SORROW WOODS (38 page)

“I don’t have any money,” I breathe. “I just need to know where I am and I need to use a

phone to call the police.”

“Police?” says the third man. “Now what would a pretty girl like you need with the police?”

“I’m Serena,” I say. “I was taken this morning by a woman that isn’t my Mother.”

“Hello, Serena,” says the man with the cigarette. “I’m sure you don’t need the police and

that we can help you with whatever problem you have.”

I stare at them. They smell of beer and they look like they haven’t showered or shaved in

days. I can see a strange look in their eyes as they scan me from head to toe. Something doesn’t feel right. Angela told me to always trust my instincts when it came to people.

“Will, look at her lovely long hair.” The third man picks up a piece of my hair and twirls it

around his fingers. “I would love to see your hair properly. Would you like to come back to my house so you can show it to me?”

I step away. They don’t want to help me. They’re just playing with me.

“Hey, where are you going, Princess?” one of them asks.

I don’t answer him. I turn on my heels and run across the gravel as fast as I can. I hear their

footsteps close behind me, but I can’t stop to look around. I just keep running.

When the road looks like it’s about to end, I skid to a stop and find myself being whipped and

slapped by the wind. I must be on an edge. It’s too dark for me to see, but I can hear water below me and more importantly, waves. If there are waves crashing into the cliff, then it must be the sea and the sea always leads to a beach. If there’s a beach, then I can try and get some help from

somewhere else.

I hear my Mother calling my name. When I turn around I can’t see her, but I can hear her

screaming into the wind. The three men are calling me Princess and are still running to try and catch up with me. I spin around and around, but I can’t see anywhere else to go. I’m trapped.

Kaiden

I pull on the brakes and stretch out my cramped hand. I have no idea what the time is, only that it went dark a few hours ago. My whole body is aching to the point where I want to cry, but I’m not

ready to give up yet. I’m not ready to give up on
her
.

I’ve ridden over five hundred miles. I’ve been all over our city and into the next state, and now I’m on my way back. There’s an ache in my chest that doesn’t feel like it will ever go away. I can’t stand the thought of never seeing her again. I should have told her that I loved her last night. The thought of never seeing her again and not being able to tell her exactly how I feel makes me feel sick to my stomach. I don’t care that I’m hurting more than I’ve ever hurt in my life. I don’t care that I feel like complete shit. I only care about finding Serena.

The fuel light blinks at me as I pull up next to the pump and then my phone starts to vibrate.

When I pull it out of my pocket, I see my Mother’s name flashing across the screen.

“Kaiden?” she asks, sounding defeated.

“Hey, Mom,” I say. “Is there any update from the police?”

“No, there isn’t.”

I sigh. We’re running out of time. I know as well as my mother and the Scotts that the first

twelve hours after a disappearance are critical. Not many people are found after that, and if they are, then they they’re not usually in any fit state for coming back.

“Okay. I’m going to do one last loop.” I look down at the damp patch on my t-shirt and sigh.

“I’ll need patching back up again too.”

She huffs. “You’re going to the hospital, Kaiden.”

“I can’t, Mom. Not when she’s out there.”

I hear her suck in a quick breath. “What is it about her that’s making you ride around on that

stupid, dangerous bike when you’ve been stabbed? You’ve lost loads of blood and I imagine from

those bruises that you’re in a lot of pain.”

I can’t deny that I’m in pain, but I’m choosing to ignore it. “I need to find her. I can’t lose

her.”

“It wouldn’t be your fault though, Kaiden. Do you feel some sort of responsibility for her

because you were the one that found her the first time?” she asks.

I shake my head, but then I remember that she can’t actually see me. “No, Mom.”

“Then why? Why are you doing this, Kaiden? Please come home.”

“I can’t,” I say.

“Why not?” she asks. I can tell by the way her voice shakes that she’s on the verge of tears. I

know she must be worried about me, but I’m more worried about Serena right now.

