Twitter: @liahfotcb_dream
Chapter 29: Graduation, and An Unexpected Event
You know when your whole entire mind is filled with a whole jumble of different types of emotions and feelings? Ya, well that's exactly how I'm feeling right now. My mind, and senses have been on high alert since I discovered that threatening note from Chris on Saturday...now it's Wednesday. My mind repetitively repeats what the words said in the letter, and I am constantly checking all around me for any signs of him. After I read the note over and over again, it didn't fully process that Chris is basically stalking me, and when it did, I didn't sleep at all for the rest of the night.
On Sunday morning, Colton immediately knew something was wrong, I mean, you could just tell I got absolutely zilch sleep just by looking at the bags under my eyes, so when he asked me what was the matter, I just told him I had a bad nightmare about my parents, but in all honesty, I'm pretty positive he didn't believe me, because if I really did have a bad dream, I would've gone strait to Colton's room, but he let it go.
As of right now, I've been cooped up all day since I got home from school in my room, doing the rest of my homework. I'm actually done, I just did not want to be around anyone right now, I needed to think. I had to think everything over. I know what your thinking,
'why don't you just tell Colton about the threat note.'
Well, because that will literally be the death of Chris, and as much as I am very much afraid of him, I don't think death is the right answer, and if Colton knows about the note, then that means Jacklen will have to get involved, and if Jacklen gets involved, then she will go crazy, and I just can't put that kind of pressure on her, she's already taken me in, I think that's enough.
To top all of those worries, I also have graduation to think about, the last week of school is suppose to be stress free, but I've been trying my complete hardest to avoid a lurking Chris, yet, I still feel like no matter where I am, I just have that weird feeling where someone is around you, you know?
Anyways, I was on my laptop, just doing random stuff, when I realized that I must be just totally overreacting about the whole 'Chris situation,' I mean, come on now, there is no way that Chris would go through with what he threatened, he probably just wanted to get to my head. I internally laughed at how stupid, and dramatic I was being, I mean seriously, how could I really think Chris would even go through with something like that? He's just a teenage guy who is maybe a little upset at me, and he wanted a little revenge right? Haha! Yes, now I feel so so so much better!
I smiled silently to myself, content with the way I settled my own problem.
********************
GRADUATION:
"We are all here today, friends, and family, to celebrate this amazing moment of freedom for these young adults who have all grown over their years of high school. These students have been through thick and thin, and finally, this is their chance to be recognized. Now, without further adieu, lets beging. Abigail Atkin, Daniel Agular..."
I dozed off once the head principle began announcing students names. My last name Is literally right after Colton's, so for once, luck was on my side, and I get to sit right next to Colton, which I am very happy about. I'm actually quite nervous because I stupidly chose to wear black, high pumps under my graduation gown, and my biggest fear so far, is tripping on the way up the stairs to receive my graduation scroll.
Colton and I are sitting shoulder to shoulder with our hands intertwined comfortably. I watched some more as students walked gracefully up the stage, and down the other set of stairs, officially free from high school.
The principle was now reaching the R's name group, and my hands began sweating with nerves. I started bouncing my legs up and down with anticipation, until I felt Colton squeeze my hand, and I looked up to see his face only a mere inch away from mine. He gave me a sweet, genuine smile, then leaned down and kissed the top of my forehead. I closed my eyes and breathed out a content sigh.
I don't know how he manages to make me feel so delicate, and loved, but he does, and it makes my body tingly with mixed emotions. Suddenly, Colton's hand unlaced from mine, and I listened to the announcer say
"Colton Stroud."
Colton's smiled warmly down at me one more time, while I cheered along with my other classmates. Then, I thought to myself:
'Oh no! No, no, no, I'm next, what do I do? Just waltz up there!? Oh my gosh Cleo, don't trip, I swear, do not trip, I will kill y-'
"Cleo Tatum."
People began cheering as my body moved on it's own account towards the big stage. Because of all the attention, my face was flaming with red, and I kept my head down, focusing on the ground below me.
I reached the stairs.
