Blank Girl - (Book One)

Chapter 15 - Girlfriends and Sisters

Greg

Before she had a chance to answer with anything other than a blush, a familiar blonde haired, blue eyed beauty came rushing in. She was slim and stylish and as breathtakingly lovely as always. I hadn't even gotten a chance to sit upright and she proceeded to join me on the sofa. She straddled me and leaned her face in, kissing me like I'd just come home from a war.

When she finally let go, she giggled and then gasped, seeing Cassie staring at us.

"Oh my gosh, how embarrassing!" She scrambled off me and sat up. "Mika said we had a newbie! You must be Cassie."

"Um, yea, I just got here-"

"Amy, Amy Salvatore. I'm Greg's girlfriend." She smiled that sweet smile that suckered me in every time. Amy's lesser power simmered below the surface, but I could still feel the low-level telepathic field coming from her. The Charm sort of slithered away from Amy making Cassie feel instantly comfortable.

"It's nice to meet you." Cassie smiled at Amy, completely oblivious of what Amy was doing to her and then she glanced to me, the sadness in her eyes was so obvious. I didn't need to read her mind to know that her heart was breaking. Nevertheless, her thoughts came through loud and clear. You said you would never lie to me.

Cassie, it's not a lie. If you'll just let me explain-

But she didn't let me finish, she simply excused herself and left, once again commenting how "nice" it was to meet Amy.

"Poor thing, she has a bit of a crush, doesn't she?" Amy sighed, "Ah well, how was your trip?"

"Shit Amy, you are a piece of work, you know that?"

"What did I do?"

"You know you're not my girlfriend and now Cassie thinks I'm a liar and a cheat."

"Oh Greg, I'm as close to a girlfriend as you'll ever get." Amy playfully swatted me on the arm, "It doesn't matter how many others there are, I'm the one you always come back to. You can't help yourself. We were made for each other."

She wasn't completely wrong. I did always come back to her. I don't think I actually loved her, but I did enjoy her company. Amy was a bright, beautiful, and witty girl, even if she did use her ability a bit too freely. And I was the one Amy came back to whenever it didn't work out with someone else. I just never knew if it was convenience, her power to manipulate me (and anyone else she wanted to), or because I actually wanted to be with her. Emily had commented once that we were cut from the same cloth, but I never figured out if that was a compliment or not.

It wasn't like Cassie. With Cassie, the world just sort of fell into place; it was like I could see clearly with terrifying alacrity. With Amy, everything was comfortable. Amy didn't require any work. We knew each other, intimately. It really would be easy to fall back into old patterns with her.

"So, she's not the only one with a crush." Amy frowned, "I won't wait for you, you know."

Without another word, Amy waltzed out. I didn't think she was angry, a little disappointed maybe, but not angry. Amy wasn't the type to stomp and storm about. She was a girl who went after what she wanted and accepted responsibility if it didn't work out in the end. It was one of the many things I admired about her.

-

Dinner came and went, but still Cassie was nowhere to be found. Emily made a snide comment, something about it obviously being my fault that she was gone. I only scowled in response.

"We need to find her. We don't even know if she left the property, and she doesn't know anything about the area. She could be lost or hurt or something."

"We'll give her some time. She's had a long and tiring day. She probably just needs some alone time." My mother answered, "Unless Emily is right and something did happen that might make her not want to be here?"

I didn't answer as we all gathered in the living room.

"Are we just going to leave Jack locked up?" Emily posed the question that had been niggling away at her and my parents. "He did say he was forced into spying on Cassie."

"Go get him then, but he is to be supervised at all times. Between you, and the others, he shouldn't be able to do anything suspicious." My father spoke off-hand, as he was far too busy finding the right news station.

Emily got up to go get Jack, texting as she walked away. She came back with Jack in tow a few minutes later. He looked like he'd been through hell. His black hair was disheveled and there were black bags under his eyes. He gave me a look somewhere between disdain and disgust and plopped down on a wing back chair opposite me. The news anchor was just reporting on a breaking story.

"The grizzly turned bizarre today, in the small city of Rye, New York, a local man, Yoshi Tomatsu killed his wife and then committed suicide with an unknown weapon. Police are still unable to find the unusual murder weapon, but Lieutenant Jacobsen, has gone on the record saying that the murder has taken a back seat in the department for now since both the children are still missing. Their teenaged son John Tomatsu, and daughter Jane Tomatsu are pictured here and amber alerts have been issued. Rye city officials are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the safe recovery of these children or the whereabouts of the mysterious weapon-"

"No." I heard Jack whisper and his voice got louder and louder until he was shouting, "No, no, no, no, no!"

I looked to my father and back to Jack. The picture was a good three or four years old, but that boy was definitely Jack.

"I told you! I told you they would kill them!" Jack cried out. His head was in his hands and the despair was coming off of him in waves. "And now they have, and my sister is gone!"

"Jack calm down," My father spoke sternly as always. "You're saying that was your family in the news report?"

"Yes! I'm John Tomatsu. My father would never kill my mother and now my sister is missing! Don't you see? They did this. They're trying to teach me a lesson. I didn't do what I was supposed to and now they're dead. You have to find my sister. Please. I'll do anything. Please!"

"Jack, of course we will. We don't even know if they have her or if she is somewhere safe." My mother turned off the television and stood. She offered a hand to Jack. "Let's go talk about her, once we know more about who we're looking for, it will be much easier and we can begin the search in earnest."

"Really?" Jack took her hand, looking at her like she was his savior.

"Yes, of course."

He fell in to her with a hug, crying "thank you" over and over again. It seemed like if we could find his sister that his spying wouldn't be an issue anymore. I looked to my father and could see he was thinking the exact same thing. The war for Cassie was beginning now and with the power of a Blank, either side could potentially change the world.

I stood and went to grab a jacket. "I'm going to go look for Cassie."

-

Author's Note - So the winner is entry #6 which is babyamy15 and her character Amy Salvatore with the Compulsion power (and maybe more?) I've cast her as the amazing and lovely AnnaSophia Robb and she will definitely make more appearances.

I was SUPER  excited to write this chapter and smashed it out pretty quick after I used a random number generator to find the winner this morning.

Any thoughts on this new character, Amy Salvatore? She seems to have thrown a wrench into Greg's plans, that's for sure!

How about Jack and his sister? Will they find her before the "Deadly Trio" do?

Any other predictions?

Lastly, a huge and heartfelt thank you to all of my loyal readers. 1.2K views, 210 stars, and 151 comments! You guys are amazing and I love you all!