Page 102 of Ethan's Sky
Chase’s brother, Christian was known for dealing drugs at high school parties in town. After Ethan left for his MMA camp, Emily started spiraling out of control. I tried to help her. To get her to spend more time with me, but she wanted to go out, to party. I wasn’t into the party scene. Without Ethan, I didn’t feel safe in crowds. It was odd, I know, but I started to notice guys looking at me differently after Ethan left and I didn’t like it. It made me feel dirty or something. I couldn’t explain it.
But I was perfectly content to stay home and read my romance novels or cook for Daddy and me.
“Emily? Where are you babe? Can you share your location with me, and I’ll come get you. I’ll take you home, okay?” She didn’t answer, but I could hear her breathing. “Emily!”
She whimpered. “Yeah. I-I’m here.”
“Go into your phone and share your location with me.” I heard her fumbling with her phone and a few seconds later my phone pinged with her location.
“Okay, Stay put. I’m on my way.”
“Okay. I’ll… be… right… here.” Her words were soft and slurred, ramping up my state of panic. I knew something was very wrong.
I tossed Ethan’s wrestling shirt on the bed and threw on a dress hanging on the back of my closet door and slid on my sneakers.
Once I got to my car, I put my phone on the dash and opened the text with Emily’s location and plugged it into maps. I pulled out of my driveway and took off down the road heading into town.
“Siri, text Daddy.” My phone pinged and Siri came online asking me what I wanted to text Daddy.
“I’m going to pick up Emily. She’s at a party and doesn’t feel well. If I’m not home when you get in, I’ll be right behind you. Love you, Daddy.”
Siri announced my message was sent as I sped off down the road.
I tried calling Emily’s phone, to let her know I was on my way, only six minutes from her when I noticed the map changed.
“What the hell?”
Emily was on the move. But I told her to stay put.
“Fucking great, where are you going, Em?”
Frustrated I called her phone again, but again she didn’t answer. I was starting to worry, maybe she’d gotten in her car and was trying to drive herself home. But after hearing her on the phone, I knew she was in no condition to drive.
I didn’t know for sure if she was drunk, or high, or both. But I knew enough to know she wasn’t in her right mind, at all!
I followed her signal to an empty shopping center at the far east end of town. No one ever came here. The store windows were boarded up. All but two lights in the parking lot were burnt out. The city hadn’t bothered to fix anything since the building wasn’t rented out and there were no businesses nearby.
I slowed almost to a stop when I spotted taillights turning into the alley behind the old shops. Checking my ap, it had to be Emily. So, I followed slowly behind. I wasn’t sure what she was doing. Knowing she wasn’t thinking straight, I chose not to speed up and catch her, for fear I might spook her.
I watched as her car came to a stop in the middle of the alleyway. I parked my car and started to get out, when I saw Chase exit the driver’s side door. He was looking pretty sketchy as he glanced around the alley. I closed my door quietly and watched him.
He opened the back door of Emily’s car, bending inside for something. When he came back out of the back seat he was carrying a motionless Emily. He was about to put her in the front seat of her car, when I jumped out and shouted, “Emily! What’s wrong with her, Chase? What happened?”
I took off running toward her car. Chase looked scared, scanning the parking lot for what I don’t know.
“Jesus, Skyler. What the hell are you doing here?” I ignored his grumpy ass and asked questions of my own.
“What’s wrong with Emily? She called me to come get her, said she wasn’t feeling well. Then her location changed, and I followed her here.”
“She called you?” Chase asks frustrated. “Does anyone else know you’re here? Is anyone else coming?”
“What? No, Chase. Emily! Emily!”
He set her down in the back seat, and that’s when I noticed her clothes were torn. Her body was bruised and beaten. And she wasn’t responding. I grabbed her wrist, hoping, praying I’d find a pulse, but I found nothing.
“Emily!” I screamed. “What did you do to her? What happened?” I was frantically crying, punching Chase’s chest with my fists. He grabbed my wrists tightly, too tightly.
“You shouldn’t have come. Why did you fucking come?” Chase was glaring at me. There was a fear in his eyes, but more than that there was rage. “Fuck!” He shoved me to the ground. I watched as he pulled at his hair, pacing back and forth next to Emily’s car.