'Ok Cleo, you've got this, one step at a time.'
That's exactly what I did. One by one, I made it up the four dreaded stairs, and once I reached the top, I grinned like a Cheshire Cat. I walked over to the principle and accepted my scroll, the made my way down the other set of stairs and sat next to Colton again. As I sat down, Colton immediately grabbed for my hand, then he said
"I knew you could do it, next time, don't doubt yourself."
~~~~~~
The rest of the ceremony went by pretty quickly, and once everyone was done, we all went to go greet our family members. Colton and I speed walked over to the huge Stroud family who had taken up quite a number of chairs in the crowd. We both grinned as we approached them, and right when I stepped in front of Jacklen, she pulled me in for a huge hug, much like the one she gave me when I first met her. I nuzzled my face into her shoulder, breathing in her strong perfume as she said
"Aw Cleo, my sweet, sweet girl, I am so proud of you, so happy for you! If your mother and father were here to see you, they would be even more proud, I just know it."
Suddenly, that made me start crying. I don't know what came over me, the tears just started running. Graduating from high school is a big moment in someone's life, and my parents weren't here to see it. Jacklen pulled me tighter towards her, and I gripped onto her shirt for support. After a minute or so, I finally stopped sobbing, and I said
"Thank you so much Jacklen. Thank you. You have no idea how much you mean to me. Taking me in and taking care of me like you have just means the world, and I know my parents would be very thankful."
She pulled away and held my shoulders at arm length, then with wet eyes, she said
"Aw, babydoll, thank you. I love you Cleo."
I smiled at her, and replied with
"Love you too Jacklen."
I brought my hands up and wiped under my eyes, because no doubt, I've got mascara running down my cheeks. Then, I said
"I probably look like a wreck right now."
"Well, maybe just a little" she smiled, then added "why don't you run to the restroom real fast and go clean yourself up before people want to take pictures with you, ok?"
I nodded at Jacklen, then turned around and began making my way to the bathroom. I only got two steps away, before I was engulfed in a huge bear hug. It lasted about five seconds, and I pulled away to see a grinning Eli. I smiled up at him, then he said
"Little shorty! Your official free!"
I laughed, then punched his arm lightly and replied with
"Yup, I'm free now!"
He rubbed my head, then I turned around again. For the second time, I got stopped on my way to the bathroom because I was unexpectedly picked up and spun around in someone's arms. The world was spinning around and around in a blur, and I immediately knew it was Colton, because I could recognize his cologne anywhere, unless it was some random guy I did not know.
I was placed back to the ground lightly, and a second later, Colton's lips came crashing down on mine. It was a tender kiss, one that held passion and desire all in one, and I leaned into him for support because my knees suddenly felt all wobbly. I placed my hand on his chest, then while out of breath, I said
"Colton. Stop, people are probably staring at us."
We pulled away, with Colton grinning his signature grin. I smiled up at him and said
"Ok, I'm going to go to the restroom now. So please let go of me."
He sighed out load, then finally, he released his hold on me. Then, he said
"Yeah Shorty, go clean your face, it looks like a paint brush attacked it."
Gee, thanks. I just rolled my eyes and replied with a curt
"Be back in a few."
Then I was off to the restrooms. Finally!
I walked around the giant stage, and toward the bathrooms. I had to maneuver my way around multiples of people who were taking pictures with family and friends. It was nice seeing people all happy and carefree, finally able to actually do something with their life, to make something of it. A couple people stopped me briefly to say hi, but other then that, I was still on my mission to go to the bathroom.
Finally, after about five minutes, I made it to the bathrooms. I entered, and walked to the sinks, not bothering to look at my watered down face in the mirror, but just began washing my face off. After I cleaned it, I grabbed some paper towels and dried it off, throwing the towels away in the trash. Satisfied with how I looked, I made my way to the bathroom door, yanking it open, eager to get back to my close friends so we could chat for a bit.
