Fiery Trap

Chapter Nineteen: The Smoky Call

The next day in class, Rachel barely listened to Professor Yu as her concern for Josie preoccupied her mind. In the middle of his lecture, Rachel decided to leave the class and couldn't care less that some students eyeballed her. Officer Charles trailed behind her. Now in the hallway, from behind her Officer Charles said to her, "Why did you leave class?"

"Because I can't just sit there while my friend is out there, missing," Rachel scowled. "I feel responsible for this. I have to do something." She almost burst into tears, but repressed it. Rachel reminisced about last night when Brenda told her what happened, how Josie was kidnapped, once she was done telling the officers. Both of them were at the bowling alley with their fashion organization members at the campus center. Once they were done, they headed toward the dorm parking lot about to pick up Rachel when the burlap-masked individual came from behind Josie's car. With a sickle, he charged after them. (Rachel remembered how terrifying Brenda's voice was as she retold it. The feeling, the experience, flooded back at her again.) Brenda and Josie raced into the woods—Brenda kept interrupting her own story by saying she thought Josie was behind her over and over again. Deep into the woods, Brenda heard a loud moan, which made her sprint faster, and she hid behind a thick-trunked tree. Still hearing moaning noises, Brenda looked furtively around the trunk. From a far distance she saw the burlap wearer tying up Josie on the ground, her legs and her arms behind her back. He then picked her up from the ground and dragged her with him. Brenda felt there was nothing she could've done. She was already too far away to be of help and she had no weapon to fight him off. Fearing he might come back to get her, Brenda went onward till she found a clump of bushes amongst the trees and hid there for almost an hour before she gained the courage to move away from her hiding spot and out of the woods. She immediately called 9-1-1 and shuffled toward the nearby dormitory.

Rachel faced Officer Charles and asked, "Is there any chance she could be alive?" She gazed into his eyes in search for his answer. Was there any hope of finding Josie alive? Rachel thought. She wanted to hear from the officer that they would find her. That there was a zero chance Josie would be hurt or killed. She gazed at him, almost teary eyed. But the officer stood silent. That was all the answer Rachel needed. She burst out crying; her knees weakened as she dropped. The officer caught her quickly, taking her to a nearby bench across the hallway.

"This is all my fault," Rachel kept repeating to herself. "I'll never forgive myself if she's dead. I'll never forgive myself for what I've done." Her heart ached as she pressed her chest, worried she might have a heart attack.

"Stop this, stop this right now," the officer said with a low, forceful tone. "There's a chance she could be found. Don't give up hope yet."

"You're right." Rachel sniffed her nose, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Josie would've been strong for her if she were in her shoes.

"You know the police are in full force all over campus," Officer Charles stated. "We'll find her." Rachel nodded her head, although her eyes were downcast to the floor. The brownish-red carpet reminded her of blood. She looked away. She thought about Dominic; she was planning to call him. She remembered last night when Dominic heard the news, how devastated he was, how he kept screaming, angry at himself, while Rachel hugged him tightly, trying to calm him down, crying all the while. Dominic then went to his place alone to call his parents. Dominic hadn't called her since. Now Rachel stood up, feeling calmer, knowing she needed to be strong for Dominic too.

On the building bulletin board, the missing posters of Josie were already displayed. Rachel remembered the dress that Josie wanted to show her so badly. It all seemed meaningless now. She longed for her return. She needed to do something; she needed to help Dominic search for his sister. She called him.