Waking up with Amber cuddling on me was… surprisingly nice.
I did say that I didn't hate her. I don't think she would've slept if I told her I did like her. What kind of 'like'? That's complicated shit I don't have the time to figure out right now.
Amber started squirming around until she got up a little, leaning on her arm. "Good morning, Chloe."
"Sup," I nodded towards her, making her laugh. "Feel any better?"
"I guess? It was nice being able to get a lot of that off my chest. It's not everything, but it was more than I've ever said to anyone…"
"You can tell me anything."
"I'm glad."
We got up and stretched, heading to the kitchen for breakfast.
I was so sickened listening to Amber explain her entire life, but it gave me a few ideas of my next step in solving what was happening with the Vortex Club.
Even Amber doesn't really know what other shady shit the club had going on while she and Dana were a part of it…
"Hey."
Amber turned to me as she grabbed a box of frozen waffles from her fridge.
"Um… I think this would be a good idea in my next step," I leaned on the kitchen island table. "Have you spoken to your mom recently?"
She set the box down, saying, "I've been withdrawn to pretty much everyone. Do you want to talk to her?"
"Yeah. Don't you think she might know something about all this shit?"
"She might… She only ever told me about my dad and how fucking awful he was to her. I never wanted to talk about anything else."
"I want to meet up with her later. Do you wanna come along?"
Amber sighed, looking down for a second, "No, not this time. Here, give me your phone and I'll put her number in instead. You can talk to her and ask to meet up somewhere."
"Okay."
Me:
Is this Amber's mom?
Unknown Number:
As in Rachel? Then yes, that's me. Who is this?
Me:
I'm her friend chloe price
There's been some shady stuff happening on blackwell
And it involves your daughter
Is there anywhere we can meet up in person?
Unknown Number:
Yes, of course.
Let's meet near Blackwell.
Why am I nervous as shit? I guess because I'm meeting Amber's real mom… and our first conversation is all the bullshit Amber has put up with for fucking years.
There was a little grass area with trees and few park benches near the school, and there was only one person there.
"Ms. Amber?" I called out.
The lady stood and, when she got closer, I was kinda taken aback. There was seriously no doubt she was Amber's mom. Their resemblance really was crazy similar.
"Chloe Price?"
"Uh, yeah. It's nice to meet you."
"The feeling's mutual. And please, call me Sera. Let's sit down; I'm really worried about my Rachel."
After sitting down, I gave the rundown of everything that had happened over the course from Amber's party to last night. Right when I got to Chase, the Vortex Club, her being used, and all that shit, Sera's face was becoming one of anger.
"I have a feeling she wanted to tell you around this time! But, then she… she got a photo of her friend, Dana… From what I heard from Chase, they killed her… She saw something they didn't want her to see and they just…" I cleared my throat, not wanting to even think about that.
"My Rachel…" Sera looked away with a killer glare, then it softened a little. "All I ever wish for is her happiness."
"I know. You're a good mom, Sera, I can tell," I reached over and rubbed her back. "Maybe you could even see her at her house now. Her dad went missing a while ago and her mom abandoned her."
Sera turned to me with a worried expression, "She's been alone?"
"My friends and I are all she has left now. Sera, I wanted to meet up because… I don't know what the fuck is going on! I thought maybe you'd know something or have any idea…?"
"Rachel's dad has always been an awful man. He was the type to seem so trustworthy and kind in the beginning, but as time went on, his true colors showed," she chuckled in an almost pathetic way. "It really works for being in politics."
I chuckled too, scratching the back of my neck. It sure does…
"I can't forget this… He's always been a part of some disreputable businesses. He was actually quite a drug abuser himself for a time and that's how he hid drugs in my things and sent me off. I overheard him once on one of his burner phones that it was business that if he didn't accomplish any of his tasks, they will kill him."
"Holy shit…"
"Of course, after, he saw me and that was the worst assault I ever endured. He must've thought if he beat me hard enough, I'll somehow forget."
"So… Do you think—"
"It wouldn't be absurd to think he didn't keep his end of his deal and they killed him."
I groaned, bending over and hiding my face in my hands, "I'm losing my fucking mind…"
"You said there was someone in the club named Chase?"
"Her last name. Victoria Chase."
Sera froze, silently gasping like she had a realization. "He was talking about something related to Chase. Chase something. It's a place where he said he had to meet up with whoever it was. Maybe her family is the one running it."
"That would explain why Chase just constantly tortures her…"
I have fucking headache…
"That's all I could tell you, Chloe. He's never been honest and hid lots of things, as you can tell. I hope you find out what happened so Rachel can finally be fully free from this life."