The air outside seemed crisp, but nice, there was a slight breeze ruffling my hair about, but if felt refreshing. I had just taken a few steps out of the bathroom door, when suddenly, I was grabbed roughly from behind in a pair of strong arms, but not in the playful kind of way. I slammed forcefully against the person behind me, making me lose my balance, but the persons hold was strong enough to where they held me in place.
Then the panic set in.
I opened my mouth to let out a piercing scream, knowing that something was terribly not right, but before I could even manage to get a yelp out, a big, ungentle hand slammed over my mouth, pressing my lips against my teeth with almost too much pressure. Another muscular arm was holding my waist tightly against the person, so I was literally swished like a sandwich with absolutely no wiggle room to free myself. I used my hands and tried to claw at the hand covering my mouth, attempting to peel away the rough fingers with my nails, digging into the skin.
Even though I knew it wouldn't do anything, I tried screaming underneath the rough hand, but it was no use, my screams were just muffled. That's when I began shaking with pure terror, and I could feel small tear tracks running down my cheeks, except this time, it wasn't in happiness, it was in fear. Then, I opened my mouth slightly, just enough to where I could feel the persons skin on my tounge, and bit as hard as I could on the hand. I tasted a sort of metallic taste in my mouth and immediately recognized it as the taste of blood, but not a second sooner, I heard the person who was holding me hiss, and say
"Ow bitch, your gonna pay for that later."
I felt my face suddenly drain of all blood. I knew that voice, I could recognize it from anywhere, it's Chris.
Chris.
Christian, the sweet, funny, caring guy I had met at the park when I was upset. The guy who made me crack a smile even when I felt like I couldn't. Now, now I don't even know who this guy is.
His hold on my face got tighter, and I was still struggling beneath him, when suddenly his other hand from my waist came up, and I saw that he had a small cloth in it. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, until I realized what he was about to do to me.
My eyes grew in size as I frantically looked around me to see if there was someone, anyone who could help me. There was no one. Where is everyone? There is no one even near the bathrooms. His hold on my mouth was released for half a second, replaced with the other hand handling the small piece of cloth. I began screaming and grunting, while bucking my legs as hard as I could under his hold on me. I tried kicking my legs backwards to kick the front of his knee caps, but slowly, I became drained of all my energy from the chloroform, I began seeing spots of black and white, then after a couple seconds my vision went blank, and everything blacked out.
<<<<<<<Colton's POV>>>>>>>>
It's been almost about ten minutes since Cleo excused herself to go to the restroom, and no, I wasn't keeping track, I just estimated how long she's been gone, because I mean, I know girls take a little while in the restroom, but ten minutes? No, not that long. Man, what the heck is she doing in there? Did she fall down the toilet or what? Guess I should go and find her.
I just casually began to make my way to the restrooms. I had almost made it to the entrance of the tiny, brown, ugly restroom building, when I spotted something sort of sparkling, and glittering on the dirt ground in front of me. Scrunching my eyebrows, I reached down and snatched the object up. I turned it over in my hand, inspecting it underneath my fingertips, taking in every aspect of it.
It was a hair clip.
But it wasn't just any hair clip, it was a real Swarovski crystal hair clip, and it was Cleo's. I know it's Cleo's. The reason I know that, is because right before we were both getting out of the cars to go to the graduation center, my mom slipped it into her hair, and she loved it. She wouldn't stop gushing about the fact that it was so 'pretty' and how she would never stop wearing it.
Forming a slight frown on my face, I tucked the clip into my pocket, and approached the bathroom door. I reached for the handle and opened the rusty door just a crack to where I could stick my head in. There were three old looking stalls in the restroom, and the only sound I could hear was the drip-drop of the water faucet on the sink. Clearing my throat, I said
"Cleo?"
No response.
"Hey Cleo, babe, are you in here?"
Still no reply. My heart sank just a little bit with worry, but I brushed it aside and told myself not to jump to conclusions. Without thinking, I opened the door all the way and stepped into the bathroom. I walked around and opened the stall doors, not finding any sign of Cleo. The only sign I had of her that she was even in the bathroom was the mascara covered paper towels in the trash can, and the hair clip I had found just outside the door.
