Faded Memories

Chapter 28

"They're not answering. Why aren't they answering?" I paced the living room, feeling so nauseous as history suddenly had begun to repeat itself in the most horrid way. Georgia reentered the living room with a glass of water in her hand, moving my fingers around the glass so that I was forced to take it from her.

"It's late, they might just be asleep?" Carter offered, in an attempt to try and ease my panicked expression as I redialed the number of Jamie's foster parents.

"Yeah, Amelia, you panicked about Leo and he was fine!" Noah added, everybody in the room trying to do anything to calm me down. Apart from Carter, nobody here had really seen what happened when Ryan got under my skin like this. I shut down, nothing mattering apart from what I was focusing on.

I held the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I ran over to the cabinet next to the stairs, frantically searching for a piece of paper and a pen. Once I found one, while the phone continued ringing endlessly, I ripped the paper in half and scribbled two different mobile numbers down - one on each half. I passed one to Georgia and the other to Matt, knowing in my gut that we needed to do something immediately.

"Georgia - that's Liam's number. Ring him. Tell him Jamie's missing. Matt - that's my brother Joe. See if you can get through - I'm pretty sure he won't be able to answer right now but leave a voicemail telling him it's urgent and to ring me back." I demanded, suddenly having to take control of the situation as the phone kept ringing. Why weren't they answering? Surely I should have been one of the first people to be informed about Jamie going missing?

As the phone went to voicemail again, I crouched down on the floor and leant my head in my hands. I couldn't just sit here and do nothing. Jamie was meant to be safe with them! He was meant to be free of my stupid life and having fun as a kid! I took a shaky breath, before standing to my feet again and redialing the number. He had to be okay. He just had to be.

"Liam's on his way." Georgia announced, coming back into the room the same time as Matt, who simply shook his head to let me know that Joe wasn't answering like I thought. "Why'd you need to tell Liam?"

"He knows everything about Ryan. He used to come over and visit us when he was younger, and around the time Joe made friends with Ryan, Liam was with us too. They were friends. So, everytime something has gone wrong with Ryan, Liam has been there just as much as Joe has. My memory might be too clouded to remember something about where he took Jamie last time, so I'm hoping Liam knows something." I commented, realising that it might seem slightly odd that I was relying on somebody that wasn't family given Carter's slightly confused face - but he was to me, and that's all that mattered at this point.

When they didn't answer the phone on the 16th ring, I gave up on trying. If they weren't answering, then what was the point? I pushed my hands through my hair as I sat myself down on the bottom step, feeling completely useless and cut off.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. We'll figure this out. The lunatic is probably just toying with you again, don't drive yourself crazy when you don't have all the information yet." Carter rubbed my back as I leaned my body against his, thankful for the support. That's when it clicked in my brain, thank you Carter.

"You're right. We don't have all the information," I stated, walking over to the drawer where I last saw it. It's got to be in here, I don't think I moved it. "That's exactly why I need to find out exactly if Jamie's gone or not."

I picked up the phone that Ryan had hidden in my house, the one that had rang a million times last time and driven me crazy. Did I really want to make contact with him though? Would that not show my desperation? Well, this was Jamie's life at stake. I am desperate. I don't care if that put me in more danger or not.