Chapter 15
Avery's POV
"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" I ask Charlotte for the third time since I've picked her up I'm just worried about how Aspen feels.
When Charlotte called me, she told me to not pick up Aspen.
Her reasoning was logical.
Aspen has been through enough already; we don't want her getting involved with any more dangerous activities.
But I hate the feeling of walking around on eggshells when I'm with her.
"Yes, for the last time" She responds with an eye roll "Fine, just let me call Aspen and tell her" I insist as I grab my phone and quickly dial Aspen's number I hear the receiver ring a few times before Aspen's confused voice sounds through the phone.
"Hey, are you here?" Aspen's worried voice sounds down the phone God.
I hate giving her bad news.
"Hurry up and tell her, the faster we look for Megan the faster we know that Aspen is safe" Charlotte whispers to me "Don't rush me" I whisper back at her "Aspen, there's been a change of plans" I say reluctantly with a tone of irritation I practically forced those words out of my mouth.
"What do you mean by 'a change of plans'?" Aspen asks me slowly as I hear her start moving around I can already tell that this isn't going to end well for any of us.
"I can't pick you up" Is all I say with a tone full of devastation "Do you have a flat tire?" She asks with genuine concern as I hear her start to walk again She's such a sweetheart.
"I can pick you up" she suggests as I hear the familiar jingle of her car keys Oh god.
I have to stop her.
"No," I practically yell out which causes Charlotte to jump beside me as the line goes dead silent If it wasn't for Aspen's breathing, I would've thought that she hung up.
"My car isn't broken, I just decided that it's not safe for you to come with us" I sigh out calmly There's no point at trying to hide it from her.
She would've figured it out eventually.
"She's with you, isn't she?" Aspen practically growls out with a tone of irritation I slightly flinch at her tone of voice.
I've known Aspen since middle school, but I've never heard her use this tone of voice.
Much less been on the receiving end of it.
"Aspen" I warn her I don't want her to do something that she'll regret.
"No, you don't want me to help you guys," She says with a tone that clearly tells me that she's had enough I'm not surprised.
"It's fine, I can do it by myself" She finishes "Aspen, no, you don't know what you're doing" I warn her as I sit up straighter in my seat I'm pretty sure that Aspen has suspected that Megan isn't necessarily 'normal'.
But I'm a hundred percent sure that she doesn't know the extent of it.
Aspen doesn't respond to me as the line goes dead which causes my eyes to widen.
"Aspen?" I ask only to receive a beeping noise "She hung up" I inform Charlotte "She's probably just upset" Charlotte tries to reason but I shake my head at her as I nervously nibble on my bottom lip "I have a bad feeling about this" I tell her with a face void of any emotions I've actually been having this feeling for a while now.
I've had it ever since I dropped Aspen off at her house last night after Megan almost let her true colors come to the surface.
"Are you sure?" Charlotte asks with a calm tone but I notice her calmness starting to falter "Yes, I'm certain" I tell her firmly She starts to awkwardly fidget in her seat until she sits up straighter in the passenger’s seat.
"We need to go check on her, now" she mutters more so to herself but I hear her anyway "She said that she could do this on her own" I repeat Aspen's declaration as I start up my car and swiftly pull out of Charlotte's driveway My mind is blank as I focus on quickly making my way to Aspen's house.
Aspen's mom isn't there either according to the silence in her house.
There is no telling what Megan could do to Aspen.
She's still very unstable.
"What if Megan has her already?" she says worriedly I haven't seen her this worried in a while.
The last time I saw her this worried was when she had to say goodbye to Aspen.
Ugh, I hate thinking about that day.
Everything that could've possibly gone wrong went wrong that day.
"If Megan gets ahold of her there's no telling what could happen" I reply emotionlessly as I speed through a yellow light I'm hoping that my false 'calmness' will help her relax a little.
Charlotte doesn't reply to my statement as she starts to stressfully pull at her hair.
She has always done that when she's stressed or frustrated.
It's a really random habit, but we all have random habits.
I hope Aspen is okay.
I care about her; she was my first ever friend.
Plus, there is no telling what Charlotte would do.
-
We arrive at Aspen's house only to quickly notice that her front door is wide open.
Charlotte practically jumps out of the car, before I get a chance to stop it, before running towards her house.
I can't imagine how she feels right now.
First, the girl she fell in love with forgot their first kiss all because of Megan's selfishness.
Second, she wasn't here to help her injured lover because the aforementioned lover encouraged her to follow her dreams.
I get knocked out of my thoughts by a text message from Charlotte telling me to 'get in here asap'.
Oh god.
This isn't good.
I quickly turn off my car and retrieve my keys before quickly making my way out of my car and into Aspen's house.
