Recap:
"Do you think this is the right thing? Having her here with us right now?"
Andy continued to stare at his granddaughter for a few minutes before looking back up at Ephram. Somehow, he knew. "Yes. I do."
---
"They won't let me see you anymore, Ephram," she said, sobbing.
Chapter 9:
"But, we'll still see each other at school," Ephram said. "We can still be together, we just don't have to tell them…"
"They'll find out somehow," Amy said. "Bright will be around, and he'll want me to obey them anyway. Plus, it just won't be the same," she said. "God, I can't believe this… I'm not going to be able to spend Thanksgiving with you…" She cried some more.
The two stayed on the phone, keeping contact for as long as they could, until Amy's parents finally made her go to bed.
The next few days were hell for Ephram. He and Amy would walk by each other at school, but not say anything. It was hard, but he knew Amy was determined to obey her parents, because she was just that kind of person. Especially after the trouble she'd been in before. He knew she didn't want to cause any more problems with her family.
Sometimes they would brush against each other, sometimes accidentally, but sometimes purposefully. A couple of times Ephram had seen the tears in Amy's eyes after they'd touch. He wanted so badly to rush over and take her in his arms. But he couldn't.
It was raining really hard one morning as Amy was getting ready to leave for school. She went outside and was trying to put her umbrella up when a huge clap of thunder sounded. She jumped, one of her feet landing in a muddy puddle. "Dammit," she said, the water getting all over her jeans.
"Having some trouble?" A familiar voice called out from the street.
Amy looked up, seeing the brown hair and strangely cold hazel eyes.
It was Tommy.
"Uh, um…" She stammered, bewildered.
"It's alright," he said, walking through the yard to meet her. "I have some extra room in my mom's van. Wanna go for a ride?"
Amy hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. She didn't know exactly why she did; maybe because the thought of seeing Ephram and not being able to talk to him again made her want to cry. She followed Tommy over to his truck and got in. "Where are we going?" She asked warily.
"We'll just go get a bite to eat," Tommy answered. "How are you, Amy?" He asked, sounding sincere. It was wild, the way he had just showed up by her house like that, but Amy didn't think about it much.
"I'm okay," she answered.
"Really," he said. "'Cause you don't look it."
Amy rolled her eyes. "Well, thanks."
"I didn't mean it like that."
Amy just shook her head and didn't say anything else for about 30 minutes. Suddenly she realized that she didn't know where they were anymore. They were just driving down a back road alongside a big open field.
"Uh, I thought you said we were going to get something to eat," she said.
Tommy just smirked and didn't say anything. Amy's eyes grew wide as she said, "Tommy, what's going on?"
Tommy suddenly veered to the side of the road and stopped. He locked the doors. Amy tried frantically to get out, knowing something was wrong, but Tommy had grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to the back of the large van before she could do anything. The floor of the van was covered with gray carpet. There were a couple of boxes here and there, but other than that, it was wide open. Amy cried out as Tommy forced her to the floor and hovered over top of her, holding her wrists down. "TOMMY, STOP!" Amy screamed. She couldn't believe how strong he was. Must be the drugs, Amy thought awkwardly. "What are you doing?!"
Tommy began to reach for something in one of the boxes. Amy began to panic and did the only thing she knew to do—she kicked him right where it hurt. "Ugh!" He said, suddenly shoving her across the floor in frustration. Amy winced at the burn that the carpet was forming on her back. She began to kick at the back doors of the van furiously as Tommy was still doubled over in pain. She got them open just in time and scrambled out, starting to run away. Tommy got up and started chasing her as fast as he could.
Amy began getting frustrated as she kept running, tripping a few times as she went because she was so scared. Come on, Abbott, you can do this, she told herself as she gasped for breath. Tommy eventually caught up with her and grabbed her. Somehow Amy managed to throw him off of her, and she took her chances by rolling down a steep hill that went down into the big field. To her surprise, Tommy stopped chasing her. He just yelled some obscene things and went back to the van, then driving away.
Even though she knew he had stopped chasing her, Amy continued to run all the way across the field to the edge of the woods before she stopped. She yelled in frustration before collapsing to the ground, crying.
"I swear, if I find out that she's snuck over there…" Harold said to Rose that night when their daughter still wasn't home yet.
"Sweetheart, if you're so worried, then why don't you call over there and find out?"
"Well, I am going to do just that," He said, stomping off to get the phone.
"Hello?" Andy answered after Harold had called.
"Hello, Andy. By any chance, is my daughter in your presence?"
Andy looked around absent-mindedly. "Well, no, not that I know of. I'm pretty sure she's not here. Ephram's in the kitchen alone, doing some pre-made baby bottles."
Harold huffed. For some reason, he was now actually starting to wish that Amy were there. "Alright, thank you," Harold said. "Oh, and would you please let me know if she turns up? She hasn't been home since this morning."
"Of course, Harold. Goodbye," Andy said, hanging up.
Harold didn't say anything else before hanging up and turning to Rose, shaking his head. "She hasn't called, Rose," he said bitterly. "I hope she's not in any danger."
"Well, do you think we should call the police?"
Harold just shook his head. "They wouldn't do anything about it. It hasn't even been 24 hours. If she's not here in the morning when we wake up, we'll call. For right now, let's just get some rest."
"Who was that?" Ephram asked, wakling into the living room.
"Just Dr. Abbott," Andy answered, trying to avoid the question.
"Oh," Ephram said sadly, reminded of Amy. If there was any chance it was about her… "What'd he want?"
Andy sighed. "Amy's missing."
Ephram's eyes went wide. "I have to go find her," he said, grabbing his coat and keys without even thinking.
"Ephram, stop!" Andy yelled before he got to the door. "I'm sure she's fine, Harold was just asking if she was over here. They haven't seen her since this morning."
"Dad, I know Amy. She wouldn't just go off without calling her dad, she cares too much. I'm going to go look around some places she might be," Ephram said, walking out the door. He couldn't stand the thought of Amy being somewhere alone, feeling so depressed that she couldn't call anyone. If she's sitting by herself at Mama Joy's or at the café I don't know where else on earth she would be, unless she's run away or something. And that's too dangerous… Ephram's mind just kept reeling and reeling and reeling.
"Ephram—" Andy tried to call after his son, but it was too late. He was already gone.
-----
Will Dr. Abbott change his mind? Will Ephram and Amy reunite even if he doesn't? Find out in the next chapter! ;)