Guilt: A Fractured Minds Novel

Chapter Three

The front door shutting jolting me awake. The remains of a twisted nightmare recede to the back of my mind as I quickly stand up. Who's here? It couldn't be my mother because she's won't be home until after eight and it's seven o' four. Slipping my phone into my pocket I walk pass the piano and peek out the doorway though the kitchen. The fading light peeks through the cracks in the blinds giving me just enough to see a tall form make it's way through the house.
Swallowing the lump in my throat I watch as they walk pass the living room. They turn their back to me and walk down the hallway towards mine and Tori's rooms. Who is he and why is he walking to my room? Is he going to steal something? Pulling my phone out of my pocket I turn on the phone only for the light to blind me momentarily. Quickly I turn down the brightness when suddenly he stops walking. The house is completely silent except for my breathing before the footsteps continue. Pulling up my mother's contact I click the call button before holding it up to my ear.
"Come on, pick up." I whisper to myself as the phone rings a few times before going to her voice mail. I then slip my phone back into my pocket. It looks like I'll have to deal with this myself. I think as I pass the kitchen and walking silently down the hallway. The man appears to be gone. Tori's door is still shut tight I think as I try the knob before glancing down to my door at the end of the hallway. The door to my room is wide open. Wiping my clammy hands on my pants I hear a drawer being opened and then someone rifling through it.
What are they looking for in my room? Should I just lock myself in the bathroom and call the cops? That would be smart because he could be dangerous.
Crash!
Without thinking I  run into my room and turn on the light only to be met with grey eyes wide with shock.
"Jared?" I ask as he tucks something into the waistband of his pants. He shifts his gaze to the floor as he scratches the back of his neck. Slowing bringing them to meet mine I take another step forward.
"What are you doing here?"
"I left something here and thought I'd just come in and get it." He says as he shifts from side to side before brushing his black hair off his forehead.
"Next time you forget something just call or text. You scared me half the death. I thought you were some thief, that I was possibly going to get injured."
"Ally, I'm sorry. I should have thought it through before I came over to your house and just walked in with no warning whatsoever." He apologizes walking up to me he wraps his arms around me. Engulfing me in his warm arms and woodsy cologne he tightly hugs me as if that will make up for scaring me.
"Most of my friends don't come into my house at random hours of the day unannounced." I say into his grey clad shoulder.
"I know and I should have thought it through more. I just figure since we're such good friends that you wouldn't mind me coming into your house. I should have texted you first."
"Yes, you should have texted me before." I exclaim as he lets go and looks down at me. His grey eyes study me as a small smile makes it way onto his lips. It's then that I realize just how close we're standing. My nose almost touches his chest.
Taking a step back I take a deep breath before gazing around my room. I see my notebook on the ground. Why did he have my notebook in his hands when I found him?
"What are you looking for?" I ask as he looks away.
"How are you doing?" Completely ignoring my question he looks over at me before walking out of my room beckoning me to follow. Shutting the door to my room I follow him into the living room. Sitting down on the loveseat he looks over at me with one eyebrow raised.
"You still haven't answered my question."
"I've been okay..."
"Ally, you look like you haven't slept in days. I know that you're not okay. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I-"
Ring!
My phone rings in my pocket causing me to stop short. Pulling it out the caller ID reads: Mother. Sliding my finger across the answer button I put the phone up to my ear.
"Alexa I saw that you had called me a few minutes ago. Is everything alright?"
"Yes. A friend of mine had stopped by to grab something of he he had left and I accidentally called you."
"Was it Ethan again?"
I say, "Sure, look I've got to go. I'll see you soon."
"Okay, I just got off work so I should be home soon."
"Bye." I mutter before hitting the end button.
"My mother is going to be home soon so you'll have to leave."
"Ouch. Ally, are you trying to get rid of me?" He asks as he slowly reaches for my phone that sits in my hands. Quickly grabbing it he types in the passcode and angles the phone away from me.
"Jared, can I see my phone back?" I ask reaching for it only for him to move it farther away.
"You can once I'm done with it."
Suddenly his playful mood disappears and his serious one surfaces. The smile turns into a frown and he runs his fingers through his hair. Letting out a breath of air he looks over at me.
"Alexandria, what happened?" He asks showing me the page on notes that I wrote my feelings down on. Upon seeing the page my chest tightens and the room seems smaller.
"I don't want to talk about it. Okay?"
"Alexandria if you never talk about it then it's just going to tear you apart. You need to talk about it. It's not healthy to hold in your emotions."
"You don't think I know that? I know I should talk about it, but I'm not ready yet."
"Alex-"
"No Jared. We're not going to talk about it."
He stays silent as I snatch my phone back and slide it into my pocket. I can't believe he read that. I should delete that page in my notes, then no one else can read it. I shouldn't have written it in the first place. What was I thinking? If I had read something like that on my friend's phone I wouldn't want to be friends with them after that.
Tapping my fingers on my leg I look over at Jared to find that he's looking at me already.
"What?" I ask tapping my fingers faster to the beat in my head.
"Look, I just want to help you because I know that her leaving hurts you deeply."
"Jared. I think you should leave. My mother will be home any minute."
"Ally, just let me talk. I think you need to hear this."