As I step into her house, I don't miss the fire pit shovel lazily thrown in the middle of the floor.
"What the-" I whisper as I slowly make my way towards the fire instrument and examine it The instrument seems to be intact so I go to pick it up and put it back in its place only to stop when I turn it around.
There's blood on it.
Oh my god.
"There's a note" Charlotte says as she makes her way out of the kitchen I grab the note from her hand and quickly unfold it.
"Dear traitor and blonde bitch," I read off only to immediately roll my eyes Seriously?
"I hope you don't mind, but I rightfully took back what was originally mine." I continue to read off I notice Charlotte ball her hands into fists by her sides.
"Avery, I would like to thank you for distracting Aspen long enough for me to sneak into her, horribly secured, house." I read out "Charlotte, I absolutely despise your every being, I warned you multiple times what would happen if you continued to hang around my babe, yet you completely ignored me." I read off with a sad tone I knew that Megan hated Charlotte, everyone does.
But none of us knew how extreme it was.
"You brought this on yourself. Oh, and don't bother looking for us, you'll never find us." I turn the paper around so that I can read the other side "You could've avoided all of this if you just left her alone. Sincerely, your worst enemy." I finish with a sigh I turn to look at Charlotte only to quickly take a step back.
She's furious.
She looks like she wants to kill someone.
"I'm going to kill that fucking bitch" she says as if it's a promise "We don't even know where she or Aspen is" I say matter of fatly "This couldn't have happened that long ago, she called you fifteen minutes ago, they've got to still be here" she says as she starts to pull at her roots again I give her a look of pity.
I truly feel so bad for her.
Megan has been targeting Charlotte for years now.
Charlotte and Aspen were the first of us four to meet, so it's only natural that they're closer with each other than the rest of us.
When Aspen met me and introduced me to Charlotte, I immediately felt this energy between the both of them.
I couldn't tell if it was a sisterly type of bond until one day, I accidentally caught them mindlessly gazing into each other's eyes.
I'm surprised I didn't find out sooner considering the fact that they did it all the time.
A couple months later Aspen met Megan. Megan was new to our school and Aspen felt bad for her.
When Aspen introduced Megan to Charlotte and I, I immediately got a weird vibe from her.
The way her eyes would linger on Aspen longer than normal.
The way she glared at Charlotte and I whenever Aspen would talk to us or give us a hug.
She was just incredibly possessive over someone she just met.
As the months went on Charlotte and Aspen's secret love for each other was only growing stronger, but so were Megan's feelings for Aspen.
Megan had obvious hatred for Charlotte which Charlotte didn't understand until that horrid day.
I think we all found out the lengths that Megan would go to in order to make sure she ends up with Aspen.
Even if it includes putting her in a coma.
"Where do you think they could be?" I ask her She paces the flooring in front of me with a look of pure concentration.
She startles me when she suddenly snaps her fingers.
"Her mom informed you that she was missing right?" She asks me I nod my head slowly since she's starting to frighten me.
"Maybe her mom knows some of Megan's favorite places to hang out" she suggests "It's worth a shot" I nod my head We make sure to grab the fireplace tool so that we can drop it off at a local police station.
It's our last case scenario.
Even if it is kind of dumb.
-
"Charlotte and Avery, what a surprise" Megan's mom says with genuine shock "Hi, can we speak with you about Megan?" Charlotte asks her with an easy-going smile I can tell that Charlotte's smile is fake, but I'm not too sure if Megan's mom knows.
The perks of being an actress, I guess.
"Yes, please come in" she says as she steps aside Charlotte and I make our way past her only to quickly end up in their living room. Megan's mom closes the door behind us and leads us to the couch.
"What would you like to talk about?" She speaks up as Charlotte and I take a seat across from her "We were wondering if you knew any places that Megan liked to spend her free time at?" I politely ask her "When she was little, she used to spend all her time at her dads’ cabin in the woods" she says as if she just remembered that "Do you know where that is?" Charlotte asks her eagerly "It's an hour away from here in the Falsetto woods" she informs us We thank her as we stand up and make our way towards her door.
"Girls, wait," she says to us as we open the door Charlotte and I turn around to face her worried facial expression.
"Be careful, she hasn't been the same since she escaped the institution" her mom warns "Thank you for the warning" I say with a thankful smile before heading out of the house As Charlotte and I get back in my car I sigh with an irritated tone of voice.
"Drive us back to my house, we'll figure out a game plan before continuing" Charlotte says I agree since it's better to have a game plan than go in with no preparations.
I want all of us to actually make our way out of this alive.
"I hope Aspen isn't suffering too much" Charlotte whispers to herself worriedly So, do I.
I decide not to interrupt her.
She needs time to herself to think.