Bully // l.h. // Book 1 of Bully Series

4. She's Gone

“Well, I see you guys got to the last of the boxes while I was out today.” I called out as soon as I entered our house. There were a few empty boxes laying in the center of the entry way, so I picked them up on my way through. “Though, usually, when you empty a box, you put it away.” I added, entering the kitchen. To my surprise, nobody was in there. In fact, the table wasn’t even set.

With a frown of confusion, I set the boxes down against the wall and walked through the kitchen into the living room. Nobody was in there, either, though the television was on. I picked up the remote and switched it off.

“Hello?” I called out. A loud thump from upstairs made me jump.

“Clara?” My dad shouted down the stairs. I shook my head before realizing that he was upstairs and couldn’t see me. Walking back through the kitchen and dining room, I looked up the stairs. My eyes widened when my gaze landed on my father, who was very obviously drunk.

“Dad?” I questioned. He gripped the bannister hard and looked down at me.

“Oh, it’s only you.” He grumbled loudly. I would be lying if I said that didn’t hurt a bit. “Where the hell have you been all day?” He asked. I let my lips tilt downwards into a frown. I had told him earlier that I was going out to the park. Of course, I had interrupted him and my mom in the beginnings of an argument, so maybe he wasn’t really paying attention when I told him where I was going.

“I told you this morning I was going to the park. Though, I came home in time for dinner.” I explained. “Did mom call take-out or something?” I asked after a moment. Dad scowled at me.

“The only thing Cara called was a taxi.” He growled. My brows furrowed in confusion.

“But we have a car.” I said slowly, not entirely sure I liked where this conversation was going. My dad let out a loud burp before stumbling a few feet down the hall towards the stairs. I watched him for a moment, thoughts whirring through my brain at the speed of light. “Dad, where’s mom?” I asked finally.

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“Oh, God. Wyatt, I think I’m having a panic attack.” I gasped as I paced around the basement. I could no longer walk around my room, because I’d broken a glass that was sitting on my dresser. Well, that, and I may have also swiped my arm across my desk, sending all of that stuff to the floor as well. I heard Wyatt speaking on the other end of the line, but his words were lost to me as my breathing picked up speed. My knees buckled, and I fell to the floor, dropping the phone in the process.

Instead of picking the phone back up, I curled into a ball and sobbed. She was gone. My mom had left me; she left my dad. She’d packed up all of her belongings and left. I’d searched the entire house once my dad told me she was gone. Nothing. Not even a bobby pin was left. My dad had begun yelling and throwing things while I searched. Eventually, he gave up. Or he passed out somewhere. I wasn’t exactly paying attention at that moment.

“Daeyna? Daeyna! Please pick up your phone.” I could barely hear Wyatt’s panicked voice coming through the speaker on my phone, which was laying a few feet from me. I took a deep, shuddering breath and reached over to grab it. My hand was shaking badly, causing me to become frustrated as I dragged my phone towards me. I let out a loud yell.

“She’s gone, Wyatt!” I practically screeched at the phone, which was now only a few inches in front of me. “Oh, God.” My voice was hoarse as I finally succumbed to mere whimpers.

“I know, Dae. Fuck. I need to be there. You can’t go through this alone.” I could almost see him pacing his room in frustration.  My breathing was slowing down now, and I pushed myself up into a seated position. The phone line went silent for a while.