After Hours

Chapter 34.

Grayson's POV.

   I try and get Cameron to let go of me but each pull I make makes his grip tighter.

  "Let me go! I need to get back to her!" I scream, trying to claw at Cameron's eyes.

  "Give it up Grayson," Cameron says, grunting in effort to restrain me. "She was in on it. This wasn't just my choice."

   She was in on it? How? She would never agree to staying with this monster. Would she? Maybe to get me out, I mean.

  "Please, Cameron. If there is any sanity left in you let her come with me," I beg, the thought of leaving her puts a hole through my heart.

  "I would but," Cameron hits me in the stomach, making me double over. "i went insane a long time ago."

   I shudder at his words. Cameron whispers something in my ear and I feel like I'm fading away. The same feeling I got when I would fade back home in the morning.

  "See ya later, Gray," he whispers.

   I find myself sitting on my driveway in front of my house. A feeling of happiness rushes over me, then sadness. I need to see my dad. I get up and walk up to my door. I ring the doorbell and hear my father's footsteps banging down the hallway.

  "You better have found my son," I hear him say. "Please tell me you did."

   He opens the door and stops. A look of confusion/happiness comes over his face and he drops his coffee mug and wraps me in a hug. We stand on the porch, silent, hugging each other like we haven't in years. And it feels as though we haven't.

  "I missed you dad," I whisper when we release each other.

  "Where were you? I searched and I searched for you and I never found you," my dad says, grabbing me in a hug again.

  "It doesn't matter where I was," I say, knowing if I tell him the truth he won't believe me. "I'm here now and I'm never going away again."

   I walk inside and smell the wonderful smell of my childhood home. I hear a bark and a laugh comes out of me.

  "Tiger!" I call out happily.

   My dog runs down the stairs and jumps up onto my chest and begins licking my face.

  "I'm happy to see you too, buddy," I say, petting his head.

   My dad goes out to the police station to tell them I'm back, but not before telling me to stay put and not go anywhere. I walk up to my room and sit down on my bed, remembering how much I missed this place. I plug my cracked phone into the charger and click on my photo app. I scroll through the pictures and stop on a picture Ember took of us.  All my happiness of getting home is replaced by my horrible sorrow. Ember is stuck there, forever, with that horrible Cameron. Tears begin running down my face as I scroll through the pictures she took of us the day we met. How she was so eager to capture every moment that we shared.

  "I'm so sorry," I say. "If I would have known about your plan, I would have never left."

   Tiger lays his head down on my leg and whimpers as if he knows I'm sad. I see a text Ember sent me of her address and I smile as I remember when she kept me at her house, hiding me. The way she so horribly faked being sick. The way she poured out her heart to me about her dad leaving. How tenderhearted she was, how beautiful, how amazing. I know I'm in love with this girl, but I won't ever see her again. She's gone.

   I wipe away a tear and think about what her mother must be going through. Has no idea where her only child is, wonder what she must be feeling. I have to go to her mom. Go to her and tell her Ember is alive, but can't come home. No, that would only make things worse. I could go to her and comfort her because I know Ember's ok, just she can't come home and I don't know where she is. But that would be lying.

  "Just go," I tell myself.

   I run downstairs, Tiger at my heels and write a sloppy note to my dad telling him I'll be back soon. I hop into my car and start the long drive from Oregon to California. I am speeding, but this is important. I get there in around an hour and fifteen. I jump out of my car, ignoring the texts from my dad and ring her doorbell.

  "Please be home," I say hopefully.

  "Please, go away," I hear a croaky voice say.

  "Miss Stone?" I call. "May I please come in?"

   I hear footsteps and the door opens a crack. She pokes her head out, and my heart hurts for her. Her face is red and tear stained and it looks like she hasn't eaten in a while.

  "Who are you?" she asks.

  "I'm Grayson," I say, sticking my hand out but she doesn't grab it. "I knew Ember. We met about a week ago on the first day of the job."

  "Where is my daughter?" she barks.

  "I-" I begin, but stop. Should I lie? She wouldn't believe me if I told her the truth. Nevertheless, lying to her is not going to solve our problem. "I know where your daughter is."

   She looks around me quickly then pulls me inside. She literally pushes me onto the couch and sits down next to me.

  "If you have hurt her I will kill you," she threatens.

   Dang. She's vicious. "I didn't hurt her," I say. I then begin to tell her the whole story, her not saying anything the whole time.

   When I finish, she begins to cry. She puts her head in her hands. "I can't believe this."

  "I know," I say. "Sorry to bother you."

   I get up, but she pulls me back down. "No, I can't believe that I have been through the same thing."

  "What?" I ask, confused.

  "My sister got a job at Disneyland back when she was 17. She was happy to get a job because we had a rather large family and she was happy to be gone for a little while in the day. When she disappeared, I thought she ran away cause she always complained about how much she hated her life. When she never came back, and disappeared without a trace, I knew that she had died," Miss Stone explains.

  "Wait, really?" I ask.

  "Yes. And now my Ember is stuck there and there is nothing we can do," she says, beginning to cry again.

   I lay a hand on her shoulder and find myself grieving with her. After another hour of talking with her, I decide I should probably get home.

  "Is there any way we can get her back?" her mom asks me.

  "I don't think so. She sacrificed herself for me. And Cameron isn't going to kill her. He liked her and would do anything for her," I assure her.

  "So you expect me to completely forget about my daughter? And be ok with that?" she asks.

  "I don't know what to tell you Miss Stone," I say.

   Her eyes fill with tears again and she closes the door. I go back home and my dad greets me with a relief expression.

  "Why did you leave?" he asks.

  "Just wanted to say hi to some friends and tell them I'm ok," I lie.

   He nods and surprises me with dinner. I sit down at the table and eat with him. I decide to go to bed, much to my dad's objection.

  "I want to catch up with things!" he says.

  "We can do that tomorrow, dad, ok?" I ask "I'm very tired."

   He nods and I go upstairs. I curl up in my bed, Ember on my mind. That kiss she shared with me is still fresh on my lips. I wonder what our life would be like now, if she wasn't stuck there. A long-distance relationship, but it's better than not having her at all.

  "I love you, Ember," I whisper into the night.

Hope you liked this chapter!

I have one more chapter left them I'm done with the book!

Can't believe I'm already almost done!