Into Darkness (The Guardian Book 2)

by Jason Davis

  She was glad Leannette had forced her way into her life, but there were times Allison just wanted to be by herself. Leannette seemed determined to never give her that space.

  “Yeah, I’m okay. Just got a lot on my mind.”

  “Yeah. I said study group, and your vagina started crying out David’s name.”

  Leannette was also extremely blunt.

  “Hey now,” The laugh that broke free lifted the weight Allison didn’t know she had been carrying.

  “You know I’m right, girl. Hey, it’s cool and he sounds like a good guy, but girl, I’m not going to give you the college speech sayin’ he’s back home and your here. I am going to say that just because you go to a study group, it does not mean you have to make out with anyone. There’s nothing against it…” Allison glanced around the common area they were walking through, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red, “but it's not a requirement.”

  Allison was thankful it was just after lunch, most everybody already in class. This was normally her time to chill in a comfortable lounge chair in the area, enjoyingher time alone. She wished Leannette wouldn’t blather about Allison’s private life. What if someone had been in there?

  As if reading her thoughts, Leannette snorted. “Hey now, it wouldn’t matter. You’ve been here almost two months. Everyone already knows. Haven’t you learned you can’t keep secrets in a dorm?”

  Allison nodded. It had embarrassed the hell out of her when Scott brought her a box of dark chocolate when she was on her period. Her period! What was wrong with these people? Even though he was awesome, and the first openly gay man she had come to know, how could he do that to her? And why was it everyone’s business?

  Although the dark chocolate had been a godsend.

  “So will you be there? We are going to go over Chem. Rodney and Scott both want your help.”

  Allison snorted. “Are you sure they’re going to listen? Last time, they made out nearly the whole time.”

  “That was early. The semester had just started and it was still all the easy stuff. Rodney nearly failed that last lab. He’s freaked out. That’s why he had Scott go out and get you chocolate. They’re trying to bribe you.”

  Sure, that was the reason. She wasn’t sure how much she believed that.

  She plopped her large carry-all purse, which she used as a makeshift book bag, down on the far end of one of the couches, then fell into the other end of the plush cushion.

  “Ahh,” Allison sighed, letting her head fall back against the cushion. Why hadn’t she planned her schedule so she had afternoon classes? She knew she wasn’t a morning person. What made her think an eight a.m. class would be okay? And what kind of a sadist schedules a class that early? Didn’t the professor have a life outside his own classroom?

  Leannette dropped down into the chair across the small round coffee table, putting her bag on it. “Late night?”

  “No, well… Yeah. I was up late last night. Couldn’t sleep, so I was reading.”

  “Ooh, the excitement. No wonder you didn’t try to join a sorority. You are just too much for them to handle.”

  Allison lifted her head up, looking at her, raising her brow. Leannette wasn’t even paying attention. Her head was in her bag and she was sifting through, trying to find something. She must have found it as she leaned back with her phone in her hand and was already quickly punching in her passcode, having to shift it in her hand to deal with her long nails.

  Amazed, Allison had to ask. “How do you do that with those things?”

  “Practice.”

  “I bet.”

  Leannette looked up and smiled before she looked back at her phone, positioning it so she could see herself in the screen, using the camera as a mirror.

  Smirking, Allison shook her head at her friend. Why couldn’t she just be alone, close her eyes, and let the minutes tick by until her next class? She had no problem with drifting off on the comfortable couch. It was better than going all the way across campus to her dorm.

  As much as she wanted to do just that, she had to check on David. She hadn’t heard from him last night. He always sent her a “good night” text, a quick text about whatever he saw on TV, or they just talked about books they read. But he hadn’t sent anything. This morning, she had turned her phone off on her way to class. Maybe he had sent her something and she missed it.

  Yeah, they were supposed to be over, not that they were officially ever together. She wasn’t sure either one of them really believed they wouldn’t be together. It was the a lie they both told themselves.

  Oh, we’re not together. You can totally see other people. Go and enjoy it. It’s college. Take in that full college experience. No, we’re not long-distance dating, so you can have fun.

  So why did she constantly miss him, feeling like they were together now more than ever?

  She pulled her phone out and turned it on before setting it on the table. It would take a few minutes to start up and connect, so she might as well get a drink of water while she waited.

  “Want anything?” she asked Leannette as she stood, pulling out her wallet.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  Allison nodded. She would normally have her own water bottle with her, but she had completely forgotten it. She really didn’t know what was with her lately. Up late last night, got up late this morning, tired all through class. That really wasn’t like her.

  She walked up to the vending machine, made a selection, then watched as her water slid down the shoot to the side.

  “Damn, girl. Your phone’s lighting up over here.”

  Allison grabbed her water, looking across the room. Leannette had already reached over and grabbed her phone off the table.

  “Oh yeah?” she said, walking over. She could hear the vibrations as more and more notifications came in.

