Gone (Gone #1) (9 page)

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Authors: Stacy Claflin

BOOK: Gone (Gone #1)
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When they reached the house, Chester opened the door without unlocking it. He indicated for her to go in first. She walked in without looking at him. Smells of cooking food assaulted her, making her feel hungrier and yet a little nauseated.

"Doesn't it feel good to be back at your grandparents' house?" He closed the door. "Some things never change, do they? I swear, this place is the same as when I grew up here." He looked her over. "They certainly wouldn't approve of how filthy you are. Let's get to your room and you can clean yourself up. I need to put the blackberry pie in the oven, anyway. Do you remember where your room is?"

Was he crazy? Macy shook her head, still not looking at him.

"I thought you might have forgotten. They're right. We need to visit more often. They miss their only grandchild. They're due back soon, so I'm glad you finally came around. I don't know how I would have explained you being in that barn." He shook his head. "Follow me."

He went past her, down the hall, and stopped in front of one of the last doors. "Does this ring any bells?"

Macy shook her head again, keeping her gaze off him.

"We're going to have to work on your memory. I'll have to pull out our old family albums. It might hurt to see pictures of your mom, especially after what happened. I know your grandparents are going to ask about her. We're going to tell them she decided to stay in Paris. Can you do that?"

She nodded.

"Say it."

Macy took a deep breath. "Mom stayed in Paris."

"Good." He opened the door, showing what was obviously the room of a teenage girl.

Macy's eyes lit up despite herself. It was gorgeous, and most importantly, the bed was huge and looked really comfortable.

"Find yourself some clothes, and I'll show you to the bathroom. You probably don't remember where that is, either." He sounded irritated, as though it was a huge inconvenience to give her the tour of a house she had never seen before.

She walked past him into the room. As her gaze passed over the two windows, she noted that they were bolted down. Had he turned the house into a prison, too?

Opening a drawer, she picked out a shirt. She went through the rest of them, until she had a complete outfit. She looked down at what she was wearing. The dirty clothes would probably have to be burned.

"You done yet?" He tapped his toes.

Macy nodded, still facing away from him. She turned around and left the room, following him to the bathroom. It had a large tub, without a shower. She was going to have to take a bath. She couldn't even remember the last time she had taken one.

"Towels and everything you need are in there. Try not to take too long, because the food will get cold soon. I know how much you hate cold food, Heather."

She cringed at being called Heather, but figured she would have to get used to it for the time being.

He closed the door, and she turned around and locked it. She looked at everything in the cozy little country bathroom. It was all exactly what she would expect from a farmhouse bathroom. She turned the water on, got it to a comfortable temperature and jammed the plug into the drain at the bottom.

Macy looked down at her clothes again. She would have to get rid of them, not only because they were dirty beyond cleaning, but also because the psycho certainly wouldn't let her hang onto anything from her real life. She had to peel everything off, as it was all sticking to her skin.

Macy threw everything into the garbage. She stepped into the tub, but immediately jumped out. The water burned her frigid skin. She checked it with her fingers, finding it to be fine. She would have to climb in and let her exhausted body adapt to the temperature.

Once she acclimated to the water, she scrubbed herself clean. She didn't want to waste any time. Chester was sure to become angry if she took her time.

When she put on the clean clothes, she found them to be exactly her size. He had really done his homework, finding someone who even wore the same size as Heather. If Macy hadn't lost all that weight, she'd be too big to replace Heather. Then she might not even be in this mess. In a way, this mess was the fault of those jerks at school.

Macy shook her head. It didn't matter now. For now, she needed to eat and then explore the house to see if there was a way out.

Once dressed, she dug through the drawers to find a brush. All she could find was a comb, and it didn't want to go through her hair. But after everything else she had been through, that was a minor inconvenience.

Looking in the mirror, she barely recognized herself. Her skin looked horrible, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her stomach rumbled as she combed her hair into place as best as she could.

She rummaged through the drawers for makeup, but found none. Seriously? Nothing? Macy sighed. It probably didn't matter. Who was she trying to impress?

Macy hung the towel on a hook and took a deep breath. Now was the moment of truth. She was going to have to walk into the kitchen and face her abductor. Hopefully he would feed her without making her jump through any more hoops. Her stomach growled again. She could smell the cooking food, and it made her mouth water.

Turning the doorknob, she took another deep breath as she prepared herself for what would come. As she walked down the hall, she could hear a TV. It sounded like the evening news. They were talking about politics. Boring.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw two places set at the table. Her fake dad had his back to her, cooking something over the stove. She stood still, not wanting to alert him to her presence. She looked around the room, hoping to find a way of escape. Not that she expected to get away just yet—all she wanted was to eat, anyway. She would attempt to get away later, perhaps while he slept.

Finally, unable to take the smell of the food, she cleared her throat. He turned around. "Oh, good. You're all cleaned up. You must be starving. Sit down and eat. Tomorrow's a big day."

Macy raised an eyebrow. What did that mean? She didn't intend to stick around and find out. She would go along with him for the time being, but at night she could find a way to escape. Then she would never have to know what else was up his sleeve.

He laughed. "Don't seem so surprised, Heather. We need to get you ready to see your grandparents again. Sit and eat. I know you're hungry." He turned back to the stove.

She stared at the food on the table, the smells tempting her. Finally she walked to the table. As she pulled the chair out, her mouth watered enough that she had to swallow it to keep it from escaping.

