Fallen

Chapter Sixteen

I spent the night curled up in Ellie's bed like we used to do as kids. When mum got angry, Ellie would tuck me up in her bed and hold me tight until it was all over. She was snoring softly behind me, but I'd barely slept at all. I stared at my phone on the bedside table waiting for the call. Once I'd calmed down, I took in the rest of what the news reporter had said. Carter had found her which meant they were all back home.

I called Blaine over and over last night, but his phone was turned off. I felt helpless. I wanted to go to the house, but Nick reminded me that the whole place would be cordoned off and the guys would probably be in a hotel somewhere. Eventually, I stopped calling and waited for Blaine to be ready to speak to me. So I stared at my phone, making sure I had a signal every few minutes despite not moving from Ellie's room. My phone vibrated, but it was a text from Danielle to say she'd spoken to Benny and he'd allowed me the day off. I thanked her and dropped my phone back on the table.

After an hour or so, I felt Ellie begin to stir behind me. I jumped out from bed just as she spoke.

"Hey," she croaked, looking at me through hooded eyes. Slowly, she sat up. "Where are you going?"

"Out," I said. "I need to clear my head."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. I need to be by myself."
Before Ellie could say anything else, I ran out of the room, threw on some clothes and sped down the stairs.

"Anna?" Nick called from the living room. Seconds later he was in the hallway looking sleepy, rubbing his eye with a knuckle. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," I bit back. "I just need some air."

"I can come with you if you want-"

I cut him off with the slam of the front door and headed down the street. Almost instantly I regretted not taking a jacket. The wind cut through me like a knife and I shivered uncontrollably, but there was no way I was going back since I'd only bite at Nick and Ellie some more. I needed to clear my head before seeing them again.

After a long walk, I found myself on Blaine's street. Nick was right, the house had been cordoned off. Police tape ran across the pavement. People in white hazmat suits wandered in and out of the house. Police were stood just outside the tape as a few journalists with cameras surrounded them. I sat down on the kerb opposite the house and hugged my legs to my chest. Maria's car was just beside me. I stared at the front of the house, thinking back to the time Danielle and I had been knocking on the door only a few days ago. All that time she had been in there, cold and alone, and we didn't know. I should have called the police when I noticed her car outside. I should have looked after her better. I should have done more.

Eventually, a journalist had spotted me. I panicked, wiped at my eyes and stood up. She beckoned her cameraman over to me, but I quickly paced down the pavement and away from them as quick as possible. When I neared the end of the street, I saw a familiar figure stood across the road, leaning on a lamppost with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Blaine!"

His head shot around, watching me cross the empty street towards him, but his gaze was hard as if he didn't want to see me. I expected him to hold him tight, hands fisting the back of my top and face buried in my neck to hide his teary eyes.

Our eyes met, just for a moment, before Blaine threw the cigarette down to the ground, stamped on it and walked away. I stopped just shy of the pavement and watched in disbelief as he turned his back on me. To ease my concern, I told myself that he hadn't recognised me, but the unsettling feeling in my chest was hard to ignore. I strode down the street after him, but it seemed that the quicker I moved, the quicker he did too.