One Lost, Two Found

Chapter 6

Jazz

The wedding has been postponed, obviously. I had gotten no sleep. So when I went into my mom's room in the middle of the night it was no surprise that she wasn't either.

After a few measly hours of sleep I got up with the sun. I quietly went downstairs to grab something to eat. I realized I had gotten very hungry after not eating last night.

I passed Preston, who was on the couch, and Jonah, who was on the floor. I smiled at the thought of people caring so much that they slept over.

A few minutes later I got a call. 

I jumped at the sound, praying it was Jada, but no.

"Hello?" I said sadly.

"Sorry I'm not Jada," Freddie said. "I just wanted to let you know that my mom banned me from your house. I'll try to sneak out at some point but please keep me updated." 

I sighed.

Eventually, people began waking up. 

The doorbell rang, waking Jonah up. Preston, on the other hand, didn't move.

I hurried to the door and saw a cop.

I opened it.

"Hello, Officer Gavin here. Can I talk to your parents?"

"MOM! DAD!" I hollered. I glanced at the couch. Preston still hadn't moved.

My parents hurried down the stairs in robes. 

The cops shook hands with them.

"We have a few updates," He said sitting down at the dining room table. 

"We have a neighbor who said they saw a black truck near the church at around the same time Jada went missing."

I felt as though my heart had dropped to my feet.

"Also, we found this," he said, taking a ziploc bag out from his pocket."

I picked it up to see a purple scrunchie inside.

I gasped.

"Jada was wearing that!" I exclaimed. 

"You're right!" Mom said.

"Alright, so it was hers. We found it on the side of the road." He stood up.

"We filed a missing persons case, but she'll most likely turn up within a few days."

"Well what are you doing to find her?" Dad asked.

"There isn't much we can do. We've sent a few guys out to search neighboring towns, but without a lead, we can't do a lot."

"What about her phone?" I asked.

"We're trying to track it down, but we haven't gotten anything. It's most likely destroyed."

He began to walk to the back to his car, saying how he was sorry they couldn't do more.

My dad went after him to talk. My mom went upstairs, most likely to cry some more, and Jonah finally woke Preston up. 

I sighed and sank down in the chair. 

"Nothing much?" Preston asked sleepily as the two of them walked over and sat down.

"Nope," I said miserably.

"I wish there was more we could do," Jonah said.

"Believe me, so do I."

Freddie

I woke up to the sound of my mom vacuuming. She just loved doing that as early as possible.

I rolled out of bed, already tired from the lack of sleep. 

I checked my phone and had a few texts from Jazz, saying a cop had found Jada's scrunchie, but it hadn't really helped wity anything.

I quickly showered and changed. My mom came in and told me she was leaving for the store, and locked my room. 

The second she left the house I started looking for a way to escape to the Maxwell's house. 

I knew I had about an hour and a half  since she was going to a store pretty far away.

I tried a bobby pin in the lock like they do in movies, but it didn't work.

Then I tried banging myself against it, but all I got were a few bruises and a headache.

Then I wiggled my window open. I was a good fifteen feet up. There was no way I could jump. 

Then I glanced at a blanket on my bed. I tied it to one of my bed poles and let it hang out. It only reached halfway.

"Here goes nothing," I said with a shrug. I threw my backpack down to the ground and grabbed ahold of the blanket.

"I cannot be serious right now," I muttered as I slowly climbed out my window. 

I slowly lowered myself down, then looked below me. I was really close to the doorframe. I carefully placed my feet on top and grabbed the side of the house. 

I swore violently at myself for not thinking this through. I noticed a tiny part of a brick sticking out a foot below me so I lowered my foot to it. 

Bad idea. 

I missed and slipped.

A few seconds later I hit the hard ground with a thud. 

At first I groaned, then I started laughing hysterically at myself. 

"Well," I said, getting up and grabbing my backpack, "at least I'm out."

I walked around to my car then remembered; my mom took my car keys. 

Great. 

I guess I'll have to run.