Sitting, she stared at the pasta, the fruit salad, and the cornbread. She was so hungry that she wasn't even going to question what was in it. She'd already broken her vegan diet, who cared if the bread had milk or butter in it?

Piling the food on her plate, her hands shook from hunger. She stared at the full plate for a moment before picking up the fork.

Then she dug in, barely stopping to breathe as she emptied the plate. When she was done, she was surprised to see him sitting at the table, also eating.

He smiled at her. "So good to see you eating again, Heather. Have some more. I made it for you."

She held her face still. Would she get used to being called Heather? Now that she finally had some food, she wasn't going to complain.

"Tomorrow's a big day since you haven't seen your grandparents in so long. It's getting dark, so we'll get ready for bed soon."

Macy's heart skipped a beat. What did he mean by getting ready for bed? This nightmare wasn't going to get even worse, was it?

He set his glass down, and smiled again. "In case you forgot, my room is next to yours. So if you need anything tonight, that's where I'll be."

She let out a sigh of relief. It was bad enough that he was trying to convince her that she was his daughter, but at least that was all it was. At least he wasn't trying to make her into a wife.

"I'm not used to you being so quiet. Hopefully after a good night's sleep, we'll be able to pick up where we left off." He went back to eating.

Pick up from where? What had happened to the real Heather? Macy took the glass in front of her and drank it down. She looked at the food sitting on the table, but didn't dare take more, even though she could have eaten it all. Her stomach had been empty, so she had to take it easy or she would throw up, and he would make her clean it up again.

"Are you full?"

She nodded.

"You want dessert? I can save it for tomorrow. I know how much you like cold pie for breakfast."

Cold pie for breakfast? That sounded weird, but also good. She shrugged her shoulders. Then she went back to the bathroom, with her mind racing. As she brushed her teeth, ignoring the fact that the toothbrush was obviously not new, she decided to stay awake as long as possible. She would make her escape after he went to bed.

 

 

Communication

 

 

Chad entered the bedroom, relieved to see Alyssa sleeping. He hadn't wanted to deal with her any more than he had to. The looks she shot him while they spoke with the cops told him that she blamed him for all of this. It wasn't his fault Macy had run off with that kid. He didn't tell her to do that. In fact, he had set up the rules to avoid exactly this.

He didn't buy the story the cops were trying to sell them. He'd been studying her online profiles, and Macy's latest status update was nothing more than her flipping the bird at him in front of the whole world, especially since the post was public. She was saying loud and clear that she wouldn't be controlled. At least that's what he hoped. He couldn't bring himself to think about the alternative.

Reading through the comments on her post, it looked like a lot of her friends agreed with him. They were begging her to come back, and some kids were even apologizing for making fun of her at school. Everyone but the police and his family thought she was off having fun, and probably checking her account to see everyone's reactions.

Chad sat down next to Alyssa and picked up one of the photo albums. It opened to a page full of pictures of a camping trip they'd taken when the kids were younger. They all looked so happy roasting marshmallows. There was even a picture of him kissing Alyssa. A smile crept across his face as he remembered Macy snatching the camera and taking the picture, giggling and teasing them.

He set the scrapbook down and ran his fingers over Alyssa's hair. What had happened to them? They had been high school sweethearts, and each other's first love. Neither one had ever even gone on a date with anyone else. Maybe that was the problem. They knew each other too well. There was no more mystery or magic.

Only laundry and errands.

Chad had thought that would improve once Alyssa stopped working. Instead, the house was no cleaner, and they argued more. Apparently, not working only magnified the fact that he was so busy. It gave her more time to fret and fuss about them not spending as much time together as they used to.

Didn't she understand that it wouldn't last forever? Once he made enough with his blog to support the family, he would be able to quit his job. He could work on his blog at night and they could have the days to spend together. Or he could work during the day, and they could have long romantic evenings like they used to.

Alyssa stirred in her sleep. He brushed some hair away from her face. Her eyes opened and a look of surprise covered her face—but he saw none of her usual disdain.

"Shh." He moved some of her hair behind her ear. Looking at her ear, he remembered how much he used to love nibbling on it and making her giggle. He ran a finger along it. He looked back to her face, surprised to see her looking directly into his eyes.

"What are we going to do, Chad?" Tears shone in her eyes.

His heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He felt like he was young again, when he would have done anything to keep her from hurting. He pulled her up and held her in his arms. She shook and he rubbed her back, whispering that everything would be okay. He expected her to snap at him that he didn't know that, but she didn't.

Chad knew he should say something. If only his parents were alive. Oh how he missed being able to talk to them. His dad always knew the right thing to say.

Finally, she leaned back and looked at him again. "I don't know what I'll do if—"

Chad put a finger to her lips. "We can't think like that. We can't let ourselves go there. She just ran away, like her status update says, and then she'll be back."

"We don't know that. Don't we need to prepare ourselves in case…?"

"Remember those CDs you used to make us listen to? We have to think positive."

Alyssa frowned.

"If the cops are right and Macy is in trouble—which I don't think is the case—then we need to do what we can to help her."

"Do you really believe that?" Alyssa asked.

"You don't?"

"Haven't you noticed I threw those CDs out?"

"Of course. You still know what was on them. We all do."

Alyssa's cell phone rang, and she glanced at it. "It looks like Sherry from down the street. I'm so tired of talking on the phone. I only want to leave it on in case Macy tries to call." She pushed ignore.

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