Mrs. Chamberlain packed us all in her Toyota. Kevin beside the driving seat, me and Sarah on the backseat. After ending the call with the detective, she had cried and cried as we three had soothed her. Trying to calm her by telling her that those shoes could be anyone's shoes which looked like Hannah's shoes. And suddenly she had sat up straight, wiping her tears vigorously and ordering us all to get in her car.
Kevin had insisted her to let me or Sarah drive. But she was having none of it. A grieving mother's determination can lose no argument.
The car came to a screeching halt at the lake where couple of police cars were already waiting for us. We all got down quickly and spotted Detective Kaden, wearing glares and looking intently at the lake where the divers were looking for...a body.
My heart was almost in my mouth the entire ride to the lake and now I was sure it was going to come out. My whole body was buzzing and my knees felt weak. Whatever was in that lake, I wasn't ready for it. This is just too much. All this stuff happens to people in books and shows, or you read about it in newspapers, 'Teen girl found dead in lake. Police looking for cause of death.'
But happening to us? To our very own bestfriend? No. I refuse to believe that.
"Mrs. Chamberlain," Detective Kaden addressed as he saw her approaching him.
"How can you be so sure those shoes belong to my daughter? How can you be sure that my baby's down there?" She sounded hysterical.
"Ma'am, we don't know if Hannah is down there. We are just doing our duty," the detective remained calm, "And as for the shoes, two boys from Hannah's school found them two days ago and reported them in. We ran a DNA test and I'm sorry to tell you but, they were a match."
"My baby's not down there!"
"We all hope so."
All of us stood silently looking towards the ripples on the surface of the lake created by the divers. Despite the sun in the sky, I was shivering. Sarah put her left hand through my right elbow and used her right hand to hold my palm. This comforted me to some extent.
Hannah's mom stood as firm as a rock and her face was completely blank and unreadable. Kevin kept giving her sideway glances to make sure she was alright but we all knew that she was nowhere near alright.
My phone started vibrating in my jeans pocket and I decided to ignore it, knowing very well that it was either mom or Sal. Now was not the time to tell them where I was and what was going on. If I spoke to anyone, I was sure my voice would break and then I wouldn't be able to hold it all inside. The fear, the pain, the anxiety of what was coming next.
One of the divers surfaced, removed the aqualung from his mouth and called out to the detective, "Sir!"
*****
"Rachel? Rachel, are you okay? She's waking up." It was Sarah's voice. But why was it so far away? I could see the outline of a person looking at me. Blonde. Long hair. Sarah.
Then a few more outlines appeared in front of my blurred vision. Someone was touching my forehead. Rough hand. A man's hand. Dad? No, dad's in Sydney on some business trip.
Slowly my vision cleared and I saw three people leaning over me. Sarah, Mrs. Chamberlain and Detective Kaden. It was his hand on my forehead.
"Seems like exhaustion," he was talking to Mrs. Chamberlain.
"What's going on?" I managed to say.
"You fainted." Sarah said taking my hand in hers and stroking it lightly.
"When was the last time you ate, dear?" Mrs. Chamberlain looked concerned. Shouldn't she be concerned about the divers. What did they find?
"Where's Hannah?" I asked and they all knew what I meant. Hannah, as in her body.
"There's nothing. Just the shoes. Like I said, she's not down there. Hannah's alive. I don't know if she's hurt or not, but I do know that she's alive. I can feel it."
"We should get you home," Detective Kaden said, helping me sit up.
I was still feeling a bit dizzy and the left back side of my head was tender when I touched it. I winced when I felt a small bump there.
"Impact of the fall. Dont touch it," Sarah said.
Mom wasn't home when Mrs. Chamberlain and Sarah came inside to drop me.
"Shall I fix something for you? A sandwich maybe?" Mrs. Chamberlain called out from the kitchen.
"There's some lasagna in the fridge," I said as Sarah handed me an ice pack for my head.
"I'll heat it up."
Mrs. Chamberlain sounded different. It felt as if she was relieved to be looking after someone again. After worrying all the time about her missing daughter, a son who was straying away from her and a husband who kept blaming her for Hannah's disappearance; she wanted someone whom she could take care of.
"You girls need to eat more. With school and homework and all the other activities that you do, you cannot be just skipping meals like that," she came out of the kitchen and sat with us on the couch, "The lasagna will be ready and both of you are having it. I want no excuses."
"Mrs. Chamberlain?" I asked.
"Yes, Rachel?"
"How are you holding up?"
It was evident from her expression that no one had asked her this question ever since Hannah went missing. Her lips trembeld but she composed herself.
"From inside? I'm a train wreck! I'm trying my best to keep what's left of my family together, but no matter how hard I try, we just seem to be floating away from each other," she quickly wiped away a stray tear from her face, "I get these horrible dreams every night. Dreams where Hannah is lying im front of me all bruised up, blood everywhere. And I wake up all drenched in sweat.
You girls think I haven't thought about all the worst case scenarios? Kidnapped, raped, beaten up and sold away?" Now she didn't try to hide her tears.
I held Sarah's hand tightly to stop myself from crying too. I wanted to say something but there was a huge lump in my throat.
"The police have no leads. No leads at all! I mean how is that even possible? After so many weeks all they find are her shoes. Wow," she started clapping.
"Maybe they don't have any leads because Hannah really did run away?" Sarah suggested in an tiny voice. I gave her a wide eyed look but she didn't notice it.
Mrs. Chamberlain didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, just stared at particularly nothing. The beep from the microwave indicating that the lasagna is ready brought her back from her trance.
She kept the lasagna tray along with two plates and forks on the dining table. "I should get going. Hannah's dad will be home soon."
She had reached near the door when she turned back and said, "Thank you for being there today with me." Saying this she left and we ate the lasagna silently.
****
"Why did you say that earlier?"
"Say what?" Sarah asked looking up from her phone.
We were sitting on the porch swing of my house. Mom was not home yet and I didn't want to be alone, so I had asked Sarah to stay with me.
"That Hannah must have ran away? Do you believe that too? Like the police?"
"I was just being practical, Rach. No leads, for more than a month now? Maybe she did something bad and doesn't wants anyone to find out."
"Bad, like what? Kill someone?"
"No one we know is dead. So no, not kill. Maybe hurt someone emotionally?"
"You mean Amelia?" I asked the obvious.
"Nah, that's too insignificant a reason to run away. I doubt Amelia was even hurt. I don't think she ever had any real feelings for Aaron."
"Well, you never know, bitches can have feelings too."
"I think she hurt someone deeply enough to ruin that person's life," Sarah stared straight ahead.
"I don't think Hannah's capable of that."
Before anyone of us could say anything further, our phones pinged with an incoming message. It was from Sal on our group.
Check out Amelia's Instagram story!
We both did as he told us.
Attention, s'il vous plaît!
To all the hunks and hotties of Elk Grove High, cancel all your plans for the 17th of October.
Cuz it's none other than Amelia Hastings' birthday party!
You guessed it right, unlimited food, music and DRINKS! It's THE PARTY of the year!
You would be a schmuck if you missed this one.
"Wow, I thought atleast this year she would keep it simple, with all the chaos that has been going on," I sighed at my phone screen, "Guess you're right, people like Amelia Hastings have no feelings. At all."
Aye aye! New cover for the book. This time I made it. Also how do you like the story so far? Let me know in the comments!