AN/ Chapter 24 is finally here!

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I can't describe with words how much your reviews mean to me. Honestly. You guys are amazing:D

Some of you've wondered if this story is coming to an end and how many chapters there'll be... And I guess a lot more of you are wondering, so I thought I might as well tell you all. This story will have 31 chapters (if everything goes the way I plan...).

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Kickin' it.

Chapter 24

On our Way

Kim's pov.

The pain in my side had started to come back as the medicines were slowly losing their effect. I did my best not to show it though, not wanting mom to get worried.

"I'll be making chicken stew for dinner." Mom said from the driver's seat. "You like that, right?"

"Umhum…" I mumbled, not really interested. "Hey mom… about school tomorrow…"
"Don't worry dear." She smiled at me. "I'll call your teacher first thing in the morning and tell her what happened. You won't have to go."

"But I want to go." I said quickly, receiving a concerned look from her. "I'm fine. Really." I reassured. "The pain is almost gone and I don't want to be home doing nothing…"

Judging by her expression, she was confused. No wonder… She'd practically had to drag me to school everyday for the entire past week and now when I finally was allowed to stay home, I wanted to go.

"Are you sure about that?" She asked, parking the car on our driveway.

"Positive." I said cheerfully, quickly jumping out of the car before she had the chance to protest, or more importantly; had the chance to see that I was lying… I'll admit it; I'm not the best liar in the world and mom usually sees right through me. This time I did my absolute best to fool her. It was so important that she believed me…

I quickly made it inside, cautiously walking in front of her, so she wouldn't see my face.

Of course I didn't want to go to school after everything that happened, and I wasn't intending on doing so… I just needed the school as a cover up so that no one would go looking for me…

Once inside, I hurried up the stairs and into my room, closing the door behind me. Mom would be busy cooking dinner and dad was out, giving me the perfect opportunity to put my plan into action. I pulled out my phone to dial my newest friend. I hesitated slightly. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all. Maybe it was too risky…

But on the other hand if this could bring me any closer to Jack, I would gladly take my chances…

I quickly made up my mind and pressed the call button. Sitting down on my bed I anxiously waited for someone to pick it up.

"Hello?" Came Austin's voice from the other side.

"Hi Austin."

"Kim…?" He sounded a bit surprised. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. It's so good to be back home again." I said. "That hospital must be the most boring place on this earth." He laughed a little at that.

"Well I'm glad you're ok. You really got us all worried sick…"

"Hmm..." I mumbled, not really caring. "Hey, I was wondering if you have any plans for tomorrow morning…?" I started.

"No, not really." I could tell he was trying to hold back his excitement, probably believing that I would ask him out on a date or something.

"I kind of need you to do me a favour…" I said hesitating. Mentioning Jack probably wouldn't be such a good idea, considering that Austin and Jack never really liked each other… Not that neither of them had said anything, but it was pretty obvious anyway… Now that I think of it it's pretty strange actually. Jack usually gets along just fine with almost anybody…

"Hello?...Kim, are you still there?" Hearing Austin's voice, I quickly decided that it would be best to leave Jack outside of this, for now at least…

"I sort of need a ride…" I crossed my fingers, hoping he would catch on.

"Ok, I can drive you, I mean if you want to." He offered. "Where do you wanna go?"

"I'm not sure what it's called…I'll show you tomorrow. It's just outside of town, but it'll probably take a few hours." I bit my lip waiting for him to say anything.

"Okay" He said.

"Really?" I couldn't hide my excitement and Austin picked it up quickly.

"Yes, really." He chuckled. "When do you want me to pick you up?"

"Eight o'clock, outside of school." He was quiet for a few seconds and I became worried that he'd changed his mind.

"Kim, what are you up to?" He wondered.

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Just be there… and don't tell anyone." I could hear him sigh at the other end. "Austin, I'm depending on you for this…please."

"Alright, alright…" He said. "I'll be outside your school and I won't tell anyone. But you better give me an explanation then."

"Don't worry, I will. See you." Again I could hear him chuckle a little at my excitement.

"See you."

"And Austin." I said quickly before he was able to hang up.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"Anytime Kim…You know I would do anything for you." He mumbled the last part and I wasn't sure that I heard him correct.

"Bye." I said, hanging up, suddenly not wanting to talk any longer. I knew that he liked me in a way I could never like him back and as soon as he said or did something that reminded me of that I would become very uncomfortable.

