Guilt: A Fractured Minds Novel

Chapter Nine

"Yes, you can." I say as he closes the lid of the piano then turns to face me on the bench.
"No, I can't Why don't you ask Heather why she was taking you up there in the first place? Hmm? Since you guys are such good friends I'm sure she wouldn't mind telling you why."
Looking to my right I see the seat empty.
"Heather!" I call out-
"Everything I'm doing and will do is to protect you Alexandria. I hope you know that."
"Get out."
"What? No, I'm trying to help you."
"I don't believe you." I state while crossing my arms over my chest.
"You will soon enough." He utters before standing up and asking, "Do you really want me to leave?"
"Yes."
At my words he swallows and turns away from me. Pausing at the doorway he calls over his shoulder, "I really do care about you Ally."
His words hit me deep as I listen to him walk away from me and out of the house. Once the door shuts I know that he really is gone. Closing my eyes I lay back on the couch and let out a deep breath. He still didn't say what or why he was doing to protect me. What is he so afraid of? Me disappearing too and not coming back? Just like Victoria... No, they said that she's going to come back and she will. I just have to have some faith, right? Some faith that everything will turn out fine because it has too. Will it really turn out okay? People who normally disappear don't want to be found and when they are they're not happy. Would she really just want to leave? Wait, no I can't think like that. I found her locket that she would have had with her all the time. Except when she disappeared...
"What happened to you Tori?" I wonder out loud when suddenly my phone buzzes. It must be Heather. Pulling it out I see that Kara is calling. The hole in my chest grows a little bigger. Answering I say, "Hello?"
"Hey, Alex. What's up?" As she asks me that I can hear talking in the background. She pulls the phone slightly away, but I can still hear her.
"I'm getting to that, okay? I just thought I'd ask. After all it is the nice thing to do." She says to someone else I decide to answer her question.
"Not a lot."
"That's great!" She exclaims before saying, "See I told you so!" to someone else.
"Yeah, I guess so." I reply to her statement.
"Ethan and I were wondering if you-" Suddenly her words are cut short as there's a pause before Ethan starts speaking.
"Kara took forever, so I just stole the phone from her. We thought it would be fun to go on a hike. Do you want to come with?" At his words I think about all investigating I could be going about Tori's disappearance, but a break could be just what I need. I've dealt with a lot of crazy lately.
"That would be nice. Could you possibly pick me up?" I ask him as I sit up and start walking to my room.
"Yes, I will pick you up." He tells me before I hear Kara yell out, "Ethan give me my phone back!" before he hangs up on me.
Pulling on my shoes I quickly grab a small drawstring backpack and run into the living room and grab a water bottle. Filling it up I quickly screw on the lid before stuffing it into my backpack. Closing the backpack I pull onto my shoulders.
A car honks outside letting me know that my ride is here. Running to the front door I throw it open and race down the steps. Ethan's 2011 silver jeep cherokee was parked right in front of the house. As I open the door he looks over at me before putting the car into drive. Once I shut the door and have my seatbelt on he drives off. Setting my bag down by my feet I pull the hair tie off my wrist and pull my hair up into a ponytail.
"We've gotta go pick Kara up next." He tells me while driving off towards her house.
"Why didn't you just pick her up first?" I ask tucking a loose piece of hair into my ponytail.
"She didn't think that she'd have enough time to get ready."
"Huh, okay..." I mutter under my breath as I look over at Ethan. His black North Medford High School football tee-shirt, red basketball shorts, and black and red nike shoes scream athletic.
"Girls always take the longest time to get ready!" He exclaims while blasting the air conditioner. I laugh as his comment before saying, "You only think that because you have brothers, she actually doesn't really take that long. If you had any sisters you'd realize this."
"Sure. Whatever you say Alex."
Rolling my eyes I look out the window as we stop in front of Kara's two story house. The neat colorful yard compliments the house quite well with the wrap around porch. He turns off the car before unbuckling his seatbelt.
"What are you doing?" I ask as I watch him get out of the car. Walking around the car and to the front of the house he calls over his shoulder, "I'm getting Kara!" Before picking up his pace and ringing the doorbell. As I watch from the car I see Kara open the door and her siblings running around the house like crazy. She smiles at him before shutting the door behind her turning to face him they start to talk. Once they arrive at the car she gets in back and Ethan starts driving. Kara leans forward and looks over at me before saying, "Hey Alex, It's good to see you."
"Thanks Kara, It's good to see you as well."
