Paisley

Thirteen

Demi

I cried the entire way to Matthew's. My heart has literally been ripped from my chest. I didn't trust myself to drive so I called Max, my bodyguard, apologising over and over again for waking him at 1 in the morning. He didn't care though, and he especially didn't care when he noticed the state that I was in. Max and Paisley have an incredible bond, he treats her like his granddaughter, like he treats me like I'm his daughter. He even shed a few tears when I told him that Paisley had been taken from Matt's.

"We're here, Dems" I swallowed down a sob as I glanced out the window of the car and up at Matthew's house.

"What if we never get her back?" he climbed from the driver's seat and pulled open the backdoor, his arms suddenly locking around me as I broke down.

"You'll get her back, Demi, okay?" I pulled away from him with a sniffle. "We will get her back. We won't give up on her until we find her, okay? I promise you, Demi" he lightly wiped the tears from my cheeks. "Come on, it looks like the police are already here" he helped me climb from the car and no matter how quickly I wiped the tears from my cheeks, they were just replaced by new ones.

"You-You don't have to stay; you can go home" I choked lightly on a sob as I spoke.

"I'm not leaving you, Demi" I gave him a grateful smile but it dropped as I lightly sobbed. "Come on, Sweetheart" he guided me up towards the front door and if Max wasn't holding me up, I would have sunk to the floor in a heap of sobs as the front door was pulled open.

"Demi" I was pulled into Matthew's arms and I suddenly broke down as I nuzzled my head into his neck. "I'm so sorry, Demi" he sobbed as he buried his face into my neck, his tears soaking into my skin. "I'm so sorry" he repeatedly apologised and as much as I wanted to tell him to stop blaming himself and that it wasn't his fault, I couldn't, because I couldn't find the words. We remained in each other's embrace, sobbing into each other for a while before we finally composed ourselves.

"It-It isn't your fault, Matthew."

"It is" I shook my head but he ignored me as he continued. "I-I usually check on her, be-before I go to sleep but I didn't and I..." I locked my arms back around him. "I should have checked on her" I nuzzled my face back into his neck as a fresh batch of tears flowed down my cheeks.

"It isn't your fault, Matt."

"I'm so sorry" I shook my head and pulled away from him.

"Stop apologising" I lightly wiped at his cheeks. "Are the police already here?" he nodded and pointed to the door to the living room. "Do-Do we have any leads?"

"I-I installed CCTV when Damien left. It-It picked up someone dressed entirely in black, entering the house around 11. She didn't even scream, Demi, I-I would have woke up if she'd have screamed."

"Do-Do you think it was Damien?"

"He's the main suspect" I covered my mouth with my hand as a sob slipped out. He wouldn't take Paisley, surely?

"He wouldn't hurt her, would he?" Matt fell silent and my heart broke harder than it already had. "Matthew, please tell me that he wouldn't hurt her" the hesitation on Matt's face terrified me to my very core. "I swear to god if it was Damien, I'm going to kill him" Matt wrapped his arm around me and pressed his lips against my temple as another wave of sobs took over.

-

"Would Damien hurt Paisley in anyway?" I glanced to Matt, wanting him to answer this question because he hadn't answered me earlier when I asked.

"I don't know" I turned away as my eyes welled with tears.

"Does Damien have an address where he could have gone?"

"I-I don't know. We-We haven't spoken to each other in a while. I don't know, he was very bitter when we last spoke. He-He doesn't like that we're getting a divorce" I took Matthew's hand in mine and gave it a squeeze.

"Does he have any siblings or parents in the area?"

"His parents live in Atlanta. He-He has a sister but she-she lives in France" Officer Jones nodded as he wrote it down.

"Does Paisley have a passport?" the question stunned me.

"Yeah, but it-it's at my house, it's in the safe" Officer Jones and Leon both nodded. "Do you think he'd try and leave the country?" they didn't have to say anything for me to know that was exactly what they were thinking. "He wouldn't. He-He wouldn't leave the country with her, would he?" my question went unanswered.

"We'll need a recent photo of Paisley. We'll need to send it out to all airports and borders in the country, there's a possibility he could have already left the state."

"I-I have loads of photos on my phone, I..." I cut myself off as I pulled out my phone, my heart dropping into my stomach as I noticed the message from Max.

Max😍❤️: How is everything baby?❤️

"If you can send the most recent to me, we can get it all sorted" I nodded in understanding but I was frozen as I stared down at the photo of Paisley on my phone.

"I-I have one that you can use" Matt pushed himself up from the couch and grabbed a frame off the mantelpiece.

"Thank you" Officer Jones took the frame from Matthew.

"We-We need to tell our family; can you try and keep it away from the media until we do?"

"We can try our hardest. We'll get everything sent through to all airports and borders. We'll be in contact as soon as we hear anything" Matt nodded and shook both of their hands as they stood to leave but I didn't move an inch. I just continued to stare down at the photo of Paisley that I took only yesterday when she was in the middle of a giggle fit. I broke down the moment arms locked around me and I was pulled into the comforting embrace of Matthew.

——