Fears To Face

∞ Chapter 60 ∞

Rayne

The morning was still misty and clouded as I drove back home from my shift at Adan's. It had been like this since I had woken up; looking cold and uninviting. I sighed. It was almost summer!

I had just hung my jacket on one of the hooks in the hall when my phone rang. Sam. I knew something was terribly wrong as I picked it up. Even before Sam had said a thing, my bones suddenly went cold.

"Is Kayley with you?" he asked.

"No, she isn't. What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure..." He sounded concerned. My muscles tensed even worse than before.

"Have you called Gwyn and Mallory?"

"Yeah, nothing there either. I'm kinda lost by now."

"When have you seen her last?" I was trying to keep my voice calm, but I wasn't sure it was working.

"This morning. She said just before she headed out of the door she needed to take care of some things. I didn't like the determination in her eyes, but she was gone too fast for me to go after her. I hate being unable to move like a normal person from that muscle pain," he mumbled, frustrated.

Out of nothing I knew. At the stab of realization that coursed through me, I grabbed the doorframe to keep from falling. Everything fell away for a few moments. Oh no. No. No. No. She couldn't. Slowly Sam's voice came back to me, getting more and more unsure and uneasy every time he repeated my name. I could barely hear myself speak over my crashing heartbeat. "Sorry, I – I'll go search for her. Immediately. It will be alright, Sam. I promise." I hung up. I didn't really know what I just said. I couldn't think straight anymore. My gut turned. Kayley.

Slamming my hand into the doorframe as I cursed, splinters flew everywhere around me. I told her to stay away from David. How could I have been so stupid to think she would listen to me? The second she heard David had shot me, that determination in her eyes and voice as she said he wouldn't get away with it, I knew it wouldn't stop her by me telling her to leave it. God, I should have known she would try eventually. You idiot.

David had her. At the thought my hand clenched so hard I almost pulled a lock of hair. I hadn't noticed my hand had tightened in it. He hated her. Not just because she was human, but because she kept me from plastering myself to David's side. My legs were too weak to keep me on my feet. I fell to my knees and growled in despair. I felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest and tossed into the deepest ocean. I never felt so horrible, so empty.

About ten seconds past; then I was on my feet. Wiping a tear from my cheek, I sprinted out of the door. I had to find her. I was nothing without her.

*

This was maddening. After I stormed out of my house, I had searched the forest closest to my home, trying to pick up a trail of Kayley or David, hoping that he'd been here before he met Kayley. I had wandered through the woods until far after twelve. Nothing.

Even the hours I was home and in my bed, hoping to regain energy, were useless; I hadn't slept a second. My brain wouldn't stop running over the possibilities about what David could have done to Kayley by now. To keep myself from tearing my own house down in despair, I had gotten out and continued my search before the break of dawn; running again.

In the short quarter I had been home yesterday morning, my mother had called, ignorant to the crisis I was going through right now, she asked whether she could come over.

"Sorry mom, there are other things that need my full attention right now," I had told her shortly. She hadn't taken it so well, but it's not like she had a choice. I wasn't going to give in. I couldn't have anyone around me now, being constantly tensed, unable to sit still, barely home in the first place. I had no peace at all. I didn't feel complete without Kayley, but knowing she was in danger nearly broke me apart.