Never be the same

Chapter fourteen: Where's Rachel?

In a room full of darkness Zoe stays up all night. Her knees pressed to her chest make her feel safer for herself but not for Rachel... She doesn't even flinch for seconds hoping that she'll get good news about her childhood friend even though she knows that no one is looking for her.

At 7 in the morning she can't wait any longer and decides to go to the police station by herself. She looks at the mirror and sees her under eyes getting darker from all that stress. A flashback of her "happy" childhood comes in front of her eyes for a couple of seconds and a little tear drops to her cheek. The thought about those pure days makes her get emotional and sad at the same time. Wiping her tears away she grabs her keys from the night stand and leaves without telling anyone.

A while later she is in front of the police station looking at the people going in and out. She stares at them for a little and decides to go in. As she enters the building she feels like her heart is going to explode. The chatter of cops that fill the station makes her dizzy.

"How can I help you, young lady?"

She looks at the middle aged woman that approached her but doesn't say anything. She stares at her feeling her knees getting more weak.

"Hello? Are you okay?"

The lady holds her by the arm and drags her to one of the chairs in front of her desk. She brings her a bottle of water and sits to her seat. Waiting for Zoe to get to herself she cleans up her desk a little bit.

"Are you feeling any better, sweetie?"

"Yes, thanks for the water."

"You're welcome!"

Zoe takes another sip from the water while her hands still shaking and looks outside from the window. She doesn't know how to tell the police about her lost friend and waits for her to ask.

"So what brought you here?"

"My friend is lost."

"Your friend is lost?!"

"Yes!"

"What is your name, sweety? Can you tell me your friend's name too?"

"I'm Zoe and her name is Rachel."

"Okay Zoe, tell me more about how did Rachel get lost?"

"So we were having fun at the club but my friend's ex boyfriend showed up and ruined the night so when we were taking care of her I guess that Rachel left or got kidnapped or maybe she was forced to get out of there I don't know. The next day I went to her house to see if she's there but her mother came to me and asked me if I knew anything about her then I realized that she didn't go home."

The woman starts taking notes from the things that Zoe says and finds out that Rachel's mother went there just yesterday to report her daughter's missing but no one actually took the case because of the fact that she has to be missing for 24 hours.

She decides to not tell Zoe about that and starts asking her details about that night. In worries Zoe feels her hands sweating the possibility of her friend being dead doesn't leave her head. She hopes that the police finds her as soon as possible.

"Can I ask you more questions about her? I promise you we will find her."

"Yes, of course you can."

"What time did you go the club and how many people were you?"

"At 11 pm on Friday and we were 5 with Rachel."

"What are others names?"

"Leo, Sarah and Zak."

"Are they yours and Rachel's classmates?"

"Yes."

"Can you remember exactly what time did she leave or at least can you guess?"

"I don't remember... maybe around 12:35 am. Can you find her?"

"Yes, Zoe. Don't worry. You can leave after signing up some papers."

Walking to her car Zoe tries to remember more things about Friday night. Nothing significant comes to her mind, she feels like no one except her cares about Rachel. She gets in the car and feels her phone buzzle in her back pocket. She grabs it and without even looking at the screen she picks up and waits for the other side to speak first.

"Hello? Zoe? Where are you? Your mom said that you're not home."

"Leo..."

The words get stuck in her throat. She wants him to take her away and not think about these things anymore. Waiting for him to talk again she starts the car. She looks at the other seat and Rachel comes in front of her eyes. Her big smile and wavy long hair make her look like nothing happened. She is just sitting there... next to her.

"Zoe? Are you okay? Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Rachel!? Where have you been?"

"... Zoe?"

She starts talking to her imaginary friend. The tiredness takes over her body making her see things. The fact that she hasn't eaten for 2 days makes the situation even worse. Listening to Zoe's talking, Leo gets worried about her mentality. Waiting for her response he decides to call Sarah and talk to Zoe otherwise she might need a professional help which will make her more nervous and stressed.

"Rachel, I missed you so much. Are you okay?"

The phone slides through her hand and falls between the parking brake and her seat. Zoe looks and talks excitingly at the empty seat causing the people walking next to the car look at her with a confused face.

"Where are you going, Rachel? NO, RACHEL DON'T LEAVE ME!"

Zoe gets out of the car following actually no one but in her mind Rachel.

"RACHEL, COME BACK!"

She drops on her knees and starts crying when Rachel's figure disappears. The cars driving through the road start honking at her to get out of their way. When she notices them she gets up. Going to her car she cries even harder and slams her cars door.

"FUCKING CAR."

She leans her back on it and clenches her fists. Tears dropping to her cheeks make her whole face wet. An old lady feels sorry for her and goes to Zoe.

"Hello, beautiful? Are you okay?"

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSSINES!"

She shouts at the lady without even realizing and gets in the car. The woman goes away not understanding what's happening and keeps walking.

As Zoe drives she looks at the happy looking people on the streets and feels like she is living in hell. Her pain can't be described. She keeps driving until she goes to a place where she can be only by herself... no people, no problems only her...