Held (Gone #2)

by Claflin, Stacy

  Rebekah looked shocked. "What—?"

  "Why didn't you walk back with Heather?"

  She stood back, not to stepping on any berries. "When I returned to the school, everyone was already gone. The other teacher told me that Luke had walked her home."

  "A boy walked her home?" Chester stepped closer to Rebekah.

  "It was perfectly appropriate. The streets are always full at the lunch bell."

  "Heather is never to be alone with a boy, do you understand? Ever."

  She nodded. "I do now."

  "Good. Now pick up those berries and wash them off. Lunch is almost ready."

  Macy went over to the berries and scooped up a handful.

  Chester glared at her. "I told your mom to pick those up. You to go to your room."

  "I just want to help."

  "If I wanted you to help, I would have told you. I did no such thing. To your room."

  Macy gave Rebekah an apologetic look and then went to her room. She was shaking as she closed the door. Why had she let her guard down? Why had she been dumb enough to think his good mood would last? His anger had probably been simmering underneath, just waiting for the opportunity—any excuse—to be released.

  She heard him chewing out Rebekah. He wasn't yelling, but his voice was raised and he was being just as mean to her as he had been to Macy many times.

  Pacing the room, she wiped tears from her face. Macy threw herself on the bed, crying into the pillow. Now Rebekah would probably hate her. Then her only friend would be Luke, if Chester didn't forbid Macy from ever speaking to him again.

  Her door opened and Chester came in. "Lunch is ready. Get up and eat with us. If you haven't washed your hands yet, be sure to. Nobody needs to get sick and die because of you."

  Macy sat up, using the bed covering to wipe her face. It was probably red and puffy, but she couldn't do anything about that. She wasn't about to splash ice-cold water on her face.

  She took a deep breath and went to the kitchen, preparing herself for whatever might be in store. When she got there, both Rebekah and Chester were already eating, facing their plates.

  She would have felt a lot better if Rebekah would have looked at her, but she didn't. Not that Macy could blame her. She had pretty much betrayed her.

  Waiting

  Zoey clung to Alex's hand in the backseat. She knew by the look on his face that he was as worried out as she was. Their parents had been so insistent that they get back to school, and now they were pulling them out before lunch? That didn't make any sense…unless something was wrong. Really wrong. And judging by Alyssa's red, puffy eyes, something was.

  Neither Chad nor Alyssa said anything. It was obvious that they were waiting to tell them the news until they got home. The silence felt like a heavy weight. Zoey was sure that if she said anything, something would break. Probably Alyssa.

  The only thing that made any sense was that there was bad news about Macy. That made Zoey sick to her stomach.

  She squeezed Alex's hand. Her protective nature wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him that everything would be all right. But would it?

  A lump formed in her throat. Surely Chad and Alyssa wouldn't be driving them home so calmly if Macy was dead. They'd be freaking out. Whatever the news was, it wasn't that.

  Zoey leaned her head against Alex's shoulder. He was shaking. She tried to scoot closer to him, but couldn't because of the seat belt.

  Her head hurt horribly, and she wanted a cigarette. No, she needed one. That would fix her headache and calm her down. But she couldn't have one, even though she knew the withdrawals would get worse. She couldn't give the kid that kind of a start in life. If that was the only thing she could give him or her, that would be it.

  They pulled into the Mercer's driveway. Zoey took her belt off and wrapped her arms around Alex, squeezing him tight. "Everything's going to be okay."

  "Have you seen my mom? This can only mean one thing." Tears shone in his eyes.

  "It can mean lots of things, Alex. More clothes found, maybe."

  He shook his head.

  "Come on, you two." The solemn tone of Chad's voice sent chills down Zoey's back.

  She grabbed her bag and pulled Alex out of the car. Zoey noticed a police cruiser pulling in across the street. Had they followed them? Or were they just arriving to watch the house? It couldn't be a coincidence that they arrived at the same time.

