Fleur

Chapter Eleven

TRIGGER WARNINGS

•

Connor made an illegal U-turn and drove twelve miles above the speed limit to get back. If the cops caught him now he'd be beyond screwed. Luckily nobody did and he managed to not cause a car accident on his way back to school. He parked horribly, taking up four spaces but the urgency to find Jared was more important. He raced into the tall building and into the 800 wing where he saw Jared typing something on a computer.

"Alright where is he?" Connor said while showing Jared the message written by flowers. Jared's eyes grew large.

"Can't say. But if you want to find him you can--"

"No." Connor picked up Jared by the collar, pinning him against the wall. Jared's face was going red from the lack of blood circulation. Connor kneed Jared in his soft spot between the legs, causing Jared to double over.

"I... I don't know where he is," Jared managed to cough out. "They wouldn't tell me. They only said that if I didn't help them, they'd kill Evan. I was so scared!" Tears started to form on Jared's eyes and his nose was runny. His glasses were tipping off his nose and he pushed them up. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I swear! I just wanted to keep him safe!" He was sobbing now, his nails digging into his palms leaving crescent shaped marks. A pang of sympathy hit
Connor; he picked Jared off the floor and sat him on the table, wiping away his tears the same way Evan did to him that day on the subway. Jared's breaths slowed down and he stopped shaking. Once he was mostly calmed down, Connor started asking questions.

"Who is 'they'?" He asked while rubbing circles into Jared's back.

"I don't know. I only know that they kidnapped Evan and somehow got me to help them. I am so stupid, hurting you and Evan and Heidi. I should have told the police the second I got the phone call!" He started crying again, leaning into Connor for comfort and support.

"Shh shh it's okay Jared. You're not in trouble. You thought you were doing the right thing. And Evan will definitely forgive you."

"Y-you think?"

"I know, Jared. Believe me, the only person he's angry at is his kidnapper. Now tell me what happened the day you got the phone call."

Jared took a deep, shaky breath and started to tell his story.

"Well I was doing some, er, stuff on my computer,"

"What 'stuff'?"

Jared's face turned red and he looked away from Connor before whispering "watching porn".

Connor bit his lip to keep from laughing at the thought of Jared with an erection. He felt very bad for Jared's soulmate.

"So you were jacking off watching bathbomb porn and then?" Connor asked.

"It wasn't bathbomb porn. God, why does everyone think I have a bathbomb kink? Anyway, I get this phone call from an unknown number. I don't want to answer because the porn is getting to the climax and I don't like answering unknown numbers anyways because they're most likely prank calls and telemarketers. But the phone won't stop ringing and it just keeps ringing louder and louder so I answer it. And then they said 'You're Evan's friend, you'd do anything for him right?' So I said yes and then they said 'Well if you want Evan to continue being safe, find Connor Murphy and use him to find Evan. If not, your one and only friend will die.' Then they hung up the phone. I was trembling with fear and grief wondering what to do. I was too scared to call the police so I did what they told me to and I used you but they haven't returned Evan yet."

Connor thought for a bit.

"Jared, Evan was your best friend since you moved here in the middle of first grade. Have you ever pranked him or done anything to him that could help you find him?"

Jared thought about this for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing together in deep concentration. Suddenly his face lit up.

"Well there was this one time last year when I had a huge crush on him so I put a tracking device in his shirt collar. You know the one he always wears? With the blue stripes?"

Connor nodded.

"Yeah well I put a tracking device on it that can only be turned on by feeling his pulse. But that was a year ago and it probably ran out of battery or fell off. Not to mention the fact that he might not be wearing the shirt..." Jared trailed off.

Connor decided not to focus on the fact that his soulmate's best friend had put a tracking device on him. 

"You gotta try, Jared. A small chance is better than nothing."

"But the tracking supplies are at my house. I can't miss another day of school or my parents definitely won't pay for my car insurance!"

"Jesus Christ, Jared. What's more important: your only friend's life or car insurance?"

Jared thought for a moment.

"Here's a hint," Connor offered. "The answer is your friend's life. Now let's go. My car is in the parking lot." He grabbed Jared's wrist, not noticing him wince, and dragged him to the parking lot.

"Where's your car?" Jared asked while looking around the seemingly empty parking lot.

"Shit it must have been towed. Let me use your bike."

"I don't have my bike," Jared lied, not wanting Connor to see his bike.

"That's a lie. You told me yourself that you bike to school when Evan isn't here. Now show me where your bike is."

Jared sighed and led Connor to the west end of the school where the bike racks were. He pulled out a small, pink, sparkily bike with purple hearts and streamers coming out of the handlebars.

"You have got to be kidding," Connor laughed, his eyes teary from laughing too hard.

"Shut up," Jared mumbled, his face red from embarrassment. He sat on the seat and looked at Connor. "You could probably fit in the basket. Get in."

Connor shrugged and contorted his body in a way so he would fit without falling off.

"Jared do you have a helmet? I need to make sure we're safe."

"Since when do you care about safety?"

Jared started pedaling the bike in the direction of his house and in a few minutes they were home. They snuck in, careful not to wake his parents up, and tiptoed up the stairs to his room. Once they were there, Jared locked the door and pulled out a light blue flash drive from the drawer in his bedside table. He inserted it, typed a few passwords, and waited. Connor was pacing on the other side of the room, biting on his already short nails. He'd occasionally spit out a piece of nail polish. It was a useless attempt that would never work. But there had to be another way...

"Eureka!" Jared shouted loud enough to wake up the whole neighborhood. Connor rushed over to Jared's side.

"What is it?"

"I did it! It's faint, but still there and now we have a location to find him!" He gave Connor a high five. "Now let me just put this address here and..."

Jared's face fell and was replaced by a look of confusion.

"W-what's wrong, Jared?"

"According to the address the tracking device gave me, it says that
Evan is... in his house?"