A/N: please vote and comment :D and happy day after Christmas, this is your Saturday update :) also another long chapter
Luke.
“Luke!” Beth called, and I could hear the stumbles of her footsteps as she closed the front door. I usually would have lectured her about automatically calling out to me because of the possibility that her parents may be home, but they weren’t since it’s only a quarter past noon.
“Luke!” she called again, sounding more urgent. I quickly got off her bed, skipping the stairs, and appeared in front of her as rapidly as I could.
“What is it?” I asked her, questioning her urgency. Then I took a closer look at her face and noticed they were stained with dry tears and her eyeliner was smudged.
“Beth, what happened? Why are you crying?” I asked, instantly worried as I cradled her face in my hands. “Are you hurt?” I questioned, tilting her face from side to side, looking for any blemishes that may signal bruising.
She shook her head, grabbing my hands from her face and holding them in hers. “The urgent text that I got this morning was about the Holmes case.” she informed me, sniffling so that she could continue talking.
I nodded my head, letting her know that I was listening intently and waiting for her to continue.
“We got an anonymous tip of his location. He was in the cornfield, Luke. They brought me there. I was forced inside the cornfield and I just couldn’t mentally do it. My mind couldn’t separate the present and the past.” she sobbed, the tears starting to flow down her cheeks again. She grabbed tighter onto me, pulling me close to her. “It was like losing you all over again, Luke.”
I pulled her away from her shoulders, enough distance between us so that I could keep a focus gaze on her eyes, making sure she was listening to me.
“Beth, you did not lose me, okay? Look. I’m right here. I’m still here. The incident was months ago. I’m still here.” I reassured her. Of course, I knew that reassurance could only go so far seeing the situation we are in, but I wanted to offer up any form of comfort that I could to Beth at the moment. It hurt to see her so broken and it threw me back to right after my disappearance, when I first awoke in the inbetween. Beth couldn’t see me yet, but I could see her heartbreak and hurt as she cried herself to sleep at night, and there was nothing I could do to consolidate her.
That was one of the most painful experiences I had ever had to endure.
Beth shook her head at me, indicating that there was more to the story.
“That wasn’t all. Right before he died he whispered something to me.” She gulped, clearing her throat afterwards.
“What did he say?” I questioned carefully, noticing the far off look in Beth’s eyes.
“Tick tock. Tick tock.” she responded simply, but the words hit me right in the chest. I knew what it meant. “Luke, he was assisting the doctor. He knows. He knows everything! Your time is running really short, Luke.” she cried, starting to panic again.
“Hey, it’s okay. We still have time to figure this out, we just need to --” I paused, a sick feeling forming in the pit of my stomach as a wave of nausea hit me.
“Luke?” Beth asked worriedly.
"I'm slipping.” I told her, trying to focus my vision as the scene in front of me began to blur, tilting to where all I saw were wobbling shades and outlines of objects. Then just as quickly as it came, my vision refocused, the blurriness flickering. “Something doesn't feel right." I said, alarmed as I watched my hand pass through her's as she reached for it, something that hasn't happened in a long time.
"What is going on?" Beth panicked, reaching for my hand again, and this time feeling the solid touch.
"It’s like it’s flickering.” I observed. “I feel like I'm collapsing or falling. I-- I think I'm actually dying this time." I concluded, the panic running an electric current through me. I looked up at Beth, eyes wide as our gazes met.
She quickly shook her head, reaching further up my arms now.
“No, Luke, you cannot do this to me.” she begged pointing at me, her voice starting to sound more distant to me now.
“Beth, I can’t control it. I’m so sorry.” I cried, wishing that I could shed actual tears. Whatever comfort I was attempting to provide her had completely melted away. This was the moment we feared. She looked at me with utter hopelessness and uncertainty as my body slipped from her once again, losing its solidity.
“What do I do?” she yelped, still trying to latch onto me.
“Find me, Beth. Find me.” I instructed, feeling the walls around me close in as my vision started to blacken.
“Luke.” she sobbed, collapsing to the ground in front of me on her knees.
It was the last thing I saw before it all turned black again.
**
Beth.
It’s been ten hours since Luke disappeared, and all I’ve done is sit on my bed, lost in my own world.
“He’s gone, he’s gone.” I kept muttering to myself, not wanting to truly believe my own words. My feet clenched as my toes clutched the bedsheets, trying to get circulation to move through my legs once again after being immobile for so long.
“Sweetie, is everything okay?” My mom knocked on the door. “You didn’t come down for dinner.” she continued, her voice sounding muffled through the wood of the door.
“I’m fine.” I called back, wiping my face to make sure it was void of any tear stains. I stopped crying hours ago, running out of tears, but I never bothered to check myself afterwards. I hadn’t cared. All my time spent trying to help Luke felt useless; he vanished. I wasn’t prepared. I failed. I failed him.
I got off my bed, walking to the mirror as I inspected my appearance in the reflecting glass. I looked like absolute hell. My hair was bunched up in random places, a result of my hands that started to tug at it in the peak of my panic. I wiped under my eyes, removing the eyeliner streaks along with mascara crumbs.
