Pattern

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

/Prudence/

Hanna Arkin's best friend was crying this morning in school - apparently she hadn't heard from her at all. My dad's attempt at keeping the girl's identity a secret had failed, it was too small a town to hide anything major.  For the first time, I realised it was possible she was actually missing and in danger. 

Madi seemed a little hyped too, though she'd never even talked to the girl, she knew her friend's friend, who was also pretty upset. "I'm sure it's nothing, though," I said, not as certain as I could have been. "This is Oakwood, it's not like people go around abducting schoolgirls." Madi looked at me, her even stare dramatic. "But," She whispered. "What if it becomes that?"

"Oh, I'm terrified."

"You should be, your dad is a promotion away from being sherriff. They might try to get to him by getting to you."

"The only people my father has arrested are shoplifters, junkies, and Avery Watts. Something tells me no one has a terrible, undying grudge against him."

Madi sighed. "You're right. Our lives are so boring. How about a road trip to Vegas on Spring Break?" 

"You can tell my dad that before we go, he might think I was kidnapped."

Madi began to giggle, then stopped. "Oh gosh, that's mean. Hanna Arkins could be dead and we're laughing about it." Technically, she was laughing about it, I was just being sarcastic. But I nodded. "You're right. Our lives are boring. We can have a beauty day on Saturday."

Typically, her gaze lit up. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm in dire need of a manicure." 

Sometimes, I wasn't sure if I was a tomboy or girly. Being raised by just my dad, I was a little slow to become a skirt-wearing, shiny-haired makeup artist of a teenage girl, but I'd gotten there. But before that, I'd been a cop-in-training. My dad played no part, I did it all myself. I signed myself up for karate at seven, self-defense at fourteen, and I'd been doing archery for years ( I still do now, but everyone teases me for it). My grades were average but I was fit - not strong, but not completely defenseless. I'd been telling my dad I was going to be 'just like him' since I was something like five, but he'd never encouraged the idea. I'd always wondered why.

When school ended, I walked home with Madi, Esther and Dylan as usual, but they were discussing Hanna Arkins (like the rest of the town, I imagine). "It's probably nothing," I said, after minutes of their worried discussion. "But still, I guess it's good to be careful. Madi and Dylan left first, but when it was Esther's time to go, she lingered, seeming uncertain. "Are you sure you're okay to walk home alone? I can walk with you."

"It's three blocks, and if you did, you'd be walking home alone. I'll be fine." She went to move, but still looked unsure, so I added "I'm a cop's kid, I've a knife in my bra." 

She left then, with a meek little wave.

--

I didn't really shove knives down my bra in case, but thinking about it, it seemed like  a great idea. We had two guns in our house - my dad's work one, and the one in case of robbery, which was locked away. Guns were cool, I could admit that, but I didn't like them. Their sole purpose was to injure, and they nearly always killed. At least knives had other uses. Like chopping vegetables.

I got home without being attacked (yay), and remembered my key (double yay), so let myself in. Reluctantly, I began my homework, Bellamy sitting on the ground beside me with her tail wagging. Then I made dinner, watched at least hour of TV, and wondered why, at half nine, my father wasn't back. Only then did I actually begin to worry. What if Hanna had really been kidnapped or murdered? And the person who did it didn't want the case to be looked into? 

"Walkies!" I shouted, so abprubtly that Bellamy jumped, but then realised the meaning of the word and got excited. It was so dark out that I instantly regretted the decision. I'd probably end up being abducted myself. Nonetheless, I had an over-friendly border collie to accompany me who could lick anyone to death.

 There was an eery silence to accompany the darkness. I wasn't cold - I had brought a jacket- but I felt like shivering. I don't usually go out alone at night. I made my pace fast, dragging Bell away from random trees dogs enjoy sniffing and continuing on my way. But the hairs on the back of my neck rose suddenly and I had a terrible feeling that someone was following me. I continued walking, blocking out the sound of any footsteps that I thought I could hear. But they were still there. 

Everytime I stopped, the footsteps stopped. I was too scared to turn around. With the station in sight, I decided to do something. I paused completely and turned my head slightly around (though it was so dark I could barely see). There was a figure, way taller than me, looming above. 

"Boo."

I screamed, letting go of Bellamy's lead and smacking the figure right across the face, then kicked them. All I could think was oh god I'm going to be taken like Hanna Arkins oh god. Whoever it was let out a groan and then a "F*cks sake, Prudence!"

I paused. I recognised that voice. 

"...Avery?"

"You just kicked me in the stomach!" 

"You were following me! You were going to kidnap me!" I spluttered. 

"My dad called and told me to go to the station!! I'm not following you, and I wasn't planning on kidnapping you - does nobody have any faith that I'm not always the bad guy??"

"Why did you scare me then?"

"I was joking!" 

At that moment, Bellamy (I presumed it was her anyway, rather than a random dog) trotted over to Avery and he kneeled down to pet her. "Hey, Bella."

I stared. "Wait, don't pet my dog!"

"She remembers me," He said, sounding genuinely happy. I wanted to hit him again.  "So, you're the kidnapper?"

"No!" Avery replied indignantly. "I haven't done anything wrong this week!"

"Apart from vandalism." 

"I spray-painted a wall. In a lane. It looked better, too."

"And I thought you'd be over the graffiti phase by sixteen."

"I am not in a phase.'" 

"Everyone says that when they're in a phase."

I felt that if I could see, I would see he was staring at me with a murderous look. "Anyway," I said quickly. "Give me back my dog." 

He sighed and stopped patting Bellamy's head. I began walking and she followed on the lead. But as soon as I was walking, I was alerted to the fact that Avery was walking too. In the same direction. 

"I'm going to the station," He reminded me. 

"Me too," I whispered, like it was a curse. I didn't say something cheerful and friendly like "Let's walk together!"

Instead, I ignored him the whole time.

When we both stumbled in, my dad looked up, clearly surprised. He looked tired too, and I had a sinking feeling something was very wrong. He was okay though, so I hadn't any need to worry. His eyes flickered to Avery, then to me, and I realised how weird it looked that we had casually come in together. Though it seemed this wasn't the time for him to ask.

"Hi, Dad," I spoke quietly. "I thought I'd come up to see if you were okay." 

Avery was slowly edging away, looking for his own father.

"I'm fine," He said, a sudden anger to his voice. "Why did you come? You shouldn't be out walking at this time of night."

"It's fine, Dad, I brought Bellamy with me-"

"It's not fine at all! I told you to be careful!"

He was shouting now. What was he doing, making a scene at work? Avery glanced at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Why are you so angry?"

He pulled his hand through his hair, looking down at the ground for a moment. When he looked back up, he looked me straight in the eye.

"Hanna was found."