  Her smile fading, Leannette looked up at her. She had been reading the little snippets of the messages as they came in. Before she handed the phone over, she stood and wrapped her arms around Allison.

  “Oh, girl...”

  Allison pulled herself away, concerned. “What?”

  Leannette handed her the phone, the color draining from her face. “I’m sorry.”

  Allison looked at the phone, not taking the time to unlock it. She didn’t need to see the full messages. The snippets were enough to let her know what was going on.

  No, nononono. This couldn’t be happening again. Bobby had … No, this couldn’t be happening again. She had already lost one younger brother, no not again. No, this just wasn’t possible.

  She collapsed, missing the couch, the world going black as she fainted..

  * * * *

  The pounding started again. It had been regular until the sun had come up, then he had relief for a little while when his body had become confused, his internal clock resetting. Well, the clock had figured it out. He was tired, the pounding behind his temple screaming for him to find a bed, a floor… Hell, even the street looked inviting. Just somewhere he could crash and get some sleep. If he were lucky, he wouldn’t be behind the wheel when it happened.

  He felt the vibration in his pocket and let out a soft groan as he pulled to the side of the road. The little flip phone squawked at him. He winced as he put it to his ear.

  “Yeah?” he said, his voice sounding alien and far away.

  “Officer Alletto?” came a young female voice that sounded way too chipper, making him want to strangle whoever was calling him. He wasn’t in the mood for happy.

  “Yeah.”

  “Officer Sims wanted me to call and give you an update. The search party has pretty much gone over all they could of the woods. That’s not to say forensics won’t be expanding their search later, but the townspeople who were looking for the boy are starting to disperse.”

  “No sign of him?”

  “No.” Her voice lost some of the happiness, sounding concerned.

  “Any ideas?”

  “Officer Sims is having a few more patrols come
to the area, and they want to coordinate with those who want to help search through some of the fields. With it being harvest season, though, they are concerned it may not be safe.”

  He nodded, having thought the same thing earlier. Realizing she couldn’t see the motion, he cleared his throat. “Yeah, okay.”

  “They will continue through the rest of the day, scheduling additional patrols in town.”

  “Okay.”

  “When you come back later, just call in from the squad car, as usual. County will patrol the streets until then. And, sir?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Get some sleep.”

  He closed the phone and tossed it on the passenger seat before resting his head on the hard plastic of the steering wheel.

  Just what the hell was he supposed to do? Was he really going to go back to his house? Did he honestly think he would be able to lay down and sleep?

  He probably could. He could probably sleep right there in his car. Even with the steering wheel pushing into his forehead, he felt how much his body wanted it. He just wanted to give in.

  Maybe sleep was a good idea.

  * * * *

  Robyn lifted up the pile of dirty clothes sitting to the left of the washer. Her hands were still a little wet from just having taken the whites out of the washer and putting them in the dryer. They felt a little clammy as she continued to grab at the assortment of jeans. Of course, Rob’s “work jeans” were off to the side. They would need to be washed, rewashed, and maybe washed again. She just hoped that whatever chemicals they used in that crap…Ha! Crap...wouldn’t ruin her washer/dryer.

  Her washer and dryer were still semi new to them, and she was thankful she no longer had to drag baskets of clothes to the laundromat. She was now in her own home, not some back room of a bar. Really? How could the only laundromat in town be in a bar? While she was always happy Rob joined her, she felt it had more to do with him not liking her going there alone. He often commented on how often he was called to break up fights there. Still, it was sweet he came, showing that he worried about her. The dumb brute.

  She thought Christmas had come early when she saw the washer/dryer listed on Freecycle. She’d found others on the local community board, but these were just like new. Why would anyone give them away? It was just dumb luck. Although, if she really thought about it, much of how life treated them since they moved to town was pretty lucky.

  Rob might not feel that way. He had to be the one who rented the dolly and found a way to get them both out of the elderly couple’s basement, then they almost didn’t have a way to get the units across town. Rob had to call his truck driver friend, Bruce, and ask him to bring over his truck, but he didn’t help Rob do any of the lifting. With Rob’s back after the accident, it probably wasn’t the best idea for him to do it all. By the time they took the units out of the truck, Rob had started limping and rubbing his back.

  Once he got them home, she hooked them up. Rob wanted her to wait until he could do it for her, but shedidn’t want to. Plus, he needed to take it easy, and there was also the hard truth that when it came down to it, Rob was not the most mechanical. Don’t even ask him to put together a bookcase unless you wanted it to look like an imitation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

  She loved him, but he was not a man she would trust with a hammer. She wondered if that had anything to do with his big city upbringing. He grew up there. She had moved there for college, but grew up in a little town. Her father taught her how to change her own oil, fix the toilet, clear a drain. So, letting Rob rest, she hooked up the washer and dryer so their basement wouldn’t flood every time she did laundry.

