Page 5 of Golden Knight

Chapter three

Jake

Twelve years ago

Jake: 16 years old Amber: 14 years ago

Amber: I can’t wait to see you when you get home.

Jake: Same. Don’t worry, sunshine, I’ll be home in two days.

Jake: Sunshine, we’re leaving. See you in two hours.

I glance back down at my phone in my hand, willing it to buzz. Something feels wrong. Amber always answers me, even if it's just to say see you soon, or good luck. She’s never gone radio silent on me before. I just want her to say something, anything. When she doesn’t, I look out the window watching the scenery outside trying to stay calm.

But my mind turns back to her quickly. What could be keeping her from answering me? Is she with someone else? No, she wouldn't. She's not like that. She's so innocent, which is why I’m so protective of her.

The seat next to me dips down, I glance over to see Steve sitting there with a huge grin on his face, making me groan inwardly. “Hey, man. Did you see Jackie before we left?”

“Ugh…” I grunt as I turn my eyes back toward the window. I don’t give a shit about Jackie. She’s so fake and thinks that everyone loves her. But I’m not fooled by her.

She’s mean to everyone including Amber, making rude comments and spreading rumors. Her own friends are scared of her. One time in the cafeteria, she had one of her minions push Amber to the ground smashing her into her tray of food. I wasn’t there but I heard about it. Honestly, Jackie is probably lucky that I didn’t see it. Who knows how I would’ve reacted?

Amber doesn’t think I know about Jackie and her minions and how they treat her. But she’ll find out soon that I know everything. I’ll show her that she can come to me about anything and I’ll always take care of her.

“She’s so hot,” Steve says, interrupting my thoughts.

“She’s okay,” I mumble.

“Man, she’s better than okay. She showed me her tits the other night. And let me tell you, they are something,” he says, biting down on his knuckles.

I still don’t say anything. I don’t even look at him. I just continue to stare out the window. I don’t give a shit about Jackie's tits. Her tits don’t look that great in her clothes so I can’t imagine that they’re that great out of them.

I check my phone again, but still nothing from Amber. What the hell? Why hasn’t she responded?

Steve continues as if I’m engaging with him. “I’m taking her out later tonight. Ryan says she sucks like a hoover. I’m hoping to find out if he's right or not.”

“Sounds good, man,” I absently answered.

He continues talking about what he plans to do with Jackie, but I just tune him out. He’s a jackass, she’s a bitch, and I don’t give a crap about either of them. I just want to see Amber.

Finally, the bus starts to slow down and we pull up at the school. Thank fuck. I’m done listening to Steve. I love playing football but some of these guys are dimwits. Once the bus comes to a complete stop, I grab my bag and haul ass. I need to get my eyes on Amber.

When I get home, I run to drop my stuff in the laundry room. When I come out, I’m greeted by my mom. “Hey, son. Make sure to take your dirty clothes out of the bag. If you leave them in there, they’ll get disgusting.”

I sigh, heading back toward the laundry room. “Okay, mom.”

Once I’ve finished what she asked me to do, I sneak out the back. Rounding the corner of the house, I stop in my tracks and stare at her house. There are no cars in the driveway and all the lights seem to be off inside. I glance down at my watch. It's only six o’clock. She should be home.

A weird feeling starts to float around in my gut and I can’t seem to make my legs move. Intuition, maybe? Fear? I take a deep breath, forcing myself to walk across the street and find out what the hell is going on.

Stepping onto the porch, the house feels lifeless. I ring the doorbell, but no one answers. I head towards the back to sneak into Amber's room by climbing up the big tree outside her window. I hope she’s just lying in the dark in her room listening to music or reading on her Kindle. The big window that looks into their living room catches my attention as I walk across the front yard. Taking a step closer, I peer into the window and all the furniture is gone.

What the actual fuck?

I jog around the house to the backyard and climb up to her room. Thankfully, her window is unlocked, but I find…nothing. Nothing is left. My adrenaline takes over as I run into every room of the house and find it's all the same. Empty.

Feeling defeated, I come back to her room and something black catches my eye at the back of her closet floor.

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