  Zoey's heart dropped. Maybe Chad and Alyssa did have the news that she and Alex were dreading.

  Her stomach twisted in tight knots as she walked to the house. Zoey expected Macy to open the door, and she wanted to punch herself. She knew better than to expect to Macy.

  The sinking feeling in her gut told her she was about to find out if she would she ever see her best friend again.

  When they got inside, Alex threw his bag on the floor and glared at his parents. "What's going on? You brought us—"

  "Let's sit." Chad walked to the living room.

  Alex looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown, so Zoey put her arm around him and helped him onto the couch. Alyssa sat at Alex's feet and put her hands on his knees. She wouldn't look either of them in the eyes.

  Chad pulled another chair up, sitting about a foot in front of Zoey. He took a deep breath. "It's important we tell you two what's going on before you hear it anywhere else."

  Zoey's heart picked up speed, almost feeling as though it had jumped into her throat.

  "There's no reason to believe this has anything to do with Macy, but we have to prepare ourselves for gossip." He explained about body that had been found, again reminding them that there was no proof that it was Macy.

  As Zoey tried to process what Chad was saying, she looked over at Alex. Large tears fell into his lap and his lips wavered. She held him closer, leaning her head against his. He was shaking even worse now.

  Alyssa rested her forehead on his knees. She was crying too.

  Chad was saying something about dental records, but Zoey couldn't focus. The lump in her throat was twice the size it had been, but the tears wouldn't come. She wanted to cry along with her boyfriend and her best friend's mom, but she couldn't.

  She buried her face into Alex's side, not wanting anyone to see that she wasn't crying. It wasn't that she didn't care—she did, more than anything. In fact, she couldn't stop blaming herself. Why hadn't she gone with Macy to meet Jared? She could've left them alone after meeting and threatening him to be nice, but she hadn't been there for her best friend.

  All she'd been able to think about at the time was that she couldn't go on a double date because she was in love with Alex. She had been afraid of Macy kicking her out of her life.

  Zoey was a coward. That was why Macy was gone.

  She shook, angry with herself and finally tears came. Someone put an arm around her. Zoey looked over to see Chad with his arms around both her and Alyssa. They were all in a huddle, sobbing together.

  The house phone rang a few times and eventually Chad went to get it.

  "It's not her, right?" Zoey asked, wiping her eyes. "The body, I mean." She knew she had makeup smeared all over her face because it got all over her hands. She looked at Alex's shirt and saw it smeared on there too.

  "Let's hope not." Alyssa wiped at her eyes.

  Alex sniffled. "When will we know?"

  "I don't know, baby. They said something about checking dental records, but our dentist's office burned down. If she's…she's…." Alyssa's eyes shone with tears and she put her head back down, shaking.

  Zoey and Alex shared a look of helplessness. What could they possibly say? It was obvious that Alex wanted to comfort his mom, but he couldn't even help himself, much less her.

  "What would she be doing all the way in Clearview?" Zoey asked. "Think about it. She wouldn't go there. There's not even decent shopping." She had hoped the last comment would at least get someone to crack a smile, but it hadn't worked.

  Alyssa looked up. "We can only hope."
/>   Alex wiped his eyes. "But they have enough to think it might be her, right? Why else would they have told you?"

  "They wanted us to hear it from them first and not the news. In fact, we probably want to avoid watching the news altogether." Alyssa sighed.

  Chad came back and sat next to Alyssa.

  "Who was that?" asked Alyssa.

  He shook his head. "It's already hit the national news. Everyone wants to hear from us."

  Alyssa's eyes filled with tears again. "Why do they need to? Can't they just leave us alone for once?"

  Chad kissed the top of her head. "And that's why Anderson said he would give our statement as our family's representative."

  She let out a sigh of relief.

  "I told Anderson to direct people to my blog if they have any questions. Of course that means I'm going to have to write up something about this 'latest development' as they're calling it." He frowned.

