Emerald

Chapter Nine: Dead Man

"Will?"

"Ahah....uhm....even if I were to leave you, they won't let you go."

I nodded. "Then what should we do?"

"You're safe for now....the only person who knows about this is Henry and his men." He looked down at the dead man one last time before taking my hand and leading me towards the direction of my house. "I'll take care of this....please don't let the police get involved in this...I'll find a way to help your sister and bring her back by tomorrow morning, alright?"

"But-" I began to argue but he simply pushed me back.

"It's better if you don't get involved..." then he turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait!" He stopped and slowly turned around. I ran up to him and before he could protest, I went on the tip of my toes and pressed my lips against his in a soft kiss. He suddenly froze and pulled away immediately.

"W-What are you doing?" He asked, blushing.

I smiled and turned around before he could see how red my face was. Then I ran the rest of the way home.

"Where the hell have you been?" My father asked angrily. "Don't tell me you went there all by yourself! Didn't I tell you to let the police handle this?"

"Dad....can we talk in private?" I murmured, glancing at the policemen surrounding the front of the house.

"What's wrong? Just tell us...my daughter is in danger right now." Regina stated. He raised his hand to stop her. She was about to argue back but she stopped when he gave her a stern look.

"Okay...." then he began making his way to the back of the house as I followed behind. "What's going on?" He asked as soon as we were alone.

"Can you tell the police it was a false alarm?"

"What? I can't just do that, we haven't even found Jessica!"

"I talked to them and they promised to return her by tomorrow morning as long as we don't tell the police..."

"But what would we say? And what would we do if something like this were to happen again? I don't want to lose you too, Emery."

"I know, dad. And I promise you won't lose me....just....just tell them she had a sleepover at a friend's house and forgot to tell you. You guys got worried and notified the police without knowing"

"But what about the note that they left behind?"

"Tell them it was a prank!"

"But-"

"Please, dad. This is for Jessica's sake."

He seems to be debating this over and over for a long time before he finally sighed and nodded. "Fine....but promise me that this won't happen again."

"I promise! They won't bother us again." Especially after Jared kills all of them. Will he be okay? How many people are there? And why were they trying to find Jared?

After the police had left, I went into my room to avoid any further questions from my dad and Regina. I was too tired from everything going on today. The last thing that was on my mind before I drifted off to sleep was him. Jared.

"Jessica!" I jolted out of my seat as soon as I saw her walking through the cafeteria doors. "Are you okay? You're not hurt are you? Are you sure it's okay to come to school today? Maybe you should take the day off. I mean you were freaking kidna-"

"Emery!"

I blinked twice before letting go of her arms and smiled.

"I'm okay," she laughed. "Thanks to Jared..."

"You met Jared?" I asked. She nodded and motioned for me to follow her.

"Where you goin'?" Megan called after me.

"I'll be back!" I called back and followed Jessica out into the hallway. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I heard the people that kidnapped me saying that as long as they have you then he'll come out." She whispered. "Who is the man they were talking about? Are we in danger?"

"I don't know...." I answered honestly. "But we're safe for now."

She nodded again. "Okay...."

    

      

    

It was two weeks now. Two weeks passed since the incident and to my relief, nothing happened. I have no contact of Jared and I stopped going to that place. Maybe it was best for the both of us. There was a day where I had thought I heard Jared's voice from the front office. He was shouting at the people and saying, "What do you mean you don't know where he is?"

But I was distracted as my friends pulled me away. I also haven't seen William for a long time. Maybe he transferred or moved back with his dad.

I was about to unlock the front door to my house when someone suddenly grabbed my hand and twisted me around. My eyes widen when I came in contact with William. His clothes were ripped and he was covered in mud.

"William? What the hell happened to you?" He fell into my arms and I gasped at his weight. He was freaking heavy! "William! Are you okay? Why are you like this-"

"I finally found you.....I found you at last....Jessica."