Page 10 of Entangled

I open my mouth, but no words come out. Nothing at all.

“I’m sorry,” I eventually croak.

Mr. Reid looks at me uncomprehendingly for such a long moment that my heart starts to pound against my ribcage. Each individual heartbeat smashes against its confines. It roars in my ear, eating up the silence in the room.

“She wasn’t at Dylan’s.”

“She wasn’t at Dylan’s,” he repeats quietly to himself, chewing on his thumbnail. His brain is desperately trying to piece it all together. “Who took her home?”

“She walked home alone.”

His dark eyes clash with mine and his raw voice crackles with pain. “You let her walk home alone?”

“No,” I reply, confused as to why he would say such a thing. “She told me she would catch a lift with Amanda or Jenny.”

“You let her walk home alone!” he repeats, louder this time while walking closer and forcing me back a step.

“She promised me she would be okay.”

“SHE ISN’T FUCKING OKAY!” he roars, and I whimper with fear when he corners me against the wall. “Where the fuck is my daughter, Willow?! You’re her best friend. I trusted you to keep her safe.”

“I-I tried to stay. She didn’t want me to.”

He slaps the wall, making my heart jump to my throat. “She’s missing! All because you decided to leave her side.”

“I’m sorry.” My voice is weak and pitiful.

His harsh breaths fan my face while he glares at me as if it’s a struggle to rein in his anger, his pain. He’s been here before, five years ago when his wife went missing. Now he’s here again, experiencing the same thing, battling the same fear. It’s palpable in the air, coaxing my own out to dance with his.

Stepping back, he runs a hand down his face. “I’m calling the police.”

“She could be with someone else. Maybe she stayed over with another friend?”

He’s already typing away on his phone. His eyes never leave mine while he talks to the call handler, and I make no move to leave. I would rather he direct his fury at me than go through this nightmare alone. Chloe is my best friend... I should have stayed with her last night. It was fucking foolish of me to think I could leave her on her own. That’s not what best friends do. They stay.

He hangs up, and the silence presses in once again, making it hard to breathe. I can understand why Mr. Reid is jumping to conclusions after his previous experience with his wife disappearing. But why am I? Chloe could be anywhere. Maybe she went back to the party and stayed with Amanda. Maybe she thought ‘Fuck this’ and took a bus somewhere. Maybe she just wanted time alone.

“You should leave.”

“But Chloe—”

“I’ll tell you if the police find her.”

“Oh.”

He grinds his teeth, gazing out the window.

As the silence presses on, I walk out, unable to breathe until I’m safely locked away in my own house. Pressing my back against the door, I release a sob, slamming my hand over my mouth. Pain lances through me. I lower my hand and take a few steadying breaths. In through my nose and out through my mouth.

The police will find her. She’s with a friend, that’s all. I’ll soon awaken from this nightmare.

CHAPTER4

WILLOW

NOVEMBER 3RD, 2015

The house is silent,as always, when I walk downstairs in the early evening to grab something to eat. Chloe has been missing for a week.

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