I'll keep you safe

Chapter 119

Three hours had gone by. Three. Whole. Hours.

Eddie had heard nothing from Rachel. No call, no text. Nothing. She had just vanished completely, and Eddie didn't know why. It scared him. It was out of character for her to do something like this. The last time she had disappeared on Eddie, she had been attacked and raped by Stuart Hordley, and Eddie had found her unconscious on her bathroom floor.

There had to be a reasonable explanation, right? Eddie wished he could come up with one to calm his racing mind.

He was worried, especially because she hadn't been feeling well. Even if she was feeling better, she wasn't exactly fit to drive. The nausea and dizziness was there one minute and gone the next, it came on unexpectedly and without warning. It made driving dangerous.

He'd called her at least fifty times now. Every call had gone to voicemail. He'd sent multiple text messages, all had gone unread. He'd even driven around Rochdale, searching for her car. Nothing.

The last time he saw her kept replaying in his mind.

They'd been with Linda in the car park. Rachel's phone had started to ring, she'd walked away to answer it. After that, she'd vanished. Eddie couldn't help but feel that her going AWOL had everything to do with that phone call.

He just wanted to know that she was alright. That she wasn't hurt.

"Have you heard anything?" Philip asked, walking into the kitchen

"Nothing" Eddie sighed, shaking his head

"I'm sure she's ok. She probably just... had an emergency" Philip reasoned

Eddie wanted to believe that. He really did. But he was struggling. She wouldn't dash off without telling him where she was going. A few months ago, when her guard was still up, she would have. But not now.

Had he done something?

Had he said something?

Philip wouldn't admit it, but he was worried too. He was trying to mask it for Eddie's sake. Rachel didn't do things like this, even he knew that.

He'd been planning on going out tonight with his friends, but he'd changed his plans and stayed home with Eddie. He wanted to make sure Rachel was ok. They'd kept themselves occupied. They'd been to the Supermarket to do a food shop, and they'd both sat in the living room, doing homework and marking. They had watched their phones the entire time, hoping for any kind of communication from Rachel. Of course they'd heard nothing, so Eddie was now in the kitchen, making pasta for him and Philip for dinner. He planned to save some for Rachel to have... whenever she decided to turn up.

"Did she not tell you anything at all?" Philip checked, sitting at the table

Eddie shook his head, stirring the pasta.

"Nothing. She got a phone call...and then she just vanished"

Philip sighed.

"I'll give her another hour. If she's not back by then, I'll go out and look for her again" Eddie added

Philip nodded.

Eddie dished up the pasta onto two plates, leaving a third portion on the stove for Rachel. He sat down at the table with Philip, both of them tucking into their dinner. Eddie glanced at the clock. It was 6:30pm. He couldn't help but wonder where Rachel was, what she was doing, if she was safe.

...

One hour later...

Rachel pulled up on the drive, the car grinding to a gentle stop.