Problems of an Invisible Girl

Chapter 29

The small figure ran as fast as she could so by the time she reached the schoolyard, she was breathing heavily, but that didn't stop her from running, she needed to get help.
Suddenly, she hit a moving wall that turned out to be Nat, and not a wall at all.
Nat and Serena had come to school to look for Rina when she didn't come back to the apartment since it wasn't like her to be late for anything.

"The ghost saved me... the other day... now I want to... help...save someone else...girl...kidnapped." the girl who seemed to be around Rina's age started saying breathing heavily and barely getting the words out.
Nat approached her and gently put a hand on her shoulder which made her flinch.

"Calm down. Take a few deep breaths and then tell us what happened." Nat said using the same tone of voice he often used to help Serena go through her emotional break downs.
The girl did as he said and was finally calm enough to be able to speak properly.
"There is this quiet girl that doesn't really hang out with anyone and I saw her with these two mean girls whom I overheard say some really strange things about their 'friend'.
It just didn't sound like they were planning anything nice for her, they didn't seem to be true friends to the girl.
So inspired as I was by the ghost girl who saved me from the bullies, I decided to follow them and help out if I can.

They went to the park and I thought that maybe I was wrong and I started thinking about leaving.
That was when people appeared from the shadows and took the girl before she even had the chance to scream.
I wanted to help, but there was nothing I could have done, so I ran here for help once I memorized all I could about the kidnappers, and once they left the park." She blurted out so quickly that they could barely understand her.

When they finally managed to figure out what she was saying, Serena had a bad feeling that the girl was talking about Rina.
Her thoughts were confirmed when a loud cursing was heard nearby, cursing that seemed to come from nowhere.
"How the hell did this happen!? Why would anyone do that!? Those bloody bastards!" the rough voice said.

"Who was that?" the girl said jumping up like a frightened little rabbit.
Having figured out where the voice was coming from, Nat took things into his own hands.
"It's no one, don't worry. Why don't you come with me to that bench over there? Then you can rest a bit and tell me exactly what happened. " Nat said pointing at the nearby bench.
Although the girl was confused, she reacted well to Nat's soothing voice and followed him to the nearby bench.

Once they were out of earshot, Serena started looking around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.
"Jack is that you, sneaking around like a thief?" She asked barely containing the anger she felt towards her parents.
"Yes, Serena, it's me. I am sorry if I scared you.
This wasn't how I imagined us meeting." He said in a much calmer voice.

"You didn't scare me. Nothing scares me. The idea of meeting you never even crossed my mind." She said with venom, making the lie sound true.
"Look, Serena, I know that you are angry with us, but we need to focus on your sister now. We have to figure out a way to help her. "He said trying to sound reasonable.

"What happened to Rina? Why does she need help?" another bodiless voice suddenly exclaimed from somewhere nearby.
"From the general invisibility of everyone present let me guess, Caroline?" Serena asked bitterly.
She was scared for Rina more than she wanted to admit, and she didn't have the strength or will to deal with her invisible parents.

"Jack I told you to take care of the girls while I was away! What happened?!" Caroline said.
"Well, I could very well take care of both of them at the same time when they weren't at the same place, could I?" Jack said angrily.
"I told you that Serena was safe in the apartment. Why didn't you follow Rina?" Caroline yelled at Jack.
"I thought she would be safe at school. Aren't schools supposed to be safe?
I had to stay with Serena. She was all alone in the apartment with that boy, I had to make sure he didn't try anything!" Jack said.

"That boy, as you call him was there for me when no one else was when YOU weren't there for me. When I was all alone and broken he helped me pick up the pieces and go on with my life.
He protected me and comforted me, something neither of you had ever done for me.
You two chose to leave me, your own daughter, but he decided to accept me like a sister he never had." Serena yelled at them.

"Ahem, guys I don't want to interrupt this invisible family reunion, but you do realize that you are fighting in public while most of you are invisible?" Nat said trying to pretend he didn't overhear their conversation.
"Why don't we all go to our apartment so that you guys can fight in peace without scaring the living daylights of some innocent bystanders who might think they were going crazy, hearing voices and all?
I got all the information we might need from the girl, so maybe, just maybe, if none of you guys mind it too much, we could think of what we can do to help Rina.
That is of course when you stop arguing and trying to bite each other's heads off.

Since I assume that her kidnapping has something to do with all this secretive thing you got going, I convinced the girl that we would take care of it.
I assumed that you would want everything to be hush-hush having in mind that you have gone to such great lengths to hide all of this." Nat said.
Ashamed of their behavior, especially the two adults who should have known better, they all agreed to follow Nat back to the apartment to try to figure out what they should do next.
It was an unspoken agreement that the police shouldn't be involved.

Although Nat and Serena didn't know what it was all about, it was obvious that if they went to the police and told them everything, they would think they were crazy. If they told them only part of the truth, without having all the information, the police would probably not be able to find Rina.

The probability that all of them were thinking during their walk to the apartment was that people who were after Jack and Caroline kidnapped Rina and that they would want them in exchange for Rina but that was still just one possibility.
There were a lot of possibilities they had to discuss, and they were all aware that it would be more than awkward, but they had to do all they could for Rina.