Finally, things will actually start to happen again, not just conversations.
"Get some sleep, Derek. You haven't slept in more than forty-eight hours and it's not like anything's going to happen tonight."
"It might." he mumbled, but didn't protest further than that. I could tell it was taking him a lot of energy to keep his eyes open and I felt even more terrible for what I was about to do.
"Go to bed. I'll be fine." I made little shooing motions with my hands.
"If you insist. Goodnight." he shuffled out of the room, leaving me alone with Simon.
"So you're going to wake Tori at two?" I confirmed.
He nodded. "Yup. Don't worry, I'll be quiet. You won't even notice the changing of the guards."
"I'm not worried," I assured him, calculating in my mind. It needed to be Simon, so I had to leave before 2:00 am.
I lay down on my pillow, knowing I shouldn't fall asleep and doubting I could anyway. For a while I made a show of wriggling around, as if trying to get comfortable. Finally I decided it had been long enough that Derek and Tori had fallen asleep.
"Simon?" I whispered, the sound startlingly loud in the silence. He leaped up from his perch on the other mattress, gliding towards my bed.
"What's up?"
"Um…would it be too much to ask for some water? I'm sorry it's just my throat's really dry and-"
"Not a problem. Be back in a minute." He had hardly left the room before I was on my feet and tiptoeing out of the room. This is why I needed Simon and not Tori; he wasn't as suspicious and would actually agree to do something nice for me. My heart hurt as I thought about how betrayed he'd feel when he came back in a few minutes and saw my bed empty, but I knew it was necessary. They didn't realize it, but with me there they could never escape. Another reason I needed it to be Simon: Derek would be pissed and Tori did not need any more ammunition against her. At least he wouldn't actually murder Simon.
My legs felt like jelly but I pressed on, trying to move down the hallway as soundlessly as possible. I'd been wearing my jacket and sneakers in bed-not that they knew that-so I wasn't cold now, but I still shivered. It was creepy in the dark and silent house, so large entire rooms could get lost. That was what I was counting on. If a whole room could get lost, a little Chloe should be able to, too.
I ghosted (no pun intended) down the back servant stairs, knowing Simon could be coming up the main staircase at any moment. At the bottom I paused, remembering the room I was in joined with the kitchen. I could hear the steady stream of faucet water coming from the other side of the door. Good, he was still there. A moment later the water shut off with a small squeal and footsteps clomped away, growing fainter.
Now I made my move, darting into the kitchen, bee-lining to the door. I winced as it squeaked when I opened it, but that was unavoidable. Then I was out, fleeing into the night.
SPOV (Simon's point of view…but kind of 3rd person)
"Chloe?" Simon whispered, as if she was just hiding out of sight. He approached her bed, flinging back the covers, hoping his eyes were deceiving him. She was gone.
Fighting a wave of panic, he searched the room. No Chloe. He checked the bathroom but the light was off. One by one he checked all the other rooms on the top floor. She wasn't there.
"Maybe she got scared and wanted to talk to Tori or Derek." he whispered aloud, needing to hear some sound in the eerily silent house. "I'll go check their room." He gingerly pushed open the door to the room Tori and Derek shared. Tori had been too afraid to sleep alone. A quick search revealed no necromancer.
Simon glanced at Derek's bed where he was a lump under the covers. He must have really been tired if he hadn't woken up while Simon thumped around the room. Waking him was a risk- he needed the sleep but he would be able to find Chloe with his super sense of smell. But he'd panic- and probably never sleep and leave Chloe with someone else again. Yeah, he'd be pissed at Simon for letting her escape. Best to wake Tori then.
He prodded her shoulder and she blinked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Ugh." she moaned. "It can't be my turn already!"
"Ssh!" Simon glanced at Derek, who thankfully hadn't moved. "I need to talk to you."
"Shouldn't you be guarding our little ghost raiser?" she asked, but she got out of bed and followed him into the hallway.
"Have you seen Chloe?" he cut right to the chase.
"You lost her?" she gasped.
"No…well, yeah." he admitted.
"How did that happen?"
"She wanted a glass of water, so I got her one and…" Simon trailed off, realizing he should have known something was up. Chloe was so proud she probably wouldn't ask for a glass of water if she was totally dehydrated.
"Great." Tori threw up her hands with frustration. "Just great! Do you remember how freaking big this house is? And not to mention the woods-"
"Chloe wouldn't have gone into the woods. She's not stupid." he only wished he could believe that himself. If she thought she was putting the rest of them at risk- she would do something stupid like that. Although why she would think she was putting them in danger was a mystery to him.
"Ok, we'll look. But my vote? Wake the bloodhound."
"You know he'll be pissed. At both of us. And it would be pretty much signing Chloe's death warrant."
She snorted. "As if that little daisy would last five minutes out in the woods alone anyway."
"Let's just look around for a while before we wake him, ok?"
"Suit yourself. But we stay together. No way am I tramping through this dark haunted mansion alone with killer ghosts on the loose."
"Ok, we'll go together. But we have to find her. If she's not careful she could reopen her bullet wound-"
"Always worried about her aren't you?" Tori didn't say it angrily, just wearily. Simon opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off. "Don't worry- I get it. I'm the leech no one cares about, feeding off your escape."
