Chapter 4 Conversations

Julian POV

I called Sam to meet me at his school. I gave a weird hint why, but nothing telling him the exact reason. He showed up right on time, what was even weirder because Sam was always late.

'Meet me at the place where we saw Shelly last.' Sam said, reading my weird text out loud. 'What is going on Jule?'

I took a minute to say all the things I needed to say inside my head. Sam may be my boyfriend, but I couldn't tell him that Shelly was my cousin. No one is supposed to know. 'My aunt Kendra is a founder of the San Fransisco Orphanage. That is how I know Shelly. She came to our house once or twice last summer.'

'Wait, Shelly said she only had a mother. She said her father died.' Sam had all kind of confusion in his eyes. Seemed like Shelly also lied to him.

'No, her mother died three years ago. That is when she came to the orphanage.' Sam didn't ask anything about that. He was way to quiet. I swallowed hard. This was the hard part. 'Shelly didn't come back after the party. She is official missing.'

'What?!' Sam screamed. He actually screamed at me. 'And you're telling me now? Is that why you were ignoring me since Friday? Where you looking for her?' Shit. I didn't even think about that. I was so busy feeling sorry and guilty for myself, for my stupid mistake, I didn't even think about searching for her. Oh god, I'm so selfish.

'I was kind of hoping you could help me.' I ignored his question about the searching and ignoring part. 'Do you know if she has any friends? Maybe she went to their house after the party?'

'Shelly doesn't have many friends. She has one best friend. We can try her. But I don't think she is there. If Shelly is really missing, she must have had an accident. There is no way she ran away like that. She didn't wear a jacket when we saw her last, remember?'

'So what do you think?' I asked.

Sam frowned for a second. His dark brown eyes were conflicted with emotions. I know I messed up. With him and with Shelly. Even if I was feeling sorry for Shelly, I was only thinking about myself. Not anymore. Not until she was safe at home. 'I think she may have had an accident or she is hiding somewhere.'

'Why would she be hiding?' It didn't make sense to me.

'Okay, you didn't hear it from me and if you would ask her, she will deny it too. I don't think Shelly is who she says she is. Shelly is hiding something and I think it has something to do with her family and with the clothes she always wears.'

'What? Why? What do you mean?' I had to give it to him. Sam was smart and on the right track. But what does he mean with her clothes?

'Have you ever noticed Shelly only wears long sleeve clothes, even if it's hot outside? It's weird. So, I googled her symptoms. I cam on a website on how to recognize when someone is getting abused. Not wanting to be touched, being quiet and wearing long clothes where on the list. I love the girl, but I can't shake the feeling that is something off about her family story. I think she is hiding she got abused in her past.'

'I-I, I think I need to call my father.' I jumped back on my scooter and rode away without even saying goodbye to Sam. There was no way that could be right. Shelly was just different. Or was Sam right? What if she really got abused? Why would anyone try to hurt her and who? Was it because Shelly was mentally not stable? I started to question everything I knew about her. What if her mental instability was also made up? Fuck. This is so messed up.

Shelly POV

I woke up again, but this time I was in another room, all by myself. My IV and heart monitor where back in place and felt they have given me some medication to keep me calm. I really didn't want to talk with the police. I already done that twice in my life. The first time they simple laughed in my face, telling me I made a stupid joke. Who would believe that I was the hidden daughter of the reality star and fashion icoon Kendra Weekland and got abused by Hotel and Casino owner Jack Weekland? They were just people who were loved by so many. There was no way they could hit a little girl like me.

The second time I told the police I was hit by my uncle. I had a black eye and a split lip. There was no way they could deny it, but then I was brought to officer Ben. He said he had to call someone and came back with my uncle. He even suggested to lock me up for a night, to learn my lesson. A stupid mistake. I was locked up that night and didn't sleep at all and the next day my aunt came to pick me up and brought me to my uncle's office at work where he had beaten the shit out of me. I learned my lesson that day. Never talk to the police.

I pulled out my IV again and shut the heart monitor off. The clip on my finger I pulled off too and slowly moved my legs to the side of the bed. When I looked down I noticed I wasn't wearing any pants, only a long hospital gown and a white long sleeve t-shirt. I was grateful for the t-shirt. I wouldn't want anyone to see my scars. I had a bandage on my left thigh. I had a piece of red glass sticking in my leg that almost caused me to bleed out to death. Red glass. Like in the broken lamp of my bike? Or was it from the car? My feet slowly touched the ground. I hissed in pain. Standing on my left leg wasn't an option. Hopping on my right leg and sometimes on my left tippy toe, I came to the door. I opened it and came face to face with officer Ben. Was he waiting for me?

He was just as shocked as I was. He didn't know I was here. That could mean he didn't call Jack either. 'Get back in the room Shelly.' He said with a strict voice.

I shook my head and hopped into the hallway. Ben sighed and walked behind me. He probably was going to call Jack now. This was bad. This was so bad. I had to get away.

'Get back yourself now, or I will carry you. You are in no condition of making it out of here. You can't even walk.'

'I can and I will.' I whispered. When Ben grabbed my arm, I thought my escape plan was coming to an end. There was no way I would make it. But the words he spoke to me were probably the last thing I expected to hear.

'Shelly, please stop. I don't want to hurt you.' He whispered. 'I saw your case file. The doctor wrote you have scars on every part of you body. When you came to me four years ago, did you tell the truth? Were you really being abused by your uncle? Is it still happening?'

'You remembered what I told you?' I regret asking him the moment I opened my mouth. He looked at me with pity.

'I couldn't forget it for the last four years. You were so scared when Jack came and helped me lock you up. Did Jack do this to you? Is he your uncle?'

'No and no. I was hit by a car.' I looked through the hall for a way to get out of here. I noticed a sign for the stairs a few doors back.

