Enchanted

34

Adonis

I started to go after Rosalina but Shae beat me to it.

"I'll get her. Stay here, Trevor will explain what happened." the broken look in her eyes stopped me from arguing.

The distinct sounds of flinging cupboards and Rosalina's screams tore through the air. The already present guilt sunk its teeth deeper inside me, drawing blood. She'd been silent the entire drive here but I knew that she blamed me. The one time she'd focused on herself, this had happened. I knew her well enough to know she'd hate herself, hate me.

"Adonis," Trevor croaked from the living room floor.

His eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted in pain. "I'm so sorry, I should've been watching her. One minute she was there and the next-"

A loud buzzing filled my ears, like static blocking out his words, his voice. He had been with her. This was all his fault.

"Trevor, I trusted you with her." my voice didn't sound like my own.

It sounded like a caged beast, a wounded animal, a soul desperate for release, for answers, for anger.

He nodded, shoulders shaking. "I know and I'm sorry. I swear I didn't do anything. I tried to find her, I tried to look for her-"

"Start over. Trevor, what happened to her? What happened to my...to Holly?"

Rosalina swept into the room, her eyes leaking. I tried to reach for her but she winced away from my touch. Whatever was left of me ripped to shreds as she folded her arms and ignored me, shutting me out.

You deserve it

The voice in my head was so sudden, so unexpected that I nearly gasped aloud. The voice had been gone for weeks. And now it was back.

"Shae sent Holly and I to buy stuff for dinner. We wanted to have dinner, all five of us. Everything was normal, perfect even. But just before driving back home, I realized that I'd left my wallet inside the store. It took less than a minute, the security guard was out looking for me already. When I got back to the car s-she wasn't there. She just vanished, I swear." Trevor was suddenly at his feet, his face contorted with guilt.

He lost her. He's the reason Rosalina will hate you forever.

"He got home an hour ago, looking for her. We looked everywhere, Rosalina. We called Mabel, asked the shop keepers around and no one has seen her. Wherever she is, she doesn't have this."

Shae materialized a fluffy purse, perfectly sized for a seven year old. Holly's. She never went anywhere without that purse. Rosalina looked at me, the same realization coming across her face.

"You lost her an hour ago and you only called us now?" I demanded, choosing to ignore the fear thrashing at my insides.

Trevor was pacing the room, his body a hum of energy. "I thought she was playing a prank! I looked for her. She was right there. I saw her. She was with me and then she wasn't."

I wanted him to stop talking, to stop reiterating that she was gone. Every word out of his mouth was like a giant blow to Rosalina. Her whole body was vibrating, her head shaking, her fidgety arms holding herself together. Fury like I had never known rose within me, blocking out any and all reasoning.

"And we're just supposed to believe you? You were the only one with her so how can we trust you wouldn't do anything to her?" The words tore out of me, freezing everyone in place.

The shock and betrayal on his face was not nearly enough to tame the beast of fury within me.

"Are you serious right now?"