  "You shouldn't have to deal with that, Chad. They should just leave us alone—completely."

  He looked away. "I do need the added traffic. I have to get more income from the blog now."

  Alyssa gave him a confused look. "Are you not telling me something?"

  Chad grimaced, looking directly at her. "I haven't been able to do my work at the levels of quality it needs to be…."

  "What are you saying?"

  "I'm being let go."

  Alyssa's mouth dropped open. "When were you going to tell me?"

  "There's been so much going on—more pressing matters."

  She put her face into her hands. "What are we going to do? Are we going to lose the house?" She looked, staring at him. "We can't lose this house. This is the last place we saw Macy. This is where her stuff is—her room! Exactly how she left it." More tears spilled onto her cheeks. "I won't lose this house. Ever."

  He put his hand on her arm, but she pushed it away.

  "Listen to me, Lyss. They're giving me a generous severance package. I have time to work on the blog. Maybe we'll have to give up cable and movie streaming for a while, but we'll make it work." He paused. "We aren't going to lose the house."

  Alyssa narrowed her eyes, but looked like she wanted to believe him.

  "I promise," he said.

  Alex sat up, causing Zoey to readjust herself. "Dad, I have an idea. What if I write an open letter to Macy? If you post it on your blog, do you think people would read it? Would it help with your click-throughs or whatever?"

  Chad looked thoughtful. "That's a great idea, Alex. Not just for my stats, but just for you to write it."

  Zoey cleared her throat. "I can write one too."

  "That would be perfect, Zoey. Thank you. Not only would the world love to hear from you two, but like I said, I think it would be good for you guys. Maybe we could all do that. What do you think, Lyss?"

  Her lips shook. "I don't know if I can."

  "You don't?"

  She shook her head. "I can't say goodbye. I won't."

  "Mom," Alex said. "It's not that. I'm going to write mine hoping that Macy finds it and reads it. Maybe she'll decide to come back."

  "Me too." Zoey nodded. "Macy would want to hear from you too. Maybe I can get some of her other friends to write letters too. Think of how she would feel if she was out there and read those? It could be a 'begging Macy to come back' campaign. We can let her know that no matter what the news says, we haven't stopped believing."

  Alyssa nodded, taking a deep breath. "When you put it that way, how could I not?"

  Locked

  Macy heard something shoved against the bedroom door. Chester was locking her in there for the rest of the day. Rebekah had been ordered to return to school not speaking about Macy's whereabouts. Chester didn't want anyone to have the impression that he couldn't control his family. Not when he was working so closely with Jonah and the other prophets.

  Macy looked at the window, already knowing that it was nailed shut.

  "Don't make a sound while I'm away. Do you hear me?" Chester called.

  "Yes."

  "Good. I'll be back when I get back. If your mom gets here before me, you're not to leave the room. Even if she opens the door. Am I understood?"

  "Yes." Macy sat on her bed, listening to the sounds of his footsteps. First, he went up and down the hall and then he went into the living room. She heard the squeak of the fire stove door opening followed by a sizzling sound. Had he put the fire out with water? The house would freeze without that.

  Of course he wouldn't want her comfortable while being punished. In fact, she was surprised that she was allowed in her room. He probably had something else in mind for when she really acted up.

  This was just a warning.

  Finally, she heard the front door close. She peeked through the curtain and watched as he walked away. It looked like he was talking to himself. Big surprise. He loved the sound of his own voice.

  Even though she was locked in the room, it was a relief to be away from him. She actually would have preferred to go to the school with Rebekah. It had been so nice to talk with Luke, although it didn't look like that was going to happen again. After Chester's tantrum, Rebekah would be sure to keep Macy away from all boys.

  Maybe Macy could find a way to speak with him when Rebekah wasn't looking. Surely there would have to be times that could happen. They shared a desk; they would have to speak sometimes.