"I'm working as hard as I can. You should visit her, Sera."
"If you're right about what happened, then… I will."
I think I have to do something real fucking stupid. Dangerous. Crazy. But most definitely stupid.
I brought Max, Kate, Steph, and Mikey into my room to explain the whole situation. Like I expected, they were fucking speechless, I keep talking and just when I already said the craziest shit, I would say something worse!
"It sounds like you're almost there in finding the truth," Steph visible shivered. "Damn, I feel bad for Rachel…"
"Me too… I've decided that I need to dig deeper. They're hiding something in that clubroom…"
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying I'm going to sneak in there."
"What?!" They all said at once.
"I know—"
"Chloe, we don't want you in harm's way anymore!" Max stood up from my bed, grabbing my arms and shaking me a little with a frightened look on her face. "And you told us about Dana!"
"I know! I know! But I can't just sit my ass back and wait for this to go away! There's something going on and it has to stop before it hurts anyone else! If the last person they hurt is me, then… so be it."
"Chloe, we could just call someone—"
"The police aren't gonna do shit! They've all seen me and threw me in fucking jail, all because of Amber's money. Chase is a rich bitch too! They won't do anything to them!"
The room fell silent. They all knew I was right.
"I never thought I'd say this, but," I sighed, looking at Max with a serious look in my eyes, "I'll risk my life. For Amber."
They all exchanged looks around the room.
"Okay…" Max let her hands slip down my arms. "How are you gonna do this?"
The club was held in the drama room, aka a place I swore I would never fucking approach. I thought I was going to need to do some drastic measures, but to my fucking luck, not only was the school's door open, but the Drama's door was open too.
This is too easy…
I clenched my jaw as I pushed the door open and then shut it behind me.
My guard was up. It was too fucking easy.
I took slow steps around, looking all around me as quick as I could to not miss anything.
If I were a Vortex fuck… where would I hide things?
The drama room always kinda freaked me out anyway! Something about it just always felt so weird and to think it really was weird as shit and hiding something illegal or fucked up was leaning towards terrifying.
As I approached the tall, red velvet curtains, I grabbed it and pushed it open.
I gulped as I stepped in, taking three looks behind me.
This is fucking creepy… Just find something, anything, and then get the fuck out!
I wasn't exactly subtle in searching through all of their shit. They had so many drawers and hidden spaces for changing costumes. I had to be quick.
I stumbled upon a drawer in one of the makeup tables that wouldn't budge. Bingo.
Forcefully tugging it, it took five tries before it finally opened, nearly falling to the ground.
"Shit…" I mumbled under my breath. I shook one of my hands from pulling on it so hard and used the other to pull out a thick manila folder that was sitting inside.
I raised my brow, taking quick glances around me before I flipped the front open, revealing a paper with the smallest font my eyes had ever seen.
"What the fuck…" I murmured, grabbing the paper and bringing it close to my face, squinting my eyes to at least try to see something.
Keep your silence… Carry on this deal… Make sure to put in a good name… Hide your addiction… We will execute you if you can't pay…
My hands were shaking as I read more and more. At one point, Mayor Amber was caught with drugs and it was Chase's dad that caught him. He made a deal that he had to keep paying him to keep his silence. If he couldn't, he'll be killed…
Along with her 'mom'.
And then with Amber.
Reading more, he was paying less and less.
That explains why he wanted my ass to pay him directly after my fucking jail time!
My heart was about to burst from all this shit.
"The fuck you doing here, you little bitch?!"
A deep voice yelled, then his arm wrapped around my neck and tightened, blocking air from getting into my lungs.
I thrashed my arms, but that only choked me more. He then gripped my shirt and lifted me off the ground, tossing me back into the wall, falling on the ground with a thud.
My body froze and everything went pitch black. I was still conscious, breathing hard.
The colorful flashing lights started.
My breath sped up. Staring helplessly at the spotlights flashed and burned into my eyes.
"Let's go to the next room!"
"What's going on here?!"
The sickening mix of yelling and paint can spraying filled my ears.
People were pushing against me.
The room was getting hot.
Tears spilled from my eyes.
I screamed inside as the lights flashed brighter and the voices yelled louder.
RACHEL CAN FUCK OFF
I froze even more.
"Put her to sleep."
A cloth was placed over my mouth. I gave some struggle, squirming around, until I was sleepy.
"Tie her up… I'll let her know what's happening when she's awake."
A/N: Review and shit.