Chapter 4: Lost and Found
I'm half asleep, half awake.
I can hear everything, see nothing.
I hear a shuffle and groan. I wonder what Adam is doing...
I understand when a hand is stroking my face softly. It takes all the power inside of me to not jump up and slap him a few times.
He starts with my cheeks, my collarbone, and then the outline of my lips. A shiver runs through me and I hear him hurry back to his bed.
I suddenly realize that, even the dark light of the room, he saw the dark red blush on my cheeks.
He knew I was awake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Selena..." Something shakes me.
"Selena?" I'm shaked again, harder this time. It suddenly hits me that, I'm Selena.
I silently groan, wanting to be Allison again. "Selena!" Adam yells this time and I fall to the floor. Through all of this shaking, my eyes are still clamped shut.
"What the heck!?" I say. He pratically tosses me with shakes this time.
I peek my eyes open and see bright eyes staring down at me disapprovingly. I shut them again.
Remember who you are. Keep the act up.
All for Darin.
"Earthquake!" I screech, rolling under the coffee table.
After some negotiating, pleading, and most of all, pushing, I'm dressed and ready.
When we sit down for breakfast in the hotel, I mumble, "I hate you."
He just laughs, though it sounds slightly pained.
I automatically look up, alarmed. He pulls his walls up again and turns his face blank.
"Soon, your'll be with your parents and you won't have to see my face ever again,"
i nod. That's when it will be all over. I'm thinking that if I tell him who I really am, and then tell him my story, I'll run away. BUT, I might not have to. I'm also hoping that maybe he'll come along for awhile with me. But then I'll have to leave him. This is my mission. Adam knows New York, though, and by the way he acted towards me last night, the possiblities are higher that he'll come with me.
"I need to tell you something, Adam." I say.
He looks up and right then, (thanks alot...) the waitress sets our food in front of us.
"Erm, thanks." He says, giving her a tiny glare.
I smile at her and pick up my water. I wasn't going to drink it, I just needed something to hold onto.
Once she walks away, I turn back to Adam. "Yes...?" He says.
"You can't ransom me..." I say slowly.
He sighs. "I know."
"Wait, what?!" I yell, not really expecting that.
He looks at me like I'm mad. "I can't ransom you..."
"Yes, you can. You can ransom Selena Holmes. But not me."
"What are you saying?" he says, his eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm not drunk, stupid, or belong in a mad house. But most of all, I'm not Selena Holmes."
He stares at me for what seems like hours. I start to shuffle, uncomfortable under his gaze.
He slides out of the booth and my spirits fall. He's going to leave me here.
But instead he goes over to my side and offers his hand. I stare at it for a second and look up at him.
He gives me a slight smile and grabs my hand anyway. "Come on." He says, even though he's already dragged me out the door and right into the rain.
I resist the urge to run and let the tears running down my face be dismissed as raindrops.
He wipes them away. "So if you aren't Selena Holmes, who are you?"
I hesitate for a second. Will he still help me if he knows who I am? I sigh. "Allison Caldwell."
He cocks his head to the side and starts to walk down the side walk. I don't follow him untill he motions at me to.
When he finds what I guess he was looking for, he points at it. I look down and see a newspaper machine.
Adam digs in his pocket for a coin and sticks it in the slot.
He reaches in and grabs one of the papers.
Oh, great.
It's the same newspaper that those girls had.
ALLISON CALDWELL
INNOCENT OR GULITY?
And then, of course, they had to put my picture on it. I took the paper from him and flipped through it.
Even better.
Darin just had to be in it.
DARIN WOODS
by Karen Lakes
I ignore the guy standing next to me and start to read the article.
When Allison Caldwell, a worker on the set of, I Can't Handle Love, did not come home one night after a day of work on Febuary 4, 2012, suspicions arose automatically. Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell have been very woried. Untill, more news came up.
Allison Caldwell was not kidnapped, but she ran away. But she was not alone. She ran away with a young man named, Darin Woods, who has been known for various crimes. Apparently, there is some kind of connection between the two-
I scoff and silently curse the woman who worked this article.
