A Way Out

Chapter 5: Bayley

"Okay, but it's harder than you think." Jacob said. I don't know how hard it really is, but I think he's trying to make up all this hype for a stupid reason. I mean, this is Jacob. He could be freaking out over a pimple.

"Try me." I say with a mischievous smile and an arched eyebrow. He laughs nervously. What's up with him?

"Okay, so you know how last night Nick told us about the stuff that happened with Alexa?"

"Yeah." I give a little frown. This is what we're talking about. This is the reason.

"Well, after I left your house," he put his hand on my thigh, "I-I," spit it out, "opened the mailbox and found a letter. Actually it was a birthday card." He pulled out a pink envelope. "Take a look." He half heartedly smiles as a tear starts to crawl down his face. He takes his hand off my leg to wipe it.

"It's okay." I say to him.

"No, it's not." He keeps looking in my eyes then the envelope. I finally get the memo to look at it. It's addressed to him. From...Alexa. I shake my head to make sure I'm not dreaming. He's right, it isn't okay.

"Can I open it?" I ask stupidly.

"Sure, but it probably won't help us." I read it. Kidnapper. After us. Hurry.

"Well, at least this is real. It's her handwriting." A tear starts to develop and streams down my face. "How?"

"I don't know. This is why I said that I didn't know where to start. You're smart, can you try to figure it out? Alexa would've made some sort of hidden thing like a puzzle or something."

"A riddle?" I ask.

"Yeah that! I'm just not good at that kind of stuff."

"Well, neither am I. I've never dealt with this kind of thing before. I close the card to see the front where the hamster in the tutu was. I laugh. "This is so Alexa." I look closer. "Wait. Look at this." Jacob looks over where I'm pointing.

"What am I exactly looking at. All I see is a hamster in a pink tutu."

"No, look."

"And?"

"It's not like any other card. It's homemade.Alexa chose this for a specific reason." I turn the card around to the back. I notice the bottom right hand corner. "Bingo." Jacob looks at me confused.

"I'm so confused." That explains the confused look.

"It was made in Ocala, Florida. So there must be a store near there that holds this."

"This is what I mean. I never would've thought of that." He says.

"Alexa's in Florida. We gotta go." Jacob smiles at me. It makes me nearly turn into jelly and slide to the floor. "Are you sure about this?" I ask feeling butterflies. I feel some sort of regret.

"I am, even if it means I die. I'd rather die for you two and see you guys survive than me to lose you."

"Don't talk like that." I say.

"I'm serious."

"I know you are, but don't talk like that."

"I'm sorry. It's just I don't want to lose you too." I smile.

"Okay, then what are we waiting for?" With that he starts driving as if he's happy I dropped what he was saying.

"You can't see when you die." I say.

"You know what I meant." He eye rolls at me. As we pass his house, we notice a white van in his driveway.

"You don't suppose that's-"

"No way." He says.

"They're in your house."

"How though?"

"I don't know, but let's just get out of here."

"I agree." He says driving away, leaving them in his house. "It'll give us a head start."