Chapter 56

AMBER'S POV
NEXT DAY
Melissa's call was the first thing to wake me up that morning, I reached for my phone and fell off the bed, hard. Rubbing my butt that had probably broken, I answered the call and realized her voice was hoarse from too much crying. There was screaming and it sounded like she was running, my heart started racing wildly. I could only make out one thing she kept on screaming,
'Help!"
Without thinking of the time or the kids, I rushed out of my nightgown into a pair of pants and a tank top and raced out the door to the car. My only thought was to get to her house and to get there fast, something was different this time around.
Ken Duke had changed as the years went by and most times, I wondered if the Ken we met back then was all a charade. People change with time, it's inevitable but the change Ken had undergone was something entirely different. It seemed like we were the ones that were too slow to catch on, mostly Mel, she was the one who had ended up marrying the devil incarnate.
The street was quiet as I drove out to Mel's house, I took a look at the car's dashboard and was shocked to see it was past 1am. Where was Mel running to when she had called me? What had happened to put so much fear into my friend? I had a thousand questions in my head but there wasn't any answer, just purpose, Get to Melissa.
I would be lying if I said I didn't have an idea on what might have happened to Mel. There was something about basketball players that sang bad news but people like Mel and I weren't really equipped in the thinking department and we usually fell prey to their trap. Usually.
As I drove past downtown, I decided to call Mel and find out where she was. Instincts told me she was no longer at the mansion but I had to be sure as I drove towards the house instead. The phone rang twice without any response and fear started creeping in along with the annoying tricks the mind play in form of questions when it knows you're agitated already.
'Had she been run over by a car?" No, that wasn't plausible. It was freaking past 1 in the morning, who would be driving around this late. Another question replaced the first,
'Had she fallen down into a pit somewhere?" Trust me to find humor even in the darkest situations. I couldn't afford to laugh out loud, so i giggled instead, then I remembered, I was supposed to be worried. Shit, next question,
'Did Ken catch up to them?" Well, that one seemed realistic at least and Ken used to be very athletic back in the days, he was probably part of a sports team. But Ken was mostly drunk around Mel, there was a chance he was at the moment, too.
'Positive thoughts, Amber!" I scolded myself out loud as the mansion came into view, it wouldn't do to entertain negative thoughts, Mel needed me to be strong. Mel. It kicked in at that time, I had been too preoccupied with my jumbled thoughts I had totally forgotten I was supposed to be on the look out for Mel and the kids. Double shit.
I had almost ran into the kid standing in the road before I hit the brakes. Driving and thinking wasn't my biggest strength but at least I hadn't killed anybody, yet. I sat quietly in the car for a few seconds, struggling with myself on the next step to take. Should I just go and check if I had hit the kid or should I just stay here till help maybe came by?
I impulsively checked the time and saw it was 2:21am, the only people that were supposed to be out that late was Mel and her children. There was a chance it was one of the children and sitting in the car scared shitless wasn't going to help any of us. I took a deep breath and quickly unbuckled the seat belt as I got out of the car.
The street was eerily quiet and the kid was nowhere to be found, I dragged another deep breath and called out slowly, 'Stacey? Ken? Is that you?" There was no response, I did yet another deep breath and tried again, 'Stacey? Ken? Its Aunt Amber, can you come out if you're there?" I held my breath as two pairs of shaky legs emerged from the corner. Ken.
As I drove past Mel's restaurant which was on the way to the mansion I made an attempt to get information out of the little boy, anything at all would go a long way.
'Stacey was with me a while ago but then she said she was going back to meet mum and I was supposed to hide at the restaurant" Ken answered me shakily and I heaved a sigh of relief. They weren't lost, they were back at the house.
'Are you hurt? Are you okay? Did anyone see you as you was hiding in the corner?" I knew I wasn't supposed to bombard a scared kid with questions but I needed to know the state of things. I wanted to ask the kid why they had left the house so late at night but his sleepy eyes as he nodded 'No" to all my questions, told me he didn't even have much of an idea what was going on.
They probably had woken him up from his sleep, but he had a little bruise on his face. Had Ken stooped as low as to hit the kids? Was that why Mel was running away from the house so late in the night? My hands were shaky as I parked in front of the house, I had to do something. Anything at all, but what?