Page 125 of My Fault

44

Nick

I hadn’t seen Noah in twenty minutes, and already, I was missing her. I looked around and couldn’t find her anywhere.

“Jenna, you seen Noah?” I asked, walking to a corner where she was drinking and dancing. She stopped to look at me.

“I went to the bathroom, and when I came back, she wasn’t here. Sophie said she was asking if anyone had seen her phone.”

I decided to go outside to look for her. It was freezing, and there was no one around. I looked left and right, even toward the woods behind us, but there wasn’t a trace of her. I went back in and checked the bedroom with an uncomfortable pressure in my chest; she was nowhere to be found. Finally I checked every room one by one, shouting her name and dialing her phone. Nothing. Not a single sign.

I ran downstairs and found Jenna and Lion by the front door.

“I don’t know where she is,” Jenna said, now worried.

A horrible fear overtook me, and I ran around the corner, with Jenna and Lion close behind me. Turning the corner on the way to my car, I saw footprints on the grass. I followed them, my heart in a knot, and when I reached the place where they ended, I found her high heels lying there as if they’d been thrown down.

“Noah!” I shouted desperately, looking from side to side. “Noah!”

Jenna and Lion shouted, too. No response.

I remembered Ronnie’s threat. Had that son of a bitch taken her somewhere?

“Call the cops,” I told Lion when I got over my panic.

Lion looked surprised, but he took out his phone. As he dialed, we went back inside. I walked into the DJ booth and made him cut the music. Everyone hissed and jeered, but I didn’t give a shit. “Has anyone seen Noah?” I shouted. I got up on a chair and stared out at the crowd, wishing I would see her there and hating myself for leaving her alone.

Everyone jeered and shook their head. I got down and clutched my head in my hands.Dammit… Dammit…

“Nicholas, calm down,” Jenna said.

“You don’t understand!” I screamed, not caring if anyone heard. “Ronnie’s been threatening her.” Just then, Lion grabbed me.

“Nick, the cops,” he said, handing me the phone. “They want to talk to someone from her family.”

I grabbed it and put it to my ear.

“My girlfriend’s disappeared. I need you to come right away,” I said, knowing I should control my tone better but unable to.

“Sir, calm down and explain to me what happened,” the voice on the other line responded. The person was calm, as if we were talking about the weather and not the entire purpose of my life suddenly vanishing.

“What happened is my girlfriend disappeared, that’s what’s happened!”

“Calm down, sir, we’ve already sent a patrol car, and when they arrive, they’ll search the area, but for now, I need to you to tell me exactly where you saw her for the last time.”

I told the operator what happened, but it was as if I were in a bubble and none of what was happening were real.

Soon a cop car pulled up and everyone in attendance rushed out. I didn’t care; I already knew who had done this.

“You are…?” the officer asked after taking my statement. I couldn’t believe he was dragging his feet like this; something needed to be done, and now.

“I’m Nicholas Leister,” I said for the second time that night. All these questions were absurd; what we needed to do was go find Ronnie wherever he was and rescue Noah.

“So you’re her boyfriend?” I nodded, impatient, while Jenna and Lion talked with two other cops. “Noah Morgan…is she a minor?” the officer interviewing me asked. Shit. I hadn’t thought of that.

“She’s seventeen. Look, she’s my stepsister, our parents got married a few months ago, and I already told you, I know who’s behind this. Please, we’re wasting time and they could be hurting her.”

The cop frowned at me.