Marilyn High ✅

Chapter 15 Part 1

Grace's POV

After I told the police what had happened, they immediately went searching in the woods for the place I described. I tried to get my life back to normal, but I kept having nightmares. I'd wake up screaming for help in the middle of the night. At one point I couldn't speak because I had lost my voice.  My parents agreed to let me be homeschooled. Bella hasn't shown up and I haven't been able to get a hold of Luke. I think he really went tumbling when she disappeared. He really relied on her from the looks of it, and I know Bella was in love with him no matter what. I heard that they know who the person is. Ethan Williams. I felt like I've heard of the name before. Maybe I did a project with him in one of our classes at one point. I was good friends with one of his friends, Kayla. We got pretty close, but every since I came back and she told me who he was, she hasn't contacted me much. After I ate lunch I decided to go over to Luke's house to see how he is. I heard his cousin just died of cancer also, so I'm sure he's not doing so well. 

"Hey, is Luke around?" I asked Luke's mom when she answered the door.

"Yeah, he's upstairs in his room. It's the second door to the left. How are you doing sweetie?" She must know who I am.

"Thank you and I'm doing much better."

"Good."

There was an awkward presence so I just left. At least she was trying to talk to me. I jogged up the steps and when I walked into Luke's room, I wasn't prepared for it. It reeked of smoke. Bella mentioned his addiction to weed, I didn't realize how bad it was though. I looked around I stood there in shock. There were a bunch of empty pill bottles scattered around him and a bag of weed, almost gone. He was passed out from the drugs. I ran downstairs and told his parents. His dad called an ambulance and his mom started to cry hysterically. The ambulance came in no time and took their son away.

"I should probably go. You guys probably want to see him." I said picking up my purse.

"Yeah." His mom sniffled. 

"Thank you for going up there. He probably would've died if you hadn't found him."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I did too." The thought of him trying to kill himself made my stomach turn. I could never grasp why people have been put in that state of mind and the things they'd do to themselves.

Bella's POV

I woke up in a small bedroom. It was dusty and really cramped. It was gray and the paint on the walls were peeling. The only source of light was from a candle and it was almost down to the bottom. Wax had almost overflowed from the plate underneath it.  I slowly sat up but laid back down because pain shot through my head. I looked at my hands and they were bloody. There was a blood stain soaking through the sheets. I uncovered myself and discovered that I was cut. It was weird. I didn't feel any pain and I had blood on my hands. Was I conscious at one point? I had bigger things to worry about. How I got here. What was happening? I can't remember much before I blacked out. I remember someone knocking me to the ground and I blacked out. Who was it though? I slowly got up, watching out for my pounding head. I made me way around, taking baby steps. I was afraid to walk too fast. What if someone else who wanted to hurt me was in the area and they heard me?

I opened the old wooden door and it creaked open. The hallway was dark and nothing seemed to be moving except me. I walked quietly around feeling the walls to know where I was going. I found stairs, with the help of almost falling down them. No matter how hard I tried, it made really loud creaks and I had to stop several times and hide, for the thought of someone bad in here scared the hell out of me. This is like a horror movie come true. 

There were windows and furniture downstairs. I walked around a little bit more freely because the floor wasn't making noise under my weight. The light made my head hurt, so I couldn't look out the window for too long. From what I could see, I was out in the middle of nowhere in the woods. My heart pounded. This wasn't a good setup for me. I walked into another room full of chairs and a couch and saw the roof had collapsed. This house was surprisingly huge. I found a kitchen. I looked in the cupboards for something to defend myself, but couldn't find anything. This house was full of stuff, but it wasn't. I heard shuffling behind me and looked back instantly. I waited a solid two minutes. Maybe it was just a rat. This place doesn't look like it's taken care of too well. I walked through the kitchen and stopped in my track. I had a really bad feeling about this room. I cautiously made my way through the doorway and saw a horrifying scene. There before me was a dead body. Not just a random one. This one was different. Its hand was cut off and by it's face looked like a weird body part. The body's mouth was open and it was full of fresh blood. I tried my best to keep it together. I needed to get out of here now. I turned around and in the kitchen was Ethan. He was bloody and he had little pieces of wood shavings on him. He was also holding a bloody knife with fresh blood on it.

"Ethan..." He gave me a small smile. Oh, God. I ran. I don't know where I was running, but I was running.

I heard him following me. I came back to the room with the windows and grabbed the lightest piece of furniture and smashed a window. Ethan was about on me, but I threw the object at him. It knocked him on his ass and I was out the window. I wasn't about to look behind me. I tripped on a tree root maybe 30 feet away from the house and Ethan pinned me to the ground. Either I was slow, or he has incredible speed.

"Ethan, why are you doing this. Please!" I said, tears welling up in my eyes. He just gave me a smile and pushed the knife up my cheek. I felt the blood slide down my face. I wanted to cry. Just as he was about to do something else, I heard a whooshing sound. Ethan and I looked up at the sky and there was a police helicopter. I heard motorized sounds coming from the woods. From the corner of my eye were armed police in jeeps and four-wheelers.  

"Stop!" Said a tall policeman with a gun. He came up to Ethan and I. Ethan threw the knife away and slowly got up with his hands raised.

Another police officer came behind Ethan and cuffed him. "You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you can not afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you." He took him away and a medic came up to me. I started to breathe really hard. I was just about brutally killed. The medic put me on a paramedic stroller and took me to one of the ambulances made for being off road. They put IV's in me and a mask on me. I closed my eyes and the last thing I was Ethan being put in a police car.