Emma's foot was bouncing up and down on the tile floor. The class was quiet, making the tapping noise stand out against the silence. I reached under the desk, putting my hand on her knee, stopping it. She looked up, offering a sheepish smile. "Sorry," she breathed.
I smiled, squeezing softly. I wasn't worried like she was. It had been two weeks since we started dating, and since I was finally told her secret. Nothing bad had happened. If anything, life was better. In fact, before I met Emma I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much. To feel these feelings.
"You don't need to worry," I said, trying to use a soothing voice. "Nothing happened. Nothing is going to happen. We're okay." I assured. We were in art class, one of the only classes I can actually talk to Emma. I grabbed her hand and squeezed. "We're okay" I reminded her.
She shook her head as if she wasn't hearing the words that I was saying. "It doesn't make sense" she whispered, eyes darting back and forth as she thought. "They killed John because he had a lead, a lead that I knew about. They went after me and failed" she paused for a second and looked at me. "And now they've stopped. It's like they vanished" she muttered, more to herself, as her eyes drifted into the distance.
"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked, trying to be optimistic.
She looked at me with frustration, as if I was missing something. She could see something I couldn't. "No, it's not. Don't you know the saying? Keep your friends close but your enemies closer". I stared at her with a blank expression. "It means they're planning something," she said, spelling it out for me.
I could see her muscles tense, the pencil beginning to tremble where it was clamped in her fist. "Hey hey it's okay" I put my hand on her back, "You're going to teach me to fight like you right? Then you won't have to worry about me" I smiled, hoping that once I became stronger and a better fighter the stress of protecting me will wear off.
She laughed softly, shaking her head. "I will always worry about you, Luke".
I smiled at her, taking a mental image of the way her face lit up when she smiled. When she wasn't worried about me getting killed, we were actually an average couple of high schoolers in love. She came to my lacrosse games, we went to pep rallies and football games. It was the real deal, the whole package.
But this was no longer young love or puppy love like most would say. This was true love. We both knew it, inside and out.
The bell rang, Emma springing up, her ever-alert eyes jumping to the windows before landing on me. I sighed, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "C'mon, let's go to English," I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders before we walked to another hour of boring information.
Emma
"I goddamn hate the rain" I muttered to myself as I turned on the windshield wipers in my car. I was on my way home from the office. No updates. No new crimes, no spotting, not locations, no movements. And it was infuriating.
I hadn't told Luke exactly who they were, or why we were looking for them because it worried me too much. I didn't want to burden him. He claimed it wouldn't, which could be true. But even now, I still believed that the less he knew, the better.
The Bolax clan killed 20 people in one week. They stole millions of dollars from the people they killed and then used it to do, what we suspect, make, and deal drugs. They were dangerous though. More dangerous than other cases I had handled. They had already killed an officer, and now they had gone into hiding.
I knew what this meant, as much as Luke tried to argue me. They were planning something, and I assumed it was something big. I don't know what's worse, the feeling of fear I feel for Luke or the feeling of helplessness.
I made a sharp left turn onto my street, almost missing it. My tires squealed as I swerved, nearly slamming into the back of a van that was parked on the corner. I just missed it, soft breaths slipping through my lips. "Nice driving Em" I huffed, my pissy mood only intensify. I pulled into my garage, letting the door fall shut behind me.
Stepping out of my car, I pulled out my keys, arriving at the door. The first key didn't fit, a sigh escaping me as I realized it had been the spare key that Luke had given me. The things looked too damn similar. I retrieved the correct key, opening the door.
I entered my dark empty house and a wave of loneliness hit me. I dropped my bag and plopped down onto the couch. I pulled out my phone and texted Luke. 'What are you up to?' I waited for a few minutes. No response.
The loneliness leads to me thinking and that leads to anxiety and then to worry. I thought about ways to keep Luke safe and how I would watch over him. I stood up and walked to the window and strained my neck to see down the street. It was silly, but it'd give me a little peace of mind.
It was hard to see through the rain and the curve of our street but with enough stretching, I eventually spotted his house. I again noticed the van. The black van that I had nearly run into that was still parked outside of Luke's house.
The thoughts came one after another, striking like lightning. The Clan was planning something. Luke was my Achilles heel. Luke hadn't responded to my text. A black van was parked outside of his house. And I had been dumb enough, distracted enough, to not pay it a second thought. "Shit" I breathed.
My muscles moved before I told them to, propelling me out the door. It slammed shut behind me, it's echo lost under the sound of the pounding rain. Cold sheets of water slapped against me, stinging my skin as I sprinted down the street.
The houses passed me in a blur, my eyes darting between the black van and Luke's house. God, please let him be okay. Please.
I got closer, surveying the empty front seats of the van, my heart sinking. I'm too late. I pushed the thought away, sprinting to Luke's door, pounding against the wood. I pressed my ear desperately against the door, not hearing a sound.
"Fuck" I trembled, trying the doorknob that wouldn't budge. I whipped out my key to unlock it, the rain nearly making them slip out of my hand. "C'mon, C'mon," I said, the keys shaking so bad in my hands that I couldn't fit them in the door. Finally, I managed and opened the door.
I entered his house, my breathing ragged. I surveyed the kitchen and living room, coming up with nothing. Nothing looked broken, no sign of a struggle. "Luke?" I yelled, panting as I was only greeted with silence. That wasn't good.
Sprinting, I climbed the staircase, my feet slipping in the puddles of water. I clambered into the hallway, bumping the wall as I ran to Luke's room. I planned on pausing, taking a moment to consider what I might find. But instinct took over, my body slamming into the door.
Luke jumped from where he sat on the bed, his eyes growing wide. "Emma, what happened?" he asked, taking off his headphones. His worry multiplied as he took in my ragged breathing and soaked clothes. "What the hell?" he said, standing up. "What happened? Are you okay?" he said rushing over to me, overcome with worry.
I backed up, just trying to catch my breath. As soon as my back hit the wall, I slid to the ground, crossing my arms over my knees before resting my head. "I thought-the van- you didn't answer-I thought-" I couldn't breathe, the thoughts jumbled together as I struggled to relax.
Luke knelt in front of me, squeezing my shoulders. "Breathe," he said, taking a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. "C'mon, do it with me. In..." he inhaled pausing before I followed, then together we exhaled. It was enough for me to gain some control of my breathing, my heart beginning to slow.
"Better" he observed, getting up and walking to his dresser. He pulled out a t-shirt and sweatpants, returning to me. "Change into to these while I go get you a blanket and then you can tell me what happened, okay?" he said, kissing my forehead as I nodded.
After I had gotten changed, I curled up on his bed, breathing in his familiar scent. He walked in with a blanket, sitting down next to me. He wrapped it around me and I laid down, my head resting on his lap. "What happened?" he asked again, running his hand through my hair.
"I don't want to talk about it" I whispered, letting my eyes fall shut. "I'm just glad you're okay," I said, reassuring myself as I banished the horrific scenarios that had run through my head.
Luke watched me, debating whether to push or not. "Okay. It's okay. Just rest now, okay?" Luke said softly, his hands comforting as they ran through my hair. But my eyes were already shut, my mind already drifting off into sleep.