“I love her, Mom,” I breathe. “I have to find her. I just have to.”

She’s silent for a good few seconds before I hear her clear her throat. “You love her?” she

whispers.

“Yes.”

“Well then, better make sure that you find her and bring her back home to us.”

That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. “Speak to you soon, Mom.”

“Kaiden?”

I take a deep breath. “Yeah?”

“I love you, Son.”

“I love you too, Mom. Will you call me if you hear anything please?”

“Of course.”

I slip my phone back into my jacket and climb off the bike. My hips and legs are aching so

much that I pace up and down to try and loosen my muscles up while the bike is still idling. As I walk towards the back of the motorbike, I notice figures in the distance. I narrow my eyes to try and see what or who they are, wondering why they’re up on High Cliff Bay at this time of night. If they’re where I think they are, then they’re right on the edge of the cliff face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone sprinting across the parking lot towards the other

figures. I’ve only ever seen a few people running that sort of speed. When she calls out Serena’s name, I can’t believe my luck. I run back to my bike and pull on the throttle until it starts to skid across the dirt towards the group gathered at the edge of the cliff.

Serena

My hair flaps around my face as the wind skims up the cliff and all around me. The three men are

looking alarmed as they walk towards me. My Mother is closing the distance between us and fast.

“Serena,” she calls, “come back with me now.”

I can’t go back with her. I don’t want to go back with her. I ran away from her for a reason. A

thundering noise squeals through the air and when I look up, I see a single bright light powering towards me. I have no idea what it is, but it’s coming straight at me. I stare at the men. I stare at my Mother. I stare at the light. I turn around and step closer to the edge.

“Come on now, Princess. We were only joking. Come away from that cliff,” one of the men

slurs.

I look at them over my shoulder as the tears start to drop from my eyes. I’m scared. I don’t

know what’s happening any more. “I just wanna go home.”

They look at each other, confused by my statement.

The man named Will steps forward. “That woman who is shouting your name says you can go

home with her.”

I shake my head. “I don’t wanna go with her.”

The rumbling noise is getting louder. I can feel the ground shaking underneath my feet, and I

know that I don’t have long before it’s on top of me. What is it? Where has it come from and why is it aiming straight for me?

I’m scared. I’m cold. I want Angela and Auden. I want my big, warm bed. I want to sit in the

garden and eat my breakfast as I listen to the sea gently lapping against the shore.

“Serena,” calls my Mother again as she nears me.

I look into my Mother’s blue eyes and her red hair that sticks to her forehead and shake my

head. “Goodbye, Mother.”

I turn around and throw myself off the cliff. I’ve jumped from the mountain in the woods

countless times so I should be fine.

“Noooooo!!” my Mother screams from the top of the cliffs.

The wind whips across my legs and through my hair as I drop through the sky. I close my

mouth and eyes. I don’t know if there are rocks below or how far away the water is, so I just wait.

The wind is getting stronger. It’s hurting me as I plummet downwards through the sky like a comet plunging towards the earth.

I’m beginning to worry because I’ve never fallen for this long before. The wind starts to howl

at me as it passes by my ears. If I wasn’t already shaking from the cold, then I would be shaking from fear.

I squeeze my eyes shut at exactly the same time that my feet crash through a sheet of cold. I

sink through the water and bang my body against something hard and slimy. Pain shoots across my

arm and my hip as the current of the water drags me back out into the calmer waters.

I start to push myself through the water. I need to get to the surface. The current underneath

me is so strong that I can’t swim against it. It pulls me in opposite directions, dragging me across the rocks and back into them with such a powerful force. I open my mouth to scream but instead of

noise, I hear and see bubbles.

Kaiden

Fuck. My heart drops into my stomach and I slam my brakes on, causing the bike skid and kick up

dirt. The three men scatter around me when I stop. I jump off the motorbike and run to the edge of the cliff. I pace up and down and shove my hands through my hair. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I can’t believe she’s jumped from here. It’s called High Cliff Edge because it’s the highest point on the whole of the coast, stretching for nearly fifty miles. A small white sign along the cliff tells you that the distance from the surface of the sea to the top of the cliff is one hundred and seventy feet.

