Better With You | EDITING

Chapter 19

Elijah's POV

7 days.

1 week.

December 11, to December 18.

7 days till Christmas.

That's how long.

I was losing my mind. I haven't seen her, heard from her, nothing at all. I don't know if she's okay or not. I don't even know if she's alive. I might go insane.
"Elijah honey, if you don't leave now your going to be late for school."my mom peeked her head through my bedroom door and told me.
"I don't think I can go mom."I sighed, resting my head in the palm of my hands.
She stepped into the room fully, closing the door behind her. Sitting beside me at the edge of the bed, she placed her hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner and spoke.
"Elijah, I know you miss her, I do too, Leo misses her even more. He's downstairs right now bawling his eyes out. You may not see it now, but everything happens for a reason. Whether good or bad. We'll find some way to find her. Okay?"
Despite all of my emotions, I smiled at my mother.

My mom was always my first priority. She was the only female I ever really cared about. I love her till death.

But then Tori came along........

"Thanks mom. I really needed that."I gave her a brisk side hug and got up from the bed. I was about to open my door when she called out to me.
"I love you Elijah."
"I love you too. Bye mom."I closed my door and then left my house.

************

"Yow Elijah!"I didn't even get a chance to face Cleo before I was harshly shoved against my locker that I was taking my books out of. Gripping my collar, he pressed me into the locker further.
"Where the f**k is Tori?"he seethed, glaring at me.
"Why do you think I know."I snapped back.
"She's been missing for a week now. Obviously it's your doing. Ever since she found out about you and Nat, I haven't seen her since. So I'm gonna ask you again. Where is she?!"by this time, a  crowd was already starting to form. Awaiting the soon to come fight.

I'm not going to let it get that far.

"And I'm going to ask again. Why do you think I  know. If I knew where she was, I wouldn't be here."I pushed him off of me, causing him to stumble a little but catch his balance shortly after.
"You think you're her knight in shining armor, don't you?"he spat.
"I know I am. I was the one to bring her to the hospital when she got hit. I was the one to visit her every, single, day. I was the one she asked for when she woke up from the coma. I was the one she ran to when she found out who killed her mother. Me. Not you Cleo. You were never there. Never available. Sometimes I even forget you're her supposedly boyfriend. That she chose you over me, because her actions speak differently."
This seemed to anger him even more, because I saw something flicker in his eyes.
"You're the cause of it Elijah! All of it! You think I like seeing her run to you instead of me?! You being the first to know when something happens to her?! She cheating  on me with you? I don't! I don't f**king like it Elijah."tears were in his eyes now. I thought he was done but he continued after.
"But I don't care anymore. You can have her. If you find her."
The way he said 'if' sent shivers down my spine.

Why did he say it like that?

He then slowly backed away, keeping eye contact with me until he was out of sight.
"What was that about?"I didn't even realize that Vaughan and Michael had come up to me.
"Nothing. Just Cleo being the usual asshole that he is."I said while opening my locker and finish taking out my books that I was taking out before.
"Oh."was their subtle reply.
"Anyways,"I started in the direction of the school's exit, with Michael and Vaughn in tow.
"I need you to accompany me somewhere."I continued.
"Where to?"
"Tori's house. We're going to find her."
That's how Vaughan, Michael and I ended up missing our last three classes, hopping into my car and driving away in hopes of returning with an addition to our three.

**********

Knock Knock.

We stood outside the big oak door awaiting the person on the other side. Malcolm's car was drunkenly parked in the driveway so we knew he was there. There was shuffling on the inside for a while until the door flew open. Malcolm stared at us with wide eyes.
"What are you three doing here?!"he whisper yelled instead of yelling to his full capability. We also noticed that he kept glancing behind him in the house.

Weird.

"Where's Tori?"Vaughan asked.
"She's not here."Malcolm answered back.
"That's bullshit Malcolm. I know she's here."I attempted to push open the door wider only for Malcolm to stop me, closing it more.
"You guys need to leave. Now."he pressed, hoping we'll give up.
"No. Not until you tell us where Tori is."Micheal spoke up. Malcolm only sighed.

He seems different today.

"Stay right here."he whispered before he quickly went into the house. Shortly after he emerged with a pen and notepad. We saw him scribble something down, then flipped it around to show us what he wrote.

He's listening.

Just like that, those two words made all our faces pale.
"What do you mean by h-"Micheal got cut off when Vaughan covered his mouth. Malcolm then scribbled something else on the paper.

Meet me at the coffee shop down street in five minutes. We'll talk there.

We simply nodded our heads as a reply. Malcolm closed the door after and that was our cue to go to my car and drive away.

************

We were waiting in the coffee shop for nearly half a hour before Malcolm finally showed up. When he spotted us in a secluded area at the far back of the shop, he made his way over to us. We wasted no time before we bombarded him with questions.
"Where's Tori?"Me
"Who's listening?"Vaughan
"How is he listening?"Micheal
Malcolm just blinked at us, staring blankly. He did that for awhile until he finally decided to speak.
"To answer your questions, one, I honestly don't know, two, he's listening and thirdly, he planted listening devices all over my house, saying that I might become weak and tattle."
We didn't know how to respond to this information so we simply stared back at him. I decided to break the silence.
"Why are you telling us all of this? Aren't we suppose to be at each other's throats right about now?"I raised an eyebrow.
"Look, Elijah, I know I've done alot of bad things in the past, causing most of you to hate me, but just know this, I had no choice. Everywhere I turned he would be there. There was just no escaping."he sighed.
"So let me guess, he told you to kill Tori's mother."
His eyes snapped to mine when I said that, a million emotions flickering through them.
"You know about that?"
"Tori told me."I responded.
"Elijah, when he told me I had to kill Tori's mother, I was devastated. I loved her. I still do. I couldn't find the courage to do it. I even tried cheating as a means to stop loving her, but it didn't work, she was fixed in my heart. When she noticed the change in my behavior, she questioned it, so I told her everything. That's how we came up with a plan. Make a video of her begging for mercy and another of me pointing the gun and pulling the trigger. After, we would merge them together and get some professionals to finish it up, making the end product look like the bullet was lodged between her eyes. Showing him this would be the only way he would think she was dead."
By the time he was done, we were all wide eyed, frozen. Michael was the first to recover out of all of us, asking,
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that Tori's mother is alive."Malcolm might just have took our breaths away.
"She's living on the other side of town, near the boxing arena. She has a disguise, fake name and everything."he continued.
"I dont know how to process this information."I said, rubbing my temples.
"So does she know that Tori's missing?"Vaughan spoke after.
"I honestly don't know. I think she's living in fear, in fear of him."Malcolm responded, getting up from his seat. He was about to walk away but before he did, he turned around to face us.
"I can tell you this though Elijah, Tori's close, closer than you'll expect."
He then left, leaving us staring at his disappearing figure, mouth agape.

AN: Hey! Chapter 19. How was this? I'm sad to say this but Better With You is slowly coming to an end. Dont know how much chapters are left but it won't be alot. Did you guys figure out who unknown is as yet? Malcolm actually being nice? Tori's mother being alive!? You guys are up for a ride, so fasten your seatbelts. Remember to vote and share.
Yours truly,
Gea.