Off The Ice

Chapter 31

I wake up at 2 am to the sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand. The lamp next to me is on and I have Perks of Being a Wallflower laying across my chest. I reach over and pick up the phone, sliding it open without checking the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Who are you, who is this?" A woman calls through the receiver. 

"Uhm, you called me."

"Where's Harry? What did you do with him? Is he dead too?" I detach the phone from my ear to see the name 'Gem' with different emojis next to it and I shoot up in my bed. "Where's Harry?! Is he dead?!" This is Harry's sister. The sister that has mental illnesses, apparently more severe than his. 

"No, uh, Harry's not dead he just can't come to the phone right now. Uh... What's wrong?"

"No, I can't, I need to hear Harry. They're here and I need Harry!!!" 

"Who's here? What's happening?"

"Our parents are here, Harry needs to know!!!!!!" 

I sigh and almost start crying. I have no idea how Harry handles these situations. The only thing I can think of is to tell her the truth. "Gemma, it's Gemma right? I need you to listen to me. Your parents are dead. They died two years ago. They're not there."

"NO!!! I PROMISE YOU!!!!... They're here," she whispers the last part as if she's hiding.

"Gemma, where are you?"

"I don't know," she whimpers. "It's dark and I'm in a corner. I think I'm in a closet." Her voice gets quieter and quieter each time she speaks. 

"Listen to me. Your parents are dead. It's not real." I hear her breathing heavily for a minute with no response. "Hello?"

"Who is this?" She sounds fine. Like she hasn't been crying. Like nothing is wrong. I quickly hang up and catch my breath, staring at the phone. What the hell just happened??

I climb out of my bed with the phone in my hand and slip on my Ugg boots before grabbing my keys and racing downstairs to get my jacket. I hang a right at the bottom of the stairs and go into the study to grab a manila folder and a Sharpie. I scribble my words on the folder and slip his phone inside before quietly escaping outside to my car. I drive to the forest house and see his car still on the dirtroad so I get out and run through the trees. I drop the phone on the mat outside the door and knock really loadly before running behind a large tree to stay out of sight, just to make sure he gets it.

~~~Harry's POV~~~

There was a basement to this house before I found the piles of rubble and started rebuilding my own house. I delved inside it and found a large clear room that also needed restoring. I made it a home boxing room with punching bags and mats and mirrors and all that shit. I didn't take Sutton down here when she first came here because I was afraid all of the fighting equipment would scare her off a little more than I already was. 

As I stayed down there at two in the morning, punching away at the long bag with nothing but tape around my fingers, I heard a loud knock coming from my front door. No one else knows this is here and if Sutton is coming here after everything that just happened tonight.

I race up the stairs and come out of the door leading up through the living room floor to reach the front. I fly open the door, step out, and look around to find nothing and no one. I probably imagined it. Just as I turn around to go back inside I step on something on the ground. I pick up the manila envelope and read the cursive hand-writing that I'm guessing is Sutton's:

You left this in my bag from the way back on the bus. Gemma called. I don't know if she's okay.

I open the envelope and find my cell phone inside. I hadn't even noticed it was gone.