Maybe it was a mistake to bring him into all of this. Maybe this whole plan was a mistake…

I quickly shrugged my worries off, telling myself that everything so far had gone exactly the way I wanted. There was no need to worry. All I needed to do now was to get my mom to drive me to school tomorrow at 7.30 AM as usual…

I stood behind the corner to the cafeteria. It was a perfect spot not to be visible from the entrance, where all the students and teachers would pass through, but still have a clear view of the parking lot.

After some very persuasive talk from my part, mom had finally given in and driven me to school and I had been lucky enough to not meet Grace or any other that would have recognized me immediately.

I was pretty sure that no one had noticed me yet, as I kept an eye open for Austin's car to appear.

With only five minutes until 8 o'clock Austin's red Ford pulled over just outside the school building. I watched as Eddie jumped out of the car and practically ran through the doors to the school, not wanting to be late. It didn't take more than a few seconds before my phone buzzed, indicating that I've got a new message. I brought the phone up and read the text.

'I'm waiting outside your school now.

/Austin'

Judging by the text he hadn't noticed me, which was good, as that proved that my hideout had been safe enough.

'Yeah, I can c u… b right there'

I sent the message and waited until the coast was clear before I took off towards Austin's car. Walking as fast as I could, I kept my gaze firmly on my destination, afraid that if I turned my head I would show my face to someone that would recognize me. I forced myself to keep walking and not start running, as that would draw too much attention to me. The school yard was almost empty and the chances of someone spotting me were very small, but I still felt very paranoid and expected someone to come up and stop me already.

When I finally reached the car, I threw the door open and swiftly made it inside. I sighed in relief as the car started to roll at the same time I closed the door.

I was too stressed to look at Austin at first, as I sank down in my seat, feeling like a criminal just busted out of jail.

"Morning" Austin mumbled, a slightly amused look on his face. "It's ok, you can breathe now…." I hadn't noticed how tense I was before he said that. Taking a deep breath I relaxed slightly, but I couldn't bring myself to sit up straight until the school building was fully gone out of sight. I turned to Austin who had trouble holding back a laughter at my silly behaviour.

"Morning…" I said.

"Ready for our adventure?" He smiled, causing a lump to grow in my stomach. I had almost forgotten for a little while, what we were here for. Austin probably thought that we would have some fun, just the two of us and I was worried that he might change his mind when I told him the real reason for all of this…

"Yeah…" I said, trying not to show my worries.

"Great…I just need to gas up before we leave." He explained, heading towards the closest gas station.

Once there, he left me alone for a short moment, while he went outside to fill the tank. I took a look around the place, my mind wandering off to Jack. I wondered how he was and what he did at that moment. What if Mark had hurt him even more? What if he had killed him?

I quickly shook the thought out of my head. Of course he was still alive. He had to be… otherwise I don't know what I'll do.

A car parked a few yards in front of us. I didn't pay much attention to it until I saw the man that stepped out of it. He was slightly bald and looked to be around his forties. I didn't need more than quick peek at him to recognize him as Chief Inspector Graham. Without hesitation I turned around in my seat, pretending to be reaching for something in the backseat, hoping that he hadn't noticed it was me.

The car door opened to the driver's seat, causing me to jump and freeze. This can't be happening… He'd seen me… It was over…

"What are you doing, Kim?" The sound of Austin's voice, made me let go of the breath I'd been holding, but I didn't turn around in case Mr Graham was still there.

"I'm just…" I started. "…Is there a middle aged man outside the car?"

"No…there was one, but he just went inside…" He said. "…why?"

"Oh it's nothing…" I shrugged, getting back into the seat. Austin gave me a sceptical look. "Can we just get out of here, please?"

"Sure."

Austin started the car and drove off.

"Where are we going?" Austin wondered, almost immediately after we'd left the gas station.

"To here." I said holding up my phone, the photo of Nelly's cut out map all over the screen. Austin took a quick glance at it.

"That's practically in the middle of nowhere…" He said. "What's this all about Kim?" I looked at him. How would I explain all of this, so he wouldn't change his mind about helping me?

I'd obviously been thinking about my answer for such a long time that he'd started to get impatient and was now throwing more questions out.

"Why did you want me to pick you up by your school? Why was it so important that I didn't tell anyone? Who was that man back at the gas station and why were you hiding from him? And why do you wanna go to the middle of the forest?"

