Gone.

The Plan

She hears fast footsteps as Cara rushes to wake Selena, but she can do nothing to acknowledge them. Slowly, Taylor sinks to the floor of the kitchen. Her legs curl up and she wraps her arms around them instinctively. Her head falls forward, her neck limp as sobs wrack her body. The girl was a shivering mess, broken to pieces in sheer seconds as she sits on the cold, hard flooring.

Taylor had never felt pain quite like this. Not longing. Not fear. Words on paper will all ultimately fail to describe the harsh intensity of the emotions shooting through her veins and travelling all over her body like paralysis.

How could someone feel so numb yet so alive with emotion at the very same time?

Selena comes running into the kitchen and her motherly instinct kicks in once she sees the shattered and vulnerable mess Taylor had become. The brunette practically throws herself to the ground in order to wrap her arms around her best friend. She pulls her head into her chest and starts to gently stroke her blonde hair whilst rocking back and forth slowly.

"Sh, Taylor. Everything's going to be alright," she whispers with an edge of urgency in order to calm the girl. Tears were brimming in Selena's own eyes as Cara sits on the other side of Taylor and rubs a comforting hand up and down her back. Cara looked distraught. Selena saw tears drop into her lap as her free hand covered her face. Both were trying to be strong for Taylor, but Karlie was their friend too and this was a lot to process.

"No," Taylor chokes out, "I love her, she can't be gone." Selena can barely make out the words because of the sobs that broke up the words, but she could get the gist from the urgency and longing in Taylor's voice. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. This wasn't the plan."

"We'll find her," Cara says. Her voice was harsh and laced with determination. Her look was of blue steel and her jaw clenched as she looked off into the distance. The soft sadness of before had been replaced with anger.

"How?" Taylor cries out in pain.

"I'm going to call Andrea," Cara says. She leaves the songwriter's side, leaving her exposed to the cold and walks into the living room to dial Taylor's mother as Selena stays where she is and watches her walk off worriedly.

She picks up on the first ring. "Hello?" she chirps.

"It's Cara," she starts.

"Oh hello! I was expecting Tay-"

"Karlie's gone. She's been taken," she interrupts harshly.

There is a painful silence as the new information is processed. "What? How? She can't be. We took all the precautions!"

"Well she is. Tell us what to do. What do we do?" There was no time for pleasantries.

"Right. Okay. Um... I'll have to call you back after I get a plan together. I'll drive up to the cabin; I should get there by this evening I imagine, once I get everything here sorted. How's Taylor?"

"Broken. Do you want to talk to her?"

"Yes, but I don't have time. I'll see her this evening. We will get that girl back safely. Tell my little girl that. Tell her I love her with all my heart and I will do anything to get Karlie safely back in her arms. I have to go, hug her for me, whilst I can't." The line goes dead before Cara can reply and she runs her hands through her hair, tugging slightly. The slight tinge of pain helps her come back down to reality and she jumps up from the couch to relay what Andrea had said.