Laws of Motion (Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Thriller) (1st draft)

Chapter 14: A Friend Is Missing

The winter holidays were approaching fast with only a week of school left. Jessica and Chris had to present their project on vaccinations once they returned in January but with Chris and his family visiting the Philippines during the break and Jessica visiting Vancouver with hers they really had to push for early completion.

        They agreed to meet on the Saturday before the break started at one of the public, city libraries. With university students preparing for final exams they were unable to book a study room for them to work at any of the university libraries. Even space at the public libraries was filling up as well which was why Jessica chose to meet early in the morning before the libraries opened. She arrived there about fifteen minutes before opening. She danced around to keep herself warm as she waited for Chris to show up. He was going to bring her something from Tim Horton's to comfort her while waiting in the cold.

        Jessica looked at the clock on her phone. It was five minutes until opening and Chris should have arrived by then. 'Maybe the line at Timmies is long,' she thought as she watched cars drive into the parking lot. One of the library staff arrived and opened the doors, allowing people into the library. Jessica decided to wait indoors where it was warm and claim a spot at one of the tables. After plugging in and turning on her laptop she looked at her phone. She did get a text message but it was a promotional message offering unlimited long distance during the holidays. She logged onto Skype and her list of contacts showed Chris as signed in but had a yellow circle on his thumbnail image. Thinking he was still stuck somewhere Jessica decided to get a head start on some things and fill in Chris once he arrived.

        Nearly an hour had passed and Chris still did not showed up. 'Maybe he forgot or had something to do at home before he could get here,' Jessica thought as she stared at her blackberry.  With that thought she got up from her seat and went into the alcove that led into the washrooms, keeping her eye close on her laptop so that it will not get stolen. She selected Chris's cell phone number from her contacts and tried calling him there first but she did not get an answer. She tried his house next and was able to get someone but not him.

        "Hello?" A female voice with a moderately thick Filipino accent answered.

        "Hi, Mrs. Barcelon? It's Jessica and-"

        "Oh hi, Jessica! How are you and your family?"

        "They're doing great, Mrs. Barcelon, myself as well. Say is Chr-"

        "That's good. You were the one playing at that concert, yes?"

        "No, that was Linda who was playing. We do look alike at times. Is Chris home by any chance?"

        "Chris? He said he was meeting with you to work on your project. Has he not shown up yet?"

        "No, he hasn't. I haven't been able to reach him on his cell phone either."

        "He just left an hour ago. Maybe he went to pass by your house to pick you up?"

        "No, we agreed to meet at the library." Jessica looked around to see if Chris showed up but there was no sign of him. "Last time I spoke with him he said he was picking up something at Tim Horton's. I don't think it would take this long unless his car broke down or something like that."

        "Hmm, yes, that could be it. He could be calling us right now from wherever his car broke down."

        "Well, thank you, Mrs. Barcelon. I hope he shows up soon."

        "Call us anytime, Jessica. Bye nah!"

        Jessica ended her call with Chris's mom. While Chris's car breaking down was plausible she would have gotten a call or a message not too long after that happened. Jessica knew something was off. Chris would not just up and disappear without telling her now that she knew he was a telekinetic. She returned to her table, turned off her laptop as well as unplugged it and packed it into her messenger bag. She walked out of the library and stood outside next to the bus stop and headed for the police station.