Forest Lake

Chapter 56

Mason POV

If my mother hadn’t sent me a message, I wouldn’t even know what day it was.

“Patricia said that she put the money in your account.” I said as I finished putting my sneakers on. “She doesn’t want to see us, though.”

“I am not surprised.” Emma mumbled, putting her hair up in a ponytail.

I wasn’t surprised either. She wasn’t much of a mother, and I knew she wouldn’t want to see us. Also, I could tell that she was afraid of me. It made me happy. She understood that I wasn’t going to put up with her shit. She understood that she would have to go through me to get to Emma. And she wasn’t getting through me. Nobody was getting through me. Nobody was getting to Emma ever again.

“Are you ready?” I asked my sister as I stood up and placed my phone in my back pocket.

Detective Peters called us to the principal’s office to talk about the dress. I was impatient and terrified. I wanted them to catch the bastard as soon as possible. If he told us that he didn’t have any leads, I would take Emma away immediately. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her again. I already had a plan for where to go.

“Yes.” Emma nodded. “I just have to take the painkiller.”

“Is it bad?” I asked worriedly. “Can I do something?”

“It’s okay.” Emma smiled at me. “Nothing I can’t handle. It’s been worse.”

“Really?” I asked, my eyes widening.

“Yes.” Emma chuckled as she walked toward the closet. “Do you even know anything about periods?”

She opened the closet and grabbed her bag.

“I do.” I said, watching as she rummaged through her bag, searching for a painkiller. “I could have been paying more attention when we were learning about it, though. I forgot a lot.”

“Well, the pain can be quite bad.” Emma said as she opened the pill bottle, took one out and placed the bottle back into her bag. “It’s not that bad usually, but sometimes it hurts a lot.”

I handed her the water bottle. She put the pill in her mouth, opened the bottle, and took a sip.

“I don’t like it when you are in pain.” I mumbled.

I knew it was a normal, natural thing, but if I could take away the pain, I would.

“I know.” she smiled. “I don’t like it when you are in pain either.”

She closed the water bottle and put it down on the desk.

“Are you ready?” she asked me as she turned back around to look at me.

I nodded and reached out to her. She stepped into my arms and I hugged her tightly.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you again, okay?” I mumbled as I kissed the top of her head. “If Peters doesn’t have any leads, I am taking you away from here. I won’t give them another chance to take you away from me. I watched you almost die once, and I am not doing it again.”

“I will be okay, Massy.” Emma said, looking up at me with a small smile on her face. “I won’t leave you.”

“Of course you won’t.” I said sternly. “You won’t even think about it. What happened yesterday was a one-time thing and I’m blaming it on your hormones.”

Emma chuckled and nodded. “It was totally their fault.”

“Good.” I smiled and kissed her forehead. “Let’s go. Peters is waiting for us.”

I took her hand in mine and we left the room together.

As we were walking toward the principal’s office, I couldn’t help but think about what Peters had to tell us. Did they find something? Did they find out who did it? Was that person already locked up?

I really hoped they found out who did it. I needed them to. I needed Emma to be safe.

My mind was torturing me, and it kept replaying that awful moment when I saw my sister getting shocked with a defibrillator. I couldn’t get that image out of my mind. The fear I felt, the need to punch the wall and never stop, the need to scream and cry was so fucking fresh in my mind.

I thought I lost her. I thought she was dead.

I never want to go through that again.

We reached the principal’s office, and Emma knocked on the door.

“Come in.” I heard Peters’ voice.

I opened the door and saw Peters sitting at the desk. Detectives Price and Perry were in there as well.

“Mason, Emma, please come in.” Peters said, giving us a small smile and pointing at the chairs in front of the desk. “Take a seat.”

Emma and I sat down. I never let go of her hand.

“How are you, Emma?” Peters asked her.

“I am fine.” Emma said with a small smile. “Thank you for asking.”

“Of course.” Peters smiled at her before looking at me. “How about you, Mason?”

“Can we please skip this?” I sighed. “What do you need to tell us?”

Peters glanced at Price and Perry before clearing his throat and looking back at Emma and me.

“We didn’t find any evidence in your room.” Peters said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Whoever left the dress there was very careful not to leave anything behind.”

“What about the dress?” I asked, clenching my fists. “Did you find anything on it?”

“Nothing that would tell us who brought it to your room.” Perry answered. “We did find your sister’s name sewed in, which proves that it was definitely one of Derek’s dresses.”

I gripped Emma’s hand tighter. I was pissed as fuck. They didn’t know shit.

“We talked to Derek.” Peters continued, making me look back at him. “He definitely knew about the dress being brought to your room.”

“Did you make the fucker talk?” I asked, trying to stop myself from standing up and destroying the room.

“We tried.” Peters nodded. “He refused to tell us anything.”

“You didn’t try hard enough.” I said, gritting my teeth. “Beat the fucker up. I don’t care. I will do it if you won’t. Make him tell you.”

“Mason.” Emma scolded me, gripping my hand tighter.

“I know you are angry, Mason, but we can’t do that.” Price said softly.

I wasn’t angry. I was way past anger. I was fucking furious.

“Derek said he would talk on one condition.” Peters said calmly.

“What condition?” I asked, wanting to punch Peters in his stupid face.

How was he so fucking calm?!

“He said if he could see Emma, he'd tell us who it is.” Peter said, making my heart stop beating. “He said he would tell her who his helper is.”

“No.” I said, standing up and pulling Emma with me.

Fuck no.

Were they fucking insane? Did they really think I would let that happen after last time? Hell fucking no.

They were lucky I didn’t destroy the room because I really fucking wanted to.

“Mason…” Peters spoke, but I interrupted him immediately.

“No.” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “He will never lay his eyes on her again. I am not letting him near her. I am not letting him talk to her. Are you fucking insane?! Do your fucking job and find the fucker! Stop using my sister as a fucking bait!”

I was screaming by the time I finished speaking.

The detectives were looking at me with their eyes narrowed and their jaws clenched tight.

I was pressing Emma so fucking close to me that I could feel her heartbeat on my waist. It was too fucking fast, and I was scared shitless. What if something was wrong?!

I needed to get her out of here. Out of this office and out of this fucking school.

“Calm down, Mason, please.” Peters said as he stood up and walked around the desk.

I placed Emma behind me. He is not fucking getting to her. No one is getting to her.

“I am not going to hurt Emma, Mason.” Peters said softly. “I just want us to talk about this.”

“There is nothing to talk about.” I said, tightening my jaw. “The last time she helped you, she almost died. I watched as they had to restart her heart. I am not doing that again, so you can fuck off.”

“Mason…” I heard Peters say as I turned around and grabbed Emma’s hand.

“I said no!” I shouted, bolting toward the door.

I ripped the door open and ran toward our room, pulling Emma behind me.

“Mason.” I heard her calling me as she struggled to keep up with me.

“We are leaving.” I said sternly. “Tonight.”

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Should Emma and Mason stay or should they leave? Should Emma help the police again? 🤔

Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful day! 🥰😘❤