I walked back outside, and pulled my phone out from my pocket. No missed calls, and no texts from her. Instead of texting, I decided I would just call her because that would be much faster. I dialed her number, then pressed the phone up to my ear. The call didn't even ring, before her voice came onto her voicemail recording. I canceled the call, then redialed her phone again, but just like the first call, it went strait to her voicemail. I attempted one more time, before I realized that she was not going to pick up the phone.
That's really weird, not only because she didn't pick up, but because she always picks up, no matter what, she always has phone on her no matter what, fully charged, and ready to answer a call. That's when I realized that something wasn't right, it just didn't feel right. You know those deep down feeling you get in the pit of your stomach because you could literally feel the fact that something was not right, that something was wrong, well, that's exactly how I feel.
Within seconds, I was already bolting back up the way I came to find my dad, or at least hoping that maybe Cleo had already gone back. I could feel sweat beginning to form on the top of my forehead with anticipation.
I reached my family, and I immediately spotted my dad out of the small group who were all smiling and talking amongst each other.
Cleo wasn't there.
I pushed through the group of people, some family, some friends, and I grabbed onto my dads strong forearm and dragged him to the outside of the group, no one even taking notice of the fact that I was trying to keep my cool, when really, I was slightly panicking with worry on the inside. My dad's practically the same exact height as me, so we were basically eye to eye, when he looked at me with a slight frown on his face, and one eyebrow raised with curiousness.
"Something wrong Colton?"
I curled my hands into two fists on the side of me, then with all seriousness, I replied
"Something's not right" I kicked my leg into the dirt ground below me as I tried to come up with how I was going to phrase my next sentence. "Cleo's no where. Literally. I looked in the bathrooms, around the bathrooms, she's not around here, and she's not answering her phone."
My dads posture suddenly became alert as I explained this, and he seemed to of straitened up a little more.
"What do you mean? Are you saying that Cleo's missing? Maybe she's just hanging out with some other friends around here, and maybe her phone just died."
I huffed out a breath of air in slight frustration. I can't be wasting this time talking if she is really missing, I have to find her.
"Dad, I know something's not right. I found her clip on the ground outside the bathrooms, and she always has her phone charged and on her, but when I called her, it went strait to voicemail. She's missing dad."
<<<<<<<Cleo's POV>>>>>>>
It's almost like one of those dreams where you are trying to wake up, but you can't, your body and mind won't let you, and no matter what, as hard as you try, you just will not awaken. I wonder if this is what being in a coma feels like? I've heard stories about how it feels when people are in comas, and I guess this sort of relates.
I can hear things around me, and I could sense things, I'm not too sure how, but I can. My eyelids are moving in my head, and I am trying to wake up, but I'm not. It wasn't until a second later that something triggered my wake up. It was the fact that I remembered what happened when I stepped out of the bathrooms.
Getting snatched by Chris, trying to free myself, then suddenly, everything went black. My eyes suddenly snapped open, and I immediately sat upright with alertness. It took a second for me to process everything, and where I was.
I was in a room. A small room. The walls were a dark brown, with little decor on them. There was barely any furniture, only the small twin sized bed I am currently sitting on, a dresser, and a sliding door closet. The door was located strait ahead of me with a knob handle. Once I looked all around me, that's when the pain in my head set in. It was a horrible stabbing, throbbing pain from the chloroform, and it hurt like no other. I brought both of my hands up to my head in pain as the headache would not go away.
After a minute, I brought my hands back down, then stood up off of the bed. I swayed a little as I got a head rush from standing up so fast, then I walked towards the door. Before I reached it, I reached down and felt in my jean pockets for my phone, but came up blank as it was not in my pockets. I don't know where my heels went, but I'm glad I'm not wearing them right now. I grabbed on to the gold handle of the door, then turned the handle.