I’ve never known anyone to jump from here. No one is that stupid or suicidal, except Serena it

seems. What was she thinking jumping from here? I know she used to jump from the mountain, but

that was probably only about forty feet.

There’s no way she could have jumped from here and not injured herself, and that’s if she’s

managed to avoid the pointy rocks that are scattered below us. I can hear the angry waves crashing into the side of the cliff below me and wince as I spin around to stare at the three men. Who the fuck are these guys who reek of whiskey and cigarettes, and what were they doing surrounding

Serena like that?

“Hey,” one of them calls, “you scared her off with your stupid bike.”

I ignore him. I ignore all of the men as my eyes snap onto Serena’s Mother as she comes

running towards us. One thing is for sure, I’ll be the last person she’s expecting to see.

I need to get to the sea and the beach and save Serena. I can feel the anger and adrenaline

pumping through my muscles, masking the pain that resonates through me as I sprint towards her.

We’re running head on. I see a flicker of confusion streak across her eyes just before I slam my fist into her face.

I wish I could take more time appreciating the satisfaction of hearing my knuckles colliding

with her jaw, but I don’t have time to waste. I stare at the men who all stand around looking amused rather than shocked, and pull my phone out of my pocket as I jump back onto my bike. I call the

police and tell them exactly where to find Lydia White, and then I tell them that they need to get themselves down to Cliff Edge Beach. I don’t have time to ring my Mom or the Scotts.

I rev up my bike and begin the painfully slow five-mile descent back towards the beach with

the same thoughts circling around and around in my head.

Please don’t be dead. Please be okay. Please don’t be dead. Please be okay. Please don’t be

dead.

Serena

Something is broken. I’m broken. I managed to avoid the slimy, hard rocks when I first fell into the water, but now it’s like the water is punishing me. My whole body has been battered against the

rocks, but now it’s got my head, and even though I’m surrounded by water, I can tell that I’m

bleeding. I think my arm is broken, but I’m so cold that I can’t feel much of my body now. I managed to get to the surface and breathe in some air, but I was yanked back under immediately.

I haven’t got the strength to swim or pull myself through the water again, so for now I’m at

the mercy of the ocean and all it seems to want to do is pull me backwards and forwards across the rocks. The sound of the water as it moves around me reminds me of that strange dream-like state

you can sometimes find yourself waking up in. I feel peaceful and calm.

I know I’m not getting out of the water now. I’ve accepted that I’m going to die and it’s going

to be here in the sea, where my broken body is cold and wet. I was stupid to jump when I didn’t

know what was below me. I should have just run. I should have run as fast and as far as I could.

I think about Elodie and all the fun times that we had in the woods together. I think about

how I taught her to crawl and walk and swim. Not my Mother and not Victoria. It was me. At times, I felt like her Mother, and I loved her as a Mother would. I love her more than I’ve loved anyone in my whole life. I know that’s not saying much, since I’ve spent most of my life only knowing her and my Mother.

I can see Elodie’s smiling face and her big, bright blue eyes. I can hear her voice as she calls my name. I’d give anything right now to go back and spend my days running through the woods with

her. The thought of not seeing her again or watching her grow up tears through me, and my body

convulses from the agony of my grief.

I can feel my body being propelled forward again and brace myself as I’m slammed into the

rocks. This time, I hit the entire right side of my body. The pain resonates up from my hip, over my ribs, and settles on my shoulder. If I could cry, I would. If I could scream out in pain, I would.

The second I open my mouth it fills with salty water. I want to cough. I want to clear my throat

and my lungs but I can’t. Everything is full of the water that scorches its way into my mouth and down my throat.

I see both Angela and Auden’s faces, and how happy they were when they walked into the