Gone (Gone #1) (12 page)

"Perfect. After lunch, it'll be time to clean."

Macy nodded and stood up. She glanced at the mirror, almost unable to recognize herself. It was still her face, but she looked so different with lighter, shorter hair. To her surprise, the haircut actually looked almost professional.

Chester directed her to the kitchen to make sandwiches. He turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, landing on the news. The newscasters were discussing a missing person. Then her latest school photo flashed on the screen.

Macy's heart skipped a beat, and then it raced.

He changed the station to some western movie. He turned to her as though nothing had happened. "Put plenty of meat on my sandwich."

She nodded, and went to the fridge to see what she could put on the sandwiches. Shaking, she pulled out all vegetables for hers. Once those were on the counter, she found stuff he wanted: lunch meats, mayo, and cheese. She didn't see any vegan mayo, so she'd have to use the one made with egg.

If she could even eat. She was still shaking from the shock of seeing her face—and old hairstyle—on the news. Did that mean her family knew she hadn't really run away? Or were they treating her case as a missing runaway? She'd barely heard anything before Chester changed the station.

Macy took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She was going to spill something if she didn't. She spread the four pieces of bread on the counter and organized everything else. Once her hands were steady, she made his sandwich. Then she cut the cucumbers and everything else she needed for hers.

She put the food away, and then put the sandwiches on plates. She took them to the table before grabbing some grapes and chips, setting those in the middle of the table. Hopefully that would meet his expectations.

She sat down, hoping he wouldn't notice. But he did. He got up and sat next to her. "This looks great. You always make a great lunch, Heather."

Macy shrugged, not looking up. She bit into her sandwich, trying to ignore the strong taste of non-vegan mayo. It assaulted her taste buds, but she knew that was the least of her problems.

Her family was actually looking for her, but they had no idea where she was.
She
didn't even know.

Chester stood up. "When you're done, it'll be time to clean up. You can clean the kitchen and living room. I'm going to go back and clean the bathroom and your grandparents' room."

Was he actually going to leave her alone?

Macy waited, expecting him to return or something else to happen. There was no way that he would leave her in the big, open front part of the house…was there? Unless it was some kind of test to see if she would listen. She looked around for a hidden camera, but couldn't see anything.

Her heart started racing. Was this her chance to get away, or would she end up back in the barn? He wouldn't do that, though. He was too eager for her to meet his parents.

She tip-toed into the hallway leading to the front door. He was down the other hall, near the bedrooms.

"Did you need something?" he asked.

"No. I was looking for something, but I…don't see it." She hurried back into the living room. Going through the front door wasn't going to work. If she went that way again and he was still there testing her, he would definitely know something was up.

Macy wandered around the living room, looking at the pictures again. His parents looked like nice, happy people, but they had raised him, so who knew? They could be monsters, too. She looked at another picture of Heather. It was unnerving, because the picture could have been Macy—especially with the new haircut and color.

The house was still quiet. She looked around at the big windows. If she was able to open one and get outside, she should be able to get enough of a head start to get away. It didn't matter that she had no idea where she was. She could figure it out when she found a road.

Holding her breath, she looked around. She couldn't see anything stopping her. The windows weren't locked down. This was her chance, and she had to take it right then. Who knew when she would be able to try to get away again?

She walked over to one of the windows. Her pulse was on fire as she looked for a way to unlock the window. It was unlike any window she had ever seen. There were ropes at the top, which were obviously used for opening and closing it somehow. She would have to open it and hope for the best. The window only needed to be opened enough for her to squeeze out.

Macy saw a knob and twisted it around. Something clicked. She turned around to make sure that he hadn't returned. She was still alone. She put her fingers in two grooves at the bottom and pulled up. The window opened!

She pulled it further, but not much because it was surprisingly heavy. That's when a loud, high-pitched screaming sound surrounded her.

The alarm.

He came around the hallway, glaring at her. The look on his face was scarier than it had been at any other point. Macy backed up and looked at the window, which still wasn't open wide enough for her to squeeze through.

"I…I was just—"

Eyes narrowed, he grabbed her elbow, squeezing painfully. He dragged her to the front door where a coat rack stood. He pushed it aside and punched buttons on a white box. The alarm finally stopped.

"The alarm is set. If any of the doors or windows are opened, that horrible alarm you hate so much will go off. It looks like you figured that out already, didn't you?" He squeezed harder, his eyebrows coming together.

He grabbed her other arm and shook her so that her head hit one of the hooks on the coat rack. He shoved her back, digging her back into the wooden rack. Jackets pushed around her face. "I thought we had an understanding. You were going to obey. We need to get the house cleaned before your grandparents get here, Heather." He yanked her back and threw her against the opposite wall.

She hit her head again. "I thought we could use some fresh air. Look at the window. It's only opened a crack."

He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her further against the wall and lifted her so that she wasn't able to touch the floor. "No fresh air! We're already out in the country. We couldn't ask for better quality air. Don't do anything to change the house—ever again! Do you understand me?" Spit flew onto her face. Macy couldn't wipe it away.

She nodded.

His angry eyes came closer to hers. "It looks as though I'm going to have to do the cleaning myself. You're going to spend some time in your room and think about what you've done. When your grandparents get here, you need to be on your best behavior. Do you understand?"

"Yes." She squirmed, hoping he would let go of her.

