Too Much Clickbait - Sequel to Clickbait

34

     Heath's P.O.V
     I came out of my bedroom, looking around the living room. I saw Zane and Kam sitting at the kitchen island eating lunch. They looked over at me, Kam going back down to his food after waving while Zane spoke up. "You've risen! I'm shocked your ass is actually going."
     "Amber wants me to get my cough checked out, let alone everything else." I shrugged. "Hey... Did Katie come inside yet?"
     Both boys shook their heads no, confused. Zane jutted his head towards the front door. "Maybe she had trouble on the elevator? That shit has been sketchy lately."
     I walked to the front door, looking around. The hallway was nearly dead silent, making an alarm go off in my head. I began to look at the ground, walking out of the apartment in a frenzy. I got to the front of the elevator doors when I saw exactly what I feared the most.
     I picked up the small, shiny penny, double checking the backside. I immediately ran back into the apartment, slamming the door, and running up to the boys. They looked at me as if I had grown another head while I screamed. "Missing! She is missing! Something bad happened!"
     "Whoa, slow down, Heath. What are you talking about?" Kam raised an eyebrow.
     "She left this outside of the elevator for me to find." I raised the penny up for them to see before sliding it across for them to pick up. "It was a sign... We made it when..."
     "You need to calm down, baby." I sighed, rubbing Katie's shoulders from behind her on my bed. I tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder, kissing gently along the back of her neck until her rapid breathing subsided. "Baby, relax. I have you now, nothing is going to happen to you again."
     She shook her head, her voice sounding as if it was going to shriek at any moment. Katie spoke fast, as if her voice was trying to keep up with the thoughts her brain was shooting out in rapid fire. "What if his family comes for me, Heath? They aren't stable either. The mother is schizophrenic. She has never been medicated, they just lock her up. The sister used to sling drugs and she just... She's more crazy than Nathan ever was because she-she-she-"
     Katie began to have a panic attack, her eyes bulging out of their sockets as she rocked back and forth. I turned her around, forcing her to sit in my lap. I crossed my legs Indian style, cupping her face with my hands. "Breathe... Just breathe, Katie... Breathe."
     Katie's breathing, although labored, began to return back to normal as I reminded her to breathe. Once calmed down, I watched her face begin to break, tears forming in her eyes. She threw her arms around my shoulders and I pulled her close, squeezing her waist. She spoke into my neck, her tears becoming sticky against my skin as she did so. "I-You... You can't promise me that. You just can't."
     I breathed in deeply, the scent of her floral perfume becoming the only thing my mind could focus on. I closed my eyes, breathing in once more before I opened them. I leaned over, grabbing an assortment of change from my side table. I sifted through, looking for a penny. Katie leaned back, watching what I was doing. I took a lighter from my back pocket and took it to the penny. The back side of it blackened and the face side of it stayed the same, copper shade. "If you left one of your rings or something like that, someone could take it. No one is going to look twice at a penny on the ground unless they know what they're looking for." I handed her the penny and she slid it into her front pocket, smiling lightly as I brushed away her tears. "If you're in trouble again and you can't call me, drop that and I'll find you."
     "I love you."
     "I'll always love you more." I kissed her immediately, feeling her still cry against my cheeks.
     "Okay, I believe you." Zane stood up, handing me back the penny. He looked back at Kam who looked back at him before returning his worried gaze to me. "We believe you... What do you need us to do?"
     "I'll call the police. Get Matt over here, he can go with you, Kam, to get the security footage for the police of whatever happened when Katie was here..." I shook my head, looking at Zane. "Can you go to Gabbie's and let her know? Also... Ask her if there is an inhaler here. She might have thrown it out out of spite, I don't know, but Katie used to have an inhaler for me at her place. I need that shit, my chest feels like I'm gonna fucking explode."
     "Do... Do you think you know who did this?" Kam asked as I pulled out my phone from my back pocket.
     "Nathan's sister and mom." Saying it aloud made it feel more real than ever.
     And dear Lord, did I want this not to be real.