90 ↬ BETA
"Just, uh, let me do the talking, okay?" Nancy warned as a blonde woman strode into the back room. Her blonde waves fell just past the collar of her long coat and the sound of her heels clicking against the floor echoed in the room as everyone fell silent. Nancy got to her feet, the shadows from the unlit room hiding her expression.
"Nancy Briana Kidwell!" The woman hissed, her eyes narrowing venomously as she appraised her daughter from the doorway. "I have been all over the West side of America looking for you!"
"Did you find any cool souvenirs?" Nancy offered nervously as she approached her mother.
Harper Kidwell let out something between a scoff and a chuckle as she reached out and pulled her daughter into her arms. "I was so worried about you!" Suddenly, the lights flickered back to life and the raging storm outside quieted.
Nancy hissed as her injured shoulder shifted under the pressure of her mother's embrace. Harper immediately retracted, staring down at her daughter's shoulder in shock.
"My God, Nancy! What happened to you?!"
"It's nothing really, I'll be fine-"
"No, I have a salve in the car," Harper frowned as she moved to guide Nancy out of the office.
"Mom, wait," Nancy insisted, gripping her mother's wrist and rooting her feet to the floor. "Mom, I found her."
Nancy paused, her brows furrowed as she looked back up at her daughter. "Found who?"
Nancy moved to the side and used her good arm to gesture toward the three strangers standing behind her. Her eyes settled on Elise.
Harper followed the younger Kidwell's gaze, and her lips parted in shock. "Ev- I..." Nancy trailed off, her wide green eyes affixed to Elise's face.
The brunette returned her gaze. It seemed to only just then settle in that these people were the link to Elise's past. They were the missing part of the puzzle she'd been trying to piece together for the better part of a year. This was the family she'd lost all those years ago, the one she'd never gotten to meet. Until now.
A sharp ringing pulled Elise from her daze, and Harper averted her gaze back to her daughter. Elise pulled her phone free from her pocket and answered the call.
Jenessa's shocked voice rang out on the other end, "Elise? Elise you finally answered! Are you okay? Where the hell have you been?"
"It's a long story," Elise sighed, her eyes flicking back toward the Kidwells. Nancy had pulled her mother into the corner of the room and they were exchanging rushed whispers. Occasionally, the two of them would risk a glance toward the brunette. Nancy's eyes were filled with worry, Harper's were filled with anger.
"We've been looking all over for you! Braeden and I just got to the hospital."
"Wait, what are you doing at the hospital?" Elise asked.
There was a short pause on the other end of the line before Jenessa answered. "You don't know what happened? Some family was killed last night. They were hacked apart in their home. The youngest son survived. We were all worried that maybe the person that hurt them had also... well, I think you get it. We were going to see if the kid could tell us anything."
"Oh, God," Elise grimaced, "poor kid."
"Braeden thinks we should still talk to him," Jenessa announced. "Hold on, Elise, we're right outside of his room..."
There was a short pause on the other end of the call and Elise could hear the sound of a door being opened. Then, suddenly, a scream sounded from Jenessa's side of the call.
"Jen!" Elise called, her heart racing in her chest as the screaming continued.
Then, just before the call was cut short, a single word made its way through the cries.
"Help!"
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"You look just like her," Harper said, her eyes never leaving the road as Elise dropped her phone in defeat. None of her calls to Jenessa had gone through after the line was cut, and Nancy had convinced her mother to take Elise to the hospital. Elise's eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror, where she found both Nancy and Mare dozing off in the backseat.
"Like who?"
"Your mother. Everett." Harper said the woman's name with a hint of disdain. "At first, I almost thought it was her I was seeing."
Elise's eyes were fixed to her hands, which rested in her lap. She didn't answer, so Harper continued.
"I hope you know that this changes nothing," Harper said coldly. "Once we drop you and your friend off at the hospital, I'm taking my daughter and we're leaving this place as soon as she's fit to travel. It shouldn't be long now, that salve works fast."
"Well, I can't blame you," Elise said. "Beacon Hills isn't all that charming." Out of the corner of Elise's vision, she could see the woman studying her. Slowly, Elise continued. "I have so many questions... and I know that you don't have all the answers. But, I just... can you tell me what happened to them? To my parents?"
Harper scoffed, turning her eyes back to the road.
"What is it?" Elise frowned. "What have I done in the thirty minutes we've known each other to make you hate me so much?"
"My daughter ran away from home to find you, then got shot because of you, and you have the guts to ask me what you've done?" Harper hissed.
"I didn't mean for any of that to happen!" Elise countered. She could see the bright lights of the hospital just ahead.
"Of course you didn't," Harper said as she slowed the car to a halt in front of the hospital entrance, causing Mare to stir back to consciousness. Elise opened her door and took a step out onto the damp pavement. Mare followed suit. "You Reids never think about consequences or anyone but yourself. You just act, and other people get hurt because of it."
Before Elise could even close the passenger door, Harper sped off into the night.
"Man," Mare said, her brows furrowed. "Who spit in her bean curd?"
Elise shook her head as she quickly began moving toward the hospital doors. "If I had to guess," she sighed. "I'd say it was my mother."
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Mare and Elise rushed down the hallways until they found the ICU. They shoved open the doors and skidded to a halt when they saw a rattled Jenessa being helped to her feet by a familiar mercenary.
"Jen! What happened?" Elise gasped as she ran to her best friend.
Mare followed close behind the brunette and peered into the room next to them. "Oh, God, what happened to that guy?" she asked, her nose wrinkled in disgust and her eyes wide with horror as she found a man lying dead on the ground, his guts spilled on the floor around him.
"I-I'm okay," Jenessa said, blood was smeared across the front of her sweater, but she didn't seem to be harmed. Elise pulled the woman close, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.
After a moment, Braeden cleared her throat, reminding the friends of her presence. Jenessa released Elise and offered Braeden a small smile. "It's really all thanks to her that I wasn't that kid's dessert," the blonde said. Her eyes slipped to the ground as she added, "I'll make sure you get paid extra, you know, for helping."
Braeden's eyes widened slightly before she shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she shrugged. A short silence settled over the women before the mercenary spoke again. "I do need to follow up on another lead though. I can drop you off somewhere on the way."
Jenessa nodded and turned back to her friend. "The last I saw, Scott followed that kid toward the stairs. If you hurry, you can probably catch up."
"I'll get her home safely," Braeden reassured the brunette, and with that, the pair disappeared down the hall.
"Come on," Elise said, turning to Mare, "It's time you meet my brother."
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By the time Elise and Mare had made their way up the stairs and onto the roof, it seemed that whatever events that were going to unfold had already taken place. The body of a teenage boy lay in the middle of the roof, a bloodied hole in his back. Standing near the edge of the roof was Scott, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
On the ground next to Scott, cradling a fresh bite mark on his arm, was a boy Elise had never seen.
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I am so sorry for missing two weeks of updates, but I needed to put this story on hold for a short while to focus on getting my college applications done before the deadline. Now, I've got all of that dealt with and can focus solely on getting updates out to you guys.
This chapter definitely wasn't the best, but I was kind out of the groove of writing since I hadn't even touched this story in over two weeks, so I apologize, but things are starting to pick up quite a bit! Now we've met all of the Kidwells! What are your guys' impressions of Harper?
Happy Halloween!!
Words: 1554
Feedback is most appreciated <3