Also, Allison Caldwell joined and helped Woods do more and more crimes. Including, murder, kidnapping, and many unexplained disappearences. The parents of Caldwell disowned Allison Skye Caldwell. Though disowning is something very rare, we all see the reason why the parents did what they did. Killing is something that can never be forgaven. Both parents are devasted.
The parents are hoping that Darin Woods was forcing their innocent daughter to kill. The police are still under investagating the case. Darin Woods and Allison Caldwell have been gone for seven monthes.
In April, a man named, Looper Augusta, came to the police with the information that is in this article. He says that he saw Woods and Caldwell killing a man himself.
The news was too much for Mrs. Caldwell. She died a few days earlier.
Who are these kids? And why have they caused so much pain and loss to all of us?
I wanted to scream and run and just...cry. This was all a big lie. And it was all Looper's fault.
I suddenly wished I had stabbed him. He's caused so much pain. But then...I hated to think that if it wasn't for all of Looper's junk, I would've never met Darin.
I hated how they blamed it all on Darin. I hated that Looper was the hero to everyone else.
I've never needed Darin so much in my life.
I start to rip the paper and throw it to the ground. When I'm done, I remember that Adam is here.
I wiped the tears from my eyes. "I'm no use to you," I was done. I knew I needed his help, but...I needed to be by myself more. "Goodbye, Adam."
He pulls me into a hug. "No, you've got it backwards. I'm no use to you. I can't help you for long, but I can escort you to where ever you need to go."
He takes my hand again pulls me closer to the rushing and busy street.
He leans in a little closer to the street and waves his hand around. "Taxi!"
After awhile, a small yellow car pulls up and we hop in.
"Where to?" The taxi driver asks.
Adam looks at me. I actually don't know. "The closest police station...?" I say it more like a question.
The taxi driver looks at me and narrows his eyes. He seems slightly familiar. "That's a good few miles from here. Cost a bunch. Not like thats my problem."
I get a good look at the man. He has dark greedy, green eyes and dark hair. He's about forty, defiantly familiar. I pull out my (well, Selena's) wallet and wave it around.
"How much?" I ask.
The taxi driver's eyes wide with excitment and he stares longingly at the bulkiness of the wallet.
When he doesn't answer, I just grab a wad and hand it to him. "Enough?" I ask.
He licks his lips and nods.
I frown to myself. Why do I feel like I know him?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had fallen asleep in the car and so had Adam. I shift a little bit and groan at the uncomfortable sitting position. These seats are really hard. Then, I realize that my head is on Adam's shoulder. I automatically scoot away.
But when I moved away from him, it wasn't leather I felt under me.
It was grass.
My eyes shoot open and I open my mouth to scream.
Adam and I were on the side of road and the taxi along with the man driving it, were gone.
It suddenly hit me who the taxi driver was.
Mr. Banner. The man who bought me while I was at Looper's place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wake up!" I shake Adam the way he shaked me this morning, except it only took on shake and he was up.
"What-" His confused face turned into anger. "He dropped us off on the side of the road!"
I sigh. "It's one of the men who work for Looper. And by the way, Looper kidnapped me and Darin worked for him, only because he had to. That man driving the taxi works for Looper, well worked. Maybe he was just trying to get revenge."
Adam shakes his head and curses silently. "What are we going to do?"
"No, Adam. There's no "we". It's just me. I dragged you into this, and I'm not going to drag you any further." I snap, getting up and brushing off my stupid and short dress. "It's time we go our seperate ways. I'll be fine. I'll give you some money," I reach for Selena's wallet and a wave of panic hits me when I can't find it.
It used to be strapped to my waist. It's gone now.
"He took my wallet!" I groan.
"Just, stay with me for awhile longer." Adam walks towards me and puts his hands on my shoulders. "We'll figure this out together."
I shake him off. "No. We have to go." I start to walk away from him but he grabs my hand again.
"Allison-"
"Let go." My voice is so cold, it scares me. He still doesn't let go.
But something rips him off anyways.
"She said, let go." A new, warm, hand wraps around my wrist and pushes me behind him protectivly. I look up at him and happiness flows through me.
It's Luke.