Chapter Thirty-Six

I know it's impossible, but I'm trying to make up for all the updates that you've been missing since I have lost access to the internet. It's Winter Break right now, so hopefully I can give you some updates before school comes around, because then just a few weeks later, it's Final's Week, and I'm going to be really busy with the studying and trying to make sure that my brain doesn't need to be resuscitated, like it does during most of my tests (I can sometimes get a bit of test anxiety.)

Henry's point of view:

Whitney and I could hear sounds of panic and worry from our position inside the bed. The door opened and closed many times, so we knew that everyone had left, and it was just the farmer and his wife running around. "Jasper, Maggie?" called the farmer's wife, opening and closing doors. I understood why they were panicking, and sat up as best I could as I tried my best to lift up the mattress. However, it was too heavy and I didn't have enough room, so I sank back down next to Whitney.

Whitney coughed as a little bit of dust fell from the underside of the mattress and landed on us. "We could bang on the wood," she said, and began to tap on the wood with the knuckles of one of her hands. I joined her, and there began to be quite a lot of noise. We heard footsteps rush up to the bed.

The mattress yanked off from over us, and we were flooded by light, which temporarily blinded us. Whitney stood up and immediately demanded to know where Jasper and Maggie were.

"We're not sure," the farmer's wife said. "We had them hide in the wardrobe, and we just looked in and they're gone. Wait," she said, putting her hand to her forehead. "No, no," she whispered.

"What?" I demanded in a voice sharp out of panic. "Do you know where they are? Please!"

"William, he and one of his friends didn't leave through the door. I didn't notice at the time…and the window, the window was cracked open, and we never leave that window cracked."

"Oh God," Whitney said, leaning against the wall and sliding into a sitting position.

"No," I said quietly, shaking her head. "No, you're wrong. They must be still here." I ran down the hallway, coming into a room with a large wardrobe. I climbed in, pushing my way through the clothing in it, and searching through it, hoping to find them sitting against the walls. "Maggie! Jasper!"

I heard footsteps behind me and wheeled around to face Whitney, who had followed me into the wardrobe. There were tears in her eyes. "Henry, they aren't here. They're gone." She reached out to touch my arm, and changed her mind, pulling me into a hug. "We'll get them back, don't worry, Henry."

"I just can't believe…after everything they just get taken away. Every time I think we've gotten ourselves safe, something happens and someone is missing or hurt or just…gone again. It never ends."

Whitney gave me a small smile. "Isn't that what living around Henry Griffin is all about?"

I pulled away from her, horrified. "Is this all my fault?" I demanded. "Is this because of me and my family? Is that why we're never safe, because of me? It should be me, not them, Whitney!"

"No! No, it's not. This isn't your fault. It's the fault of horrible, horrible people who have had it in for Maggie since before she even knew you, and you and your family have been mixed up in it when you accidently bumped into some of their friends and made them made. It's not your fault."

"We have to go get them, Whitney." I jumped, remembering. "Have they called the police?"

"Yes. They called the police, but it's going to take them awhile to get here because there is so much snow and ice." She turned to me. "Henry, we can't just run in there and go get them."

"Why not, Whitney," I demanded. "That's how we got Maggie, and that worked. No police helped us; we got her out all by ourselves." I realized I was shouting, but I didn't care. I was frustrated.

"Mostly by luck," she countered. "We had help, and we've been captured twice. They're not going to be nearly as careless this time, Maggie is important to him; they aren't just going to leave her outside knowing that we're around and could go get her. There has to be a bigger plan here, Henry."

"He's been trying to kill her since she was a little girl, though. Who's to stop him now?"

"Jasper is looking out for her," Whitney said, looking concerned. "Henry, calm down, please."

"Jasper has a broken hand. And what if they aren't together, what if they are separated again? Whitney, I'm not trying to be stubborn, but we can't just SIT here and wait. They…" my voice shook, which I hated, but I couldn't help it. "They could be dead by now, Whitney. They could really be gone."

Whitney looked at me like she was going to cry again. "I know, Henry. But we can't do anything else. We're stuck. Don't worry, the police are coming and they'll get them, we just have to wait, okay?"