The door opened easily, surprising me slightly, and I stepped out as quietly as I could. I shut the door silently behind me, then spun around on my heel on a mission to get the hell out of where ever I was, but instead of fulfilling my mission, I ran right into a hard chest. It bumped me back a step out of impact, and my back ran into the door behind me, the door handle stabbing into my lower back. I looked up to find Chris gazing down at me with a sly, creepy smile on his face. Without even getting a chance to speak, Chris said
"Leaving so soon Cleo?"
I crossed my arms over my chest, and glared up at him as hard as I could.
"Actually, yes Chris, I am. Thanks for the whole kidnapping session, but I really must be on my way now."
I tried to push past him casually as I said that, but his arm reached out and stopped me in my tracks. He pushed me back, and said
"Oh, I don't think so sweetheart. I've got a little...business to do with you."
Out of instinct, I brought my leg up, and jammed my foot as hard as I could into his 'lower area,' if you know what I mean. I caught him off guard as he immediately reacted by doubling over in pain, while clutching his 'tender area.' Using that extra couple of seconds, I immediately sprinted past him, and right down the hallway ahead of me. I could tell I was in a two story house by the way my footsteps sounded while thumping on the floor beneath me. I ran past a couple more doors, before I found the staircase. I took them two by two as fast as I possibly could, then I landed on tile flooring. I paused for a second trying to figure out where I would go from here.
Strait ahead of me, I could tell it was a family room, and without wasting anymore time, I rushed to the left where there was another room. This one was just like the other family room, except all it had was a small couch, and a fireplace in front of it. I was about to move forward again, when I suddenly heard fast pace moving footsteps from upstairs. They were moving so fast, and thumping so loud, I knew he would get to me before I even had a chance to find the front door to escape, so I knew right then and there, that my only chance of some kind of survival, would be to hide temporarily.
The steps were now beginning to travel down the stairs, thumping almost as loud as my chest was with nerves. I frantically looked around the room for some kind of hide away, and that's when I saw the small, yet big enough to fit my small frame, cabinet. It was brown, and tucked away in a corner of the room, not too noticeable.
I rushed forward, ripped open the doors of the cabinet, and squished myself as far as I could into it, closing the doors in front of me, leaving just a small crack because I couldn't close it all the way. Not five seconds later, Chris came into view. He walked into the room with anger glaring in his eyes. He seemed to of been breathing heavy. I walked slowly into the room, then walked around it.
When he came to stand right in front of the cabinet, I stopped breathing. I could see his blue shirt through the crack of the cabinet, and I watched the way his chest rose and fell from his breathing. I swear you could hear my heart beating from a mile away, I thought it was going to thump right out of my chest. I watched as his hand came up to the door of the cabinet, and I about cried in relief as his hand hovered over the door, but he brought it back down to his side, sighed, and walked away. I rushed out of the cabinet I was hiding in, pushed the doors back open, and stepped out.
I walked silently forward, this time taking a right turn. What came into view this time, shocked me to the core. It was a whole wall full of dead animal heads, deer, moose, squirrels, rabbits, and many others. They were held on plaques, each different sizes and shapes. On another side of the wall was multiples, and multiples of different types of hunting guns. There was probably at least thirty. I brought my hand up to my mouth and choked out a muffled cry of disgust. It sickened me to the very put of my stomach, and made me feel even more woozy inside.
Suddenly, my body was whipped backwards by my hair, making me cry out in real pain. I slammed into Chris behind me as he wrapped one arm around me, while keeping his other hair tugging on my head, making my head hurt ten times as much as it did before. He brought my ear towards his mouth, and his warm breath fanned across my face as he said
"Did you think I would let you get away that easily Cleo? Well, you are so terribly, terribly wrong, sorry sweetheart."
I could feel a tear run down my face in fear, and in pain. Not a second later, he began dragging me around the house by my hair. I cried out in pain, then screamed
"Your not going to get away with this Chris! The police will find you, and you'll go to jail!"
I guess that was the wrong thing to say, because it made him tug just a little harder on my head, enough to make my cries even louder.
"Shut the hell up bitch."
He groaned out loud, then released my hair, making me sigh out in relief. Then, he leaned down and threw me over his shoulder roughly, while continuing to walk to where ever he planned to walk. While I was still crying, he said
"You've made some bad, and incorrect choices Cleo, and that's too bad, it really is."
