Scorch (Virtues & Lies 2)

WAYNE: Arabella?

ME: Ryan has her.

WAYNE: You sure?

ME: NOW.

What the fuck?

“What the fuck is this?” I blow at him, pulling my phone out.

It’s off. I try to switch it on, but nothing happens. It takes me a moment to realise it isn’t mine. There’s no hairline crack on the screen.

“He switched my fucking phone!” Clenching the useless piece of shit in my fist, I start for the toilets, leaving a mumbling Coleman behind.

“What?” Wayne chases after me, grunting orders into his microphone.

“I need eyes on Charles.”

“Why?”

“He set us up!” How could I be so fucking reckless?

Why didn’t you check your phone?

“What do you mean? He told me you needed me out here.” His voice rises as he keeps up with me.

He should be fucking scared. If anything has happened to Arabella, I’ll kill him.

“Nobody leaves the fucking place!” Slamming the corridor door leading to the toilets, I rush to the female loos.

The air in here is cooler, stinging my lungs and burning my nose and throat.

“Ah, Dios!” Edgar’s wife screams as I lunge into the women’s room at the same time as she’s opening the door to come out. “Jesus, you scared me.”

“Where’s my wife?” Manic, my question comes out as a bark.

“She went to get help.”

“Help? What fo…” I find Dorothy before I’ve finished.

Loud voices echo into the room, and before I make a move, Freddie and Casper are spinning me to face them.

“Where is she?” Freddie growls.

Loud thundering cracks punch the walls, echoing around us with every cubicle door Casper kicks open.

There’s a moment when the gravity of the situation escalates, and I feel completely lost. More alone than I’ve ever been in my whole life. Ice chills my veins with a fear I can’t push through.

I can’t fucking breathe. My lungs fill with concrete. My cold limbs leaden.

Ryan barrels through the crowd, pulling me out of my stupor.

“Find her.” Bellowing at him, I push through the crowd of security gathering.

They need to be out there looking for Arabella. I’m so certain she’s gone, I feel her absence in every recess of my being. It’s unbearable.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!