Perfect (Rewrite)

Chapter Fifty

    Chloe impatiently sat on her bed and waited until the lights came back on, soon after someone knocked on her door. She opened it up, but Jacob wasn't who greeted her. Margaret entered her room before shushing Chloe.

    "You heard it to?" Chloe whispered.

    "Yes. I don't think it's safe for Jacob to be down there anymore."

    "Well, it's too late now," Chloe replied, hating herself for letting Jacob go down there on his own. If she would've just stayed with him, then maybe the odds of them staying safe would've been better. Then maybe the odds of him disappearing like Melanie would've been lower.

    David crept into the room and nodded towards the stairs. "You stay here," He told Margaret. "Lock the door."

    "I think we both know that won't help," She countered but followed his orders anyways. Chloe tiptoed close behind David, making sure to take each step carefully. The floorboard creaked underneath David's final step on the second floor. His face cringed as they waited for the inevitable to happen, but it didn't. No one, nothing, made a sound.

    David led Chloe down the stairs and into the kitchen. The floorboard was put back into place, so she lifted it, but it stopped quickly. It was locked. She jiggled the panel; it didn't go any further. "Someone locked it," Chloe said and then David punched the wall. He held his fist with his other hand and then Chloe stood back up and looked around the room.

    "Where could he have gone?" She asked.

    Both of their eyes fell to the floor under the table; then they shared a look before returning to Chloe's room. Margaret opened the door after David announced their arrival. They locked the door once inside, hoping to keep any lurking visitors out.

    "Where's Collin?" Margaret asked; the floor outside the room creaked and then a door swung open hard. Collin's screams drowned out any other sound as David raced to save him. Chloe stood in the doorway between her room and the hall, watching as David entered Jacob's room and jumped at something. They fell to the floor and wrestled, pinning one another in useless attempts.

    Chloe rushed to the room and looked down at the two boys, David and Jacob, fighting one another for nothing. "Stop." The two of them stopped long enough to recognize each other, and then David climbed off of him and back onto his feet.

    "Sorry," David told him; Jacob shrugged his shoulders in return.

    Chloe looked to Jacob and asked, "Where did you go?" He looked at her dazed and confused.

    "I went down into the room."

    David shared a look with her before they joined forces to interrogate him. "The floorboard was locked."

    Jacob looked between the two of them and shrugged his shoulders. "It fell down after I went down, and then I had to unlock it again to get out."

    "Well," David replied. "I guess you might as well tell us what's down there." He left the room and walked back to Chloe's to get Margaret. They passed the doorframe together and then the steps creaked as their weight put pressure on the wood.

    Jacob started to leave the room, but Chloe stopped him with a grunt. He turned back. Her hand was held out, waiting for him to return what was rightfully hers. Jacob shook his head and tsked before reaching into his pocket and giving it back to her.

    "Keeping secrets is a risky business," Jacob told her. "Especially in a place like this." She nodded in agreement and then brushed past him to meet with the others. Jacob stopped her by her wrist and pulled her close to him. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you, right?"

    "Yeah," Chloe responded. "I know." He released her and then she continued her trek downstairs, filling up with guilt from doubting his words. Whether Chloe wanted to admit it or not, Jacob was shady. And no matter how many times he kissed her, she had a feeling he would always give her a bad feeling.