The Kite
926 Words
"Impossible. I slipped it inside the mailbox."
"My uncle didn't see it either, Anna, please give me her number."
"Devin, I have her phone. We're using one."
"What?"
"I'm trying to get home, Devin, but I don't know what to do. If I go back without her, her dad is going to kill me. I have to find her."
Devin hung up the phone. His mind raced. The beach. Right, she must be there. But what if she had already gone home? What if she gave up waiting?
Lauren and Alex had just arrived home when they noticed the girls weren't around.
"They might be on their way. In fact, it's still five in the afternoon."
But Alex couldn't hold his peace for long. "It's raining hard, Lauren. Really hard."
"Wait... I'll try to call her."
Lauren was still talking when Anna burst through the entrance, soaked and trembling.
Alex asked her right away, "Why are you alone? Where did you come from?"
Anna's throat went dry. She looked from Lauren to Alex, her mouth working but no sound coming out.
She tried to think of alibis, but her mind was a total blank.
"I'll go check on her in her room," Anna finally managed, turning toward the stairs.
But Lauren's voice cut through. "She's not here, Anna. We thought she was with you. Tell us the truth."
Shit. I'm doomed.
Anna slumped back against the doorframe. She turned back slowly, and in that moment, something in her expression, the panic and the guilt, told them everything.
"Where is Allison?" Alex's voice was quiet but terrifying.
With one phone call, Alex Ainsley turned the city upside down. He ordered every corner of Charleston dismantled until Allison was found.
Anna knew where Allison had gone. But she mentioned nothing about Devin.
"Mr. Ainsley, we're sorry," the officer said grimly. "The storm is getting stronger, and it's quite dangerous."
But even though Devin noticed the police searching as he passed by, he didn't care. He headed straight. He knew the way and the shortcut to their porch, where Allison might have gone.
Even the storm couldn't stop him.
Alex turned to his wife "So, it's happening again, South Carolina. Always South Carolina."
"She could be back at that same location, Alex," Lauren snapped, her eyes flashing. "We can't just sit here. I won't stand by and let a storm stop me from finding my daughter."
"The Hollingsworths are expecting us for the family meeting tomorrow," Alex countered, checking his watch. "We need to find her before dawn. Our image—"
"Our image?" Lauren's voice rose to a frantic pitch. "How can you worry about family business more than your daughter's life? I'm not letting it happen again to my daughter."
The silence that followed was sharper than the lightning outside.
Alex stood frozen as Lauren turned on her heel and headed for the car, disappearing into the rain to find the daughter she refused to lose.
As the world panicked over her absence, the heavy rains had driven Allison into a desperate state.
The freezing downpour soaked through her clothes, the wind rattling the glass above her.
It was no longer safe to wait outside.
She knocked at the beach house door, but nobody answered. Then she looked up and saw it, a light flickering in a second-story window.
"Hello? Somebody help me! Hello!" she called out, but the storm swallowed her voice.
Allison climbed toward the window of the second level, her fingers gripping the slick, modern framing of the glass house Devin had built.
With desperate faith that someone was inside, she pulled herself up.
The sleek, elevated wall was slippery from the rising storm, but desperation kept her moving. Slipping twice, she finally managed to slide her fingers under the window frame.
The window was unlocked.
"Oh, thank God," she sighed. She pushed the glass pane open and peered into the dark room.
It appeared empty until that colorful frame caught her eye.
"M—my kite..."
For a heartbeat, the modern glass walls vanished. She wasn't standing in a cold, expensive house anymore; she was back in 1998.
She stared through the dark at the old fabric. A blinding flash of lightning lit up the entire room, and a frantic voice from below ripped through the roar of the storm.
ALLISON!!!
She gasped. Her wet feet slipped from the narrow ledge.
Her head struck the window frame, and gravity pulled her backward into the empty air, falling down the exterior of the glass house.
But before she could hit the ground, Devin caught her in time.
The impact took them both down, slamming them into the wet sand. Her head throbbed from the blow, but the feel of his hands locking around her waist was completely real.
"D-Devin..." she whispered, her voice cracking.
"Allison, are you alright?" Devin rasped. He was trembling and breathless. His hands were tight on her shoulders as he looked down at her face. The rain was dripping on her face.
What is this feeling? Allison wondered.
Allison finally pulled back just a fraction, her breath trembling. The freezing downpour didn't matter.
They were both gasping for air, their breaths cutting through the freezing downpour.
Then, Devin snapped out of his shock. His gaze softened, washing away the last of Allison's lingering shyness.
"Allison."
He didn't wait for her to say anything else. He pulled her forward and crushed her against his chest.
- Writer