“Can I come in?” she asked through the door. I tugged at the bunched tufts in my hair, trying to make it look presentable.
“No need to. I’m coming out.” I said, giving myself one last look in the mirror. I grabbed my car keys from my dresser along with my wallet before walking over to the door. I grasped the doorknob, swinging the door open and was met with my very worried looking mother.
“I heard about what happened today.” she said, observing me for a reaction.
“Yeah, we closed the Holmes case.” I answered simply, trying to move past her. She grabbed my arm, not roughly, asking me to look back at her.
“They announced where they found the body on the news this afternoon. I know the impact it must have had on you going back there, Beth. That cornfield does not hold good memories for you.” she said, stating the obvious.
“I’m fine, mom.” I told her, trying to seem as if that was the truth but I could still feel the clenching pain inside my chest. “I have to go.” I announced, releasing myself from her grasp as I bounded down the stairs.
“Where are you going? It’s ten o’clock at night!” My mom called out, following me down the stairs. I reached the base of the stairs, looking to the living room to see my dad reading something on his tablet, most probably the news.
“I got called into the station. Most probably the final touches on the case. After all, I was the last person to speak to Holmes.” I half-lied. The part of being the last to speak to Holmes was true, however, I did not get a call to go into the station. It was time I found Luke’s file, and it looks like I will be doing so on my own now. If I can do this, then perhaps I wouldn’t have completely failed him.
“Okay. Be careful, Beth.” she said, giving me an unsure look. I nodded my head.
“See you later, mom.” I bidded farewell, walking out the front door, hoping tonight didn’t take a turn for the worse.
**
“Miss Laude. What are you doing here?” The security guard of the station questioned from behind the front desk. I mentally cursed myself. How could I forget that the guard is still here after the station is closed?
“Hi, sir. I’m just here to pick up something for Officer Brooks.” I lied, coming up with the story from thin air, praying that it would work. “He texted me asking if I could get it, he’s tied up with his father at the current moment.”
The guard nodded his head, notifying me it was okay for me to continue my path of travel. I tried to hide my sigh of relief, knowing that if he didn’t believe me this situation could have turned ugly real quickly.
I continued to walk straight towards the back hallway where the sheriff’s office was, across from which was Holden’s. Then I realized a major fault in my plan.
I didn’t have any keys. I had just expected Luke to walk through the door and open it for me from the inside, which was a fantastic plan originally except for the fact that he is gone now.
“Shít.” I muttered to myself, realizing I was stuck now.
“Miss Laude, I think you’re forgetting something.” The guard called out to me. I flinched, a streak of fear running through me, terrified that I’ve been caught before I even had a chance to do what I truly came to do.
“W-what’s that?” I stuttered, mentally slapping myself for sounding so guilty.
“The keys.” the guard laughed, jingling a set of keys in front of me. “How else did you expect to get in?” He said, chuckling.
I let out another sigh, laughing in relief.
“Right. It clicked in my head when I was standing outside the office with no way of getting in. Like how else was I supposed to get in? It’s not like I could just pick the lock or -- I’m rambling now, I’m sorry.” I laughed nervously, taking the keys from the guard.
“I’ll be at the front desk if you need me.” he informed me. I nodded my head, watching him turn around and return to the front of the station. Once he was gone from my sight, I looked down at the set of keys in my hand praying that one of them was the key to the sheriff’s office.
The key ring only had five keys on it, and I knew I had to make this quick. It was supposed to be a get in, get out operation. If I took too long the guard might start to get suspicious. I wasn’t anywhere near prepared to go through with this, but the sudden disappearance of Luke pushed matters to the point of urgency.
I tried the first key, which didn’t even slip into the lock. I lightly groaned, quickly moving onto the next key which resulted in the same.
“C’mon.” I begged, looking down the hall to make sure the guard wasn’t coming back to check on me. I grasped the third key which fit perfectly in the lock, opening the sheriff’s office door.
“Third time’s the charm.” I smiled to myself, quickly walking into the office and shutting the door behind me. Leaving the lights off and guiding myself by the light from the moon, I ran over to the single file cabinet, mentally begging that it was unlocked. You knew you lived in a small town when all the sheriff needed was a single, 3-tier file cabinet.
“Please let this be in alphabetical order.” I begged to myself, pulling on the latch for the file cabinet. Thankfully, it opened with ease. Letting out a sigh of relief, I pulled it out further, my eyes landing on the multiple manila folders. Red and green tabs stuck out on top every few manila folders with a written letter: alphabetical order.
“Oh, this is just too easy.” I laughed to myself, closing the top drawer since its files ended at ‘G’. Opening the second cabinet below, the first section was labeled ‘H’.
“Found you.” I whispered, glancing quickly to the door to make sure no one was coming. I spread the ‘H’ section a little further apart, cramming the rest of the files behind, so that I could navigate through the files with ease.
