The Forest's Secrets

Chapter Seven: Why is he here?

"Do you want to be my girlfriend, you little chaotic mess?", Gabriel asked shyly as the both teenagers let go of each other. Fate teared up and nodded.

The friends kept joking around for the last few minutes of the break, Fate stayed put in Gabriel's lap. She felt secure and safe. But the break went by soon, and suddenly Fate and Jaden stood in front of their next class. As the girls walked in, someone caught Fate's eye.

"Holy fu-", the girl whispered.

Jay followed her gaze and saw a white-haired boy sitting on the windows frame. He looked outside the window, either not caring that people were coming in or he just didn't notice.

"That's him!", Fate hissed in terror.

Suddenly, the boy let himself drop backwards. His back slammed onto the floor of the class, but he didn't make a sound. Fate and Jaden, who had sat down in the meantime, seemed to be the only ones to notice the loud crashing crack. The boy just stood lying on the ground, even as the teacher showed up.

Fate couldn't help but stare at him in terror. She was sure that it was him, his long white hair was tied back into a bun, revealing an undercut. The girl was also sure that she had seen him in that outfit before, he wore a white button-up with long sleeves, grey dress pants and black shiny shoes.

Fate stood up and excused herself. The teacher obviously didn't like to see her leave for the restrooms, but she understood it was urgent as Fate stormed out of the room. The girl stood outside in the hallway for a few minutes, desperately trying to calm down. Then she carefully walked back inside, but the boy was gone and nowhere to be seen.

"Am I going crazy or did you see him too?", the scared girl quietly hissed towards her friend.

Jay nodded and whispered back:"I saw him too. He just left through the window, so weird!"

Fate looked at her in surprise, then she whispered:"Did no one notice?" Her friend shook her head in reply to that question.

After that, the last few hours of school went by slowely. Fate caught herself staring out the window, looking for someone, quite a few times. How does someone not get noticed if they leave through the window? Their class was on the ground floor, but it was still unusual. Especially if a person with white hair and clothes too formal for school does it.

Once they were done with classes for the day, they waited for the other half of the group outside. This time they didn't mess with Sally, Jay and Fate didn't even see her anymore.

Karin and Jaden decided to go to Jaden's flat, Fate still needed to go and talk to Brooks and Gabriel said he was going to come along. The friends joked around until their ways split, and before Fate even knew a minute had past, she sat in Brooks office again. Gabriel wasn't allowed to come in, and so the girl was facing the officer on her own.

The talk wasn't all that bad, he asked a few more questions about what had happened the day before and if she had noticed anything unusual. Fate told him about the boy, but she wasn't sure if Brooks believed her. She wasn't even sure if she believed that herself.

But she knew she saw him, and Jaden did too. There was no doubt in that. Brooks let her off with the same warning as the day before, and Fate met up with Gabriel in the hallway. The young couple walked back to Jay's and Fate's flat together.

The next few days went by uneventful. The weekend came and went, and Fate didn't see either of the white haired teenagers anymore. Eli didn't show up to school, but no teacher ever commented on her absence. Neither did she see the boy again, he seemed to have vanished as he jumped out of the window.

A week went by, then another. And then Sally approached the friends, asking carefully:"Have you seen Eli?"

Fate was stunned for a moment, even her own sister hadn't seen the girl. But Jay wasn't and so the girl replied harshly:"Who cares where that freak is."

"You're in her, her class. I thought-", Sally stuttered. Then the girls voice broke and she didn't continue. For a few moments the younger girl just stood there, but as she turned around to leave, Gabriel grabbed her by the arm.

His Girlfriend could clearly see how distressed the blackhead was, as he spun her around and leaned down to meet her eyes. But before Fate could ask him to leave the kid alone, he let go of her again.

"Isn't she at home?", he asked, trying to make his voice sound calming.

"Since when do you care about fags?", Karin scoffed. As the boy didn't answer her, but still waited for Sally to reply, she left with Jaden following close behind.

Sally slowely shook her head in denial. "I don't know", the small blackhead confessed," I haven't seen her since she came back from the police."

Before either of the teenagers could answer, Fate's phone rang. As she checked the display, she could see officer Brooks calling.

"Hello?", she said as she picked up.

"Hello Fate. I know school isn't over yet, but you have to come here as soon as possible. We can excuse you", he said without a breath, the man sounded excited and somewhat nervous.

"I'll be there in a bit", Fate promised.

"Is Elisa around?", the policeman asked.

Fate hesitated before answering:"No but her sister. Eli hasn't been to school in two weeks now."

"Bring the other girl with you", Jamie said and hung up.