Healing Takes Time

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"What?" Eren finally said, breaking the silence. He looked pale. I almost dropped my fork.

Mom looked grim for the first time in as long as I could remember. It didn't suit her then, and it still doesn't now. She nodded. "She was in the basement."

I placed my palms on the table on either side of my plate on the table. "Wait, wait, wait. Start over again. What?"

Mom sighed, obviously not wanting to repeat it. "Supposedly the owners found out that one of their boats was missing, so they contacted the police. The cops found the boat on the side of the road. They went in the house when nobody answered and searched the house. She was in the basement. She's also the daughter of one of the people vacationing here."

Dad put his hand over Mom's in reassurance.

Mikasa hadn't said a word since receiving the news, but now she spoke. "Didn't her parents notice that she was missing?"

Mom sighed. "I heard that she was notorious for sneaking out. The longest was three days long. Her parents didn't think she would pull a stunt like that here." She shook her head.

"So far they think she snuck out in the middle of the night to meet a guy across the lake," Dad interjected. It wasn't my imagination that both of my parents looked at me. I stared down at my plate. Chicken was my favorite meat, but right now it didn't look appealing at all. (A/N: Okay, so for the past two months all I've wanted was chicken lips. It's getting out of hand to be honest.)

"Anyway," Mom continued. "A lot of people are freaked out and are leaving."

I looked up suspecting where this was going. I clenched my jaw to keep from saying anything i knew that I'd regret later. I found that I didn't want to leave. At first, I thought this trip was going to suck ass and be a complete waste of my time, but I was actually liking it here. It wasn't just the fact that Marco was here either. The people that ran the resort were really nice, and so were the other people visiting. I loved being on the lake--I hadn't been able to swim because of my hatred for pools for years, and the Mississippi wasn't something I'd even think about swimming in. The weather was even perfect. It was always windy and kept the humidity away. I liked the cabin we had too, even though I had to be in the same room as Eren at night.

"We haven't decided if we want to leave yet, but we'd like to ask you guys your opinions on the matter."

I looked up again. Say what? I knew that my parents were usually fair about things, but I hadn't expected them to stick to that rule when a girl was freaking dead.

Mikasa was the first to speak up. "It's probably stupid," she began slowly, "but I want to stay here the rest of our time. You already payed, right?"

"Mikasa, you don't have to worry about--"

She waved her hands in the air. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just saying that you should get your money's worth. And we don't know if it's a serial killer or not. She also snuck out in the middle of the night. It's not like any of us are stupid enough to do that."

The last statement had a sharp edge, and she briefly met my eyes. Was I the scapegoat tonight or something? I bit on the inside of my lip to keep from saying something stupid.

They looked at me next. Dad raised his eyebrow when I failed to answer within five seconds. "Well?"

I shrugged and tried to look as nonchalant as possible. It wasn't like I could let them know that I actually cared. "I'd rather stay here."

"That's it?" he asked. "No explanation?"

I reached up and tugged on my earlobe, a nervous tick I thought I'd finally gotten rid of after years of doing it in elementary and middle school. I guess my dad brings out the worst in me, I thought and hated myself for it. "I like it here. It's too nice to leave just yet," I said, knowing how stupid I sounded.