Finding Beauty

Chapter 11

~The Hunter~

The wind blows and sends a chill down my spine. The trees are losing their leaves and the shades of reds scatter around me. It's quiet out. That's probably because most people are in school or working. I decided to skip school today. There are much more important things to worry about. Like the safety of Belle.

I sit on the bench outside of the police station. I'm suppose to meet with Officer Browns today to discuss the events of last night. He stressed that I should do this after school. I couldn't believe he expected me to go after all that happened. There is no way I can sit still in history class now.

I lean my head back and sigh. The events that happened last night didn't make me feel hopeless. They made me feel hopeful. If we got that close to finding her last night, we can do it again and that time we will save her. I'm determined to.

My mind goes back to last night.

Belle's mom took a wrong turn and we ended up losing the police officers we were following. We drove around in circles trying to find them again but it was pretty much hopeless.

"Maybe we should head back to the police station? Or stay here?" Amy looked to me for confirmation, like I was the adult in the situation.

"Let's keep trying. If we don't find them then we'll go back," I said trying to remain determined. What I really felt was anxious. A million scenarios of what could go down played in my head like a film each having bad endings. Did I really want to be there when the police found The Beast? What if I didn't like what they found?

"If you say so." Amy did another U-turn and drove down the road. I gripped my door handle, trying to focus on the here and now. I couldn't let my mind get cloudy with doubts.

The car jerked to a stop and I had to grasp the dashboard to keep from slamming into it. "What the heck, Amy?!" My eyes found the reason why she stopped. I felt sick.

A black car was veered off the road. Blood left a trail on the pavement and smoke coated the air.

Amy took a deep, shaky breath. "What happened here? Oh no, Belle!" She shot out the car and over to the other one. I followed after her. We both ducked our heads to get a look at the car, neither one of us caring about the possible danger.

There was no one in it.

"Do you think..." I struggled to get the words out. They tasted like bile and made my chest feel hollow. "Do you think the blood is Belle's?"

"No," she stated firmly. "She's okay and we need to find her. A mother knows and I know she's alive, okay?" She grabbed my shoulders and moved me out of the way. She started walking away, pointing at the ground. "The blood left a trail."

I nodded, understanding what she wanted to do. "We'll follow it." We jogged off the road and into the forest where the blood was harder to see because of all the leaves and twigs.

"Should I call the police? For backup and stuff?" Amy asked almost tripping on a twig. She was slow, constantly losing balance. It was holding me back. I needed to move fast in order to find Belle.

"Listen, you call the police, tell them everything and I'll keep going." She pouted but agreed. I kept running while following the trail until I came into a clearing. The amount of trees started to decrease and there was much more space. I was out in the open and had to be careful of who saw me. I was beginning to duck behind trees when I saw a shadowy figure cradling a small body.

I knew it was Belle. Her brown hair draped out from behind the figure as it jogged away.

My heart beat accelerated. I thought it would burst out of my chest.