Blood is Thicker Than Water

Chapter Four

I closed-no, correction, slammed my bedroom door, sweat forming on my forehead. Several police officers were downstairs with Aunt Cara and Uncle Jacob, discussing Ella's disappearance. Sure enough, she was nowhere within a five-mile radius. That confirmed my suspicions. My sweet, innocent little sister had been kidnapped.

Because of me.

I had given the cops what litte information I could; what she was wearing, what she had last said to me, that kind of thing. They had said my info would help the case, but their faces said otherwise. The looks they had exchanged were clear. This is a waste of time.

And they were right, I was.

I walked to my bedside and slid to the floor, tears welling up in my eyes. My arms slid around my knees as I coiled up into a ball, desparate to disappear. "Ella," I whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

That was all it took for the tears to come. God only knew what was happening to her right now, and it was my fault. I had done this. If I had only listened to Luke yesterday, none of this would have happened. I was just being stubborn. And now my sister would pay the price for it, not to mention the fact that I had hurt my best friend by saying he didn't care about me when I knew very well he did.

I didn't have a clue how to fix this, and I couldn't try right now. Tears streamed down my face, my body shaking with fear and regret. Even God wouldn't find it in His heart to forgive me for this one. Luke would be furious when he found out what had happened. I wouldn't have blamed him if he wrapped his hands around my neck and choked the life out of me. I deserved it.

I sobbed for another half hour, feeling more guilty and worthy of death with every passing second. Why? Why was this happening? Why had I let her go outside without me? Why, why why?

The sound of my heart breaking almost muffled the sound of my bedroom door slowly opening. For all I cared it could be my sister's abductor. I wouldn't have tried to stop them from taking me if it was. I deserved whatever they did to me, and then some.

But it wasn't the kidnapper. I heard footsteps glide nearer to me, then someone dropped to their knees at my side. "Kay?" A voice said softly, clearly distressed at seeing me like this.

I looked up into Luke's eyes, expecting to see fury glaring back at me. But instead I saw compassion. That did it. I burst into tears again. "You were....were right." I choked on my tears, but continued. "I...I..."

"Shhh," Luke grabbed me and wrapped his arms around me so tight it almost hurt. "It's gonna be alright, Kay." He said into my ear, clearly on the verge of tears himself. "We're going to get through this, I promise. We'll find her. I know we will."

That only made me cry harder. I buried my face in Luke's chest as he tried desparately to calm me. He had never seen me so upset before. He had seen me cry, once, when my boyfriend dumped me. But it was nothing like this. I don't think I had ever felt so many emotions as I did in that moment. I had already sobbed so much my chest ached.

"Kay," Luke clutched me even tighter. A tear fell onto my shoulder. "Kay, please stop crying. I don't even know exactly what happened yet. Can you tell me? Please?"

I nodded. He pulled back and wiped a tear off my face, then a couple off his own. I tried to speak, but my voice caught in my throat. Luke placed his hands on my shoulders and peered into my eyes. "Kay, if you're going to tell me you've got to stop crying. You're going to make yourself sick. Just close your eyes and count to ten. That's it, just breathe."

I finally regained my composure and pulled back. He let go and we both got to our feet. I sat down on my bed, motioning for him to do the same. "Okay," He crossed his arms and nodded at me. "Go ahead."