  She loved her washer and dryer because they were hers. It had nothing to do with the little bit of serenity she found in the basement and away from all the other rooms in their large country home that was not the easiest place to keep clean. No. It had nothing to do with any of that.

  Robyn jumped a little when she heard the door slam upstairs. The last few pairs of jeans she had been holding slipped out of her grip. She tried to catch them, losing the battle as more of the jeans slipped through her arms, coming down in a tangle of Levi’s. Dammit!

  “Hello?” she yelled up the stairs as she grabbed the clothes she had dropped, flinging them into the washer. She could hear footsteps on the hardwood floor in their entryway.

  “Hello?” she said again, hurrying up the stairs, frustrated that someone had just walked right into her house. Who just walks into someone’s home? Well, her mom did when she came to visit, then there was Aunt Cindy, who felt like she could. And Father William seemed to just walk right in when he visited, but he would usually stand in the entryway and call out for them.

  Could it really be her mom again? She had just visited last month, and she should have called if she were coming over. The house was in no shape to have her mom nitpicking over everything.

  She reached the top of the stairs, stopping when she saw Rob sitting on the little wooden chair by the front door. It looked like he had started taking off his shoes, then placed his head in his hands and drifted off to sleep.

  “Hey, hun, you okay?” She knelt down next to him as he lifted his head. His eyes were sunken, dark rings around them, and it looked like he had aged ten years since she had last seen him. His skin seemed so pale, rough, and wrinkled. He hadn’t shaved that morning, and the stubble came in with sporadic patches of white. “What’s wrong?

  When his head dropped back into his hands, she tried to pull him to her. He straightened, shaking his head, sniffling back the pain that had broken through the mask. She knew the man she married and how he cared so deeply about people, but he never showed it much. She loved his strength, but she sometimes just wished he would let it out.

  “I’m going to go get some sleep. I’ll probably have to go back out in a few hours, but I just need to get some rest.”

  “You said it. You look like shit.”

  A small smirk creased the corner of his lips as he pushed out of the chair to stand. He wobbled, leaning against the wall. She reached out to give him a hug, holding him up as he tried to support himself. She felt his body tremor. His leg must really be bothering him.

  “The chief and a little boy are missing.”

  She stepped back, eyes wide. “What!? How long?”

  “Sometime last night.”

  “You’ve been out all last night and this morning looking, but you didn’t think to call me to let me know what was going on? Where have they looked? Do they have any ideas?”

  “We searched the slag pile.”

  “They call it the coal dump.”

  “I know. We searched it once it got light out, findingthe chief’s car.”

  “I could have helped.”

  “I know, hun, but we didn't find anything. We still don’t have any leads.”

  “Oh, hun.”

  She pulled him to her. She felt his warmth, finding her little nook within his arms, her head against his chest as she listened to his heart.

  “What if it had been Jake?” she felt him say, the words vibrating through her. It took her a moment to really comprehend what he had said. When she did, she felt her heart quicken.

  What would she do if Jake were missing? Her baby, the little creature who had tormented her for over nine months. He had been born late, and she had fought to bring him into this world.

  What if he just disappeared? What would she do. How would she handle it?

  “Maybe I should go to the school and bring him home,” she whispered and pulled back, looking at Rob, his sadness matching her own.

  They had moved to the small town to get away from Chicago, away from the violence. This town was supposed to be safer. Nothing was ever supposed to happen here.

  Chicago… Jake’s school had a shooting, and there were more just down the street from their house. It was supposed to be a safe neighborhood, but more and more violence had started moving in, swarming them. Shecouldn’t go a day without reading a story about another
shooting nearby.

  They came to Standard so Jake could be safe, play out in the street, run around a neighborhood without them worrying about him getting shot. They wanted him to be a normal kid, be able to enjoy his childhood.

  But it seemed like the violence had followed them. It was all happening again. She needed him here. She needed to know he was safe.

  He needed to be home.

  "No. He’ll be fine at school. I’m going to get some rest. We’ll find them. Okay? Everything will be okay.”

  Robyn nodded, not really believing him. It was hard to believe someone when you knew, deep down, they didn’t believe it themselves. She probably should go get Jake and keep him close to her.

  Rob worked his way up the stairs. She watched as he stumbled near the top.

  “Please, God,” she whispered. “Please let him get some rest without all the nightmares.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Ally looked up at the house she had grown up in, glancing at all the cars in the driveway and lined up along the street. It didn’t take long before it turned into a parking lot of vehicles. There were so many people. She didn’t want to deal with any of them, wanting to deal with her mom even less. With how Ally left for school, shewasn’t sure she could.

  It had been over a month since she had talked to her mom. Whenever Wendy called her, Ally was quick to send it to voicemail. If it hadn't been for David’s texts about what was going on, she wouldn’t have even listened to any of the messages. They would have just been deleted like the rest.