𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓 ✞𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑘𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑧✞

part thirty-seven

"Maybe she went somewhere else?" Gustav remarked semi-optimistically from beside Tom, sighing with a slight smile. In response, Tom glared to him before attempting the door once more, frustrated in finding it wouldn't budge. Bill shrugged, raising his brows over to Gustav in a signal to just let him cool off.

Being here for twenty or so minutes, the group were growing increasingly worried and frustrated on Robyn's porch, each taking it in turns to attempt to open her front door, each time saddened to find it robustly locked.

"Fuck!" Tom exclaimed, aggressively slamming his fist against the wood of the door with a deep exhale. Lena flinched at the sight of him, now seeing how much he truly cared and how deeply this was affecting him. She shot a concerned glance over to Georg who alternated his vision between her and Tom.

"What about that window?" Bill suddenly exclaimed, leaping from his position on the porch step and signalling for the remaining group to follow his lead to the side of the house.

"We can't just break into-"Lena began, her footsteps trudging behind them before she swiftly swallowed her words at the sight of Bill pushing the window frame upward. Seeing him struggle, Tom was quick to join him, groaning and squinting his eyes shut as they attempted to manoeuvre the stiff panel. Aged, it wined and barely budged, creating yet another barrier between Tom and Robyn.

"Fucking help then" Tom barked, shaking his wrists slightly as he exhaled. Obeying him, the group all found a side of the wood to grasp, shuffling their bodies close together in order to push it upward.

"On three... One, Two,Three. Push!" Bill instructed, hearing as the group of teenagers all audibly struggled, using their whole body weight.

Eventually, the wood shifted, tough at first but then sliding upward softly until there was a large enough gap for each person to fit through.

"What if someone else is in there?" Lena questioned, pressing her hand against Tom's chest to stop him from his impulsive decision. "Think about it"

"Think about it?" he snapped, "Were you not just there right now? Did you not just see what happened? She has no one." he snarled at her, his eyes dark and serious as he pushed past her and slid through the small opening in the window.

Darkened inside, her house was barren; vacant of any light, warmth or life as he crept through. Gustav closely followed behind him, grunting slightly as he slid through the gap and split from Tom to cover more ground and find her.

"Robyn?" Tom called out, his eyes rapidly searching the houses interior for the girl.

"She's not down here. Try upstairs" Gustav spoke, his expression a similar tone of genuine concern as he looked back at Tom. He nodded in understanding before moving over to the staircase and ascending to the first floor, hearing how the wood beneath his sneakers wailed and echoed his drumming heart beat.

He pressed his fingernails deeper into his palms as he traveled through the darkness, hesitating in her bedroom doorway before stepping in.

Beneath the contorted blanket of shadows and silhouettes, her room was bare and lifeless like a shadow itself. He scanned rapidly, pulling her misshapen sheets to side and pushing her closet open. She wasn't here.

Then, his eyes fell upon the slither of yellow light that extended from the bathroom door, thin and sharp. He exhaled, unsure of what to expect on the other side of the door, his hands shaking slightly on the knob before he spoke.

"Robyn?" he spoke softly, his voice wavering as flashes of her glossed eyes appeared in his mind.

There was no reply. Silence.

He repeated her name once more and no response followed. Panic rising inside him, he took a deep breath and twisted the knob, pushing on the hard wood of the door and gingerly peering inside.

His eyes rapidly darted around the room, only to find she was not here at all. She was nowhere. She had disappeared.

~*~

Jesse swerved rapidly from side to side as Jay egged him on from the passengers side. Still drunk, his hands remained glued to the steering wheel, his shoulders twisting from side to side as he steered poorly. Tires screeching, he recklessly sped from Olan's house, a cool beer poised in one hand as he steered with the other. Similarly, Jay spat the cap off of his own beer and began to chug it.

"That must've felt so fucking good man" Jesse spoke between drinks, his eyes lazily flicking between the road and Jay.

"Yeah, finally everyone knows" Jay practically sung, his expression radiant with heat and happiness.

The two conversed inside Jesses car for ten minutes as they drove, the windows all rolled down as the cold summer air funnelled in and emerged around them.

It being three am, the outside world grew dark and lifeless in the early morning darkness, the sky transcending into a blueish- black gradient, with only the silhouettes of houses and street lamps being apparent against it.

Seeing this, Jay smiled to himself, feeling the euphoria wash over him as he draped his hand out of the window, the rush of cold wind brushing against his skin. Their secret was finally out in the open, and because of this, he was confident Robyn would never see Tom again.

"Is that her?" Jesses voice sounded, breaking through his subconscious and causing him to snap his head in his direction.

"Who?" he questioned, pausing the thumping music and squinting in the darkness to concentrate.

"Robyn- right there." he demonstrated, oi stretching his finger from the wheel in the direction of a singular street lamp.

Swerving slightly, Jesse slowed as they drew closer, Jay now recognising the familiar shadow slumped beneath the street light. His eyes scanned rapidly over the figure, seeing how it clutched a black duffel bag and remained limp and lifeless hunched over her knees.

Jesse came to a stop, the engine shutting off as they paused, leaning over to see her.

Jay grimaced seeing how a pool of vomit collected at her side, the remnants of it streaming down her cheek and jaw.

Now, he pushed open his passenger door and shakily stepped out, his steps unstable as he drew closer.

"Rob?" he questioned into the light, now seeing her limp state in clear focus.

The familiar cotton of Elliot's jumper draped loosely over her body, her exposed skin appearing almost blue and ice-like. He paused, crouching down slightly to her side.

The palm of his finger connected to her forehead, tracing over it slightly as he felt her complexion as cold as ice. Her eyes remained tightly closed, her thick lashes casting small shadows over her under eyes, now shallow with dries tears and blue, bruise-like shadows. She looked exhausted.

"Rob" he repeated louder this time, shaking her shoulder slightly beneath the street lamp.

She didn't reply, only her body shook lifelessly beneath his touch.

Panic arose inside him as he continued to shake her, watching how she gradually grew more limp and immobile beneath the bright light, the surrounding darkness enclosing around them.

She had truly gone too far this time.