Over (26 page)

"Well, at least Zoey went home before all of this. She never would have made it down to her house. When will they leave?"

"Hopefully soon. They did eventually leave us alone. I think it helped that Dad used his blog to post updates. People could get the answers they wanted without watching the news. Plus with all the click-throughs or whatever, he was able to stop working."

Macy leaned against the wall. "Things have really changed, haven't they?"

"Yeah, but everything will go back to normal."

"You think? You and Zo are going to have a baby. That feels weird to even say."

"When we were at the appointment, her parents were talking about raising her."

"Her? It's a girl?"

Alex's lips curled slightly and his heart rate picked up. "Yeah, we found out today. It's been a huge day. You came back and we found out the baby's a girl."

"So, now that Zoey's dad is here, her parents are getting back together?"

"Yep. It's weird. They haven't seen each other in fifteen years and now they want to be family. I think he feels guilty."

"Are Mom and Dad okay with them raising the baby?" asked Macy.

"Not that it's their decision, but they don't want to raise a baby, and they don't want me ruining my life to raise her either, so I'm sure they'll be happy. We can see her whenever we want. Zoey and me are together all the time anyway."

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to that. Are you guys still…? Ew."

Alex's face became warm. "It's not gross. It's—"

"I don't wanna hear about it. Sorry I asked. What did Mom and Dad say when they found out?"

"Do we have to talk about this?" Alex squirmed.

Macy smiled and poked him. "I thought guys liked to brag about doing it."

"Not me, and you're my sister. It's just weird, you know? What about that Luke guy? Did you guys…?"

Sadness covered her face, and he immediately regretted asking.

Macy shook her head. "No. He gave me a kiss, though." She explained about the community and their escape.

Alex's heart felt like it had been ripped out of his chest. He put his arm around her. "I'm sure they'll find him."

Macy turned to look Alex in the eyes. Tears fell from her eyes and she put her head on Alex's shoulders. "You think so?"

"Why not? He sounds strong and capable. Besides, I want to see the guy who won you over."

They stood there like that for a while. Time either stood still or rushed by; Alex couldn't tell. He was just glad to have Macy back.

The bedroom door opened and he turned to see his mom.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

Alex shrugged. "We were just talking. Did she tell you about Luke?"

"Oh, baby. Don't think about him." She came over and wrapped her arms around both of them. "Focus on being home. We want you to relax and unwind."

"I can't forget about everything, Mom."

"Honey, I'm not asking you to forget. Hey, do you want to see your picture on TV? You're all over the news."

"I am?"

Alex wasn't surprised, but that might the distraction his sister needed. "Yeah. You're practically a celeb. Come and see."

Macy shrugged. "Okay."

They went into the bonus room, where the news was already on. A picture of Macy from their dad's blog flashed on the screen. The word
Found
flashed underneath. Alex watched Macy. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

When a dog food commercial came on, he asked, "What do you think of that?"

"It's weird to watch the news again."

"You haven't watched any TV?"

"Well, I saw some ancient reruns at the farmhouse, but that was months ago. It was before the community. I saw part of a movie yesterday at the mental hospital."

Farmhouse? Mental hospital? Alex shook his head. "You'll have to tell me about that later."

The doorbell rang.

"When will it stop?" Macy asked.

"Probably when Dad gets mad enough to scream at them," Alex said.

"Where is Dad?" Macy asked.

"Probably updating the blog. Once he gives everyone what they want, hopefully they'll leave us alone. That's worked before."

His mom shook her head. "I'm not so sure that'll work this time around. They're going to want to see Macy for themselves. Everyone is going to want to interview her. I suspect this could be worse than before."

Alex groaned. "They need to leave her alone! Don't they know she needs to relax and stuff? I'll go out there and—"

"Let Dad deal with them, Alex."

"Fine, but if they don't give her the space she needs, I can't guarantee anything." He scowled.

Macy's picture flashed on the screen. The newscaster spoke about where she had been found and then Chester's face appeared in the opposite corner of Macy's.

Alex noticed Macy tense up.

"Is that the guy?" Alex asked.

"That's Chester."

"Did he ever say why he took you?"

"Alex," his mom said in a warning tone, "she doesn't want to talk about it now."

"I don't mind, Mom." She told him about Heather and her mom.

"What a sick jerk," Alex said. "They'd better lock him away for a long time. If they ever let him out, I'll—"

"Alex, he has a lot of charges against him," his mom said. "I wouldn't worry about him getting out."

"He'd better not." Alex clenched his fists and stared at the picture of his sister's abductor. "He doesn't look like someone who would do all that. He's a nerd. Look at those glasses and that hair. He looks like someone who gets beat up, not someone who kidnapped someone and killed two people."

Macy sighed. "That's just it. He was picked on his whole life. I guess he just snapped. That's what it sounds like, anyway."

"Maybe there was a reason people bullied him. He doesn't deserve to live," Alex said.

"Honey—"

"No, Mom. It's the truth. He's a waste of space. I hope he gets a death sentence."

"We'll let the jury decide that."

"Whatever." Alex looked back and forth between the TV and his sister. Even though he'd been talking with her, it still didn't feel real yet. He kept waiting to wake up—in his bed, alone.

Macy caught him looking at her. She gave him a slight smile and took his hand. "I really missed you."