"No, Tori-"
"Can you honestly tell me you'd be searching the house up and down if it was me who was missing? Would you have been worried to the point of panic if it had been me who had been shot?"
Simon fell silent, knowing she had a point. Chloe was the one him and Derek cared about. She was the one they loved. Tori was just an extra. As mean as that sounded, it was the truth. No one in their group totally trusted her or even really liked her. Of course, part of that was her own fault. If she wasn't such a bitch they might be able to tolerate her.
"Come on." she sighed when it became apparent he wasn't going to answer. "Let's go find your girlfriend."
They searched most of the house, leaving only the basement and the roof unsearched. Simon didn't know where she'd be, but he was sure she would be smart enough not to set foot in those forbidden places.
"Now can we wake up the werewolf?" Tori begged. "You know, the longer we wait the less chance we're going to be able to find her."
"I know." Simon sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Let's get Derek."
When they woke him up he flipped, as predicted.
"What do you mean she's gone?" he barked, yanking on jeans and a t-shirt.
"Gone, absent, missing, AWOL. Whatever you want to call it." Tori said.
"How'd you let this happen, Simon?" he rounded on his foster brother.
"I went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water!" Simon defended. "She couldn't even walk earlier today! How was I supposed to know she was planning to run away?"
Derek wasn't listening. He was sniffing the air, nostrils flaring. Tori made a face but didn't say anything. A moment later he was dashing down the hall to the back staircase. Simon and Tori ran after him, struggling to keep up. They trailed him down the stairs and into the kitchen where he froze in the doorway.
"She went outside?" he demanded incredulous. "What did you do to her to make her have a sudden death wish?"
"I'm not the one who was yelling at her this afternoon!" Simon argued.
"I wasn't…" Derek paused. "Oh god, I was yelling at her. This is my fault." He blanched.
"Oh come on." Tori rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's all your fault. Now can we find her?"
Derek shook his head sharply as if hoping to dispel guilty thoughts. He set off, loping into the forest. At the outskirts of the trees he paused. "You guys should probably wait here."
Simon wanted to argue but knew them bumbling through the forest without night vision wouldn't be helpful. "Be careful, bro." he said.
Derek didn't answer, which was alarming, but instead melted into the forest. With nothing left to do, Simon and Tori headed back into the house.
It was more than two hours later that Derek returned, joining them in their silent vigil at the kitchen table.
"No luck?" Simon sighed.
Derek shook his head miserably. "I followed her trail to the creek. I lost it; she must have crossed a few times. I tried to pick it up again but…" he hung his head dejectedly.
"It's not your fault." Simon comforted him, patting his shoulder. "There's nothing you could have done."
"But there was." he whimpered. "And now she's gone- maybe forever. She was already hurt and with the Edison group patrolling the forest…"
"Stop." his brother commanded. "We'll find her. There has to be something we can do."
A floating pencil tapped him on the shoulder. "There is." Simon read aloud from the paper hovering in front of his face. "Liz?"
"Yes." she wrote, putting the paper on the table so everyone could see. "I have to tell you something."
"What?" Derek demanded eagerly, hope rekindled in his eyes. "Did she tell you why she left?"
"No." Liz admitted. "I didn't even know she had left until I heard you talking. But I might have an idea why."
"Why?"
"I was spying on the Edison group, listening to their plans and whatnot. They said something about Chloe." Liz wrote on the piece of paper. "Chloe and tracker bullets." Derek swore.
"And did you tell her this?"
"Yes." Liz murmured then scribbled it on the paper.
He swore again. "When I find her, I'm going to kill her." he snarled then rounded on Liz. "Can you find her?"
Liz hesitated, not wanting to get his hopes up in case she couldn't. But she knew they had to try. "Yes." she wrote again.
"Let's go. Now." he stood up.
"Wait!" she scrawled furiously. "Shouldn't we wait until morning? When we can actually see?"
"I am not waiting." Derek snarled.
"It makes sense…" Simon started but he cut him off again.
"Fine. Stay here. I'm not leaving Chloe out there alone just so we can wait for morning."
"Ok then." Simon sighed. "Let's go."
"Wait for me!" Tori scrambled after them.
Liz led the way, carrying a branch so they could track her. They weren't able to search for long, though. After only twenty minutes of trekking through the forest they met a pair of Edison group members. Fortunately they were able to duck into a bush while Liz drifted a hundred feet away and rattled the undergrowth so they turned that way. Then they were forced to retreat to the house again.
"We'll try again in a few hours." Simon suggested. Derek, looking miserable, only nodded.
"I just wish we knew if she was ok, you know?" he sighed.
"I know, bro."
"I'm going to barf." Tori rolled her eyes and turned to the window, silently scanning the dark woods for any sign of her friend.
Good guess lululara, your idea probably would have made more sense than mine, but I was worried the story was getting a little dry so I decided to add some more action. Sorry if it's a little unrealistic, but as I said- I wanted something to actually happen since the past few chapters have mostly been dialogue. Please review with what you think of it! Your reviews make me so happy :)