Taken

Chapter 3

I place the cup of hot chocolate on James' open palms, and he closes his chilling fingers around it. I go down on my knees in front of him and watch him raise the cup shakily to his lips and take a sip. His grey eyes are downcast, and his skin is sickly pale. I have already pulled a blanket over him, and turned the heater on.
     "It was dad. He called me to ask if Kyle was with me", James starts in a coarse voice. I place my hands assuringly on his knees, though I doubt I can alleviate the worry and the concern eating at him. "Dad said that he searched everywhere, but couldn't find him. They were at the beach..."
     I cast my eyes to the dim windows, trying to fight the images away. Little Kyle, with his unruly blond locks shining under the sun, being tricked to get ice cream or, his favorite, donuts. His silvery grey eyes lighting up at the notion of getting some glazed chocolate donuts, only to be tricked.
     I flinch at the images of Kyle getting hurt, raped, or worse, murdered. I squeeze James' knees, and he lifts his eyes to mine.
     "Are the police alerted?" I ask, and James nods mutely. "They'll find him, James. Just need to put a little faith in their work."
     James stares at the hot liquid in the mug, and looks away. I understand that he doesn't want it and take it from him. I take a sip myself and find some solace in the sweet chocolate liquid.
     A few minutes pass in silence, before James breaks it. Standing up, he says, "I need to go," then puts his shoes on and leaves. Just like that.
I stay on the floor for a while, taking small sips of the hot chocolate, and when it's done, I go to the kitchen.
Just as I finish rinsing the the mug, my phone rings. I head to my room and read the name. It's my best friend, Rachel.
"Hey, S!", she says when I answer. I smile, missing her high pitched voice.
"Rachel, how was the flight?"
"Bo-ring. I watched like three movies and slept for a while. Ugh. But now we're here and it's amazing! You should have come with us!"
"You know how my parents are."
"Yeah, yeah. They wouldn't allow you to come to Dubai for a few weeks but they'll leave you home alone for a day."
"Exactly." I head Rachel sigh.
"Anyways, before I jump into my experiences so far, did anything happen? You know what I mean by anything."
"Yes. Yes, something did happen. We were about to eat pizza-" Rachel chuckles from the other side, "but then his dad called and...told him that Kyle is lost. They can't find Kyle."
     "What?!", Rachel screeches. "What do you mean they can't find him?"
     "I mean just that. They were at the beach, and he was playing with some kids. When James' mom went to call him to eat, he wasn't there. All the kids were, but they didn't know where he went."
     "And the police?"
     "They told the police and they have started to look into it. James, though, he's...you know. Alyssa has just left, and now this..."
     "Oh, poor James. He's not taking it well, is he?"
     "No. He just left. I didn't try to stop him."
     "I leave for one day and all his happens," Rachel says after a while.
     "Yeah..." I say slowly. Rachel sighs.
     "Well, now I don't feel like telling you about what has been going on with me because it's nothing really. I'll go now, try to reach out to James though; if he ever needs a shoulder to cry on, it's now," Rachel says. I bid her goodnight and hang up.
     I stare at my wallpaper. It's a picture of my parents and I at my Highschool graduation a few months ago.
     I throw my phone onto the bed, then throw my body too. I lay there for a while, contemplating calling James. He won't answer would he? And I don't want to seem like this clingy girlfriend who won't give him some alone time when he needs it. I decide to just text him.
Hey. I'm here if you need me. I mean, my door is always open for you. I understand you need your space, but never think you're alone. I'm with you.
I hit send and look at the time. It's almost 9 pm only. Too early for bed. I take my laptop and place it on my lap, and decide to watch a movie.
After a few minutes of browsing, I settle on watching Alien, the first movie. I quickly walk to the kitchen and make myself a bowl of butter popcorn, then sit on my bed and start watching.
An hour into the movie, I hear the front door open and close quietly. I assume it's my parents, then pause. My parents are on a business trip, they'll be coming back late tomorrow. I hurriedly pause the movie and set the bowl with its kernels on the nightstand.
I stand up and walk inconspicuously towards my doorway, only to be engulfed my warm arms and an equally warm and solid chest.
"They found his clothes," James mutters in my ears, causing goosebumps to form on my arms. He pulls back and looks me in the eyes, his own grey ones crazy. "They found his clothes. His shorts and shirt and flip flops. Sara, where is Kyle?"

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