I Can Hear Your Strength (A Heartstopper FanFic -- BOOK 3)

19. Safer

Willsworthy was a tiny little place in real life too. It was pretty clear where they had to go immediately when they arrived in the hamlet. A swarm of emergency vehicles were surrounding one of the old farm buildings. The sight of them made Tori's heart stop. What might they have found inside?

She climbed out of her dad's car, Tao and Elle in tow, and allowed her mother to take her hand. On any normal day she would have taken issue with this level of contact but today — today they both needed it.

Today. It was now tomorrow, Tori realised as the five of them joined up with Sarah and the others and trudged the short distance to the line of yellow police tape.

"Excuse me!" came a shout. "You can't come through here!"

Sarah had gone to duck under the tape and Jane was about to follow her when a police officer appeared from between the flashing lights.

"Our children are in there," said Sarah. "Let us see our boys."

"We have every right to go anywhere our sons have been taken against their will," Jane snapped. She abandoned Tori's hand to stand beside Sarah, the two of them prickling like the mama bears they were.

Missing the anchor, Tori clung instead to her dad's hand. Julio was pale-faced and quiet in the flickering darkness. He seemed to be doing that thing where he shielded himself from feeling too much on the outside. Not exactly the healthiest coping mechanism, but the Springs weren't exactly known for those.

The officer observed Sarah and Jane not unsympathetically. "Look," he said. "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to let you through for your own safety. And this is an active crime scene."

"Fine," said Sarah. "Then tell us what's going on." She wasn't looking at the officer any more, her gaze instead fixed upon the small amount they could see of the ambulance currently parked in the driveway of the farm building. "What's happening? Where are Nick and Charlie?"

The officer let his eyes fall closed and took a breath. "They're... not here. There's no one here."

Other than a murmured, "What the fuck?" from Darcy, the ten of them stared at the man, struck into silence.

"They must have had a tip-off that we were coming," the officer continued. "But we think the boys may have escaped on their own. The window in the downstairs office has been smashed."

"But is this the right place?" asked Jane. "Did Mr Lange lie?"

"This is the right place," said the officer. "Nick and Charlie were here about twenty-four hours ago."

"How do you know that?" asked Sarah. "How do you know it was them?"

The officer hesitated as if trying to decide how much he could get away with telling them. "They found a coat. And a phone. They both belonged to Charlie Spring."

Julio jolted forward then, dragging Tori along to stand beside Jane. "Let us see them," he gasped. "Charlie's things. We'll be able to tell for certain if they're his or..."

"Julio," said Sarah, her tone as cold and empty as Tori had ever heard. "I think they have tests they can do. DNA and things."

The officers nodded. "Exactly. We found evidence of both your son's DNA on the coat."

Some of the tension visibly drained from Sarah's shoulders. Jane gripped her arm. "Where are they, then?" asked Jane. "Where did they go?"

"We're not sure yet," said the officer. "We have no specifics as to when they escaped and what... what condition they were in when they did so. As I said, the window was smashed and there was blood found at the scene. They could have gotten far or not far at all. Either way, it's freezing out there on the moor, especially at this time of year — and as I said, Charlie left his coat behind."