Stepping back, he runs a hand down his face. “I’m calling the police.”

“She could be with someone else. Maybe she stayed over with another friend?”

He’s already typing away on his phone. His eyes never leave mine while he talks to the call handler, and I make no move to leave. I would rather he direct his fury at me than go through this nightmare alone. Chloe is my best friend... I should have stayed with her last night. It was fucking foolish of me to think I could leave her on her own. That’s not what best friends do. They stay.

He hangs up, and the silence presses in once again, making it hard to breathe. I can understand why Mr. Reid is jumping to conclusions after his previous experience with his wife disappearing. But why am I? Chloe could be anywhere. Maybe she went back to the party and stayed with Amanda. Maybe she thought ‘Fuck this’ and took a bus somewhere. Maybe she just wanted time alone.

“You should leave.”

“But Chloe—”

“I’ll tell you if the police find her.”

“Oh.”

He grinds his teeth, gazing out the window.

As the silence presses on, I walk out, unable to breathe until I’m safely locked away in my own house. Pressing my back against the door, I release a sob, slamming my hand over my mouth. Pain lances through me. I lower my hand and take a few steadying breaths. In through my nose and out through my mouth.

The police will find her. She’s with a friend, that’s all. I’ll soon awaken from this nightmare.

CHAPTER 4

WILLOW

NOVEMBER 3RD, 2015

The house is silent, as always, when I walk downstairs in the early evening to grab something to eat. Chloe has been missing for a week.

Seven long days without her here.

Mr. Reid has since gone live on TV to plead for his daughter’s safe return. There’s even a reward of ten thousand dollars to anyone with information that leads to a break in the case.

Walking into the kitchen, I switch on the small TV on the counter before opening the fridge. We don’t have much in the house, but that’s nothing new. I reach for the leftover pasta salad from yesterday, then pause, listening.

“Dylan Cooper from the small town of Skelton was arrested earlier this evening in connection with the murder of high school student Chloe Reid.”

I shut the fridge and stare at the TV.

Murder? Dylan killed her?

“There is still no body in the case of the missing high school girl who disappeared in the early hours of the twenty-seventh of October, but police believe they have sufficient evidence to charge Chloe’s boyfriend, Dylan, with her murder. Blood matching Chloe’s was found in his bedroo—”

Switching off the TV, I place the remote on the counter. I’m trembling. The silence threatens to suffocate me, and I blink against the tears that sting the backs of my eyes.

“Oh my god…”