"You're welcome." She smiles before leaning back in her seat and putting on her seatbelt. Looking behind me I see that Kara is wearing her book club tee-shirt that reads I like to party and by party I mean read books! that was from last year when she was a Sophomore and a pair of jean shorts.  Suddenly Ethan asks me a question I wasn't expecting.
"I didn't see your car out front. What happened to it?" His eyes glance over at me and he chews his gum. I have to careful how I go about this because he could ask a lot of questions many of which I won't have the answers to. There's also a chance that Kara will know if I'm hiding anything.
"My car wasn't sound right, so I took it in."
"Oh, well that's a bummer."
"Yeah, it is."
"I almost forgot to tell you. We're going up to Crater Lake."
"Okay, that's good to know."
"Alex I just thought I'd tell you that I'm happy that you're coming up here with us and getting out of the house. It'll be good for you. I just know it!"
I smile at his words before saying, "I'm sure that you're right." Looking away I stare out the window.
~
Ethan pulls off to the side of the road and parks in between a few other cars. Getting out my backpack around my shoulders. Shutting the door behind me wait for Ethan to walk around to my side of the car. He pulls his own backpack over his shoulders and lets out a breath.
"So are ready to walk down?" I ask turning away from the hot sun and towards Ethan and Kara.
"Yes!" Kara exclaims leading us pass the sign that marked the trail as Cleetwood Cove Trail. The dirt trail stretches out before us until it disappears around a curve. This trail is the only known trail that leads down to Crater lake shore. Starting the two mile trek I glance ahead at Kara and Ethan talking. Picking up my pace I walk beside them and listen as they talk.
"What are we going to see first?" Observant eyes take in everything as she waits a response.
"I don't know..." Ethan thinks for a moment. Looking over at them I say, "I thought you guys had this all planned out."
Ethan gives me a sheepish smile, "We did..." At his words Kara hits him on the arm.
"You are such a liar! You said that you thought it would be fun to come down here and I merely agreed. You said that you had it planned and I didn't help plan anything."
"Correction: I didn't."
I roll my eyes at them both before tuning out of their playful banter.
The big trees shade us from the heat of the June sun. Other hikers who are returning from the lake are smiling with their clothes half dried. They nod or say hello and continue on their way. Occasionally we'd stop for a small break to drink from our water bottles. Soon we hit patches of sun without any shade and the sun would bathe us in it's rays of sunlight as we walked. The warm air filled our lungs with every step we take.
Swallowing does nothing to sooth my dry throat. Pulling the strings loose from my backpack I take out my water bottle and unscrew the lid before taking a big drink. Once I'm done I set it back inside of my drawstring backpack and pull it close. Kara and Ethan stop walking and turn around noticing that I'm not beside them anymore. Quickly walking up to them I say, "I was just thirsty." They nod before walking farther down the trail. On one left side of us is down the mountain while to the right is up a steep incline.
"Are you feeling okay?" Kara asks shooting me a look of concern.
"Yeah, I am."
"Okay, well once we are at the lake Ethan and I were talking about jumping in." At her words I imagine jumping into a cold lake and nod my head.
"That sounds like it would be nice." I say before the conversation turns in another direction.
I can hear kids laughing and yelling from somewhere down below. Quickling my pace the trees part to the side giving me a glimpse of Crater lake. The sun reflects off of the beautiful blue water.
As we stop Kara points out to a island in the middle of the lake.
"Do you see Wizard Island out there?"
"Yeah." I reply.
"Did you know that Wizard Island was a volcano called Mount Mazama that erupted?"At her words Ethan smiles a little bit before asking, "How do you know that?"
"It's on the plaque."
"What plaque?"
    "Ethan you've seen it before. It's the one at that trail that you can take to see the whole lake."
"Okay." Is all he says before taking a sip of his water bottle. They waste the time talking as we finish the rest of the hike. Once we make it onto the sandy shore the boat dock stretches out in front of us. People sit on the edge and relax while dipping their legs into the water.
    "Where to first?" I ask looking behind me as Kara joins Ethan and I.
    "I have to go change, so I'll be back." She says before walking to the bathrooms.
    "Kara we're going to be by the Jumping Rock!" Ethan yells only for her to hold up a thumbs up in our general direction.
    "Come on Alex. Let's find ourselves a good spot." He says while looking around at the lake. I walk with him to a less crowded spot where tourist aren't standing, watching their kids, or running around. Upon their parents instructions some kids play away from the docks while others snicker as they try to sneak past attentive parents. With a small smile I follow Ethan as he seems to know where he's going. We walk the trail to the Jumping rock and find a few kids already lining up for their turn. Some of which are pressured by their peers to try a new way to jump off only to shake their head vigorously