Vapor

Chapter Seventeen

Hey guys.... Long time, no update. Rip. I'm so sorry... I love Vapor and I love writing this, but there was a lot of negativity around it when I took my break from it. It is back though!! I'm really sorry.

GIVE ME FEEDBACK - I WANNA KNOW IF YOU GUYS EVEN WANT TO READ THIS STILL

Work count: 1.5K

Warnings: Language, mentions of kidnapping and violence.

_________________________________________

Adelaide's POV:

Why does this place seem so familiar? I was walking around the park? It wasn't the usual park though. This one was in The Cut... I watched as 14 year old Adelaide sat on the swing. I knew exactly what day this was. I watched as she rocked back and forth, waiting for JJ who wasn't coming. I wished I could open my mouth and tell her. I wish I could tell her that there wasn't any point waiting.

More importantly, I wished I could tell her not to give up on him. He was just hurt and scared and he needed you. I wished I hadn't left...

I woke up to the empty room. I struggled to lift my head up and my vision was hazy. I muttered out JJ's name a few times, but my body felt weak and my voice began to fail me. The walls were metal and every sound bounced off of them and into my ears. They made my head spin with pain. My stomach craved food and my mouth was drier than a desert. I called out for Rafe, wondering if he was watching me suffer somehow. I needed something to eat and drink. I needed to get out of here, but I had a bad feeling that this abduction would be longer than a day...

JJ's POV:

I sat in the chateau, the thought Addie fresh in my mind. This was all my fault. She was supposed to be here with me, in bed, peacefully asleep. I promised I wouldn't leave her again and somehow I always managed to fuck it up. If she was hurt at all, I'd never forgive myself. How did I let this happen?

The morning light filtered through the window. I hadn't slept at all, but I don't think I could've if I tried. I heard the front door open and Kie's voice ring out. She called for me, but I said nothing. She opened the door to the spare room and I turned to look at her. I was sitting upright on the bed, hugging a pillow in my arms, eyes red from tears. She sat down next to me and asked if it was my dad. She asked if I found Addie. The moment she said her name, I buried my face into the pillow. She took the hint and hugged me.

"She's probably just upset," she said. "Maybe we could go over and talk to her together. I bet when she sees you like this she-"

"She's not at home!" I said. I looked up from the pillow, breaking down a little bit. "Rafe took her because I took that stupid money!"

There was silence for a moment as Kie tried to process what I said. She looked at me, trying to understand what I meant. She tried to process all the different things that one sentence could stand for. Every ounce of my body was shaking as I thought back to her in that photo. I thought back to that day so many years ago and it felt exactly the same.

I was climbing on the jungle gym, ecstatic at how awesome this park was. They only had parks like this in The Figure Eight back home and if I went anywhere near that the older kids would beat me up. I wanted to stay and play on it forever, but Addie was upset. She had fallen from the monkey bars and wanted to go find her mom, but I wasn't ready yet. I told her I wanted to play more and ignore her as I climbed to the top. I smiled proudly as I made it all the way up and called down to Addie, wanting her to see how cool I was.

"Addie, look!" I yelled, but she didn't respond. I looked down to where she was a couple minutes ago and she was no longer there. I wondered if she had gone looking for her mom, but she wouldn't have done that without me. She knew better. I looked around frantically, trying to find any sign on here, but it was like she had disappeared from thin in.

I climbed down as fast as I could without getting hurt and ran around the area. She couldn't have gotten too far without me. Fear and unease filled me as my head darted in every direction, praying to see her off in the distance, but I didn't. I ran over to find her mom across the street. She looked down at me with worry. The only time I ever ran over was when Addie had gotten hurt, but this was so much bigger than that. I remember shaking with tears falling down my face. I just apologized over and over. I told her I could find her anywhere and that it was all my fault. I cried as they called the police. Addie's mom pulled me into a hug and told me that it wasn't my fault. I didn't know why she was being so nice when I had lost her daughter, but it felt good to have a mother hug me again. I clung to her and apologized profusely. I promised her that I would never leave Addie again, but we all know how that turned out.

"What do you mean Rafe took her?" she asked, interrupting my thoughts. I stared at her and shook my head, telling her to give me a moment. I was furious and scared all at the same time, not to mention exhausted.

"He took her. He showed me a picture of her tied to a chair. Kie, this is all my fault," I explained. I felt her arms slip around me and attempt to comfort me. I could tell that she was scared too, but I knew we had to be strong for Addie. Rafe might be a psycho, but he wouldn't go that far. He wouldn't kill her over this. I just had to think of a plan. I just had to get her back.

Kiara went and told the others about what was going on while I stayed at the chateau. I promised her I would try to get some sleep, but my head was racing at a million miles an hour. I thought about how amazing her family was to me and this was how I repaid them. I put Addie in danger every chance I got and worst of all, I didn't even protect her in those situations. I was too selfish to even check up on her after the run in with Barry. I was too self absorbed to comfort her when she needed me. Instead I pulled my arm away from her and turned my back on her. I walked away because that was what I did best. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about her, but she was the only thing that was ever on my mind.

After that day, Addie saw a lot of different grown ups. She went to doctor after doctor, all of them trying to get her to open up to them, but she never did. Not until her mom asked me to come with. I couldn't remember the shrink's name but I remember sitting on the couch and wondering why I was there. Addie sat next to me and when the quack started asking her questions, she reached over and grabbed my hand. We had held hands a lot, but this was the first time she grabbed me like she needed me. She looked at me before she answered the questions and I remember her tearing up a little bit. When she cried, I stood up and yelled at the adult for being mean to her. I remember kneeling in front of Addie and telling her she didn't have to talk to this guy. She just sniffled and laughed at me, throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a hug. I think that was the day I realized that she was the most important person in my life...

As much as I hated all of those doctor's, she definitely needed to see them. When she was awake, she seemed normal. She would smile and laugh just like she had before the abduction. Occasionally she would fall into these quiet moments where she would stare off into the distance, but overall she was the same Addie I had always known. It was a different story at night though. I remember laying on their couch and being woken up by her screaming. I remember rushing into her room to see her flailing her arms and legs, trying to fight away the bad guy. I remember letting her hit me as I tried to wrap my arms around her, signaling that I was there. I wouldn't let anything like this happen to her again, or so I thought.

I woke up and the sun was setting. I could hear something in the kitchen, but I wasn't ready to face my friends. I sat up in bed and thought about her. I wondered if she would be the same Addie I knew after all of this or if this would finally break here. I wondered if her parents would hate me for letting this happen all over again. I wondered if me being there for her would still be enough...

_________________________________________________

GIVE ME FEEDBACK - I WANNA KNOW IF YOU GUYS EVEN WANT TO READ THIS STILL