A R I A

That night, I don't sleep. Even with Stitch, it's impossible. The number one thing that can calm me because it reminds me of happy memories with Mom isn't helping me relax tonight. I don't think Miles is getting any sleep either. I wouldn't know, since I found out that the Prescott's have another guest room. I had begged to be left alone after we got back from Hailey's house and even skipped dinner.

Curled up into a ball, my face is pressed into the pillows. The covers are now wet with my tears as I continue to sob, feeling completely helpless. Hailey is the closest thing I have to a younger sibling. She's my responsibility, and I let her down. Now, I have no idea where she is. For all I know, she could be on a plane somewhere, with a total stranger. And there's nothing I can do. At least not yet.

I sit up on the bed, staring at the ceiling and into complete darkness. Where is she? Is she hurt? Is she even alive? The last question makes my heart ache. I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to sleep. But I also want to run out of this house and go look for her myself, though I know I won't find her. After I realized Hailey was missing, Miles and I searched everywhere for a couple of hours until his parents demanded we come back home, saying that we couldn't go on searching forever.

But I would. It's pointless, but I still would. A tiny part of me still hopes that she's fine, that she's just lost in the woods or something. Having hope is stupid. Foolish. Yet I can't help it. Tomorrow there will be a search party, so I can continue to look for her then.

I sigh and hold Stitch to my chest, my sobs slowly quieting. I feel weak, almost exactly like how I felt the day I found my parents. How many more people I love are going to be taken away from me? I walk up to the window and slump against the wall to watch the raindrops on the glass mold with others, but that doesn't calm me either. The rain reminds me of my own tears as I watch the clouds cry, just as I am.

I stay like that for another hour until it's almost four in the morning. My eyes are puffy and my cheeks are stained with the trails of the tears, but I don't care. I'm exhausted, though I can't bring myself to sleep. And it turns out Miles is having the same problem as I am, because a few minutes later, the door creeks open and he pokes his head into the room.

"Hey," He whispers, closing the door lightly behind him. He sits next to me with his legs crossed and his elbows rested on his knees. Miles' eyes are also swollen. Not as much as mine, but a little bit. It's not hard to see it, even in the dark.

"Hey," I reply, shooting him a sad smile.

"How long have you been up?"

I shrug. "I haven't slept."

"Me neither." He nods, running his hand over the velvet rug. "Why would anyone want to take her?"

The question throws me off guard. I haven't even thought of that yet. "How do you know she was taken? What if she's just lost?"

Miles starts to chuckle, but there's nothing humourous about it. "You don't actually believe that, do you? Hailey's a smart kid, she knows what to do if she were to ever get lost."

I bite my lip. "Yeah, but . . ."

"But what?" He waits for me to continue, but when I don't, he shrugs and says, "What if it was her dad who took her?"

I perk up. "Maybe he did. Isn't that usually the case in child abductions? A relative is the kidnapper?"

"Most of the time," Miles says, rubbing his face with his hands. He looks just as tired as I feel.

"We should tell Joyce about our suspicions," I say, standing up to run out of the house and knock on her door. But Miles stops me by grabbing my arm and pulling me down so that our noses are practically touching.

"That's a bad idea," He smirks, jutting his chin towards the alarm clock on the bedside table. "I don't think we should be disturbing her at four o'clock in the morning."

"Oh," My face feels like it's on fire.

"And shouldn't we be telling the cops about it first?"

I shake my head. "Well, that would be kind of dumb. The first thing the cops do whenever a child goes missing is hunt down their other parent if their parents are divorced. Anyways, I'm sure Joyce already thought of that, too."

"So we're both dumb then," Miles says, lifting a brow in amusement.

I try to stop myself from cracking a grin, but I still manage a lazy smile. He shifts so that he can lay his head on my shoulder yet again. I guess that's kind of our thing now, since that's how we usually fall asleep together.

"I'm tired," Miles says. He takes my hand and starts to play with my fingers, then proceeds to entwine them with his.

"Then sleep," I say.

"But I can't," He frowns. "I've been trying for the past four hours. I can't stop thinking about what happened today. Well, yesterday."

"I can't, either." The corner of my lips tugs downwards, matching his frown. "I want to go look for her, but that's—"

"Useless." Miles finishes my sentence, his voice scratchy.

After a moment, my eyes start to get droopy. But I don't even think about sleeping because that's when my phone starts to buzz. Why would anyone text me at this time? I reach for my phone, and curse when I unlock it, the bright light almost blinding me.

When I open the message from an unknown number, I freeze.

"Shortcake? What is it?" Miles pushes, peering over my shoulder to get a glimpse of the text. "What does it say?"

A shiver runs up my spine as I reread it over and over again.

