Broken Heart

Chapter 23 : Escaped

Chapter 23

Riker POV

My dad screamed again, and then the whole house was silent. All my muscles were tense, and I felt like I was going to scream any second.

Paige reached for my hand, which made me flinch at first, but then I held onto her hand tightly.

"Riker, what do we do?" Paige whispered.

"I don't want to go out there," I whispered.

Tears were blurring my vision now, and I couldn't breathe that well. What if I just heard my own father die!?

"P-Paige..."

"Riker, let's go out and see what happened," Paige whispered.

"N-no!" I whisper shouted.

There was a loud crash from somewhere in the house, and I jumped 2 feet in the air.

There were more crashes, and it sounded like someone was in the house with a baseball bat.

It went silent again, and then there were knocks on the bathroom door, and I screamed.

"Riker, shush!" Paige whispered.

"It's ok you guys. You can come out," I heard dad say.

I literally almost ripped the doorknob off. I got the door open, and jumped on my dad, wrapping my arms and legs around him.

"Ugh! Riker!"

"I thought you were dead!" I shouted, crying.

"Why did you think I was dead?"

"You screamed! And the crashes!"

"Oh. The squirrel tried to attack me. It's ok. I got a broom, and tried to get it. But it went back out the window. It's gone now."

My dad set me down on the floor.

"Are you going to look for Macy and Alyssa and Carly in the house?" I asked.

"Yeah. I don't know how that window got opened. I want you both to wait in the living room, ok?"

"Yes, dad."

I took Paige's hand, and we walked downstairs to the living room together. I curled into a ball on the couch.

"Are you still scared?" Paige asked.

I nodded. She started rubbing my back slowly. I leaned my head on her shoulder. This is literally the worst... The power's out, there's a storm, and it's almost nighttime. I hate it. I don't know what I'd do if Paige wasn't here. I'd probably be hiding under the bed or something.

Dad walked into the living room.

"The house is clear. I didn't see anyone."

"What are you going to do now?" I asked.

"I'm going to go back to the hospital and see how Ross is."

"Can we come?" I asked.

"Sure. I don't really want to leave you two here alone anyway."

We got into the back of dad's car, and he drove us to the hospital. But we decided we were hungry, and walked across the street to McDonalds.

Later...

Riker POV

My family went back home, but mom stayed at the hospital with Ross. Paige came home with us too since she didn't have a ride. Since I was kind of freaked out about the whole thing that happened earlier, and I'd earned some of dad's trust back, he let me move back into my bedroom. I convinced Paige to stay the night. We were still both in our pajamas from this morning. And I cuddled with her until I fell asleep.

Morning...

Riker POV

When I woke up, Paige was cuddled into my side all cute. It seriously took everything in me not to kiss her.

When she woke up, we had breakfast together. Ross and mom came home, and the power came back on. It sort of seemed like everything was normal again. Kind of...

And then we turned on the news. That's when everything changed.

A mental patient escaped from a mental hospital.

Literally only 2 towns away.

And it was none other than Carly Smith.

It showed her picture and everything. I could see some similar things between her, Alyssa, and Macy.

Paige and I told my family everything we'd found out. So they knew, now. And they were a little bit worried.

Right now, my life seems like a movie. I'm the victim, and I found out too much about the bad people, so now they're after me. It's 3 against 1. And I don't think I'd survive against the 3 of them.

I sat down at the kitchen table for lunch. But I wasn't hungry. I felt sort of sick ever since I saw the news this morning. My stomach just felt like it was in knots.

"You should eat," Paige said, sitting down beside me.

"Is that really what you're thinking about right now? Because I'm thinking about getting murdered or tortured or both!"

"Yeah, Riker... I'm seriously thinking about you right now. I can't let you go back to your old ways... You know... Starving yourself?"

"I promise it's not that. I just feel really nervous and anxious."

Paige started rubbing my back. It didn't really help, though.

"Riker, I think I might head home and ask my siblings if they know anything," Paige said.

"I don't want you walking there alone."

"So what?"

"So I'm coming."

"Are you even allowed?"

"Dad, can I go to Paige's? Just for a few hours?"

Dad nodded.

"Let's go," I said, getting up.

Later...

Riker POV

Paige had told her siblings about what's been going on and stuff. And they didn't know anything. So... We didn't know what to do now. We were in Paige's room at the moment, thinking.

"Paige?"

"What?"

"Um... What did your parents do? Like for a living?"

"They were lawyers."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you know if they ever had a case for someone related to Macy, Alyssa, or Carly? What if it was something like that, and they lost the case, and now they're mad or whatever?"

Paige sighed.

"I honestly don't know, Riker. They had so many cases."

"Do they have like... the records?"

"Um... I think maybe... In the attic?"

"Can we go check?"

"I guess so..."

We went upstairs, and Paige pulled down the ladder to the attic. We slowly walked up there. The lights didn't work, so Paige had to use her phone.

"Paige. This box says 'cases' on it."

"Ok, let's check it."

We pulled down the box, and sat down on the floor. There were a ton of folders and papers in the box.

"This is going to take forever," Paige said, quietly, shuffling through papers.

All of a sudden, a bunch of boxes fell behind us. We both jumped up. I stood in front of Paige, wanting to protect her.

"Riker, let's go downstairs," Paige said, quietly.

More boxes fell, and we sprinted down the steps.