She was so close to the top of the stairs. If I caught her off guard and shoved her, I might be able to knock her down them.
“Sure you don’t. Go back to your room.”
She pushed her weight from the wall as I turned back toward the room. I took a deep breath as I prepared myself. It was now or never. I spun around suddenly and shoved her as hard as I could. She screamed as she fell backward. Everything happened in slow motion, and I watched her eyes widen. Her back hit the top step, and then she went rolling down the stairs. I couldn’t move as I watched her roll over and over again. When she hit the first floor, she didn’t move.
I forced my legs to move as I ran down the steps. I hoped that she wasn’t dead, but I couldn’t afford to stop and check. I would find help and call the police. They could check on her. As for me, my ass was going out that door one way or another. I reached the bottom of the steps and ran for the door. My hand was on the knob when her hand wrapped around my ankle. She jerked, and I went down. I scrambled to get up, but she was on me.
She dropped her knees onto my stomach, knocking the breath from me. I was pinned under her weight as I tried to break free. Instead of slapping me first like last time, she wasted no time in landing a punch right in my temple. I raised my hands to shield my face, but it was no use. She punched any part of me that she could reach. Most of her hits landed on my face. I tasted blood in my mouth as I struggled under her.
“You little bitch! You’re going to pay for that.” She slammed her fist into the side of my head.
For the second time in a matter of hours, I was knocked unconscious.
Chapter Twenty-One: Jesse
I hummed to a song on the radio as I drove home. I was in an unusually good mood today, and I couldn’t wait to get home to Emma. I’d stopped by the local flower shop on the way home to pick up a dozen roses. I wanted to surprise her, and I knew she’d never expect flowers from me.
I pulled into the driveway and grabbed the roses from the passenger seat. I stepped out and walked up to the house. Afraid that she would see them before I had the chance to surprise her, I hid the flowers behind my back as I opened the door and strolled inside.
“Emma? Where are you?” I called from the doorway.
When she didn’t answer, I headed back to our bedroom. I expected her to be asleep in there, but she wasn’t. I tried the bathroom next, but she wasn’t there either. I looked in Ally’s old room last. Emma had never so much as stepped foot in there, so I knew she wouldn’t be in there before I even looked.
“Where the hell did she run off to?” I asked out loud as I walked back to the kitchen.
I found a glass big enough to hold the roses, and I filled it with water. I put it in the center of the table and stuck the roses inside, so she would see them as soon as she came home.
She’d said that she was going to come straight home to study. Emma always let me know where she was, so I was a little bit concerned. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number. I looked around in confusion as I heard it ringing nearby. It stopped ringing before I could find it, so I dialed again.
I finally spotted it on the opposite side of the kitchen on the floor. What the hell is it doing there? I reached down and picked it up.
Something felt off. It wasn’t just because her phone had been on the floor. It was just a feeling I had. My good mood from earlier all but vanished.
I turned and walked back to the front door. My stomach dropped when I saw her car keys hanging by the door.
Maybe she decided to go for a walk? I stepped outside and made my way down to the sidewalk. I circled the block, looking for Emma as I went, but there was no sign of her.
I called Andy to see if maybe he’d stopped by and picked her up.
“Hello?”
“Andy, it’s Jesse.”
“I figured that out when your name came up on my screen. What’s up?”
“Is Emma with you?” I asked.
“No. I haven’t talked to her today.”
“Shit.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I just got home, and she’s not here.”
“Just call her.” He made it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“I already did, genius. Her phone was on the kitchen floor.”
“Maybe it fell out of her pocket?” he asked, sounding unsure.
“I have a bad feeling, Andy. I can’t explain it. Something is wrong.”
“I’ll be over in a few, and we can go look for her.”
I kept watching out the window as I waited for Andy to show up. As soon as he pulled in, I walked out to his car.
“No sign of her?” he asked.
“No. I already walked around the block. Let’s go to a few of the closer restaurants and see if she’s there.”
She wasn’t, so we went to look for her on campus. We checked her dorm room, the library, and a few other places where she liked to hang out at. We found nothing. When we left campus, I felt sick. Andy seemed as worried as I was. A tightness was around his mouth that wasn’t normally there. He could feel it, too. Something was wrong.
We made a quick stop back at my house to make sure that she hadn’t come back while we were out. After I checked the house again, we headed back out to keep searching for her. I knew she had a few friends, but she didn’t hang out with them much. I had no idea how to contact them.
“Andy, I’m about to freak the fuck out.”
“I know. Me, too. This isn’t like Emma at all.”
“I think we should go to the police.”
He nodded as he drove us to the station.
After waiting almost an hour to talk to someone, the cops were absolutely no help. No matter how many times we told them that Emma wouldn’t just disappear, they refused to listen. They said something about waiting twenty-four hours before we could file an official missing person report. That meant we had to wait an entire day before the police would help us.
I left the police station feeling more pissed off and worried than I had when I walked in. Andy and I continued our search until almost three in the morning with no trace of Emma anywhere.
“Dude, we’ve torn this town apart, and there’s no sign of her anywhere. I don’t know what the fuck to do,” Andy said grimly as we pulled up to my house.
We walked into the house, feeling defeated. If something had happened to her, I would never forgive myself. I was supposed to protect her. I couldn’t help but worry that Ally had something to do with this. There had been no sign of her for weeks, but she could have come back.
“What are you thinking?” Andy asked.
“Ally. I’m afraid she’s done something to Emma.”
“I doubt that. She has been gone for a while.”
“Something happened, something bad. I can feel it. Emma wouldn’t just disappear.”
Andy collapsed down onto my couch at the same time I did. “I don’t know what the fuck to think. You two didn’t get in a fight or anything, did you?”
I shook my head. “No, everything has been great between us. Emma has been so happy lately.”
My phone started ringing, and I nearly ripped a hole in my pants as I tried to get to it. I looked at the screen to see who it was. My stomach dropped when I saw Blocked Caller flashing across the screen.
“Hello?” I answered cautiously.
“Hey, Jesse. How are you?”
I held my hand over the phone as I cursed. Once I was sure that I wouldn’t start screaming at her, I moved my hand away. “Ally?”
Andy’s eyes widened when he heard his sister’s name.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
There was no way that it was a coincidence that she was calling while Emma was missing.