The minute my brain processed his words I could feel my body nearly collapse. Any sound after that, reached my ears as I faint whisper, and an unbearable buzz filled my head. I felt powerless, unable to think of anything that could help in the given moment.
A loud bang brought me back in touch with reality. Following the sound, I realised it came from Aiden, who had punched one of the lockers. His uneasiness put Cole in thoughts. "I know why we're upset, but why are you upset?" he asked. Aiden rested his back against the lockers, the back of his head hitting them.
He didn't speak, he just looked at him. Cole's eyes suddenly widened, and he ran a hand through his hair. "You don't say..." he shook his head, starting to pace around. Aiden simply nodded, pushing himself off the locker.
"This, this is exactly what I was fucking talking about!" he yelled, inhaling through his nose, sharply. "How could you be so irresponsible" he continued, and I sighed. "Can you stop blaming him so that we can find a solution?" I told him, taking a seat on the floor.
Cole paused. "I'm not blaming him. I'm blaming you." he said. "Me? What the hell did I do?" I asked, clearly insulted that my brother was blaming me for Jason's abduction. He scoffed. "Do you really need an explanation? It's your little romance story that got us here" his voice was getting concearningly loud and I worried someone was going to hear us.
I frowned, looking once at Cole and then at Aiden. I couldn't possibly think of how our...thing could have led to someone taking Jason. Unless...Aiden's words played in my head: "I had to bring her here, she's getting suspicious and if she realises what's going on we'll have a lot more to worry about than your jealousy"
My eyes widened, and I covered my mouth with my hand. I looked at Aiden, looking for a confirmation that I was right. I got it.
"It's my fault. I thought I could be slick with her, but she knew" he said and I pulled at the roots of my hair, taking a breath. I tried looking at the bigger picture. "At least we know who has him" I said, hoping it would comfort both them, as well as my self.
"It's not like that, Eve. With everyone else we would know they'd want money. With her, it's a whole different story." Aiden explained, making Cole nod in agreement.
"You've both worked with her. Don't you have any idea what she's looking to get by doing this?" I asked. "I think you already know. Both of you fucking knew what she wants, she's told you from thhe start. instead of giving her that, you decided to go on with what you wanted, and now you act dumb. she's showing you her teeth" Cole said, pacing back and forth and making me incredibly dizzy.
"Rather than just blaming us, do you wanna help somehow?" Aiden turned to him, irritated. I got up, walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" they both questioned. "Home. I need to figure a way to find my brother and neither of you are helping" I said, pushing the door open and walking down the stairs.
Of course, they didn't leave me alone. Before I had a chance to walk away, I heard footsteps behind me. "You're not going alone with everything going on. I'll drive you" Cole said and I sighed. Great. A ride with Cole, or in other words, a chance for him to walk all over me without end.
"I'll go check the back, see if we're right" Aiden said and we nodded. "Let's go" Cole said opening his car door. "I think we should wait for him" I said, and he chuckled. "What's wrong? Can't leave without your little boyfriend?" he teased me and I shook my. head. "Can we focus on the real problem, here? Jay's gone and all you can talk about is Aiden and I" I tried putting some sense into him.
"That's because you are the real problem, Evelyn. If it wasn't for you two, nothing would've happened" he said, looking away. I fought back the guilt that was slowly eating me up, trying to focus on the cold air hitting my face. I steadied my breathing, my mind bringing awful images come to life. I saw my brother, tied up somewhere, scared, with that crazy witch.
Gladly, Aiden came back and by his face I could tell he wasn't pleased. "She's gone and so is my car" he paused and both Cole and I looked at him, shocked. "She took my goddamn car" he said, laughing and shaking his head.
"She took my damn brother, so can we please go?" I reminded him, my angst getting the best of me. Aiden looked at me sympathetically while Cole got in the car and started it. I wiped the tears that were starting to arm in the corners of my eyes before either of them saw me, and joined Cole.
