Fallen Raine {Completed}

Chapter Eleven - Back-room of a Toy-Store. Who Knew We'd End Up Here?

~Chapter Eleven - Back-room of a Toy-Store. Who Knew We'd End Up Here?~

Jason and I raced back to the food court, our feet slapping against the tile harshly as we made our way through stores and around stalls and down stairs.

My arms pumped and my legs screamed in protest, but I pushed myself forward. My breaths made my chest heave up and down, and I struggled to push myself further onwards. Just a few more steps…

The food court came into sight, and Jason and I rushed there.

When we made it, everyone looked up with matching expressions of surprise, and the breaths left me in a whoosh.

River sat up straight. “What’s up?” he asked. “Are Jess and Steve okay?”

I looked to Jason, and he immediately filled them in on what had happened when we had made it into the gym. About the blood and the message and the missing bodies. He was barely breathless, whereas I was keeled over, sucking in deep breaths and trying to still my fast-beating heart.

River’s eyes were shrouded and he stood up. “We need to find them,” he told everybody.

“We can’t all go,” Drella pointed out, speaking for once. “Brad can’t move. And we can’t leave him.”

“Fine. Jason, Raine, you’re coming with me. Donovan, stay with Drella and Brad,” River instructed, his voice emotionless, leaving no room for discussion or argument.

Donovan looked down at his long, slender hands. I could tell he wanted to come, but he also knew that he had to stay behind and protect Drella and Brad. The group was getting agonizingly smaller as time wore on, and the thought worried me immensely. But I had to push those negative thoughts to the back of mind and focus on getting Steve and Jess back… if we could.

We set out, and Jason and I flanked River, as if we were true soldiers in a war. Even though we were just a bookworm, a bad boy and a jock that never would’ve talked to each other before this event, we were relying and protecting each other. It was almost comical. My best friend, Daisy, would’ve been shocked had she been here.

First we headed back to the gym, where River surveyed the area with shifting eyes. Without a word, he exited the gym and back into the mall. He stopped and looked around, and I stared at him with worried eyes.

A game of hide-and-seek, the message said. A game of hide-and-seek…

I took off running, not bothering to look behind me. Seconds later footsteps began to pound behind me as River and Jason took off after me. It wasn’t long before they caught up, because, hey, Jason was a jock and was very fit, and River had to be since he was running from the cops most of the time. I didn’t know if that was judgmental of me or not, but I knew who River was, and I knew how notorious he was. He was always getting arrested for one thing or another.

I almost tripped down the escalators in my haste to get to the bottom, and took off in the opposite direction of the food court. Down here there were groceries stores, the pharmacy, a couple clothes stores.

And a child’s toy store called Hide And Seek.

River breathed out as he neared the store, and read the sign. “It was a clue,” he muttered. “The message was a clue.”

I stepped toward the entrance, but River grabbed my wrist quickly. “Raine,” he said. “Are you sure you want to go into the store?”

I nodded. “I have to go, River. I need to see.”

He let me go, and River, Jason and I made our way into the store. I smelt something tangy, and knew we had hit the right place. This was where would find the bodies—dead or alive, I was still unsure of. I didn’t really want to know, though. Part of me wanted to run away and never look back, but I owed it to Jess and Steve to make sure they were okay. Even if Jess and I hadn’t been on good terms when she left.