Suddenly the garage door opens as my mother's car pulls in. The engine stops and a door closes before the garage door is shut once again. Standing up I look behind me and see that Jared is still here.
"Just leave already." I exclaim as I run to the kitchen just as my mother walks into the house. She stops when she sees me before setting her purse on the counter in the kitchen.
"Did Ethan find what he'd left at our house?"
"Ethan? Oh, yes. He did find it." I mutter remembering how I told her Ethan was over and not Jared.
"That's good. I've got pizza that we can heat up in the oven for dinner. I hope you don't mind." My mother said as she pulled it out of the fridge and set it on the counter. Turning away from her I glance behind me into the living room and see it empty. There's no sign of Jared. Letting out a sigh I look back at my mother as she puts the frozen pizza into the oven. She stands back up before setting a timer then she looks over at me.
"I'm going to change into sweats." She calls over her shoulder as she disappears down the hallway to her bedroom. Not bothering to reply I sit down at the kitchen table. Letting out a sigh I close my eyes gently resting my head on the table. Hoping that the room will stop spinning.
Beep! Checking my phone I see that I have no new messages. Standing up I push the chair back. Walking over to my mother's purse I see her phone lit up. Crouching down I reach my hand in and pull her rose gold phone out and swipe my finger across the screen. Unlocking it I see that my mother had sent countless messages to my father all of which one has gone unresponded. My mother had asked if he was planning on coming home tonight as she had most nights. He'd said no.
The sound of footsteps echo on the hardwood flooring cause the phone to slip between my fingers and fall back into the purse. Standing up I turn around and see my mother pulling her long greying light brown hair in a pony tail.
"What are you-" The beeping of the timer interrupts her next words. Stopping them before they can be set free. Walking over the ends the timer before grabbing a towel and opens the oven. Pulling out the pizza she puts it on the counter. Walking over to the cabinets I pull out one plates. Giving it to my mother I sit at the table while she gets a slice. She eats in silence as I take a sip of water. Setting down her piece she takes a drink of water and asks, "How'd you sleep last night?"
At her words I set down the empty glass of water. Running my fingers over the dent in the table I look up to see her hazel eyes studying me. Awaiting an answer she raises an eyebrow at me.
"I slept good." I mutter not knowing if she'll call me out on my lie.
"That's good to hear. Work for me was boring as usual, although that shouldn't be a surprize by now." She says before taking a bite of her pizza. Biting my bottom lip I look at her just sit and eat her dinner as if a hole hasn't been ripped in our family. I hate the fact that she just acts like everything is fine and normal.
"Can we just stop?" At my words she looks up from her plate.
"Stop what?"
"Stop pretending that everything is normal because it's not. Victoria is missing and we're not doing anything about it. Why? Why are we sitting here as if a family member hasn't been missing for five weeks now? We need to do something about it rather than just going on with our lives!"
"Alexandria, you know as well as I do that the police are looking for her. We shouldn't do anything about it. They're doing their job and like I said before they'll find her." At her words I curl my hands into fists and lean forward.
"How long is that going to take huh? Three to six months? Maybe even a year or two? Most of the time when someone goes missing they don't find them until years later and most of the time they're-"
"Don't you dare say that! She's going to be alive and well."
"If she is alive then why hasn't she called us yet?" My mother's eyes are filled with unshed tears as she takes in what I said. Slumping back in her chair she closes her eyes tight.
"It's been five weeks since she went missing and they haven't found a trace of her. The police are not doing a very good at their job."
"They've been looking for her and they give me updates Alex. I just haven't told you any of it because it's not much. They keep hitting dead ends."
They haven't found any leads yet... and keep hitting dead ends with the ones the leads they think they've found. What if they've given up on looking for Victoria? I think as she opens her watery hazel eyes. A tear slides down her cheek slowly before wiped away by a shaky hand. Standing up she cleans up her dinner.
"I'm sorry Alexa." She says before walking back to her room on the far side of the house. Looking around at the empty kitchen I push my chair away and stand up. Walking away from the kitchen and into the light that fades down the hallway. I uncurl my fists while pushing all everything aside. Walking into my room I shut the door behind me. Letting my eyes adjust I walk over to my bed. Sitting down I pull out my phone. Unlocking my phone the notes page comes up and I am reminded of what I wrote.
They say she's missing, but I don't see it that way. She just left without a word and took all the good with her. The promises she made were all lies. Does she realized how much damage she caused leaving us? Because of her our father left. I haven't seen him since that night she "went missing". Because of her our mother is suffocating in her work The police along with everyone else just says that she disappeared without a trace, but that can't be true. She must have left something behind as to where she was going or why she left.
After all the police could be right. She just disappeared, nothing more. We don't know if she ran away or got kidnapped. Maybe she just went to visit one of her old friends and forgot to tell us. Only if that were true we would've heard from her by now and she would've left a note...
    I wish Jared hadn't seen it. I should never have wrote it in the first place. After all what can a few written words do? It's not going to bring her back, I think as I press the delete button and turn off my phone. Setting it on the nightstand beside my bed I lay down and pull the covers over my head tightly as if that'll make all of this go away. Closing my eyes I let myself fall asleep for the first time in days.