'I haven't called him.' I looked at him surprised. He didn't call Jack and he knew I was here all along. 'Can I bring you to my house? My wife Tanya doesn't know Jack. She will take care of you.'

'He will find me.'

'I can handle Jack.'

I found myself in the car with Ben minutes later. He had to carry me because I couldn't walk anymore. He lived in a small house close to my school. The houses were old on the outside, but when he brought me inside, it was modern and stylish. His wife Tanya had short black hair and wasn't very thrilled he brought me home.

'What do you mean people are looking for her?' She was pacing through the kitchen.

'I just mean she wasn't safe at the hospital. I didn't help her last time and I regret it ever since.'

'You know her?' Tanya looked my way and found me watching her. I lowered my head while sitting on the couch. She talked loud and I could hear everything she said.

'She asked for my help four years ago. She told me her uncle had hit her. She had a black eye and a split lip. She told her name and I contacted her emergency person. Moments later Jack Weekland and four of his guards were in my office telling me what to do and not to tell anyone about it.'

'What did you do?'

Ben whispered loud enough for me to hear. 'I locked her up. I had to. Jack told me she was sick in the head and she was lying. His wife came to pick her up the next day. She was so scared Tanya. I read her file. She has scars all over her body. She was found on the beach, bleeding to death. She told me she was hit by a car. I don't know what happened to her, but I don't think it's the whole story.'

'Do you want me to talk to her?'

'You can try.' Ben walked back into the living room. I found a pillow to rest my head on and found me sleeping on the couch. Well, they thought I was sleeping. I just was good in pretending to be asleep. It was something I got really good in over the years. Ben left minutes later. I could hear the front door open and close. His wife kept herself busy upstairs and in the kitchen. I loved listening to her humming and fell asleep for real.

Julian POV

With the wig on my head, pared with the hat and glasses, Sam and I were standing by the door of Shelly's best friend Tia's house. It was Monday morning. It took us a while to find it. The tiny green house had a lot of weed growing in the garden and the small stairs to the door were falling apart of oldness. I didn't know this area of San Fransisco and I had no idea there were so many people living in this kind of hovels. I couldn't think of a better word to describe these houses.

A little girl with red ribbons in her dark black hair opened the door. Her dark skin and brown eyes and a wide smile were the first thing we saw. 'Hello.' she said.

'Hi.' Samuel greeted her. 'I am Sam and this is my boyfriend Julio. We were looking for Tia. Is she home?'

'She is working in the garden behind the house. Shall I call her for you?'

'We can come inside and talk to her. If you allow us to.'

'I guess.' She opened the door and let us inside. It was even smaller inside than I looked from the outside. The kitchen was in the middle of a small living room. The dining table took the whole room and left barely room for a couch and TV. I was wondering how many people lived here. Than I saw a family picture. Five. There were five persons in the picture. Two dark looking parents, the girl that let us inside, an older looking girl and a little boy. We walked to the back and stepped in a tiny yet well hidden garden. It was filled with veggies and fruit trees, a swing and a sandbox for the little ones. A dark girl was on her knees weeding an area when she noticed us. Her eyes became big and she shook her head.

'Nikoya, you know you're not allowed to open the door by yourself.' Tia stood up fast and walked her sister inside the house. 'Go to your room. Now.' The little girl did what her sister asked. 'Sam, what are you doing here? How did you find where I lived?'

'I have my ways.' Sam told her. 'Your sister is nice. You have a great garden by the way.'

'Thanks I guess. Still you didn't answer me. Why are you here Sam and who is he?' Her brown eyes found mine and for a moment I thought she recognized me from the realityshow. She kept looking at me. I didn't want to get recognized. It could make things difficult to explain how I knew Shelly. I had to keep her a secret. If the media knew it could end our career. That is why I keep my relationship with Sam a secret and that is why I sleep in my boat often. Just to get away from the camera's.

'I am Julio, Sam's boyfriend.'

'You are not from our school, not from this area and yet I think I have seen you before.' Tia said. If only she knew who I was. Who I was to Shelly.

'Shelly is missing.' Sam said.

'What do you mean Shelly is missing?' Tia walked to an old set of plastic chairs and almost fell into one. Sam and I sat on the other chairs. They looked like they could brake any second now and I was scared to sit, but I did anyways.

'She didn't come home after the party. We were wondering if you knew where she could be.' I said to her.

'No, I don't. To be honest with you, Shelly never even told me where she lived. She never talks about her family. She once told me after she broke her pinkie that her mother was so angry with her, she called her uncle and he came over to talk with her. She tried to hide in her closet but then he opened or closed the door and her pinkie was in between the door. She was really scared of her uncle.'

'I didn't know Shelly had an uncle.' Sam said. 'She told me she had only a mother.'

She told Tia she was scared of her uncle and he broke her pinkie. Was my father really hurting her? 'When did she tell you this?' I asked her.

'Maybe a year ago or something. It was probably around her birthday.'

I got lost in my thoughts again. Shelly's birthday. When was Shelly born again? I had no clue. We never celebrated her birthday for as long as I can remember. Why? I didn't know that either. There were so many things I didn't know about my own cousin. I was just about to ask when Shelly's birthday was when I got a text message.

JJ: Where are you? Dad found out Shelly was at a hospital, but someone took her. They are going to send an amber alert out, because they think she is kidnapped by a man.

My eyes widen and my hands start to shake. 'S-Sam.' I stutter. 'They are going to send an Amber alert out for Shelly. She was kidnapped from the hospital.'

'What?' Sam yelled. 'Oh God, this is bad.' He shook his head wildly. 'I knew she didn't run away. She was at the hospital, so I think she had an accident like I told you.'

He was right. She probably had an accident, but who kidnapped her? It was all so confusing. What was really going on in my family?