My leg couldn't stop shaking, bouncing up and down frantically. As Aiden joined us I couldn't help but think about what Cole had said earlier. Maybe it was our fault, after all. My fault. Coming home, Aiden had told me all about her and the power she held. Her father was after my family, it was only common sense that she'd do something like this.
I should've been ore careful. I should've never let him trick me into believing we could be anything other than friends with Lindsay in the picture. I wasn't even sure if we could be friends to begin with.
I sighed, looking out the window with hopes that the air hitting my face could help in any way. My gaze fell to the mirror, and my eyes locked with the ones of the boy sat in the backseat. His were apologetic, and he mouthed an apology, but I looked away.
Apologies wouldn't help my brother.
The sound of a phone ringing broke the silence that had formed inside the car. "Can you check who it is?" Cole asked when he realised it was his device. I read the name on the screen, shaking my head. Great. "It's mom" I said.
Cole tried his best to stay focused on the road, and I was glad we hadn't crashed yet. "What should I do?" I asked as I got no response. "I guess there's only one thing we can do if you don't want her to come check on us" he stated, and I threw my head against the seat.
Okay, don't be a wuss.
"Hey mum" I spoke into the phone, trying my best to sound as calm as possible "Evelyn, thank God! I've called you a billion times, where the hell are you?" she said. Ah, out of all the times she could remember I exist, she chose today.
"I was at prom, remember?" I must've forgotten my phone in my jacket" I explained and I heard her let out a breath. "Right..." she said, clearly having forgotten. "Is that why you called?" I asked, making sure we were safe. "Yes. Actually, can you pass Cole over?" she said and I nodded, as if she could see me.
I put her on speaker. "Hey mum" Cole spoke, swerving at the last minute to avoid hitting a truck. My eyes widened and I hit his shoulder. He mouthed 'Sorry'. "Honey, I need a favour. I might have to stay a bit longer" she said, making the three of us quite relieved.
Our mum was staying with our grandmother for a few days; she hadn't been feeling well so she wanted to make sure she took her medication when needed. Hence, why Cole was 'taking care' of me and Jay. Î narrowed my eyes, turning to look at my older brother.
If he was home when I left, how did he not see when they took Jason?
Cole got off the phone with Michelle. "We're lucky gran got sick" he stated, but the frown in my face only deepened. "Where were you when they took Jay?" I questioned and he seemed to be alarmed by my tone. "Home" he replied, but his voice was weak.
"Home?" I repeated, making him nod. "If you were home, then you saw them. Why didn't you do anything?" I asked, raising my voice slightly. He scoffed, shaking his head. "Are you seriously accusing me? " he fired back, insulted. "You got a problem with that? You were doing the exact same thing minutes ago" I said, finding his behaviour childish.
"Could y'all put this conversation on hold for a second?" Aiden popped his head from the backseat and the car came to a halt as we reached our driveway. "I think It'd be better if we focused on getting back instead of placing blame right now" he explained and we both turned to look at him, annoyed.
I simply looked at him and shook my head, trying to explain - somehow, without actually explaining- that it wasn't the right time to say stuff like that. I opened the car door and walked out, running inside, wanting to be as far away from these two as possible. I felt guilty just by looking at Aiden. His face brought back memories from not too long ago, and I couldn't stand to think that as I was having my affair, someone was in my house taking Jason.
I gripped on the kitchen sink, breathing heavily. I turned the handle, watching the water fall endlessly. My hands formed a handful, letting the water fill it before splashing it all over my face, not caring for the beautiful makeup that was now ruined.
When I turned around, the two boys were watching me from a distance, unsure of what to do. "So, how does this work? Do we wait for them to call, or call them ourselves?" I said, wasting no more time. "Calling them would be smart, we'd catch them off guard but at the same time, call and say what?" Aiden asked, stripping me of all hope.