His throat closed up and tears stung at his eyes. "Me, too. You have no idea."

She squeezed his hand, her eyes shining with tears.

"Oh, you guys," Alyssa gushed. She wrapped them both in a hug. She pulled back and stared at Macy. "I hope you know I'm never letting you out of my sight."

"That's fine by me," Macy said. "I don't want to go anywhere ever again."

"That's good," Alex said, "because people are going to be all over you when you do leave the house. The news didn't leave us alone for a long time after you disappeared."

"What about school?" Macy asked. "Don't we have to go to school?"

"Zoey and I have been homeschooling."

Macy's eyes widened. "Why?"

Alex shrugged. "I couldn't really focus, plus I had to deal with all the things those jerks said."

"What do you mean? People have always been nice to you."

Anger burned in his chest. "They were saying things like you were dead. Had it gone much longer, I would have been expelled for beating kids up."

"And Zoey? Because of the baby?"

"Honey," Alyssa said, "we've all been beside ourselves with grief and worry. Life never just picked up where it left off. Dad couldn't keep working either. Luckily he had the blog to fall back on."

"Wait!" Macy said, looking at the TV. "I want to see this."

Alex looked at the screen and saw police busting down a large wooden gate in what appeared to be a forest.

"They're going to get the other kidnapped kids," Macy said. Her hand tightened around Alex's. He had forgotten she still held onto his hand.

The fence finally fell to the ground and the officers rushed in. People in white ran around, looking scared. Women with tight buns grabbed children and ran into little buildings. Men jumped on horses and ran off.

"You were
there
?" Alex asked. "The dude who kidnapped you was Amish?"

Macy shook her head. "Shh."

The screen faded away and then showed several people handcuffed and being taken into the police cruisers.

"Did you know them?" Alex asked.

"Those are the leaders. I bet Jonah didn't see
that
in his visions," Macy said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What?" asked Alyssa.

"Never mind. Look. They're taking some kids. I hope they get to go back to their families, too."

"Was it weird talking with other kids who had been abducted?" Alyssa asked.

Macy shrugged. "We didn't really get to talk like that. It was forbidden to talk about life outside the community. Everyone was even given new names."

Alyssa's eyes widened. "What was your name?"

"We weren't there long enough, so everyone knew me as Heather."

"Heather?" Alex asked. "Oh, right. That d-bag's daughter."

Macy still hadn't taken her eyes off the screen.

"Are you looking for Luke?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. I haven't seen him. I don't know if that's good or bad."

"I'm sure he's safe," Alex said.

"Wait," Macy exclaimed. "There he is. That's him and his mom talking to some cops by that car right there." Macy jumped up and pointed. "That's Luke." Tears shone in her eyes.

"The police will make sure he's taken care of," said her mom, wrapping an arm around Macy. She kissed her forehead.

Macy shook. "I need to talk with him. We have to find him."

"We will."

Macy stared at the TV screen which was no longer on Luke or his mom. "You think we'll be able to find them?"

"The policemen who were with us when we found you, they'll help us however they can."

"I hope so," Macy said. She shook, staring at the television.

Returned

Macy felt something brush against her cheek, and she rolled over covering her face with the blankets. Something pushed on her leg. She pulled it close and tucked it under her arms.

"Time to wake up, Heather."

Macy's eyes popped open. What was Chester's voice doing at home? Wasn't she home? Had it all been a too-realistic dream?

"Heather, don't ignore me."

Her heart pounded in her ears.

"Don't evade me, or there's going to be trouble. You know what that means, don't you?"

Macy sat up, ready to claw his face. "Get out of my room."

"You're going to pay for everything you've done. How dare you run away from me? Try to get me into trouble? They're looking for your mom and questioning me. We have to leave before they arrest me."

"I'll scream, Chester. My family's just down the hall. They'll come, and then you will go back to jail."

Chester shook his head slowly. "That's where you're wrong, dear Heather. We don't have to worry about them anymore. Remember what I told you would happen if you ever ran away?"

The blood drained from Macy's face. "You didn't."

He held up a bloody butcher knife. "Now we don't have to worry about them any more. None of them. Come on, your true family awaits."

Tears streamed down her face. "You're lying."

Chester held the knife close and smelled it. "There's nothing like the smell of fresh blood. You want to know what your family's blood smells like?"

Macy screamed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She screamed even louder.

"Heather…."

"If they can't hear you, then the neighbors will. There are cops across the street."

"I took care of them, too. We have nothing standing in our way now. It's time to go home and be a family forever. I've even convinced Jonah and the prophets to forgive everything. Of course, you'll have to be under strict watch, but we can go back, and everything will be the same as it was. As it's meant to be."

"No. I won't go with you. You'll have to kill me too."

"That would break my heart, Heather."

Macy thought about telling him the real Heather was out of the hospital, but she wouldn't be able to live with herself if Heather had to go back to him.

"You won't take me again."

He grabbed her arm, pulling her out of bed. "You're wrong again."

"I'll scream louder." Macy dug her nails into his skin. "Let go of me."

"Your yelling didn't help you a minute ago, did it?" He yanked her arm.

Macy pushed her nails in farther. His blood escaped, dripping onto her fingers. "You like blood so much, there you go."