Destined

Fifty Six

Vince

One week ago

My mind was racing as I sped over to Grazier House. I didn't call to ask if Jonah was there, part of me hoped he wasn't, because then I wouldn't do what I felt like doing. And that was breaking every damn bone in his body. Maddie had just called me a few minutes earlier, frantic and worried, asking me if Kristina was with me. And when I'd denied that notion, she'd gotten even worse, describing the state of their kitchen.

By then, I had already stopped listening to her, sure that Jonah had gotten to her. I immediately berated myself. Why had I left her alone? Knowing she'd poked a bear, who knew where she lived, and whom she somehow blindly trusted. I'd left her alone and now no one knew where she was.

I came to a quick stop in front of the boarding house, my tires squeaking in protest. I spotted my target the moment I walked into the house, he was talking to Damien, and they were both surprised to see me.

"Vince?" Jonah spoke and I saw the small flash of guilt cross his face.
I charged over to them, grabbing him by the collar, "Where is she?"
"What?" He asked, surprised.
"Where the hell is Kristina?"
"Whoa, Vince, you need to calm down," Damien tried to pull me away but I shoved him away and pushed Jonah into the wall.
"Tell me where she is," I said, trying really hard to be calm.
"I don't know, I left her on the road, like you said," Jonah was saying.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized he probably didn't have her. He wouldn't have had enough time to come back to school, grab her, take her elsewhere and come home all within two hours. But I was blinded by rage and desperation, so much so that I couldn't see reason, and I wanted an outlet. My fist connected with his jaw. Someone shouted, but I was lost to my violence. Jonah tried to block my next punch, it didn't work out. I went for his stomach. He doubled over in pain. Someone grabbed me around the waist, I struggled against them, but another set of arms joined them. I hit Jonah in the nose but that was the last I could reach before whoever was pulling me away succeeded.

"Vince! Vince!" Someone shouted and through the red of my anger, I saw Matt. "What are you doing?"
"Kristina is gone," I said. "She's missing, this guy took her,"
"I didn't take her anywhere," Jonah said, a hand on his bleeding nose. "I swear man, I have no idea where she is,"

I cursed and stomped out of there, my heart feeling like it would implode at any moment. Where the hell was she? I got into my car and as I started it, Matthew got in too.

"Dude, you need to calm down. What happened?" He asked as I drove to the girls' house
"Maddie called, they can't find Kristina, and they think she was kidnapped,"

I pulled up to the house, not surprised to find it surrounded by police cars and several students wondering why the police were there. I got out of my car, made my way to the door where an officer stood, blocking my way.

"You can't go in there sir, not unless you're a resident," he said to me.
"No," Maddie appeared before I had the nonsensical idea of hitting a police officer. "Let them in, they're friends,"

It was then that I noticed Matt was still with me. The officer let us in and Maddie turned back to the lounge.

"What happened?" I asked her but decided I didn't need an answer when I took in the sight before me.

It wasn't bad or grotesque in any way. There were broken dishes on the floor, a plate, a mug, a glass. A few inches away from that was another piece of glass, this one covered in blood. My eyes followed the crime scene markers to the foot of the staircase where another spot of blood stained the tile. On the other side of the island, I noticed when I moved closer slightly, was another smudge of dry blood.