One less lonely girl in the world

Chapter 3

Chelz's P.O.V:

I walked through the front door and made my way into the living room. My sister was sitting on the couch, looking a bit worried. She looked up briefly when I walked in. 

"Hey." I said, sitting next to her.

"Hi." 

"Cher, what's wrong?' 

"Well..." she trailed off. "It's just... Mum went out grocery shopping... And she hasn't come back yet."

"When did she leave?"

"About 10 minutes after you left."

"So she's been gone over 5 hours?" I asked, just to make sure I had it right. She nodded. "Have you tried her mobile?"

"Yes, of course!" she said, letting a few tears escape her eyes. I immediately felt sick. Our mother ALWAYS had her mobile on when she went out. I got up from the couch and grabbed my phone from my bag. I tapped '000' into the call space. 

"What are you doing?" my sister whispered.

"I'm calling the poli-Oh hello. I need the police thank you. 124 Second Street, Los Angeles. Wait, how long? Ok, thank you very much." I put the phone down. Cher looked at me.

"They'll be here in about 5 minutes." She nodded and we sat there in silence, until we heard someone knock on the front door. I got up and opened it. In walked 3 officers dressed in black uniforms with gold badges. I guided them over to the couches and asked if they would like some drinks. They all declined. I sat down next to Cher, and turned to the officers. 

"I'm Officer Draught, this is Officer Sun and Officer Patio." said the tallest officer, pointing to the other officers. 

"Hi, I'm Chelsea and this is my sister, Cher." I replied. They shook our hands.

"Now girls, can you please tell us what's wrong?" asked Officer Draught.

"Well, I was at school when our mother went to go grocery shopping." I started. I motioned for Cher to  continue.

"I was at home because I had a study day today. About 10 minutes after Chelz had left, our mum said she wanted to go do some grocery shopping. And... She never came back." she whispered the last part, and the officers gave both of us sympathetic looks.

"What time approx. did your mother leave?" Officer Sun asked softly. 

"About 8:50am." Cher said, her voice breaking slightly at the end. Officer Sun nodded and wrote it down in his notebook. 

"Okay girls, we'll go back to the station and tell our squad, and try and look for you mother. But we'll post some officers to hang around your house for protection, is that alright with you?" We both nodded. 'Okay, now if we could please get your phone numbers, we will inform you once we know of anything." We gave him our phone numbers, and our mother's, and they went.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to her." Cher said, sighing. I hugged her.

"Cher, go to bed."

"Why?"

"You've been studying all day, and then all of this comes. You need to rest." She was about to start protesting again, but I cut her off. "No, please. For both of us." She hesitated and then finally agreed. She walked upstairs and closed her door. I sighed and went into the kitchen. I made a cup of hot milo and a plate of biscuits and cheese for her. I carried it upstairs and took it into her room, setting it down on her bedside table. She thanked me and dug in. We started talking, and then the doorbell rang. I went downstairs to answer it. I looked through the peep-hole. It was another 2 officers in black unifroms with gold badges. I let them inside. 

"Hi, I'm Officer Green, and this is Officer May." Officer Green said, pointing to the lady beside him. I shook both of their hands. 

"Hi, I'm Chelsea. My sister's upstairs." I told them. They nodded.

"We just came to let you know that we're the officers sent to monitor your house, just in case." I nodded. "Now, can you tell us. How do you get to school? Do you walk, or does someone drive you?" 

"My sister and I usually walk together." Why did they want to know that?

"Ok, well for safety reasons, either myself or Officer May will drive you to and from school from now on." I nodded. "Ok, good. Well, we'll get out of your way for now. If you need us for anything, here's my number." He handed me a slip of paper, and walked to the door. I thanked them, and said bye. I went back upstairs. 

"Who was that?" she asked curiously. I showed her the piece of paper.

"Officer Green and Officer May. They've been sent to monitor our house, and to drive us to and from school every day now." I said, smiling slightly. I felt tears in my eyes, and tried to blink them away. Cher saw and pulled me into a hug.

"Whatever happens, we'll have each other forever and always." she whispered in my ear. I smiled and hugged her tighter.