Seasons of Ferne, Summer's Passion

Chapter 22

Brandon eyed the man seriously. "No."

"Like I said, Jessica's just tried to make my life difficult. Brandon's kind of caught up in the crossfire." Evelyn said, giving Brandon's arm a squeeze.

The officer nodded. "In your interactions with them have you heard anything about them planning on running away?"

"No, like I already told you, neither of them like me." Evelyn said. Her blood was running cold again. Somewhere deep inside her fears were being confirmed.

The officer flipped his notebook closed and handed Evelyn a card. "If you hear from them, or anything about either of them, please call me."

Evelyn took the card. "I will."

He thanked them and began to walk back towards the school. Evelyn tried to hold herself back from saying anything else, but she had to know if what she feared could be true. "Officer?" She called.

He turned back. "Yes?"

"When did they disappear?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "What makes you think they've disappeared?"

"Because you just asked me if I've ever heard them mention running away. Kind of makes it obvious." Evelyn replied, unable to keep her annoyance out of her voice.

The officer couldn't help but crack a hint of a smile. "They've been missing since Saturday night. Please call if you hear anything."

When the officer was out of hearing distance Evelyn buried her head in Brandon's chest and groaned loudly. "I screwed up Brandon, and I think I screwed up real bad..." She said into his shirt.

"How could you possibly think you screwed up? What do you think you've done?" Brandon asked.

She pulled back and gripped his arm tightly, looking up at him with desperation. "We need to get out of here and get to the woods. Now."

Brandon glanced between the school and Evelyn, shooting her questioning looks. "OK... Why?"

"Because I got to find Puck, and I got to find him soon. Are you coming?"

"Let's see," Brandon said, glancing back at the school, "go have a lovely day in class, or head out and solve the mystery of the missing douchebags. I think I'll take option B! What are you going to tell your parents about skipping school? I'm trying to get on their good sides, remember?"

Evelyn just shook her head as she pulled Brandon down the street. "I'll call them and say I'm sick, tell them my abilities are acting up. They never question that. Then they'll call the school and let them know I had to leave. What about you?"

Brandon laughed. "Nobody home to tell or call. I'll just do the same if my uncle asks why I skipped when he gets back, but I don't think he'll even hear about it. Just do me a favor and don't get us caught, I don't want to get banned from your house for being your accomplice." He joked.

"Aright, that's fine." Evelyn said, too worried to realize he was joking. "But we got to get to Puck, and we got to get to him now."

...

By the time they had reached the edge of the woods all appropriate phone calls had been made. As far as Lenny and Becca were concerned Evelyn's powers were acting up and she needed to get away from people to get them under control. It had happened before, when she had first began to really grow in her abilities. Sometimes she just couldn't hold them back, the only temporary cure being her complete separation from prying eyes until the surge of power wore itself out.

It was, at the very least, a convenient excuse.

Evelyn did what she could to explain her fears to Brandon as they walked. Puck may have the heart of a child, but he could be dangerous. Not even Evelyn knew the extent of Puck's abilities, having only seen the little he had been willing to show her. She had, however, been told some of the stories of his past. Stories from before written history when Puck claimed to be more of a trickster and troublemaker than companion or friend.