Isolated

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Though going blonde made me look different, it was what Shannon told me that made me feel different. By feeling 'different,' I mean feeling not like myself. More like an absolute monster. Despite having no control over anything that happened, it made me feel like shit. It's understandable with all she told me.

I was given real answers, ones I didn't know I still needed. For the first time, I had the downright truth. It was relieving, no matter how much it hurt. It was because Shannon told me everything. I loved and hated her for it.

"When you first disappeared, Luke received no sleep. He was a wreck and turned into a fucking lunatic. He went overboard looking for you," she said bluntly from where she sat a foot in front of me. The light from the lamp reflected the pain and seriousness in her eyes. "Numerous search parties got together every day. He would push for them to go through the night too. He hired several investigators and took over local news. Then national, as I'm sure you know."

I shook my head, almost in a daze. She only just started and I was wrapped up in every word. It registered though. "I never saw anything on the news. Then again, I think the FBI covered that up."

"Then they did cover it up because we took over the news stations. Your story alone blew up. Everyone was talking about you and your life. About Clare and all the abuse you received as an 'insane' child. We made sure it got even bigger when you went missing. We helped spread the word as much as we could. Offered large rewards for any information too," she paused and raised a brow to me. "Though we never got anything, Francis helped a bit. He told us you gave him a heads up about leaving. Did you?"

I nodded to her and sighed. "They wouldn't allow me to speak or say goodbye to Luke. My guardian did allow me to speak with Francis. I secretly slipped a word in that I would be fine and eventually come home."

I could tell she was interested in hearing that. "Well, when Francis gave us that message, it offered us a little hope. However, Luke didn't know what to think. At first, he didn't even believe Francis."

I didn't feel too out of the loop yet. "Yeah, he mentioned that he had a hard time believing Francis. He didn't want to believe that I would leave willingly like that."

"Of course he didn't," Shannon continued. "He loved you. More than life itself, which he proved. Loved you so much it was clear. Mom and dad found out about your relationship with him. He told them eventually but I feel they already knew. It was obvious from how... broken he was over it."

I swallowed thickly, hurt by this. I was genuinely surprised too. I had no idea that Mike and Jan found out that we were romantically involved. It made sense that they would be able to see. How could Luke not love me with all Shannon went on to tell me next?

She took a deep breath before going on. "He wanted so desperately to find you, he even... found a member of the gang that was after you before. He arrested this person when finding drugs on them. But the real reason he went after this guy was because he wanted to know if he had answers. Things like that nearly got him fired," she said, chuckling humorlessly. "Anyway though, the guy he arrested didn't know anything. It left Luke depending on the only clue he had. Which came from an eyewitness who saw you on a flight to Connecticut. He went there and constantly looked for you, continued his search there. Never found anything and it started taking a huge toll on him."

Finding a member from the gang that I was associated with before made me raise my eyebrows. I didn't expect that. Her eyes in mine turned hesitant, as if worried to tell me more.

I licked my trembling lips and nodded. "I want to know everything," I said, pushing for her to continue. "Don't hold back."

"It was getting to him. So much so that he couldn't sleep at night. That became a huge issue. After a little bit, it led to him... hallucinating. This happened for months, even when he started getting more sleep. He would say that he saw you out of the corner of his eye. A couple of times he claimed that he saw you out in public but never caught up with you. It ended with him hyped up or in hysterics."