“Hemmings, where are you…” I murmured, my fingers and eyes scanning over each file. Finally, I came across Luke’s file, his senior picture attached on the upper left hand corner. Excitedly, I pulled out his file, closing the cabinet drawer softly.
I laid the file on the sheriff’s desk, opening the folder to read the contents of what the police have discovered from the little time they spent investigating his case. They had to have found something.
I skimmed through the parts laying out the summary of the case, of how he was with me when he went missing, then the case being ruled a homicide once his body was recovered, lifeless. Fragments of my statements were printed in here as well. I flipped the page, looking for a sheet stating the evidence which quite frankly I expected to be blank since the case went cold so quickly.
However, that was not what I discovered. Not at all.
Under evidence, they ruled that Luke was murdered by asphyxiation based on fingerprints that were left all around the base of his neck; in perfect strangulation position. Scanning further down the page was a box with a scan of a fingerprint taken from Luke’s body, which further confused me.
If they had a fingerprint scan, wouldn’t they know the killer? Why wasn’t he caught? Why was the case closed?
My blood ran cold as I read further, my hands shaking as I backed away from the file laid on the sheriff’s desk. This wasn’t right. All the evidence was false, there was no validity, there couldn’t be. Not if…
“They think I murdered him.” I whispered, feeling my heart pound. And that’s when it hit me. That’s why this was all so easy. Being offered the job at the station, having the guard let me through with such ease, the coincidence that the file cabinet was so easily accessible… it was all a trap. It just didn’t make sense as to why they didn’t arrest me when they uncovered this “evidence”. What angle were they playing?
And just like with everything else that has happened today, the guard and two other men bursting into the sheriff’s office pointing their guns and flashlights at me was unexpected. I froze, staring at them in shock as I avoided eyeing the guns that were locked and loaded to fire at me with any sudden movement.
"Annabeth Laude, put your hands where we can see them. You are under arrest." The guard from the front desk voiced. I obediently put my hands in the air, surrendering myself as he came over to me with a set of cuffs.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you in court,” he started, reading me my rights as he cuffed me holding my hands behind my back. “You have the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning. If you are not able to afford one, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent you.” he finished, ready to lead me away to the cells.
“You don’t understand!” I pleaded. “I didn’t do it! I just read the file and it’s all false! I swear.” I looked back down at Luke’s file, not believing that this was truly happening. Someone was framing me.
My eyes flicked over next to the file, a glimmer from the moonlight catching my eye and I couldn’t believe I had missed it before. Folded neatly beside the file was a pair of grey rimmed glasses, one’s that I had only seen once before in my life.
Luke, I think there's someone following us." I whispered, noticing the particular older man Luke almost hit back at the diner, perhaps middle aged, who had been taking the same route as us for the past five blocks. He adjusted his grey rimmed glasses as he caught me staring, looking away quickly.
"I'm sure it's nothing." Luke commented, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze as he was about to resume his conversation.
"Luke." I said sternly, the feeling that I was right creating an uneasiness in me. He sighed and looked behind us to see what I was talking about. He stopped walking, squeezing my hand harder.
"Oh, no." He breathed, turning back around and dragging me with him to make us walk at a faster pace.
"Luke, do you know him?" I panicked, noticing the look of recognition Luke gave the man.
"He's nothing but trouble, Beth. We have to lose him, fast." He warned.
“It’s you.” I breathed, realization seeping through my words as I looked up at the other two men in the room, identifying them as the sheriff and Holden. That’s why I thought the sheriff looked familiar before. I had seen him. I had seen him on the most traumatic day of my life, and he was the cause. My eye flickered over to Holden, and I felt the pain of betrayal build up in me.
“And you. You’re just as guilty as he is! You’re the son of the man who tried to murder Luke and I! I trusted you! All this time you were just playing me, feeding on my vulnerability you fúcking psycho!” I yelled at him, infuriated. Holden provided no response to my words, only looking down at his shoes as if they were more important than my accusations.
Sheriff Brooks, the doctor, whoever he was, chuckled darkly as he stepped forward into the light, his face even more visible to me now.
“Anything you say can and will be used against you in court, Beth. I’d be careful about what you say if I were you.” he warned, an evident smirk playing on his lips.
“I can say whatever I want because I didn’t do it! I’m innocent. It was you! Make me take a polygraph, I don’t care! I have nothing to hide. There’s a murderer in this room, but I promise you it isn’t me.” I huffed, shooting a death stare at the sheriff.
“That’s enough, Ms. Laude.” the guard said, tugging harder at my wrists. I complied with his request for me to calm down, but I only did so externally. Inside I was a burning furnace. The anger in me was too great, overpowering my thoughts to where all I saw was red when I looked at the sheriff.
If he wanted to frame me for murder, he had another thing coming. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that the truth always comes out somehow.
Now it was his time that was coming.
A/N:
Lots of shockers in this one eh? Still more to come lol
crying because I'm writing the final chapters of this book
Don't forget to vote and comment! .xx