Gone

Chapter 16

Mom's POV

"Can you give me a description of your daughter?" the cop in front of me asked.

It's been hours since my daughter hasn't returned home from her tutoring session with her English teacher and I'm getting worried especially when Mr. Gerald's son has gone missing. And, I'm afraid that this is all my fault. If I hadn't mentioned it to her and didn't bug her to go, she wouldn't. Now, here I am with Ian beside me at the police station, answering their questions.

I searched for the picture of Amelia in my purse and gave it to him. The picture was of us at a wedding last year. She was wearing a blue strapless dress with silver high heels. It was the last picture we took before leaving for Laketown, far away from him.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"This morning. She was leaving for school and she had a tutoring session with her English teacher. After that, she never came home."

"And what's the name of this teacher?" the cop stared at me while holding his pen.

"Mr. Berry. Jonathan Berry. He's a sweetheart and he offered to help my daughter with her grade."

"Well, he's probably the last person to see her so, we'll have to question him. Did she ever act differently?"

"What do you mean?"

"Was she distraught?"

"Not that I think of. She was angry at me when I mentioned the tutoring session, Mr. Berry wanted to schedule with her but I think that's about it."

"Um, there's also that one time when I picked her up from school. Her eyes were red like she was crying." Ian replied.

Ian might be hard on Amelia some days, but he cared a lot about her. And when he found out that Amelia hasn't come home from school, he immediately rushed to the police station, dragging me along. I thought Amelia was just staying at Katy's house but, as much as I wanted to believe that, she would've texted me instead of going to her house without telling me.

"Did she tell you why she was crying about?"

"No, not at all. I knew something was off but, I didn't want to push her. Gosh, if I pushed her into speaking, I could've helped her."

"It's not your fault, son. Is there someone who she had problems with?"

"Well, you could say that. We moved here from Arizona to get away from my ex-husband. He was an alcoholic and would always lash out every time he drank."

The questioning kept going after that, but I wasn't paying attention to any of it. All I kept thinking is if she's still alive. If I lose her, I don't think I'll ever live normally and I don't want to burden my son even more. He wasn't too happy with the moving and he'll probably blame me for this.

I really want Amelia to come back.

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Amelia's POV

I'm back to the beginning. I was planning to escape, yet here I am, tied up to a chair while he's walking back and forth in front of me. I had the chance to escape, however, I thought it was a good idea to check out his office. Wrong, bad idea. He caught me and brought me back to his room where he tied me up even tighter than before. He kept cursing me out and telling me that I shouldn't escape from him. How he's the only person that I have left.

He kept walking back and forth, making me dizzy. His light brown hair all over the place and his face frowning in frustration. He kept looking at me with anger in his eyes. Walking, stopping, staring and walking again. In that order like a crazy person.

"Why did you do that?" he asked while staring at me.

I shrugged and looked away. At this point, I didn't even care what was he going to do to me and even the slightest hint that he was about to hit me didn't intimidate me at all. I felt bad for him, and I know I shouldn't, but he isn't right in his mind.

"Look at me and give me an actual response!"

"I do not want to be here with you. You are crazy and you need help. Kidnapping someone and killing another is not going to change the fact that I'll never like you, let alone love you. This will only make it worst."

I knew I shouldn't have said that, but someone had to. His eyes were burning in fury and his teeth clenched. He grabbed my throat and started squeezing me, causing me to squirm in my chair.

Oh gosh, he's going to kill me. I could see it in his eyes. Nobody is here to-

A knock. Someone is knocking at the door. His eyes raised up in alert as he released me from his tight grip.

"Do not say a single word or I'll kill you and your family," he whispered angrily before making his way downstairs.

I could hear the door opening and an unfamiliar voice speak out.

"Here is your package, sir." the man said.

"Oh, thank you!"

They kept chatting for a while. I didn't know if I should speak up or stay quiet. What if the man gets killed before he could do anything?

"Help!!!! Please help me!!! He's going to kill me!!! Please!" I cried out as loud as I can while struggling to be set free. If this doesn't work, I'm totally doomed.

I could hear noises downstairs. I didn't know what was going on but I knew it wasn't good. The sound of crashes rang throughout the house and groaning coming from both of them. I could tell they were fighting each other.

And all of a sudden, it stopped. Nothing was happening and everything was silent before a crack in the floorboards alarmed me. Someone was making their way up the stairs slowly. I don't know who it was but I hope it wasn't him.

Finally, a man appeared wearing a hat and a navy shirt with black pants. He looked at me in shock before sprinting towards me. He untied me and brought me up to my feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked in shock.

"Not really, but we have to go."

"Good luck with that." Behind him was Mr. Berry covered in blood.

"Run and I'll take care of him." he whispered to me before charging towards Mr. Berry. I did what he said and ran down the stairs to the door.

I could hear loud crashes coming from upstairs all the way outside, but I ignored it. I ran and ran down the unfamiliar road before reaching a convenience store.

"Welcome to-" the woman paused when she looked at me. I cried out in relief as I made my way towards the counter.

"Please help me!!  He's going to kill me!" I yelled out. The woman looked frightened, grabbing the phone from the counter and dialling 911.

"Hello, police..."