I sat down, still in the wardrobe. "Okay. But, I…I hate this," I admitted. "I want to help them."

"I know," she said, sitting down next to me. "I want to help them too." She put her arm around my shoulders and leaned her head against the shoulder closest to her, comforting both of us.

"I've always been able to do something…I've always been able to at least try, Whitney. It didn't always work, but I could always try, and sometimes I would get lucky and we'd have a miracle, like when Jasper got the fever, I didn't think I would…but I did, and he was fine…" I was beginning to babble.

"Shh," Whitney whispered. "It's okay." We were quiet for a bit. "Happy Christmas Eve, Henry."

"Jasper and I were talking about having a Christmas party before all this," I admitted.

"Maybe after this is all over," she said, sounding sad. "It would be a good break from this mess."

We sat in silence for a little bit longer, before we heard a car pull up in the driveway. Grabbing her hand, I stood up and ran out of the wardrobe, down the hallway, and up to the front window to see who was at the driveway. The red-and-blue sickeningly spinning lights of a police car greeted us, and I felt a huge smile grow on my face despite the obnoxious sound that I hated so much.

The policemen left the car and came up to the front door. I opened it up right before they touched the door in my eagerness to see them and have them begin to help us find Jasper and Maggie.

The policeman immediately at the door seemed shocked to see us; he recognized us immediately as the missing children and smiled with the joy of finding us safe. Then they seemed to realize that something was wrong, that he had only found two where four should have been.

"Henry, Whitney?" asked one of the policemen. They came into the house quickly, looking us over. "Henry? Whitney? Where is Margaret and Jasper? I thought I was told that all of you were here."

"We were," I said, the smile slipping from my face. "Jasper and Maggie were recaptured. We think they are back where we were, in the house?" I looked at them, pleading for understanding.

Their faces fell, but they tried to look untouched by fear. "Well, it's good you're here. We'll go get Jasper and Maggie now. Can you tell us about the building you think they are in, and the people?"

They took notes as Whitney and I relayed everything we could think of, and then we waited in patient-yet-worried silence as they discussed their plan for retrieving our friends.

"Okay," they said, turning to us and trying to be as kind as possible. "We have our plan. And we are going to try to go get them. We have more back-ups coming, and we'll wait for them to arrive."

"And as for us, what will we do?" Whitney asked. I felt her heart pound from her palm to mine.

"You'll need to stay here until we can take you home. It will be safest for you."

Whitney squeezed my hand. "We can't stay here. We can't just sit here. You don't understand what this has been like, going to die any second, never knowing what is happening to anyone else, always in the dark about everything, always waiting to know, unable to do anything. You don't know."

Her voice cracked, and I took over. "Please. Just let us be there," I pleaded. "Let us come."

They agreed very reluctantly, unsure that they wanted us there in case things got violent, but eventually decided that maybe it would be best to have us there anyway, seeing as we knew the terrain.

Whitney and I loaded ourselves into the back of the police car, frightened but glad to at least be coming. Whitney leaned against me, looking out the window at the snow. "Do you think they're okay?"

"I hope so," he said. The policemen were back in the car, beginning to drive us towards the house. The car slipped and slid against the snow, going far too slow and turning around a couple times.

We finally arrived. The policemen prepared to leave, locking the doors so that no one would get to us. "Stay down," they commanded, "and no matter what happens, stay in the car."

We nodded and they left, guns drawn, fear on their faces, beginning to surround the building and disappear into the darkness. Whitney and I waited for what seemed like years, and nothing happened. There were no sounds, and we couldn't wait any longer, the silence was choking us. I knew Whitney felt the same without asking, it was obvious in her eyes.

Taking her hand, I cracked open the door of the car, allowing the cold air, mixed with snow to come flowing in. Pushing it farther open, I stepped out into the snow, allowing my feet to sink into the snow. Whitney fell in behind me, and we shut the door nearly silently, so that it swung shut with a nearly inaudible click. Before the sound had even dissipated, we had begun to walk towards the building. To death or success we knew not, but still we walked.