Key To My Heart [Chase Davenport]

Chapter Thirty One

The first thing I see when I wake up is sunlight streaming in through a window. My eyes snap shut again. It's too bright in my room. I must have left the window open during the night, though I don't remember opening my window. 

My eyes slowly open and I keep them squinted until they are adjusted to the bright morning sun. I'm not in my room, like I thought I was. I am laying on a bed, but it's on the wrong side of the room. And the window . . . it's not across from my bed, it's above me. No wonder it's so bright in this room; it's probably noontime since the sun is right above the skylight. There isn't a cloud in the sky, but there are some clouds in my mind. 

Where am I?

Memories crash around me. I'm climbing the fence to check out the neighbors house. The bright sunlight is on my back as I push the door open. Rabbit hops away from me. I chase after him. I get caught by a man I don't know. Then blackness. There's a momentary image in my head of a random car, and then black again. And then I wake up in this room, confused. 

I was -- am -- kidnapped. 

I shoot off of the bed, spinning in a circle. The bed I was laying on is pressed up against the far wall, underneath the skylight. I could try to stand on the bed and break the skylight, but I might injure myself with falling glass. It's going to be a last resort thing, though. If I can't find another way to get out, that will be the way, no matter what. 

The only other thing in the room is a freaking standing mirror. I don't know who would put a mirror with someone you kidnapped, but these people did. I scurry over to it and try to lift it. I curse my miniscule arms; why didn't I work out more? If I did, I'd be able to lift this standing mirror and ram it into the door. If only Adam were here. He'd easily lift the mirror and knock the door down. 

Do the bionics and Leo know that I'm kidnapped? I didn't exactly tell the truth to Leo when he questioned where I was going. No one knows that I suspected the house next door of holding my kidnapped mother. Maybe the kidnappers called Davenport and told him they had me. Hopefully they did, or else I'm in deep trouble.

I sink to the floor, staring at the girl in the mirror. She has dark circles under her eyes, and even though they are hard to see against her darker skin, I can definitely see them. Her hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail, with her curls slipping out of the teal scrunchie. Her neck is bare since her necklace still missing. Her pajamas are wrinkly and dirty in spots, but it's not like she had time to get dressed in other clothes. In other words, I'm a mess. 

Tears well in my eyes, and I look away from my reflection. My shoulder slump and I end up laying on the ground, staring up at the skylight. A cloud that I didn't see before moves in front of the sun, blocking it's wondrous rays from hitting me. It doesn't matter, though. I'm stuck in this house without a way to escape. My only chance to escape is back in Mission Creek, and they don't know where I'm at. 

I don't even know if I'm with my mom. That thought hurts me the most. I spent all my vacation time and more trying to find her, and then I end up getting kidnapped. The worst part of it all is that I don't know if we have the same kidnappers. I believe that we do, but I haven't seen her yet, so there's a small doubt in my mind that I'm not with her. 

I wonder how long I've been kidnapped. It doesn't feel like a long time, but that's probably because I had been knocked unconscious from a mixture of chloroform and something else. My brain is a little fuzzy when I think about being unconscious, and I assume that's a good thing. I guess I don't want to remember going under. If Guy is the one that kidnapped me and my mom, then I would guess that he doesn't have a lot of chloroform left. He never cleaned pools for a living, and neither did Carla, so he wouldn't have access to the chloroform. Unless he bought some from bad people. Then I don't know what to think. 

The tears leak out of my eyes, and I feel horrible because of it. I hate crying, and I hate that I broke down to Chase a couple of days ago. It's makes me feel like I'm weak. Maybe I am weak. I couldn't find my mom, I couldn't get away from the bad people, I couldn't even finish my math homework without getting help. I have become what I never wanted to be: a failure. Being with the Davenport's is making me realize how weak I am, and I absolutely hate it. I need to grow a spine and stop crying. 

I can hear my mom's voice in my head. She whispers to me, "Everyone needs a cry sometimes, Emilia." This conversation was when I was younger. I remember that day very clearly. I'm sitting in my room, trying my hardest not to cry. My head is pounding and my throat hurts. Mom enters my room and she tells me those few words, and I just let it out. That time, I had her to comfort me. Not this time. 

I let the tears fall, and they roll off of my cheeks, heading toward the floor. My eyes grow blurry, so I just shut them. As I cry, a huge weight is lifted off of my shoulders. I hadn't even realized I was carrying that weight, but I feel so much better now. It's probably the combination of my mom being gone and my homework stressing me out, but I couldn't be sure. This whole trip has been hard, and I hadn't realized how hard it has been. 

My mind goes back to the bionics and Leo. I should have told them where I was going. I should have told them that I found some clues, though none of them matched up. I should have told them everything, but I didn't, and now I'm here, all alone. It's my fault that they don't know where I am, and it's my fault that they won't be able to find me. If I ever see them again, I'll have to apologize. I wonder if they'll forgive me. Adam might, since he's the nicest one out of the four of them. Leo might as well. We've had our fights in the past, so I'm sure he'll forgive me on this one. 

Bree's a different story. Bree already struggled when she figured out that I like Chase. She's very self-depreciating, especially when it comes to who likes her better out of her siblings. This will hurt her for sure, and I don't know if she'll forgive me. I hope she does. Life is better with her friendship. 

And then there's Chase. He probably knew that I had found more clues about where Mom was, but he didn't ask about them. He didn't push me to tell him things, and for that, I'm grateful. However, that's my downfall. I didn't tell him those things, and now he doesn't know anything. I even took the piece of paper of the clues with me. 

Wait! I pat my pockets for a second, searching for the paper and my phone. Those kidnappers are smart. Apparently they checked my pockets because my things are gone. Now, I'm totally stranded without a hope of escaping or being rescued. 

My body starts to float slightly, which means I'm falling asleep. I shouldn't go back to sleep since I literally just woke up, but I can't help it. Maybe in dreamland I'll be able to escape, and then when I wake up, I'll be gone for a few seconds. It's a better thought than staying awake and worrying.