Mister Popular's Little Sister

twenty-four: it's definitely not over

twenty-four: it's definitely not over

⠀⠀⠀⠀The red head stands up and joins me by the window, no longer bound by the feet. I'm guessing she untied the rope while I was busy waiting for somebody to walk by.

"You catch someone's attention?" She glances out the window where the runner is on the phone.

"Yeah," I reply by building up too much hope. "I hope she's on the phone with the police," I sigh.

"I hope so, too," she rejoinders putting an arm around me. "You're very smart, best friend," she smiles at me.

"Thanks," I chuckle slightly.

We stand at the window and wait about five or six minutes when police cars finally pull up to the girl.

Thank you, lady!

I turn to Ryland and my heart leaps for joy as we will be out of here very soon. She wears a huge smile on her face thinking the exact same thing as me. We watch as the girl and a police officer talk before a group of officers make their way to the house, half to the front and the other half to the back.

"Let's go to the corner on the other side of the door," I grab her hand and pull her to the corner. If James has the idea of coming in, he won't be able to find us right away hopefully giving the police enough time to catch him.

"I'm happy, but I'm also terrified, Mar," Ryland whispers as we crouch down in the corner. I squeeze her hand reassuringly despite feeling the same way.

"I know," I reply in a whisper. "We're going to have to stay silent, though," I add pressing my ear to the wall.

Everything is silent for a few minutes, like the calm before the storm. After a few moments, I can here the police barge into the house shouting at what I'm guessing is James.

"Put the gun down!" I hear several times.

Guns? There's guns involved?

"I said put the gun down," more shoutings can be heard.

I look over at Ryland who can obviously hear the shouting. She squeezes my hand and scoots closer to me.

I'm going to be honest, I'm scared out of my mind as well.

The sound of gun shots breaks my thoughts causing me to jump and Ryland to scream. We push ourselves closer to the corner, if that's even possible.

"Marley, was that-" Ryland starts but I cut her off knowing what she was asking.

"Uh-huh," I shake my head furiously.

The sound of heavy boots pounding against the floor can be heard on the other side of the wall. The doorknob jiggles before the door is suddenly barely hanging on to its hinges.

Ryland and I both scream at the sudden rush of men filing into the room, police men to be exact. With guns in their hands, they turn towards us and one crouches down in front of us. They all put their guns away and help us up.

"Are you two okay," one of the men asks us.

Tears that I didn't realize I was holding back tumble down my cheek as I shake my head furiously not able to speak.

"You're okay now," he leads us out of the room and down some stairs passing the living room. I glance down and notice a bag covering a body as blood stains the carpet around the area.

I stare at the bag knowing he lies under the thin plastic.

It's over. He's gone. Forever.

The men take us back to the station where we will wait for our families, well, Conner, Mr. and Mrs. Waters, and Katelyn. They had called our families on the ride back.

"Marley! Ryland!" My brother's voice breaks me from my thoughts. I spin on my heal to find my brother running into the room that they had us wait in.

"Conner," tears tumble down my cheek once more as I run into his arms. Sobs escape my lips as I hold tightly to his arms.

"Ryland, honey," Mrs. Waters' voice cracks as she runs into the room and hugs her daughter. Mr. Waters and Katelyn follow after resulting in a group hug.

"Are you okay, Marley? You hurt," Conner pulls back cupping my face in his hands as he inspects me.

"I'm okay," I croak out. "He didn't touch me," I reply knowing that's what he means.

"Thank goodness," he pulls me into a hug once more before releasing me. He saunters over to Ryland who was talking to her parents. She jumps into Conner's arms as I make my way over to her mom.

"Marley," Mrs. Waters wears a sympathetic smile. "Come here," she pulls me into her arms. My mind floats back to all the times my mother would wrap me up in her arms comforting me, a hug similar to the one I'm experiencing right now.

"Thank you," I whisper pulling back. She nods in response knowing the whole situation concerning my mom.

"Let's get you guys, home," Mrs. Waters replies pulling Ryland to her side.

Ryland and I gave our statements before we saw our families so we could go straight home afterwards.

I quickly hug Ryland before I follow Conner to his car. I crawl into the passenger seat, the familiar scent relieving me.

As we speed down the road, I think back on everything that has happened in the past five or six weeks.

My mother's murderer and my kidnapper is dead. Though, all the nightmares will not be going away, I know that.

I've met my best friend for life. I wouldn't trade her for the world, that's how amazing she is.

I've reunited with my brother. Though things started off rocky, our relationship is mending, though not perfect.

And so many other little things in between.

You know, I guess I could say that I've survived being Mister Popular's Little Sister, but it's definitely not over. And there's a lot yet to come.

author's note:

Tada! It's over. ): Oh, man. I actually finished a longer story.

I hope you liked it! This story was going to be such a love story cliche when I first started writing it forever ago. But I changed my mind throughout writing it, though it has it's cliche moments. Haha

But it was also poorly written and I apologize for that. Some of the chapters were written in a rush. :>

Cover by @inevitxble

Stay tuned for the epilogue!

Have questions?

Comment them below and I'll be answering them in a separate post. (:

With love,

.j