Unknown: Hello, Aria. It's been a while since I last left a message, hasn't it? I suppose I should get straight to the point with this one. That little girl... Hailey, is it? A real sweetheart, that one. It would be a shame if something were to happen to her. She's asleep now, tucked away in a little bed made especially for her, a little angel. Her skin is absolutely flawless. It's incredibly difficult not to trace her cheeks with the tips of my knives. I'll tell you what, you and that boyfriend of yours have two weeks to find her. One day late, and she'll be gone forever, just like your parents. Good luck.

"Okay, now we've definitely got to inform the police," Miles says. Right after he says that, my phone vibrates again.

Unknown: Oh, how silly of me. A little something I forgot to mention: if you get the police involved, or anyone else, you will find the girl's limbs ripped off her body.

Miles' presses his lips together into a thin line. "Nevermind."

I sigh. "And what's up with everyone assuming we're a thing?" I gesture between the two of us.

"They're just predicting the future," He says with a wink.

"It's not the time to joke, Miles," I say, untangling my fingers from his. I let them hover over the keyboard.

"Who says I was joking?" His expression is dead serious. I scowl at him and begin typing my own message.

Me: Why are you doing this?

The person's reply arrives in an instant.

Unknown: Pure pleasure.

"That's really messed up." Miles groans, clenching his fists. I can only nod in agreement.

No more texts come from the unknown number, and I have a feeling that if I say anything else, they would just ignore it. So, I put my phone down and pull at the ends of my hair in frustration. There's no doubt about it, whoever kidnapped Hailey is the same person who murdered Mom and Dad. I let out a bitter laugh. This person really enjoys screwing my life up.

"Two weeks," I say, looking Miles in the eyes. "We have two weeks to get her back, Miles. How are we supposed to do that? I can't even find my own socks!"

"We'll find her, Shortcake," He assures me, reaching over to tuck a few strands of hair behind my ear. "We will. Don't lose hope, not now. Okay?"

I look down at my hands. "Okay."

He smiles warmly and helps me get to my feet with my wobbly legs. "Let's go to sleep."

"But we have so little time, why not just go look for her now?" It's not pointless. Not anymore.

"Um, if you go searching for Hailey at this time, you'll probably think you found her, when in reality, you found a tree."

"Shut up," I mumble, diving onto the bed. Miles laughs lightly before wishing me a 'goodnight' and takes his own side of the bed. Once again, thoughts of Hailey floods my mind when I'm left alone with nothing but my brain and Miles' silent, sleeping presence.

I can already guess what tonight's nightmare will be about.

●●●

I stand in front of my old house that's now decorated with moss and . . . blood. Dead rats litter the stairs to the porch, so I scrunch up my nose and leap over them so that I'm once again gazing at the handle of the door. It's clean.

I push the door open and step inside, not surprised by the trails of red and the smashed furniture. I already know what to do next. I skip the kitchen and enter the guest bedroom, waiting for my eyes to land on the two dead bodies of my parents.

But this time, instead of two, there's one.

I inspect my surroundings, noticing how it's less messy than usual. Less bloody. The walls are plain white with no brains on them. Still, the sight of Hailey's torn body is sickening.

We're too late.

We failed.

Hailey's dead.

Blood pours out from where her legs and arms used to be, creating a massive puddle. All that's left of her is her torso and head. Only her right thigh remains. I sink onto the ground, cradling Hailey's face in my hands. Now, it's marked with terrible scars and gashes.

Suddenly, the body comes back to life when it whispers, "Why didn't you save me?" I gasp, tears streaming down my cheeks.

I don't have anything to say, so I just watch her die again as she takes her last breath.

I didn't save her, and now she's lying dead in my arms, with her arms and legs detached. It's my fault. I should have been quicker and smarter. But I wasn't, and that cost Hailey her life. Who knew the last time I would ever see her alive would be on her birthday?

In the end, everyone leaves.

In a flash, Hailey's body vanishes. Slowly, so does all the furniture, and then the house itself. But the blood still surrounds me until the soil absorbs it all. As it does, I don't notice the figure watching me cry, the figure that holds a knife. Only when it starts to run towards me, I scream and struggle to get up. I can't move, because the grass has turned into vines that wrap around my body, keeping me in place.

I scream until I can hear my own heartbeat stop.

"Hey, it's okay. Calm down, Shortcake." I open my eyes to find myself in Miles' embrace, wiping my tears and hugging me tightly. Great, this is the second time he's witnessed this side of me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks softly.

"I wasn't there to save her, Miles," I cry harder. "S-She died, and . . ." It's just impossible to continue.

"Shh, it's okay," He repeats, rocking me back and forth like I'm a baby. "It wasn't real. We'll find her, okay? We won't give up."

I nod, my cries slowing down. How does he manage to calm me down so easily?

After I've stopped crying completely, I mutter a "thank you," before laying back on the bed, still in his arms. I smile, inhaling his familiar scent.

Sorry, Stitch, but I think I found my new lifeline.

●●●

Wow, that was the longest chapter yet. I am super excited because it's about to get interesting again. Any guesses on what's going to happen in the next chapter?

Don't forget to vote and comment!

Chloe ❤