Beautifully Insane

Chapter Seventeen

Mitch

    My eyes opened. I looked down at myself to see Paige wasn't in the spot I saw her last, resting closely to me. My elbows cracked as I used them to sit myself up. Scoping the bedroom, Paige was nowhere to be seen. I got onto my feet and guided myself towards the staircase. "Morning," I heard my father speak in my direction. His presence made my skin crawl. His annoyingly cheerful voice aggravated me. I wanted to destroy him. Because of him, Paige would be on the streets cold, starving and lonely. I'm sure if Paige wanted, she could go to Libby's house. Knowing how bright Paige is, she wouldn't take the chance. She would get far away as she possibly can. I checked into the living room as I stood at the bottom of the staircase. Kurama happily made his way over to me, his nails tapping onto the beige marble floor. Something about Kurama seemed off, he seemed upset. I scooped Kurama into my arms and held him. I scratched behind his ear gently as a leaf landing in water. Walking into the kitchen, I saw only Glen attending to the room. "Have you seen Paige around?"
"I'm afraid Paige left around midnight," Glen frowned.
I gulped hard while taking in the news. My heart ached knowing I didn't get to say goodbye, to make sure that she was going to be alright out there all alone. I sat myself down on the stool placed closely near the island. "Did she say anything before she left?"
"She told me to tell you that she loves you."
I bit my lip as I looked up into the light, feeling tears form. I swallowed the sadness down my throat. "Just when I think I found love again," I chuckled in a half whisper. "Did anone give her money for food, transportation and shelter?"
"Your father and I gave her what we think she needed?"
"What, forty to fifty bucks?"
"Try five hundred dollars," a voice spoke behind me.
I almost choked on my orange juice Glen gave me to drink. I gazed over to Dad's shocked. "That's awfully generous of you, considering you kicked her out in the god forsaken cold."
"Paige is a good kid," Dad replied, ignoring the last part of the comment while going over to the coffee machine to pour himself a mug. "Glen, you did tell Paige about giving us some form of contact by the end of the week correct?"
"Of course, Sir. I slipped her a number to one of the throw away phones while giving her the cash."
"See Mitch, it's all under control."
"What if Jackson gets a hold of her, what then?"
"I'm sure Jackson has bigger matters to attend to, like smuggling drugs into the country, than dwelling on a seventeen-year-old girl."
"You know Jackson's goal is to bring us down so he can steal our top dollar clients and be the number one smuggler for guns," I reminded him sternly. "He can torture her to get to us. He could kill her."
"Mitch, it's ten o'clock in the goddamn morning! I'm sure Jackson is sleeping," Dad scolded.
There was no solid evidence that Paige was safe, even if Jackson hasn't got a hold of her. I couldn't believe Dad, not until I get a phone call from Paige. I placed Kurama down on the floor as I got up to go into the drawer on the right side of the sink where all of the burner phones belong. "Do you know which of these matches the number you gave her?"
Glen pulled a phone from his back pocket and held out a small smartphone. "Don't make yourself suffer by staring at the thing."
"I won't," I promised Glen before taking the phone from him.
Having the phone in my possession made me feel better. I coveted that Paige was warm and safe somewhere and that she will call as soon as she can.
    I dragged myself to my bedroom. I laid myself down onto my bed and tested the burner phone on the nightstand on its back. I smelt the scent of vanilla with a hint of strawberries I'm bedded into the sheets. I missed holding her, kissing her, everything about her. It's peculiar how I have known Paige less than three months and I could promise myself I would die for her. What was she doing to me? I could feel that something inside of me have changed every since I meet her. I protected her, killed for her, kissed her, slept with her, shared my bed with her. I love you, I imagined Paige saying to me in her sweet, angelic voice. Am I really falling in love?