I didn't reply.
A minute later, I was getting placed roughly into a wooden chair, with my hands bound behind my back, and my ankles tied tightly together. I watched with worry as he pulled out a semi-long cloth, and forcefully made me open my mouth, shoved the cloth into it, and tied it behind my head so I couldn't speak, and I had to breath through my nose. I could feel sweat running down my forehead, and down my chest, not only from how hot it was getting, but from the fear that was running through my veins.
Chris brought his hands up to his head and held them there, when he said
"You know why I brought you here?"
He looked different. Older, scarier, not a teenager. I shook my head as if to say no, and a trickle of sweat ran into my eye, and I tried to blink it away since it began to burn.
"I brought you here, because of who you are. You think you can just waltz around, making people like you, running out of my life because of one stupid party I messed up at, and you get with Colton, who always gets the girls, who always gets the most attention, who all the girls love so much at school! They don't pay any attention to all the other guys at school, and if they do, it's because they haven't met Colton. F*ck Colton, f*ck you."
My eyes widened as he brought his arm back, and slapped me across the face. Then, he did it again, but to my other side. It burned like crazy, and more tears slipped down my face.
"Stop crying, you stupid, worthless, piece of a human! Your weak, and pathetic, that's what you are Cleo! You don't even deserve to live, so I'm doing you a favor!"
He screamed in my face, making me flinch, not only from how close he was, but because of how hard his words hit home. I was weak. I was pathetic. I have no family, I had to be sent here to California because I didn't have anyone, and I was practically shoved into the lives of the Strouds family. I try to act like everything was ok, when really, behind these walls I've put up, there was still the broken girl with no parents who is just trying to live her life the way she had always intended.
I hiccuped as my crying became more ferocious, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block everything out. When I re-opened them, Chris was in front of my face saying
"Colton won't be here to save you little princess, and you probably won't be able to ever see him again, so don't get your hopes up."
<<<<<<<Colton's POV>>>>>>>
"What do you mean she's missing Colton!!??"
My hands were placed on her shoulders, trying to keep my mother calm as tears ran down her face in worry.
"I mean what I say mom, Cleo is no where! No where mom, she's gone, we need to find her, we need to call the police."
Without me being prepared, she suddenly collapsed in my arms, dropping to the floor below. She brought her hands up to her face, and shook her head back and forth rapidly. She looked so weak and delicate as she cried into her hands.
"This is all my fault Colton, all my fault! I sent her to the bathroom, I'm the one who told her to go clean herself up! If I hadn't of told her to go, she wouldn't be missing! I promised her parents, I promised my best friend that I would keep her safe, and look what's happened Colton, she's gone, and it's all my fault!"
I've never ever seen my mom cry the way she's crying right now, and it literally made my heart ache watching her cry like this. I crouched down to the ground, and pulled my mom to me, hugging her to my chest.
"It's not your fault mom, so don't ever say that! I'm upset too, but we can't just waste this time mom, we need to act out, we need to call the police."
After that, everything from then on became a blur. The police were asking everyone questions, everyone was rushing to do all they could to help. The police are trying to track her phone, but as of right now, it's a no go. The police aren't aloud to file a missing persons report until after twenty-four hours.
My head was spinning with emotions. I had to find her, I needed to find her. If she is gone forever, I don't know what I would do.
**************************************************************************************************
Well, that was an intense chapter wasn't it? I hope you guys liked it. I've been so stressed lately, it's not even funny, but I told myself I was going to finish this chapter on Christmas Eve if my life depended on it!
Anyways, so, Merry Christmas to the people who are already celebrating it(if you are from somewhere across the country, haha), and Merry Christmas Eve to everyone else! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, everyone deserves it!
I am going to try my very hardest to hopefully update in a week or two, and keep it up! I love all you guys, and my gift is that you guys are all happily reading my book!
Twitter: @liahfotcb_dream
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~AlwaysBe_a_Dreamer~