CHAPTER FIFTEEN: TEAMING UP

128 6 12
                                    

Chapter Fifteen: Teaming Up

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Chapter Fifteen: Teaming Up

(The Body, Pt. 4)

***

Rowan knocked on the door of the Wheelers' house.

"Hello? Mrs. Wheeler?"  Rowan asked. When there was no response, she knocked louder. "Hello?! Anyone home?"

Again, nobody answered.

Rowan sighed, and turned to leave when the door opened, revealing Mrs. Wheeler on the other side.

The woman looked Rowan up and down, before recognition dawned in her eyes.

"Oh! Your Alistair's sister" she said. She looked at Rowan again, sympathy in her gaze. "God, how is he doing? It's been hard for Mike, can't imagine what it's been like for your brother."

"He's... coping as well as you'd expect," Rowan said, more curtly than intended. Mrs. Wheeler arched a brow and the teen sighed. "Look, I... I wanted to check up on Mike and see how he's going. Nancy as well, since Barb's gone missing, too."

Mrs. Wheeler's gaze softened. "That's very sweet. Mike's in his room, and Nancy's in hers."

Rowan smiled. "Great. Thanks, Mrs. Wheeler."

Rowan walked in, bounding up the stairs—which was weird, since she usually went down the stairs into the Wheelers' basement to drag Alistair up and away from the campaign so he could be taken home and into a shower. She went to Mike's room first, and frowned at seeing it empty.

"Weird," she muttered, closing the door; if Mike was gone and didn't want his mom to notice, then Rowan wasn't going to betray that.

She moved on to Nancy's room, about to open the door when it swung open, revealing Nancy on the other side.

She frowned. "Uh, hey, Rowan."

"Hey, Nancy,"  Rowan replied. Fiddling with her shirt's hem, she said, "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry, about Barb. I... I hope she's found soon, and that it won't be how they found Will."

Something crossed Nancy's face, and she said in a thready voice, "Thanks."

The two girls stood in awkward silence. Rowan looked at Nancy, saw the look on her face, the uncertainty of where Barb was, the worry on her face, the fear she could be dead. The want to know where she was and find her.

Rowan bit her lip. It isn't fair to keep her in the dark like this.

Rowan cleared her throat and began, "Nance, I—"

"You noticed Barb was missing, too, right?" Nancy asked abruptly.

"Uh, yeah. I even asked Eddie and his friends if they saw her yesterday. They hadn't, by the way," Rowan answered.

Thunderstruck | Steve HarringtonWhere stories live. Discover now