Forever Changed (15 page)

I hit my head pretty hard.
I tried to stand up, but my feet wouldn’t move. All I could feel was the throbbing in my head, from the impact of my body being slammed into the wall. I was dizzy, but I managed to lift my head just enough to watch, as the white light gently laid my father back on the bed and disappeared.

I passed out.

Chapter 27

             
I woke with a massive headache and to three sets of eyes watching me, Landon, my mother, and my father. They were talking, but I couldn’t make out their words. My father looked amazing, no signs of being tortured and no sign of ever being beaten. Landon had creases in his eyes with a worried cast over them. My mother was smiling at me. Why was she smiling? Why she was not worried, made me wonder more.

             
Slowly, I started focusing and I could hear what was being said, “Elizabeth, are you ok?” Landon asked in a panic, with worried eyes.

             
“Yes, I am ok. Just a little weak is all.” I said, slurring my words, like I was drunk.

             
“I am so very proud of you Elizabeth,” my father said beaming.

My mother just stood there smiling at me and I was thinking maybe she has finally cracked. Maybe with all the
stress and the anxiety was too much for her to handle. I hope not, it was hard enough dealing with a cry baby demon. I couldn’t imagine dealing with a nutcase witch.

             
I had realized that I was not lying on the floor anymore; someone had moved me to the bed. “How did the light turn white?” I asked looking at my father. They all glanced at each other with a look of worry on their faces. Then looked back at me, I couldn’t help, but think that they were passing signals between them. I hit my head pretty hard and could be wrong.

             
“Well at least I did something right. How are you feeling?” I asked looking at my father. He looked like a totally different man and I was secretly proud of myself.

             
“I feel like a new man and I have you to thank, Elizabeth.” He said in awe, his eyes shining a little brighter.

             
“Can I go to bed now? I am so terribly exhausted.” I said weakly, but managed a small smile.

             
“Yes, you need too! You need your strength for when the Dark Lord comes.” Landon responded. “I will take you to bed.” He gently lifted me in his arms of steel, walked out of the room, and headed up the stairs. I was asleep before we got to the fifth step.

                        *******

              “Do you feel better?” Landon said when I opened my eyes to his smile.

             
“Yes, yes I do. You?” I asked looking at him grinning.

             
“Better, now that you are awake. I have been going crazy without having someone to talk to, besides your mother and father. Who by the way have turned in to complete love birds.” Landon said with a look of disgust on his face.

             
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked with a little concern.

             
“Six days, 7 hours, and 15 minutes. Would you like the seconds, too?” Landon asked, looking a little snooty.

             
“Are you kidding me?” I asked in horror. “Have I really slept that long? Has anything happened? Oh no, I haven’t even had a shower. I need one now.” I didn’t give him time to reply. I got up and headed to the bathroom. Landon laughed the whole time.

                          *******

              I felt better after taking a shower and getting some food in me. Wow, six days is a long time to sleep without food. Everyone sat and chatted as I stuffed food in my mouth as quickly as I could.

             
“You better slow down girl, before you make yourself sick,” My father said with a little force behind his voice. He was right, I was not even tasting my food. I was starving, so bad that I was pretty much inhaling it.

I slowed down a bit to taste my food and actually enjoy it. I was still very pale and I knew that the food would work wonders on that. I knew
that I didn’t want to be sick; hanging over the toilet. Slowing down was a must.

             
“Yeah, keep eating like that and you’re going to turn into a cow, Elizabeth.” Landon said while laughing. I smacked him. At the exact same time I did that to him, the doorbell rang. My father got up, still laughing over Landon’s joke, to answer it.

             
“Say that again and I will dunk your head in your milk and drown you.” I screamed at Landon, through fits of laughter, while we played back and forth hitting each other.

             
Landon stopped and the look on his face had changed. He was looking past me. My mother’s laughter stopped as well. She looked in the same direction as Landon. I looked up and my father was standing in the door way leading to the dining room, with a very serious look on his face.

“What
’s ……?” I never finished that sentence. There was a person standing behind my father that I hadn’t noticed before.

When my father walked into the dining room, a police officer wal
ked into the place my father had moved from. My heart stopped, or well at least skipped a few beats.

“
Elizabeth, I am Officer Benton and I have come to ask you questions about the disappearance of Lucas Sheath.”

Chapter 28

I sat there a minute
, staring at him, my food forgotten.  What was I going to say? I didn’t kill Lucas, but I didn’t help him either. My heart was beating so fast that I thought I was going to have a heart attack, right there in front of the officer.

“Nice to meet you Officer Benton,” I said while holding my hand out to him. He walked over to the dining room table and
shook my hand. “What can I help you with?”

“Well Elizabeth, Lucas has been missing for a couple of weeks
, now and I needed to ask you questions about his disappearance.”