  It seemed like Luke had wanted to say more to her, and Macy intended to find out what. Would he be willing to find a way out of the community? It couldn't be sealed perfectly tight. If people could escape Alcatraz, then it had to be possible to get out of this place.

  Or was she dreaming too big? Was she making too much out of her interaction with Luke? She sat on the bed, going over every detail of their interaction.

  Even if she wasn't able to talk with Luke again, Chester couldn't stop her from making friends with the girls, could he?

  The worst part was that she didn't know what would set him off. Even Rebekah, who was obviously a dedicated member of the community, hadn't expected him to be angry about Macy talking with a boy. If she knew the rules and he still caught her off guard, what would throw him into his next rage?

  Macy would have to be extremely careful. Sometimes he blew up over such insignificant things that the only explanation was he wanted to explode, and took any excuse he could find.

  That was it.

  Maybe he wasn't mad about Luke at all. What if he'd had a frustrating morning with Jonah and the other prophets? If any of them had said or done anything to embarrass him, it would've been enough to send him into a fit. But being that he wanted to impress them, he wouldn't have taken it out on them.

  He would have waited until he got home, looking for the first halfway reasonable excuse.

  That would explain him blowing up about Luke.

  Macy got up and walked around the room. How long was Chester going to leave her in there? Until dinner? Until the nightly meeting? He wouldn't leave her locked up through that. Everyone was expected to be at the meeting. Except maybe those who were being shamed. Macy wasn't sure about that.

  Chester had sounded bent on keeping the "indiscretion" a secret, so maybe he was worried about what everyone thought of him that he would actually protect Macy from a shaming.

  Something could be heard outside. It sounded like it was in their yard. Macy moved aside the curtain and saw someone walking toward their house. She narrowed her eyes, focusing. It was hard to tell with everyone wearing white. It was a woman, Macy could tell because of the bun.

  Whoever it was walked right through the front door. Why not? There was no lock.

  Did the lady even know that Macy was there? Or was she coming just to see her? Footsteps sounded like they were headed her way. Macy's heart raced. She backed away from the door, pushing herself against the dresser. Her breath caught as she heard something scrape against the hall.

  Whoever it was, she was moving whatever Chester had pushed against her door. Macy looked aroun
d for something to grab if she needed to fight. She saw some scissors and took them, holding them behind her back.

  The doorknob turned and Macy looked for a place to hide. There was no wasted space in the room giving her any place to slide under or behind. Her pulse beat in her ears, drowning out the sound of the door opening.

  She shook as the door opened. It took her a moment to register that Eve stood in the doorway.

  "What…what are you doing here?" Macy asked, nearly out of breath.

  Eve smiled. "Good afternoon, Heather. I thought you could use some company."

  Macy squeezed the scissors. "How did you know I was in here?"

  "Your dad mentioned that you could use some guidance."

  "He did?"

  She smiled, not coming any closer. "He did. I'm sorry you had a rough morning. Can I see your hand?"

  Her hand? Right, her sore hand. "Sure." Macy set the scissors down as quietly as possible, and walked toward Eve holding out her right hand.

  Eve took her hand and looked it over. "It does look a bit swollen. I don't think it requires staying home from school, although it is your dad's call as head of the household." She stared into Macy's eyes.

  Macy didn't say anything, but she held Eve's gaze, not wanting to appear guilty. She hadn't done anything wrong.

  "I want to show you something. Is that all right with you?"

  Macy's heart sank. Was this going to be worse than being locked up?

  "You're not in trouble, dear Heather. It's going to help you find understanding."

  That didn't help her to feel any better. But what other option did she have? She nodded.

  "Good. Do you need to use the toilet before we leave? I don't imagine that you were able to use it before I got here."

  "Yes."

  "I'll wait for you in the living room." Eve turned and left the room.

  Letting out a silent sigh of relief, Macy followed her, but then went through the kitchen when Eve went into the main room and stood in front of the wood stove, holding her hands in front of it. Good luck warming up, Macy thought.