One by One

Chapter 4- Something's not right

The next day I woke up as usual, brushed my teeth, took a mean clean shower, picked out some clothes, put them on, went down for breakfast, ate, and waited for Devon, who never showed up. This was new. He had never stood me up before, well not exactly stood me up, maybe his car broke down? This was unlike him in so many ways. I decided to head over to his house, since that seemed to be the only option I had left. I knock on his front door but no one answers. His car still sits in his garage and things just don't seem to add up. Somethings not right. I sit down on his dry porch and think. Did his dad do something to him? We texted till 2 last night, he sent me the last text then I drifted into slumber land. I try calling him only for his phone to go straight to voicemail. I look under the mat for his spare key. Bingo! Devon's garden didn't exactly looked like it was taken care of but he made an effort to put some potted plants around, which made it looked even sadder. I could smell alcohol on his porch and in an instant I knew it was his dad. That asshole he is.

The house looked messed up, newspapers on the floor, couch moved around, glass table had a crack, curtain ripped and god, blood on the counter. Something happened here because the last time I was here, it was messy alright but not this messy. Just then I hear someone snore, and I walk straight into the bathroom because it gets louder as I make my way further in. the smell of blood and alcohol reaches my nose and I sneeze, stupid perk of mine. Devon's father, in the tub, glass shards everywhere from a bottle of alcohol, no blood on him but there's definitely blood on the floor and I can feel my stomach turn at the thought of it being Devon's.

"Mr. Edwards, where's Devon?" I said, trying to hide the fear in my voice. I wanted to know what happened, but I didn't all at the same time.

He didn't answer me, all he did was move about in the tub. "Mr. Edwards! Wake up and tell me where your son is!" I yell, this is not happening. I pull at my hair out of frustration at this human being in front of me who left his son to fend the world on his own, to let him deal with all the shit a father should be dealing with. This man was making me sick.

Then he wakes up, groggy from a massive hangover, serves you right. "Mr. Edwards, I can't find Devon, where is he?" I ask calmly.

"Devon? Who the fuck is Devon? Piss off bitch", He said, and I'm done. He doesn't know where the hell he is and I'm stuck here trying to find my boyfriend whose house is torn up into pieces with a piece of shit weighing him down in a bathtub that smells of piss. He's not helping me.

I walk around this shithole of madness, finding drops of blood on the floor fearing to know who it belonged to. The smell of Portland was not helping, the fresh air out? Smelled stale as ever and the one sunny day I thought this was going to be was turning gray. As I walk into Devon's room, that's were I find a note. His room even messier than his living room looked as if someone had gotten into a fight here. My head started spinning as the puzzle I was in started making sense. The enormous feeling of lost I've known all my life found its way to my heart and it pained even more as I read the note.

Dear Emily,

We have your beloved boyfriend who put up quite a fight. Such a pretty face, shame. We have him and that's going to stay that way if you don't tell us where your mom hid the thing we have been looking for. Meet us downtown at 11 tonight in the alley next to the cafe where your darling boyfriend works. Bring it to us if you want to see him again. Oh one more thing, if you try to call the Feds, maybe the Bureau, CIA who knows who the fuck you might call, remember, we have a bullet to his head, just a pull of a trigger and its adios.

My blood ran cold, my feet stayed glued onto the floor. My body tensed up as if a flinch would cause the world to swallow me up. This was not good. Who the hell has Devon? And who the hell knows my real name? This can't be happening. After all this years, my mother and I will have to see eye to eye for whatever thing these people want. Why?