New chapter!
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An hour had passed, and Jade still hadn't returned. Cat especially was becoming increasingly more and more worried for her best friend. She wished Jade hadn't been so brave by going in her place. If anything awful happened to her, she would only blame herself.
Tori was sitting next to Cat, also lost in her thoughts. She could only think about how this was her fault. She was the one who had made Jade pull into the gas station where the clown had been. If she just hadn't been so stubborn, they wouldn't be in this mess.
Cat sighed to herself and rest her head in her knees, "Tori?" she whimpered.
The girl in question looked over to the redhead, "Yeah?" she answered, her voice shaking.
"Do you think we'll get out of here?" Cat asked, turning her head towards the brunette.
Tori sighed softly and wrapped her arm around Cat, "Of course. When we don't turn up at school tomorrow, people will start talking. We'll be fine," she assured Cat, all while trying to reassure herself.
Cat sighed, "Do you think we'll get out of here... alive?" she rephrased.
Tori could only nod, fearing that if she spoke, she would only voice her worst fears, and she didn't want to scare Cat anymore than she already was.
Tori's phone had completely died about a half hour ago, so now there was pretty much no hope. But she wouldn't let her defeat show. She had to stay strong for Cat, especially right now since Jade wasn't there.
In an attempt to lighten the mood, Tori smiled, "Where do you think Fat Santa is right now?" she asked.
Cat managed a soft giggle despite their current situation, "Poor Fat Santa," she commented, thinking about the chubby little hamster that was their science project.
"Some lonely hobo probably took him," Tori joked, making Cat giggle softly again.
"At least he'll have a friend," she said.
Just as the atmosphere was beginning to lighten up, almost making them forget about the situation they were in, they were thrown back into reality when the heavy door slammed open and the clown entered.
He was dragging a completely soaked Jade, dressed in one of the white robes, who was gasping desperately for breath. He stood in front of them before grabbing Jade by her hair, yanking her face upwards, "Let this be your lesson," he sneered. He then roughly threw her to the floor before leaving the room once again.
"Jadey!" Cat gasped, tears gathering in her brown eyes as she looked at her best friend. She and Tori dragged Jade onto the mattress, trying to comfort her.
"Oh my God, Jade. What happened?" Tori cried, pushing Jade's wet hair from her face.
Jade shook her head, sitting up and coughing painfully as she gasped for breath. Tears fell down Cat's face as she watched Jade. Her hand cupped her mouth as it so often did when she was in shock.
Jade coughed and spluttered once more before resting her head back against the wall, her chest still heaving, "He tried to drown me," she gasped, trying to catch her breath.
Tori and Cat looked at each other, their eyes wide with terror. They had completely underestimated this man, they had no idea what he was capable of doing.
Cat's face crumpled as she fell into Jade, buring her face in her shoulder as she cried. Jade sniffed and wrapped her shaking arms around her best friend, "Shh, kitten. I'm fine," she whispered.
Cat's heart lifted as she heard her pet name that only Jade was allowed to call her - 'Kitten'. It was something they had agreed on when they were seven. They had decided to come up with nicknames that only the other person was allowed to call them. For Cat, it was 'Kitten'. For Jade, it was 'Jadey'. And they agreed to only use them in times of need, like when they were upset or scared.
This was definitely one of those moments.
Tori looked on with a sad smile as she watched the two interact. She had always known that Cat and Jade were close, but she had no idea that they were this close. It was almost alien to see Jade act so compassionately towards someone else. But it was nice.
"Jade? What did he do?" Tori asked, hating to break up the sweet moment, but was desperate to know.
Jade closed her eyes, "He took me to the bathroom where the bath was already filled - God knows why. And then he made me kneel down and then shoved my head under the water. He told me it was a punishment," she recalled.
Cat whimpered into Jade's shoulder, her body filling with fear at Jade's recollection of her 'punishment'.
"He could've killed you," she whispered.
Jade rubbed Cat's back, "I know, but he didn't. I'm still here, don't worry," she whispered back, nuzzling Cat's soft hair.
"What do we do now?" Tori asked, biting her lip with worry.
Jade shrugged, "There's nothing we can do, we just have to wait and hope for the best," she sighed.
Tori nodded in agreement and yawned tiredly, "Maybe we should just get some sleep," she suggested. Cat and Jade nodded.
They maneuvered themselves so they could all fit onto the tiny mattress. Jade lay on the inside next to the wall, Cat was in the middle, and Tori was on the outside. There was no blanket, so they could only huddle together for warmth and protection.
Cat brought her hand up to her mouth and began to lightly suck on her thumb, a habit that only Jade and her family knew she did when she was scared. Jade noticed her doing this and smiled softly, "Don't worry, kitten. We'll get out of here soon, I promise," she whispered.
Cat could only nod sadly in response, hoping, praying, that Jade was right. She thought about the boys back home. Surely they would notice that they weren't there, and figure out that something was wrong... wouldn't they?