"You're the one supposed to know what. " I replied, wiping my cheeks, staining my hands with mascara in the process. He looked at me, puzzled. "I never had someone taken hostage before, how the fuck am I supposed to know?" he said, making me slam my hand on the counter. "He's my brother and your psycho girlfriend has him, I don't care how, but you better find a way to bring him back" I spoke, his indifference making It hard for me not to punch him.
How is he that calm about this, acting like we're having a little fight of our own, instead of trying to find a way to help me? Cole was sitting on top of the counter, not taking part in the conversation, and I felt more helpless than ever. My attention fell on Aiden. He seemed thoughtful, looking at nothing and I couldn't tell what he was thinking. His gaze fell on Cole for a split second, and then to me.
I looked at him, trying to study him somehow but it was worthless. Suddenly, he got up, heading upstairs. "Where are you going?" I asked. "Bathroom" was my answer. I took a seat on one of the couches, looking away from Cole. I cursed myself for forgetting my phone at school, another problem I'd have to solve at some point.
Aiden came back downstairs, pausing. "Eve, can you go upstairs for a second, I need to speak to Cole" he told me, but I could sense something was off. "Is it something you can't tell him in front of me, again?" I asked, turning to look at him. Cole chuckled. "Yes, it is" he said, winking at me, and I tried my best to put the pieces together of what he was implying.
I did as he said, nonetheless. As I passed by him, a Hand stopped me before I walked away, whispering "Bathroom", in a voice barely audible, just for me to hear. I nodded, and walked to the bathroom. Opening the door, I looked around for anything that could help me. My eyes fell to the sink.
A small piece of paper was put there, and I recognised the handwriting instantly. I took hold of it, studying its content.
Don't say much, Cole knows something. Let me look into it.
I took the paper with me, leaving It inside a book in my room, not wanting Cole to find it. 'Cole knows something' the note played in my head. I didn't want to analyse the thought of my older brother having anything to do with the abduction of my younger one, so Aiden was right. I'd let him look into it all he wanted, because the thought made me sick.
Narrator's POV
One hour earlier
The black haired girl danced around carelessly, running her hands through her hair and capturing the attention of everyone around her. On the other side of the room, Ivory was downing another drink. "You need to stop drinking" Axel scolded her. "It's the last one" she explained herself, but he scoffed. "That's what you said five drinks ago." he shook his head.
Her thoughts were racing, thinking of Aiden's hands touching her best friend. I should be her she thought, and poured herself another drink. "I'm calling Cole, it's the perfect time" she said, fishing her phone out of her bra. "They just left, Ivory, give it some time" he told her. "Give it some time? Why, so they can fuck without interruptions?" she raised her voice slightly, and he put a hand over her mouth.
"If you keep yelling the plan's going to waste" he whispered, looking around frantically. "I'm calling Cole before you do anything stupid." he said, grabbing the phone from her hands, and finding Cole's number. "Start" he said, and hung up, but Ivory had other plans.
She left the boy, heading towards Lindsay. "We'll start when Aiden gets back" she said, making Ivory frown. "Hold on, you mean you know where he is?" she asked, evidently confused. "Of course, I do. He went to get cigarettes" she replied, her hands crossing over her chest. "Do you know something I don't?" her expression turned cold.
"Aiden just left with Evelyn" Ivory explained to her, and fire could be seen in Lindsay's eyes. "What?!" she exclaimed, furious. Destroy was the only word going on inside her head. She stormed out, escaping Ivory's sight.
Axel ran towards her. "What the hell was that, why is she leaving?" he asked, panic settling in his chest. "I told her about Aiden" the girl spoke, and Axel could swear he felt every inch of his body freeze the second he heard the words. "A-Are you out of your mind?!" he yelled, his hands gripping his hair desperately. "That bitch's crazy, now Jason is really in danger"
Ivory scoffed. "Oh now you care about the kid? Are you worried for Evelyn too?" she demanded to know. "You didn't act like this when we were making the plan" she crossed her hands over her chest. Axel sighed "I shouldn't have gotten you involved with this. You can't see past your obsession with Aiden".