262

262
  Chapter 262 
  Rowan Burke  
  ~•~
  I loved my sister but I had no idea that her absence would affect me so badly. Ever since I realized she was missing, I couldn’t even focus on anything else. 
  My mind was always racing with different thoughts. 
  What if something bad had happened to her and my parents took so long to search for her? Everyone thought Riley had willingly disappeared but that wasn’t the case. 
  My sister was missing. 
  I couldn’t even talk to anyone or go anywhere. 
  I shut everyone out, including my girlfriend, Belle. 
  Until Riley was found, I was certain that I would be restless. While my parents were at the station, I kept on blowing their phones with constant calls. 
  Most of the time, they didn’t respond. 
  A part of me felt bad because I wanted to be kept in the loop, I wanted to know what was going on, or even if they had gotten a lead. 
  But I knew that they were busy and my calls were distracting them from doing their work. When my mother finally answered her phone, she assured me that they were going to find Riley. 
  I wanted to believe her but the doubt lingering in my mind didn’t want to be silenced. I was trying my best to be optimistic. I was hoping for the best. But I still wondered if something had already happened to her. 
  I mean, she had been missing for days and nobody searched for her. What if it was too late? 
  A gentle knock on my door interrupted me from my thoughts. Just as I climbed out of my bed to answer the door, I heard Jason’s voice echo from the other side of the door. 
  “It’s me, open up!” 
  Letting out a deep sigh, I walked over to the door and unlocked it. “What’s going on? Have they called you?” I asked Jason as he walked into my room. 
  He shook his head. “No, I’m really scared,” Jason admitted as he sat down on the bed. “I feel terrible. What if she needed help on the first day and there was nobody to help her?” 
  I ran my tongue through my teeth as I closed my eyes momentarily. “Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope that she is actually okay.” 
  “I hope so.” 
  “Do you want to watch a movie or something? To keep ourselves distracted since we can’t even leave the house?” I asked Jason. 
  I had classes throughout the day but I had to cancel all of them. Even before Mama asked me to stay at home, I already decided that I wasn’t going anywhere until my sister was found. 
  Jason nodded. “Sure, that would be nice.” 
  We both left for the living room and picked out a movie to watch. The whole time, my eyes were glued to the screen but I wasn’t even paying attention to what was happening. 
  My mind always wandered back to Riley. 
  Even if she could be annoying at times and I had thought about a thousand ways to get rid of her in the past, I couldn’t imagine anything bad happening to her. 
  I didn’t even think I would be able to live without my sister. 
  In the middle of the movie, I brought out my phone and tried calling my parents. It had been hours since I last heard from them. I wanted to know if they had made any progress in finding Riley. 
  My heart skipped a bit when I tried my mother’s number and heard that it was unavailable. I decided to take a deep breath and try my father’s number. 
  It still said the same thing. 
  Panic surged through me but I tried my best to stay calm. 
  What was happening? 
  I decided to drop my phone on the table and try again later. “Are you good?” Jason asked when he saw how worried I was. 
  I didn’t want him to get worried too, so I didn’t tell him that both their numbers were unavailable. 
  “Yes.” I nodded. “I’m good.” 
  “Are you sure?” 
  “Yes, just focus on watching the movie.” I brushed off his concerns with a dismissive wave as I pointed to the television. 
  Jason focused on the movie while I continued thinking about Riley and my parents. After about thirty minutes, my phone started ringing. 
  I let out a relieved sigh when I saw that it was my mama who was calling. Without hesitation, I picked up the phone from the table and answered the call. 
  “Ma! I’ve been trying to reach you and Dad.” 
  “I’m so sorry you couldn’t reach us. But I’m calling to say that we’ve found your sister.” It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. 
  I jumped up in excitement. “Are you for real? Where did you find her? Where are you guys now?” My questions came out like a rapid fire. 
  Jason joined me as he jumped up in excitement. “Yay! They’ve found Riley!” 
  “We are at the restaurant. We’ll be back home soon.” My mother responded. 
  “Restaurant?” I asked with a puzzled expression registered on my face. 
  “What are they doing at the restaurant?” Jason asked, chiming into the conversation. 
  “I haven’t had any food to eat for days now.” I smiled as I heard Riley’s voice echoing from the background. “Did you guys miss me too?” She asked. 
  “Yes, please come back home fast,” I replied, unable to contain my excitement. 
  I couldn’t wait to hear everything that happened. Who could have taken my sister for days? What did they want with her? 
  “I can’t wait to see you, Riley!” Jason added. 
  After talking to Riley for a while, the call disconnected. 
  “We don’t have to watch this boring movie anymore, right?” Jason asked as I dropped my phone back on the table. 
  “What?” I gasped in mock shock. “You don’t like it?” I asked with a soft chuckle. 
  Jason shrugged his shoulders. “Not really. I didn’t even focus on the movie. I kept on thinking about our annoying sister.” 
  His comment made us burst into laughter. 
  Riley wasn’t even half as annoying to Jason as she was to me. 
  We decided to turn off the movie and started talking while we waited for them to return.