We found Jakes crashed car on an intersection. Arabella crying to the right. Jake nowhere to be seen. Madison and Zoe rushed to Arabella. I heard her sobbing.
"It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault." She cried into Zoe's shoulder. Madison tried to comfort her as well. I saw Jakes parents pull up behind me and burst out of their truck. Asking all the policemen and paramedics the same question.
"Where's MY SON?!?!"
So they responded to their question, "Sir, Ma'm we don't know where your son is, can you identify that this is his vehicle?"
-
My head pounded, I saw Elliot and Isabelle to my right, scanning for either Arabella or Jake. Neither of them to be seen anywhere.
"Do you guys remember what today is?" I asked. They all looked puzzled.
"What do you mean? It's May 17th." Elliot responded.
"What happened last year May 17th?"
"Oh my god. You don't think they went there did they?" Zoe shook as she spoke.
"What are you guys talking about?" Isabelle was confused. I looked at Madison, then Zoe. They knew exactly what I was talking about. I turned my car keys, and instead of sitting doing nothing like we had been. I headed to the only place I could imagine they could be.
-
We pulled up to the site where one year ago exactly. Jake had crashed his car. Then disappeared. Arabella was there before we were. We don't know how or why, but Arabella knew that Jake had been in an accident. Jakes blood was in the car, but there was no way he could have survived. So they figured they'd find his body somewhere around. He was nowhere to be found. When he came back a week later, he didn't tell us what happened, although he limped, and acted distant. Arabella always seemed like she knew more than she was telling us." I explained.
"So we decided to keep everything between the 5 of us and his parents, until now." Madison added.
"I get how this has to do with them disappearing but why? It doesn't quite make sense."
"Because Arabella knew where I went." A voice behind us stated. We all turned expecting to see Jake, but damn, were we wrong.
-
"Jake? What happened that night?" I asked. It had been a few months, I felt like he was ready to talk.
"Which night?" He brushed it off. I'm not sure he exactly knew what I was talking about. It was a broad statement.
"May 17th?"
"Doesn't ring a bell. Why?" How did it not ring a bell? He was in a car accident and disappeared for a week.
"The night of your accident." I stated it outright. He looked at me and had confusing and surprise in his eyes. I was expecting a 'I don't wanna talk about it' or a 'you heard?' 'Arabella told you?' But I didn't get any of those.
"What accident?"
"Jake you were in a car accident."
"No, I wasn't. Dustin what the hell are you talking about?"
"Then who.."
"Dustin. What are you talking about."
So I told him, everything that I knew. That Arabella texted Madison, Zoe and I, that Jake had been in an accident at an intersection. How Arabella knew before anyone else, how he had disappeared for a week, which I started to believe less and less.
"I was gone for a week in May last year because" then he stopped. I knew the look on his face, he was thinking, thinking of a lie to cover up where he actually was. And if it's one thing I'm known for, it's being blunt about everything, saying whatever's on my mind. So that's exactly what I did.
"Save it Jake, you don't need to lie to me. You've done enough of it."
-
We turned to see a familiar figure standing behind us.
"Adam? What the hell are you doing here? What the hell are you talking about?" Madison sounded hostile.
"Arabella and Jake weaved a mess here didn't they." He looked towards the tree where Jakes truck ran into a year ago. He walked over the tree. "Oh I remember, but I don't think you guys do." He looked at Madison, Zoe, then me.
"Remember what?" Madison was getting aggressive.
"I'll tell you all about it. Arabella had me crash Jakes truck into a tree, because she had something on me. So I followed along. Jake was gone for a week because he was with Arabella." I cut him off.
"Wait, so you're telling me, Arabella faked a car accident to have a week long sleepover with Jake?"
"I never said your friend was very smart, or morally correct. I agree with you, I really do. What she did was just fucked up."
"No, what you did was fucked up, you agreed." His hand poked out of the sleeve of his black leather jacket, and he pointed straight to me.
"And who's plan did I follow? And don't act like your innocent in all of this Dustin. This all happened because of you." Elliot, Isabelle, Madison, and Zoe all looked at me.
"What is he talking about?" Madison asked, still hostile.
"Yeah, Dustin, why did this happen, what did Arabella have on me? Why did I have to follow her plan? I'm sure you'll know."
And I did, I knew exactly what Adam was talking about, I knew exactly why he had to follow what Arabella had planned. In a way, I was proud of her, it was beautifully terrible, it messed with a lot of peoples heads. I also knew I was the root of the problem.
Because Arabella knew.
-
Authors note:
Italics = Flashbacks
So yeah, that happened. Cliff hangers are my favorite. What about you?
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