The Part of Me That You Don't See~a Dance Moms Maddie AND Mackenzie story~

Ch 34- Determination

James' POV: A mix of emotions were swirling around in my mind. The hate for my parents for not telling me. The worry for Mackenzie, but I was going to find her. I was walking down the street, hands in my pockets, ignoring the rain. I decided to go to Mackenzie's house. I knew she wouldn't be there but I just wanted to get as close to a part of her as I could.  I rounded the corner and saw her towering white house, rain streaming down the roof, and I saw Maddie's window. I was hoping she'd be sitting at her desk, but of course she wasn't. I just kept walking. That's all I thought about. Seriously. I concentrated putting one foot in front of the other on the cold grey sidewalk and tried to shove all other thoughts out of my mind. 

By an hour later my feet were aching and I was just outside the city limits. There was a little forest off to my left with a dilapidated rusty park bench under a towering oak tree, dripping with the previous rain. I decided to sit there, no thoughts of going home even entering my mind. 

I pulled out my phone and realized I had 36 missed calls from my mom and my dad. I scrolled through the list, not caring. In fact I hoped they were scared. They deserve it. There's just some things parents don't get. They say they get it, but they don't. Ugh. I hate parents. 

I was going through and deleting each individual voice mail without even caring to listen to it. Mom, mom, dad, dad, dad, mom, etc, but then I came across one at the very bottom. Unknown number. Curiously I held my phone up to my ear and pressed, listen.

I heard some muffling and strange noises. Then I heard,

"James, help. Please, I need you." 

Mackenzie's voice spoke through the phone, jolting my heart. I stood up, barely aware of my surroundings, just focusing on her voice.

" I'm in a woods," she croaked weakly making my heart break. 

"I think it- I think it's the one just outside the city, you know, about a 45 minutes drive." 

My breath was coming in big gulps now and the adrenaline was flowing through my veins. She was in the woods I stood in right now.

"Oh- there's something else I should tell you," She said but then the recording stopped and was replaced with a smooth woman's voice, startling me. 

"Low battery. Please connect to a power source." The lady said through my phone and then the screen went black. I stared at it in anger for a split second.

Then I heard the first ear- splitting scream pierce through the air. I threw my phone and started running. I needed to get to her.