Silence

Chapter 6

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Melony's POV

The girl laid on her bed in tears. She'd cried herself to sleep for weeks. It was her fault, after all. Her best friend was gone, and it was all her fault. She'd long since stopped wiping her tears away, and instead let them soak her pillow. Every day was painful; everything reminded her of Willow.

Melony couldn't bring herself to visit her parents. She couldn't bear to face them, knowing it had been her stubbornness and pride that caused their daughter's disappearance. Nightmare's plagued her dreams every time she closed her eyes, her mind concocting the most horrific fates that could've befallen her friend. She imagined how terrified her friend must be, if she was even still alive. If Willow ever came back, Melony doubted her friend would ever forgive her. I wouldn't blame her, the dark-headed girl thought.

She recalled that horrible night two months ago.

Melony had walked into the convenience store, and after being forced to wait in line for some guy to buy his bulk of stuff, she'd finally been able to ask the man at the register for a jumper cable. She rolled her eyes when he said she had to pay to use them, but had to bring them back. She annoyingly agreed and handed him a five dollar bill, then walked out the door with her jumper cables. She was so glad she'd paid attention in driver's ed.

As she walked out, she couldn't see Will. Maybe she's on the other side of the car, she thought. As she got closer, however, she realized Willow wasn't with the car at all. She dropped the cables and ran to the car, looking all around for a sign of her friend, but she was nowhere to be found. She called her name into the streets, and they slowly got more concerned and desperate.

"Will, if this is some sort of prank, it's not funny!" Melony called. "Come on Willow! We have to go home!"

But it wasn't a prank. She was gone. Mel had noticed a light a few yards away, and after walking towards it, realized it was Willow's phone. Her "HELP!" text hadn't been sent. Mel didn't truly lose it until she saw the crushed emergency necklace and screamed. Tears started to form in her eyes as she screamed Willow's name, her cries becoming more desperate.

She didn't waste any time calling Willow's mom. All pride was gone; all that mattered was her friend's safety, which could be in jeopardy. Her mom answered the phone with a frightened voice.

"Hello? Is this Melony? What's wrong? Willow just sent us two beeps, what's going on? Is she okay?"

"I don't know," Melony answered with a lump in her throat. Her words came out like rapid fire, despite being almost out of breath with fear. "We got sidetracked at the mall and then we got stuck in traffic, and I decided to take a shortcut through a street. It's really freaky out here, but I convinced her to go along with it. But my battery died and I made her wait with the car while I went to a convenience store for jumper cables. I walked out and she was gone. Her emergency necklace is broken and I think somebody took her. I don't know where she is! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!"

"Oh my gosh," Mrs. Bates said in a hushed tone of fear. Then she turned on her mom voice. "We're on our way right now, Mel, we left as soon as we got the alert. It's gonna be okay, dear, just stay where you are. Tell us where you are and don't hang up the phone. Eric's calling the police right now."

Melony waited in fear, scared she would disappear too. What if whoever took her was still out there? After what felt like an eternity of telling them where to turn and what roads to take, they finally made it to where she was. The couple got out of the car and Willow's mom grabbed Melony in a tight hug, telling her everything was gonna be okay, and they were gonna find her daughter. Mr. Bates looked all around, all of them calling out Willow's name as loud as they could.