, my jaw dropped in shock; Damon was a rather big guy, and Axel, not so much. "I am so sorry about my b...est friend." I said. Damon did nothing but stare at me intently. I flashed him another apologetic smile before also pushing past him, chasing after Axel.

"Avery!" I exclaimed.
"Help me." She struggled.
"Who's doing this to you?" Axel said. Avery didn't reply, she only looked towards the ceiling. "I swear, whoever's doing this is going to pay." Axel frowned.
"Don't." Avery warned in a harsh whisper.
"What? Why?"
"Just get me out of here and I'll explain." Axel untied her and we slowly made our way out to the door, where we were met by Damon. "I'm afraid I can't let you go."
"Well tough luck," Avery said forcefully. "Because we're going." As Damon moved to block our path, Avery punched him in the nose, leaving blood dripping down past his chin. He wiped it off, blood smeared across his pretty face, and looked down at Avery in anger, but she was one step ahead of him. "I don't think so." Her foot met an area that I know he did not want it to meet. "Ouch." I said, staring at the muscly man curled up into a ball on the floor. I chuckled lightly. "That's my sister." I said to him, walking out of the door behind the other two.

When I got in the car, I stared intently at Avery, waiting for answers. "Well, drive." she said. I turned the key and pulled off. "I don't really know what happened, but Jake is up to something."
"No sh-"
"Axel, watch your mouth." Avery interrupted.
"I'm an adult, you can't tell me what to do."
"Whether you like it or not, I will; I don't condone swearing."
"Whatever, get on with what you were saying." he said, rolling his eyes.
"Damon took me, he was in your apartment, Axel."
"He was what?!" Axel exclaimed.
"I'm being serious. I don't know how he got in, but he picked me up and put me in the boot of his car."
"I thought that only happened in movies." I said.
"So did I," Avery agreed. "But clearly we thought wrong."
"I don't know about you guys, but I need some time to process everything that's happened today. How do we feel about a trip to Tilly's?"
"Sounds good to me." Avery smiled. Both of them looked at me with pleading eyes.
"Sure," I said. "Why not."