And Peggy

Chapter 25

Peggy was starving. The truck was cold. Maybe it was just her. Her hair was matted and her lips were quivering. She was a mess. James had the music turned up loud, playing some sort of rap song she had no interest in.

"I'm- I'm hungry." She whispered. He, somehow, heard her, and said, "I'm sorry, sweetheart." And laughed.

Peggy silently cursed him for the rest of his days.

---

Lafayette had come a realization that Peggy was not in town. They searched every corner. The police, after him calling over and over, decided to look for her. He sent out an alert for Peggy-Lafayette had to give them a picture and everything. He was on the verge of tears when he told people to start going out of town.

Laurens sat in the passenger seat- Mulligan sat in the back with Angelica. Eliza and Alex drove alone in Eliza's car- their parents drove in their own. The whole town was alerted. People though, much to Lafayette's dismay, realized that they didn't really know who Peggy was until now. He recalled how he was walking down the road, well, running- when he found a group of teens walking and talking among themselves.

"Have you guys seen Peggy?" He asked them, out of breath. They paused. "Peggy who?" One asked. He glared at them, and said, "Peggy Schuyler." He replied. They laughed. "Like, as in the Schuyler Sisters?" One smiled. "Yes. Angelica and Eliza's little sister." Their eyes got big. "They have a little sister?" They mutter. Lafayette grunted and moved on.

"So, where are we going?" Angelica asked inbetween phone calls to everyone in her contacts. 

"Not sure," Lafayette muttered.

"I'm pretty sure I'm drunk," Laurens muttered under his breath. Mulligan rolled his eyes. "I'm positive." He muttered back, but no one seemed to hear him. 

"So like, I we going far out of town? Ugh, no one's seen her." She muttered, hanging up on someone. 

"Call her one more time." Lafayette demanded, and waited. They heard the ringing. And then, to their surprise, someone answered it.

---

Peggy anxiously watched as James reached for her phone that was in the pocket of her dress. It's been ringing off the hook- and James ignored it every time. But now, he pulled it out of her dress. Peggy said nothing as he looked at who the caller was. Angelica. It was Angelica. They're looking for her! They know she's missing!

"Stop calling her. You'll never get to see her again." James snarled into the phone. It was on speaker. Peggy heard Angelica's excited cried- Lafayette was frantically asking questions. Was that....Laurens? Was that Laurens going on about how, about how pretty she was? And Mulligan? Mulligan was there?

"Peggy, where are you?" Angelica asked frantically. "She's dead, that's what." James sneered. Peggy cried out. "Angelica, it's James- James Reynolds- he's got-" She was cut off because James punched her jaw. She cried out, and held her jaw. Angelica screeched. "I swear to god James, if I never see my sister again, I will kill you!" She yelled. There was a sound of jostling before Lafayette was on. "James, if you hurt her, I will track you down and personally arrest you. I will make you pay." He hissed. James laughed, and as he was about to press the hang up button, Peggy cried, "I love you!" 

Lafayette said, "I love you-" And then he was cut off. James hit the hang-up button. Peggy let out a strangled cry, clutching her jaw. "I hate you with a burning passion." She kissed, before James floored it and her head whipped against the the head of her seat. "You love me, Sweetheart." He smiled. Peggy screeched and lunged at him.

He grabbed the steering wheel first, trying to straighten the truck. But, too bad for him, Peggy was in the way. She was hitting him, scratching him, swearing and cursing at him, all while tears poured from her eyes. Her seat belt restrained her from full on pushing him out of the truck, but she was quite content with the position she had now. James was pushing her away, but she ignored it and kept clawing and scratching him. 

James got a good hit on her. He punched her in the jaw, where he punched her last, and then jabbed her in the stomach. She doubled over for a split second before she, seething, grabbed a glass bottle from in the cup holder, and smashed it across his head. She could barley remember what happened next. He slumped against the seat, clutching his face, and the truck swerved off the highway and slammed into a tree. Peggy was thrown back to her original seating position, her seat belt holding her tight, and James got the brunt of it. He hit the tree straight up. Glass broke, and Peggy protected her eyes. James didn't. Glass got him in the eye. He cried out, and then they realized. The tree was falling. Because of how fast the truck was going, the tree snapped at the impact. And it fell flat on top on the truck, right in between Peggy and James. 

Peggy yelped. The ceiling of the truck curved in, creating a protective wall between her and James. She looked frantically for her phone, quickly, so she could get out, and be away from James. She found it on the ground. She reached for it, but her seat belt stopped her. She pulled it off, grabbed her phone, and opened her door with some trouble. But she leaped out of the truck and into the cold October air. She heard James grunting, and trying to get out.

Peggy picked up the skirts of her dress and headed for the road. About two people stopped already- they saw what happened. And they saw her. One was a nurse- still dressed in her scrubs, running up to her. "Are you okay?" She asked. Peggy leaped into her arms. She clutched the woman. "He kidnapped me. He kidnapped me." She muttered into this stranger's arms. 

"What? He kidnapped you?" She cried, holding Peggy. "Yes. I was walking home and he grabbed me- and-" She started sobbing. "Come here. You're freezing." The woman exclaimed, and helped walk Peggy up to her call. "I'll call the police." She woman said, as she let Peggy sit in the front seat of her car. "Hello, I was driving when I saw a truck hit a tree. The tree fell on top of the truck." A pause. "There was two people in the truck- a driver, and male, and a teen girl. She says that the male kidnapped her when she was walking." 

Peggy paused. She reached up for her phone, and called Angelica. Peggy barley had the phone to her ear when Angelica answered. "Peggy?" She cried.

"Angelica," Peggy breathed. "Peggy, oh my god, are you okay?" Angelica exclaimed. Peggy took a deep breath. "I think so. Just, come and get me. Please." She exclaimed, and then hung up the phone.

---

There. Enjoy while I try to get my creative juices flowing again.

What a weird metaphor I used right there.

I'm going to be Peggy for Halloween. What 'bout you?