I had to stay calm and serious about all this. One mistake about how I play this
off will send me straight to jail. I thought back, to the day I went back to school, after he fell over the falls.  Remembering what I had said to his friends that were worried about him.

              “Well of course, you may Officer. I will tell you everything that you want to know and what I can help you with. Please have a seat and we can talk comfortably.” I smiled at him warmly.

“Elizabeth, you were the last to be seen with Lucas
, what can you tell me about after you left school with him?” Officer Benton was looking at me very seriously. I knew he was watching my emotions on my face.

“O
h, I took Lucas home as soon as we left school. I had to get home and talk to my mother.” I said looking over at her with a smile.

“Yes, this is true Officer. I had told Elizabeth to come straight home
from school because we needed to make arrangements, for when her father arrived back home.” She said looking at him sweetly. The woman couldn’t lie; she never has been able to. Now, she was protecting me by, only telling half the truth.

“
Where were you at Mr. Marcus?” Officer Benton asked while looking over at my father.

“I was away on bu
siness. I was on my way home.  My wife was going to surprise me with a homecoming party. This is Landon,” my father said with a smile motioning at Landon. “He traveled back with me; I am making him a partner at my gym. So, I wanted him to stay and try it out for a little while before he decided to take the job. Since we have plenty of room here, I just had him stay here in our home, in the guest room, instead of forking over the money for a hotel. I want him to be as comfortable as possible while he makes his decision.” He looked over at Landon. Landon nodded in agreement.

“I love it here, but I have yet made a decision on staying,” Landon said while crushing me into a million pieces.

“Well you knocked out most of my questions for me,” Officer Benton chuckled. “But I still have a few more questions for Elizabeth and then I will get out of your hair.”                           

T
his police officer was easy going and laid back. He made himself comfortable while sitting in the chair. He was slouched back a little bit and had his left foot resting on his right knee. He looked to be in his late twenties and was built as an athlete. He wore, not the usual officer uniform, but relaxed jeans and a button up polio shirt. He of course, had a holster attached to his right hip on his belt, which carried his gun. His badge was attached to his left hip.  He wore his blond hair messy and he had beautiful green eyes.  He also was wearing a wedding ring on his finger, which told me he was married. His tone, told me, that he was a pretty easy guy to get along with.

“
Elizabeth, how long had you been dating Lucas?” Officer Benton eyed me suspiciously.

“We were not really dating. He had made it look like we were because he was trying to help me.” I replied showing a little
fake sadness on my face.

“Why was he trying to help you?”

“Because I was not the most popular girl in school. Lucas was a very popular kid and we had known each other for a while. I didn’t have any friends and he thought that making it out as if we had been dating, would help me out in the friend department.” It was so easy to lie to this officer that it was scary.

“I guess you can say that, well in his mind he was probably thinking that. I few days before we put on the ‘play’ he had knocked me down playing with his guy
friends, in the hallway, causing me to drop my books and papers. He didn’t help me pick them up and I guess he felt like he owed me. I miss him though. He was a really nice guy.” I didn’t want Lucas to look like a total douche, even though that was exactly what he was. He was an awful person. He only knew how to torture and humiliate people, all while only thinking about himself.

“Did he say what he was going to do
, when you dropped him off at home?” Officer Benton asked me this, with a look of pity in his eyes. That was what I was waiting for and I breathed a little better. I baited him, hooked, and now had him. He felt sorry for me which means he really thought I was telling the truth.

I made it a point
, every day to send Lucas at least a few messages and phone calls, that away if his phone was safe when they found it, they could see that I was worried. Even pulling the phone records, they would see who called, even if they couldn’t recover his phone. I had made sure that I would be just as innocent, even though I was guilty as hell!

“Why were you not at school today, Elizabeth?” Officer Benton asked while raising an eyebrow. “The school
said you have been absent for a week.”

“I have come down with the flu. I haven’t felt like going to school. I graduate this year, but my grades are so high that I could have graduated last year. I didn’t though
because I wanted to graduate with everyone I went through each grade with. I could be sick, miss school, and it not hurt me.” I said with a weak smile.

From healing my father I looked like shit. I was pale, with dark circles under my eyes. So I know that he believed me.

“My father was actually going to call the school and just tell them I would be there for graduation and just keep me at home. I mean graduation is only a month away, but my father is going to put me to work at the gym.” I said with a smile. Officer Benton looked at my father waiting for a confirmation. My father shook his head, with a huge smile on his face. He looked like a proud father for sure.

“Well, Miss Elizabeth,” he said while standing. “I hope you feel better. Thank you for the information. We will start searching the woods and see if maybe he
has had an accident. I will be in touch if something else arises.” He said sweetly. “I suggest you go to college, you are still young. Congratulations on graduation. It’s fine I will see myself out the door.” He said as my father had stood to follow him out. He shook our hands, said goodbyes, and he walked to the door. We listened, until we heard the door shut.