One Last Hope

Eighteen

Jasmine has run away and Jon has the police all over it. He's struggling to keep his temper under control because of how nervous and angry he is about her leaving. He thought that maybe he could use Kaylee against her like a hostage but he and everybody else in the house have noticed this thick wall of hate between them. Besides, Kaylee has been obeying his every command ever since he tried to drown her in the pool over a month ago. He felt no need to harm her at the moment. 

"Maybe we should call off the wedding." Jennifer stood in the kitchen drinking her morning coffee, looking really upset. "Just until we find her."

"Baby, we've spent thousands on everything already and it's not refundable." Jon kissed her, trying to sound sincere. "Don't worry about Kaylee and I. Jasmine ran away, she wasn't happy here. She's in no danger, I bet she's staying with a friend."

Jennifer believed him only because she saw with her own eyes how unhappy and depressed Jasmine had been for weeks. She believed that the wedding was the reason Jasmine was so distant. Jon lied and said that she's run away about 12 times already just to show Jennifer that it wasn't her fault at all. 

*****

Everybody at school has been bothering Kaylee about the disappearance of her sister for the past  few days. She was tired of hearing about it, she eventually started ignoring anybody who tried to speak to her.  All Jasmine left behind was a stupid note on the bed that Kaylee has yet to read. The police took it as evidence and hasn't given Kaylee the chance to read it. She was angry that her sister would just run off like that with no warning at all. 

"How are you doing?" Nathan sat down next to Kaylee on the grass in front of the school.

"Nate, I said I wanted to be alone for a few days.." Kaylee sounded annoyed. She told both Tom and Nathan that she needed some space for bit because she felt responsible for Jasmine leaving. 

"And I say, that is the worst idea you could possibly think of. Loneliness plus loneliness equals disaster! C'mon, lets go." He tugged her arm.

"Where are we going?" She loosened up.

He didn't answer her because it was a surprise. He put a blindfold on her so she couldn't see. She doesn't particularly like surprises but she trusted him. They drove for a while and then resorted to walking. She wasn't even sure if she was getting anywhere, it felt like she was going in circles. Nate finally took off her blindfold and let her see where they were. Green trees, a blue lake, colorful flowers of all sorts, It was a beautiful sight.

"I come here whenever I'm feeling down. It's my happy place.. You should feel special that I'm showing you this, its very personal and dear to me." He sat on a tree stump and looked out at the lake. 

"Its beautiful." Kaylee took in the scenery and raced to the water.  She slashed the icy cold water with her hand and shivered. "Jeez, this stuff is friggen cold!" She snickered, splashing water at Nathan.

"What the hell!" He advanced to the lake and splashed her right back. 

They sloshed at each other multiple times before Nathan slipped and fell into the water. He popped his head out from under and spit out water. The lake sure was deeper than she expected. He just laughed and kept splashing her. 

"There is something licking my leg." Nathan stood upright, staring straight ahead. He was flipping out. "Now there are multiple.. things.. licking my leg."

"Calm down, just get out of the water slowly." Kaylee instructed him.

Nathan did the exact opposite and used all his strength to jump out. Once he was on dry land, they both saw what was 'licking his legs.'