Game On

Chapter 35: Free

A police officer meet me as I run outside the burning building and I search for Patricia and the other girls with my eyes, glossy because of the smoke, but the officer practically pushes me towards some paramedics who put an oxygen mask onto my face.

I take deep breaths, breathing on the air free of smoke, but I can't seem to stay still.

I have to know if Patricia and the other girls are alright, but even though the chaos in my though another ones slips in.

Nick.

I shot him. I never thought I had it in me, to aim and fire a gun at someone, but I guess being kidnapped changed that.

Being kidnapped changed me.

What if I killed him? All I wanted was to get away from him, not for him to die.

I'm not a killer, am I?

A tear falls down my cheek and it's not because of the smoke.

I breathe in again, filling my sooty lungs with pure air, welcoming it as it makes its way down my throat before my body forces me to breathe out again. I keep doing that over and over again, letting the good in and the bad leave my lips for the last time, until a paramedic takes it off of me after a few minutes.

I start to walk towards the direction of a crowd, but a policeman places a hand on my shoulders to stop me.

"Are you one of the missing students from Beckwith High School?" he asks in a tone I think is supposed to be gentle, but the tone reminds me of coarse sandpaper.

"Y-yeah", I answer and curse myself for stuttering, "I'm Alex."

He gives me a small smile that shows some wrinkles by his eyes.

"Alexandra, I assume", he says and I force a smile onto my lips as a reply.

"I'm officer Gordon and I've been following the kidnapping since the start."

I don't know what he wants me to answer. Something with 'Oh really, how was it?' It just seems stupid and I don't even want to know the answer. Instead, I start playing with a strand of my hair without noticing it.

"How did you find us?" I ask eventually as we fall into an awkward silence.

Gordon gives me another smile and motion for me to walk with him to an ambulance not too far away. I realize I don't even know if it's his first or last name. I think it's his last name, but I'm not sure.

"We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for two of your friends, actually", Gordon says as we walk and he continues, "let's just say it was thanks to some cleverness from your friends and today's technology."

I don't question what he means because I figure out I will be getting the details later but now, I got a feeling of that Gordon wants me to be checked by the ambulance for any injuries.

I'm right.

He motions for me to go the last few steps to the paramedics on my own, and I do.

"They are just going to do a basic check-up on you", he tells me, "it's nothing to worry about."

I suck on the inside of my cheeks and nod, letting one of the paramedics direct me towards the back of the ambulance where the check-ups are held.

The girl who checks me tries to make some small talk but my mind is elsewhere and I can't concentrate on what she's saying. Eventually, she gives up and continues in silence. When she's done, she flashes me a smile and tells me everything's fine and I quickly walk away, feeling rather than hearing that Gordon follows me.

"Where are my friends?" I ask him without turning around to face him.

He waits a few seconds before answering and I think that he might have nodded in their direction but then realized that I didn't watch him.

"They are by the police cars to your left."

I turn my head in the direction he told me to, and at first, I can't see anything except for all the cops dressed in blue, but then I make out Patricia's blonde hair in the sea of people and my feet pick up the pace.

I press myself through the crowd and meet Patricia's green eyes in barely a second before we both engulfed in a hug.

"You're safe", I hear her whisper and hold me even tighter and I nod weakly.

"You too." My voice sounds weak as well, exhausted, and it's like all my energy suddenly washes off of me.

All the other girls - Amy, Nicole, and Aubrey - stands beside Patricia, looking slightly shocked. I can't blame them because I already have a hard time to believe, accept, that I'm out of that hellhole of a house.

I'm finally free.

Someone clears their throat and ruins the moment, disturbs my thoughts.

"We need to take you girls down to the station for questioning and then you can finally go home."

I saw something lit up in the eyes of the girls but instead of lighting up like them, it felt like something came crashing down and took my good mood away with it.

At least they got a family to go back to.

What about me? Will I go back to my old foster care with Carol, Brian, and Lottie? Or will my real parents, who finally seem to notice my existence, welcome me home once and for all?