Nicole

Chapter: 21

Nicole had been right. When they got to New York, it was snowing. The weather was as chilly as Nicole remembered from last winter. She'd worn a leather jacket over her hoodie and a woolen cap to cover her head and ears from the cold.

As she walked along the streets with her hands in the pockets of her jacket, she felt the familiar aura of New York surround her. She felt bolder and more hopeful to find her brother than she did before and the feeling was welcome.

Beside her, though, Axel and Isabelle shivered from the cold. "I need to buy a warmer jacket," Izzy said and Nicole shook her head. What they'd been wearing was warm enough but Nicole doubted they'd faced New York's winter before. Christopher as well was feeling cold but he didn't show it. His expression was stiff as it had been ever since they'd booked the flight to New York.

"Where would he take Nathan?" Axel wondered out loud. Nicole bit her lip, thinking.

"Did the Jones have any residence in New York?" she asked instead, turning to her father who sighed.

"They were mostly around California," he muttered.

"Mostly?"

Christopher's eyes flickered toward Nicole, "My brother owned a warehouse around here. But that's all. Except, I suppose, the house you and your mother lived in." The mention of her mother pierced through Nicole's heart, paining her and adding to the thoughts racing around her mind.

She shook her head, "Do you know where the warehouse is?"

"Do you think Nathan would be there?" Christopher asked instead.

"Maybe. We have to look everywhere," Nicole answered.

He sighed, "I have never been there. My brother and I weren't close and he never told me where it was or why he bought it. I never wondered either."

Nicole stayed silent. She was still thinking through her plan and all the possible outcomes. One thing she was sure of was that there was no way they could save Nathan without a fight. Even though she had been in fights before, she felt unprepared, thinking that if there would be a fight, it wouldn't be like the ones she was involved in high school. She knew they would be trained better than the proud amateurs she'd fought before.

"You okay?" she heard Axel mutter beside her, lightly nudging her with his elbow. Nicole looked up at him and nodded. It wasn't the complete truth but it wasn't exactly a lie either since she didn't know whether she was okay or not. On the way here, she kept telling herself silently that now was not the time to break down and cry. That they didn't have enough time for that, that if she was to break down, she would do it later after Nathan was safe and secured.

"So, if you don't know where the warehouse is... then where are we going?" At that, Nicole stopped walking and felt the others do the same beside her. She narrowed her eyes, clicking her tongue.

"That's a good question," she spoke to Isabelle and realized that she was right. They'd been walking without a destination in mind for the past ten minutes. Nicole looked around, only becoming conscious of her surroundings. They were standing in a familiar neighborhood that Nicole recognized as her own. Her heart started beating loudly against her chest. "We're heading to my house."

At that, her family looked sideways at her, and Nicole bit her lip, uncertain whether she wanted to enter that house again or not. But to figure things out, they needed a place to stay and warm themselves. Shutting out the wails of her heart, Nicole forced her feet to move and walked toward her house which was only a block away.

As they all reached it, Nicole realized she didn't have the key with her. On the porch, Nicole knelt and picked up one of the flower pots, revealing the silver key beneath it. She picked it up with a shaking hand and stood up, walking to the front door. She was aware of her family's presence around her but felt the feeling of New York slip away slowly as she struggled to unlock the door. She held up the lock and tried to insert the key but with her hand shaking wildly, she couldn't manage it. She breathed heavily, her chest heaving as she felt the familiar feeling of the world pressing down on her.

"Hey, let me do that," Axel said, gently putting his hands over hers, and taking the key from her. She sighed and let him, trying to control herself. You can't break down now, she told herself. This is not the time to be weak. Snap out of it.

Axel pushed the door open and Nicole clenched her hands into fists. Her fingernails dug into her palm, helping her be less emotional. The pain it caused helped her stick with reality and prevented her from getting lost in her thoughts.

Inside, she saw everything was the same as she'd previously left; blood on the floor and walls, the kitchen and living room messed up with shards of glass lying around the floor, crunching beneath Nicole's boots. Around her, her siblings and father stared around the house in horror.

Nicole inhaled sharply and walked toward her mother's room. Her hand rested on the doorknob as she gathered the courage to go inside. After a minute, she pushed open the door and suppressed the urge to scream.

As she looked in front of her, the vision of her mother returned to her mind before she could stop it.

"Sorry, kid," the man said. "We don't forgive mistakes."

With that, the man moved the knife away from her mother's throat who only had the time to take a breath before he dove the knife into her, just below the chest. Her mother gasped.

"NO!" Nicole shouted at the sudden move, unable to suppress her surprise and shock. The man pulled the knife out, revealing a patch of blood-stained fabric. Both of them smirked before running toward the window and jumping out of it.

Nicole raced toward her mom, kneeling beside her as she fell. Tears whelmed up in her eyes as her mother struggled to breathe. Nicole put her hands over the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Nic—" her mother gasped for breath. "Nicole—"

"Nicole?" her sister's voice snapped Nicole out of the memory. She blinked, taking a deep breath before embracing reality. She glanced at a concerned Isabelle before moving forward and kneeling at the spot where her mother was stabbed. Her father joined her as she stared at the patch of dried blood on the carpet.

Slowly, Nicole moved her hand, touching her fingertips to the blood that ran in her veins. "This is where she was stabbed," she mumbled to her father who was staring at the blood, shaken.

She felt her siblings join them. Axel put a hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing it. She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply to keep her tears from slipping. Before she could get carried away with her feelings, she stood up abruptly, surprising her family.

"We need to find that warehouse," Nicole said, avoiding their gaze so they couldn't see the tears whelming up in her eyes. She knew that they had noticed she wasn't okay but she reminded herself that this wasn't the time to not be okay. "Do you have any leads?"

Her father stood up, shaking his head to be free from his own thoughts. "Presumably somewhere isolated. Jacob wasn't a fan of attention."

Nicole closed her eyes, locking out images of her mother. She's gone and there's nothing I can do about it. But Nathan's missing and I can do something about that. She tried to think of all the isolated places around New York. Even though she had lived her for thirteen years of her life, she couldn't think of any place where she had seen a warehouse.

But then one place struck her, forcing a memory into her mind.

The autumn wind howled and pounded against her ears as fifteen-year-old Nicole stood outside the café, waiting for her mother. She had mentioned to Nicole that she might be late to pick her up. Nicole knew why. Lately, her mother had been spending more time than usual at the workshop since the load had increased. She wanted to beat the hell out of whoever was putting that much workload on her mother.

Her ears pricked up when she heard the sound of breaking glass. Her head whipped around. She knew the sound hadn't come from the café. It was fainter, hence, it came from behind the café. Curious, Nicole walked around the small café and through the darkness of the night, saw the outline of a short but wide building. A warehouse, Nicole thought. She walked toward it, squinting into the ray of light coming from one of the windows. Before she could determine what she was looking at, the honk of a car horn forced her to return.

Nicole opened her eyes, breathing heavily. She stared at her family as they were lost in their own thoughts.

"I know," Nicole said breathlessly. "I know where the warehouse is. I know how to find Nathan."