Kidnapped

The News - 16

Emma POV

I eyed Alex for a long moment. "You're stuck here too? what? how?" I sat up, as I eyed him closely. What if this is some mind game he is trying to play on me? 

Alex's frown deepened and he shook his head. "It is nothing you should worry about." 

A wave of anger went through me. "Whatever, I am not dumb enough to fall for your mind games." Alex didn't reply but he gave me a pitying sidelong look. It only made me feel angrier but I decided I didn't need to waste my breath on his bullshit. 

Alex seemed to drown in thoughts for a long moment, before reaching for a remote controller and turning on the TV. He flipped through the channels before pausing. My eyes widened. 

- -'Emma, a high schooler at Cante High school has been missing for almost a week.' --

A reporter said. He stood beside my foster parents, and started asking them questions about me.

- -'Emma was always a troubled child' --  

Now it was my foster mother. 

-- 'She always acted impulsively but despite her volatile moods, I always tried to help her.'  

I grit my teeth... That bitch. When I was too young  to have a job to work during weekends, she used to torture me. She used to lock me in a dark room with no water or food during the weekends. When she was in a good mood, sometimes she'd toss me a blanket. After I got my job, she found different ways of tormenting me. 

- 'I am certain that Emma has ran away from home,' --

Said my foster dad. I clenched my  jaw hard enough that it started hurting, as I saw him pat the shoulder of his wife, feigning worry over me. 

--'I always treated Emma as if she were my own daughter, and it breaks me in half to think she ran away from us, after all we did for her.' -- 

 All he ever did for me was beat me up until I could barely stand. Meanwhile my foster sister sat there and watched with a grin. 

--'She was kind of a loner, y'know ?'--

A classmate said, me and him had shared a few classes together but we never talked. 

- 'She was always kinda weird, and no one really talked with her much.' --

Said another student, a girl who straight up ignored me and walked away when I asked if I can join her group for a history project. My chest tightens and I hated how no one would lose sleep over me if I'd die.

 -- 'She always stayed quiet, but her grades were good, so she helped me sometimes'--

Said a dude who used to force me to let him copy my work. But pathetically enough, I was never mad at him for it.  Despite the fact he was taking advantage of me, I felt like I had some value to someone. 

--'I heard from someone that there was a rumor about her selling her body for drugs, which honestly I think is probably true! I mean have you seen her?! The girl looked skinny as hell and always jittery, maybe she used cocaine?'--  

A girl from my English class said, she was always talkative with everyone, but I never spoke to her. She always gave me tight smiles before quickly looking away from me. Not like I would have struck a conversation with her, but being avoided like the plague was no fun. 

--'Honestly, I never saw Emma doing anything bad. But she always creeped me out, I feel bad for saying this.. She just had that empty look, y'know?  She always wore the same thing everyday, even when her clothes were dirty.'-- 

I bit my lip in humiliation until I tasted blood. What the fuck did I ever do to any of them?! I never bothered any of them, I never asked for anything, so why does it feel like I'm being punished for merely existing?! 

--'We would buy her a lot of clothes, but she would just ruin them in anger fits. I wish my daughter would have allowed me to get her more decent clothes... But like I said, she is not very well menta-'--

The TV suddenly turned off, and an angry Chris started arguing with Alex. I never saw Chris so angry, until now. Suddenly I don't feel so safe with the two people who helped me out. I surprised myself with the realization that I even felt safe around these two asshats. I want to punch myself in the face for being such an idiot. 

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Chris hissed. 

"What?! I was just watchin-" 

"I know what you were watching asshole! But you shouldn't watch it in front of her!" Chris pointed at me and Alex threw me an odd glance.

 I only frowned and curled up into myself, wanting to feel some sense of comforting warmth. I wanted to sooth my pained heart and ease my fears, but all I felt was a void in my heart and ice running through my veins. 

You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. You feel nothing. 

"What the fuck is all this noise about?" Evan strode in, his jaw clenched with irritation.

 He was about to say something else when he noticed me. He slowly turned to me, his movements predatory, his face an unreadable mask. 

"Why is she here?" he asked through gritted teeth. 

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Art by: Ko Byung Jun