"ok…" I said, taking a deep breath. "First of all, as you've probably already figured; no one knows about this. Mom and dad think I'm in school and the people in school… I believe they think that I'm just skipping my classes for various of reasons… Anyway… The reason why I can't let anyone know is that if they knew they would stop me from doing this…especially after what happened on Friday." I studied him. His face was pretty blank as he kept his eyes on the road, listening to me.

"It's about Jack, isn't it…?" He muttered.

"Yeah…" I admitted. "I found some great clues that could…"

"…lead you right back to Mark and get yourself hurt again or worse; killed." Austin finished for me. He sounded a little upset, but not too bad.

"No…it's just that…"

"You love him, don't you?" Austin said. I looked at him, taken aback by his question. "Jack. You love him." I couldn't say 'no', cause that would be a lie, but I couldn't bring myself to say yes either, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

"He's my best friend, Austin." I said. "And it's killing me to not know what's happening to him." I was surprised by my own reaction, but talking about this out loud made me all emotional and a lump in my throat started to form. "I don't even know if he's still alive."

Austin's face remained blank and I feared that he would drive me back home.

"Austin, please." I begged, tears forming in my eyes. "He's hurt, Austin." Still he didn't show any signs that would indicate if he would help me or not, which only caused me to stress out even more. "They've kept him locked up… and they've been beating him too! I've never seen him so scared before." The expression that Jack had on his face the last time I saw him, flashed before my eyes and it became impossible to hold back the tears any longer.

"I thought Jack knew karate and that he was really good at it." Austin said dryly. "So shouldn't he be able to defend himself?" I looked at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, you're right. Jack would easily take that lunatic down, he's just staying because he likes Mark's company." I said with sarcasm. Austin obviously didn't get the message though and he turned to me with a smile on his face, thinking that we would call it off. The fact that he didn't seem to get how serious this was, made me furious.

"Don't you get it?!" My voice came out harsh, wiping the smile off his face instantly. I didn't care though. "Don't you get that he's suffering and needs help?" A few more tears made their way down my cheeks. This time they were mainly from anger and frustration. How could he not see?

"He can't make it out on his own." I said remembering very vivid the horror that had taken place in that basement three nights ago. Jack had been so scared he'd cried. I'd never seen him like that before. "We have to help him."

"Then why don't you call the cops and give them all the information that you have."
I slumped back against the seat, knowing that he had a point.

"It's just that… I don't know if the information that I have will lead anywhere…and I don't want to tell them before I know for sure…Besides I don't really trust them."

"Why not?"

"I don't know… You know that man back at the gas station… "I sniffed. "He's one of the inspectors working on the case…and I don't trust him." Austin shook his head.

"Sometimes you're really weird Kim…" He said. I ignored his comment though.
"We're probably not gonna find more than yet another clue in there though, if we're lucky." I muttered, wiping a few tears away. "I can't stand to sit around at home just waiting for anything to happen…" I turned to him again. "Please Austin."
"Alright, alright." He said, meeting my flooded eyes. "Can I have a look at the map again?"

I suddenly felt hopeful again, as I held up my phone to show him the picture once more.

"So you'll help me get there?"

"Yes, I will." He said. "But I'll probably regret it…" He mumbled, studying the map as he occasionally threw an eye on the road. "What is that place anyway?"

"It's a hunting cabin…" I answered. "Mark used to go there all the time with Tess."

"Tess?"

"His daughter… That's another thing that's strange… Tess's supposed to be dead, but I'm not sure." Austin gave me a questioning look.

"You think she's still alive?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. "Everything is so confusing. I don't know if this will lead anywhere… but it's the only place that I know Mark uses to hang out at besides his home and maybe there'll be something there that could tell us where he and Jack are…I don't know…" I shrugged. "I just have a gut feeling that this somehow is important."

I knew that there was a small chance that they might even be in the cabin. The chance was small but it still was there… I constantly told myself that they most likely weren't and that I wouldn't find anything there. That way I wouldn't be too disappointed if this just turned out to be a dead end….

I know this chapter was more of a filler, but I still think it was needed...

Please don't forget to review and tell me what you think. There'll be a sneak peek as usual:)

And haha...noticed that the name of the page that I have an account on didn't show on the last chapter... the page's deviantart and my username is PaintedWithJoy. There's still only 2 drawings posted... 1 of Jack and 1 of Kim...

/MJ