"When they get here, you're not to try anything funny. Nothing! The only reason I'm not sending you back to the barn is because they're so close to arriving. Keep that in mind." He shoved her and then let go.

Macy fell to the ground and then stood up. At least she had tried to get away. It hadn't worked, but she had tried.

Discovery

The bedroom door closed behind Macy. She could hear something slide against it, keeping her inside. She sighed, looking around the room.

She needed to calm down. Obviously, there was no texting or online games, but maybe Heather had some books. Then Macy could at least escape into her mind for a little while.

She couldn't see any books, but there had to be something. Macy would even take classic literature at that point, as much as she would have preferred to read about some hot vampires or werewolves.

Where would books be? Maybe near the stuffed animals. Macy had all but ignored that part of the room. There was a small shelf underneath the little hammock holding the toys. She sat down and looked at it. The top row was full of DVDs, which she wouldn't be able to watch.

Macy scanned the books on the next shelf. Most of them
were
literary—things teachers forced kids to read. One had an interesting title that she had never heard of. She grabbed it and noticed that it felt odd.

What was that? She narrowed her eyes and looked inside the book. It didn't open as easily as a book should. When she had it open, she saw that it had been hollowed out and another book rested in it. It looked like a diary.

Her heart stopped. Was that Heather's journal?

This might be her opportunity to find out more about what happened.

Her pulse pounded so loud in her ears that she was afraid Chester would hear it. She took a couple of deep, long breaths. She had to focus. Once she calmed down, she turned to the first entry. Her hands shook.

The first entries were pretty basic stuff.

Heather liked some boy at school, she hated homework, one girl in the neighborhood wouldn't stop bothering her…wait. Neighborhood? Where had they been living? Definitely not on the farm. There was nothing even close to neighbors. Not once had Macy been able to see anything other than farmland.

She wanted to read every word in the journal, but knew she didn't have much time left. She flipped through the pages, skimming the first few lines of each entry.

One caught her attention about a third of the way through.
My mom is still not back.
Macy stopped. She had never bought the story about Heather's mom running off with some guy in France—not that Macy would blame her for running from Chester.

Macy went back to the previous entry and read it word for word. More about the boy that Heather adored. Heather wasn't sure if the boy even knew she was alive, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. It was getting in the way of her schoolwork, and her dad could tell something was up. She wasn't going to admit to him that she was distracted by a boy. He would freak out.

No kidding.

She read on. Heather went on about the boy's eyes and some answer he gave in a class. Then Macy held her breath. His name was Jared. Heather had been in love with a boy named Jared. Chills ran down her spine. That couldn't be a coincidence. Obviously, that was why Chester had chosen that name. She looked back at the paper.

This morning when I got up, Dad was eating breakfast alone. That was really strange, because Mom and Dad pretty much—like always—eat together. Then I joined them for a few minutes since they make me have breakfast every day. I'm like the only kid in school who eats breakfast. Everyone else sleeps in as long as possible and then eats cold pastries or something. Anyway, I have no idea why I'm going on about that. Guess this is my place to ramble.

So I asked Dad where she was, and he wouldn't look me in the eyes. That was weird, but I was worried that she was sick or something, so I didn't really think much about it. He just said she wasn't there. Obviously, I could see that. So I kept asking questions, and he finally looked at me.

The look in his eyes was scary. I'd never seen anything like it. I wanted to run out of the house. He said she had some stuff to take care of. Of course I wanted to know what kind of stuff, but he wouldn't say. I wanted to know when she'd be back, but he wouldn't tell me that either. He said don't worry about it. Don't worry? How was I supposed to do that?

He told me to sit down and eat. I didn't feel like eating at all, but you know how he gets. I made a small bowl of oatmeal. I didn't think I could keep any more down. I knew I'd probably piss him off, but I kept asking questions about Mom. He wouldn't tell me anything. Finally, he slammed a fist on the table and told me to go to school.

Since I knew I wouldn't get anything else out of him, I got up and left. I hope she's okay. It's so weird that she hasn't gotten a hold of me. I mean, she could text me or send me an email. Usually, she sends me goofy texts in the middle of the day. She says she wanted to make sure I smiled at least once at school.

There hasn't been anything new on her profile either. She always posts articles that she finds interesting. By always, I mean lots every day. The last was last night. Almost a full day ago. Her friends are even posting, asking if she's okay. Wish I could answer for her and say something, but Dad won't get off his laptop and give me any answers.

Guess that means I gotta get my homework done now or I'm going to have more late assignments. I'm close to a few teachers contacting my parents about that. I keep hoping Mom will come through the door. Doesn't she know I would worry? Why would she leave without saying anything?

Macy read on, skimming over the next few entries. Mostly, it was Heather pouring out her worries about her mom. She wanted to know if Heather ever found out. Macy wanted to know if Chester had killed her mom.

A few pages later, an entry started with
My mom is back.
Macy held her breath and continued reading.

When I got home from school today, Mom was sitting on our couch. She didn't even look up when I came into the room. I stood right in front of her, but she was staring off to the side. She was holding on to the blanket so tight her hands were turning white.

I kept saying 'Mom' over and over, but it was like she couldn't hear me. I started crying and begged her to look at me. Finally, she turned, but it felt like she was looking through me. I finally sat down and leaned my head against her. I was crying, but she didn't even notice. She never ignores me when I'm upset. Never!