Chapter Eight
The girls all smiled and some even found the energy to high-five each other.
Olivia wandered over to help Ellie from where she sat, breathing heavily on the practice mat. "That was brutal but I agree with the coach. We were on fire. I couldn't believe how you flew today."
Ellie accepted Olivia's hand and climbed to her feet.
"Your tumbling was pretty sensational too Liv" she smiled in return.
Simone wandered past, her round firm breasts straining to burst through her small white top. She had let her blonde hair loose from the tight ponytail she had been wearing and her hair hung about her shoulders. She gave each of the girls a congratulatory pat on the back before adding,
"Awesome Ellie but try not to let anything distract you!" she warned, turning to look to the top of the office stairs. Ellie turned towards the metal stairs and noted that Melissa was still standing there. She had watched the whole session and, when she saw Ellie look up, she smiled and waved.
Olivia and Simone shared a questioning look and Ellie used the distraction to give Melissa a signal to go back into her office. Melissa puckered her lips into a brief little kiss and then reluctantly went back into her room.
"That was weird?!" Olivia stated, looking up after her.
"I know right! I've never seen her without a scowl. She almost looked kind of pretty." Simone added.
There was an uncomfortable pause and the girls looked again at Ellie.
"Definitely weird...," Ellie stammered, feeling her face going red under the scrutiny of her friend's gaze, "Anyway, aren't we going to your place for dinner Liv?"
"Yes, we are! See ya Sim." Liv hugged Simone, snatched up her bag and hooked her arm around Ellie's to pull her along toward the Gym exit.
The girls said a few more goodbyes to Libby and Lucy on their way to the door before pushing it open. They were greeted with a blast of cold wind.
The girls huddled together for protection against the elements. Olivia's ravishing mother stood only a few meters away, a full-length white coat wrapped around her hourglass frame, her raven black hair blowing in the wind. She stood before the same Cadillac as Ellie had travelled in with Olivia many times in the past.
As they approached Frankie moved from behind the car to open the back door for them. She realised she hadn't seen Liv's old driver Frankie in weeks.
Ellie pulled up and let go of Olivia.
"Oh shit! I forgot my school bag. I'll be back in a minute."
She turned to race back.
"Wait. Give me your Cheer Bag" Olivia urged, taking Ellie's bag from off her shoulder, "Hurry up! Mum doesn't like waiting."
Ellie raced back inside and searched around the locker area until she found her school bag. It was tucked behind someone's top they'd left behind. She scooped it up and went to leave but then remembered how cold it was outside, so she stopped and took out her jacket and put it on. She then zipped her bag back up and raced back out into the wind.
The Black Cadillac was already leaving! Ellie chased after it waving her hands and yelling out for them to wait, confused they would go without her. The car paused when it reached the end of the carpark and Ellie was able to race closer.
Olivia was looking out the back window, a terrified expression masked her features. She waved her arms and seemed to be crying out for help. Ellie raced forward but then the car broke out into the traffic and, just like that, her friend was gone. Lost in a weaving sea of cars.
Ellie stood in the middle of the carpark in complete shock and confusion for what must have been minutes. The wind whistled about her bare legs and her nose began to run as she tried to make sense of what just happened. It wasn't until a horn tooted her from behind that she finally broke out of her fear-clouded introspection.
She turned, her eyes blurry from tears. She hadn't even realised that she had been crying.
Libby had stepped out of her car, the engine still running.
"Are you ok El?"
Libby approached carefully as if she had just found a startled, hurt animal.
"I...Olivia...something is wrong. I was meant to go to Liv's house with her but the car left without me," the words began to tumble out.
"Maybe they just..." Libby started, reaching a reassuring hand out to touch her shoulder but Ellie shrugged it off.
"No, Libby! Olivia is in trouble! I saw her face. She was terrified. She tried to cry out to me for help. She needs help. We need to help. How can we help!!!" Ellie implored, grabbing Libby with two hands and staring into her eyes with desperation.
Libby stood silent for a moment digesting the information while she absentmindedly played with her long plait.
"Maybe we call someone?"
"Yes! I'll call my Dad," she exclaimed, slinging her bag from her shoulder and already searching through it.
She stopped abruptly and a look of dismay took over from one of hope she had had only a second before.
"No, no, no!"
"What's wrong?" Libby asked
"My phone! I left my phone in my Cheer Bag that Olivia took with her!"
Both the girl's shoulders slumped and Ellie put her face in her hands.
Suddenly, Libby sparked up.
"I've got my phone though. We can use Snapchat to track Liv's phone!!!"
Libby fished out her phone from her bag and the girls frantically fumbled through the screens until they found what they had been looking for.
"There she is! Going through Greensborough. Come on!"
Both the girls leapt into Libby's green mini and took off. Ellie clutched Libby's phone like it was a life raft, her eyes glued to the map on the screen as she tracked Olivia's movements.
"Should we call the police?!" Libby implored while switching lanes on the bypass.
"No. Liv said never to involve the police when it came to her family"
Libby raised an eyebrow but didn't question the comment further.
"I'm going to message Daddy though! Is that ok?"
Libby nodded, turning off the Bypass and heading north.
"I'll tell him to find me using Snapchat too but I don't think he's great with these sort of things"
Libby nodded and Ellie quickly sent Jarrod a message and a small list of instructions. Hopefully, he made sense of it but Ellie didn't hold out much hope.
The trail led them past the lush hilly outskirts of the city and into the forest-blanketed mountains. In the darkness of the early hours of the morning, the phone signal cut out.
The girls were bouncing up a dirt road by this stage with only the star-spotted sky and ghost gums for company. It was difficult to see beyond the illumination of the headlights and Ellie began to fear they were going to drive off the side of the mountain, never to be heard from again. She was just giving up hope of finding her friend when they saw the Cadillac.
"There! Over there! See it?! That's the car she was in. Pull up here."
Libby pulled the car to the side of the road and the girls quietly crept out. Ellie found a fallen branch next to the road and held it before her in two hands like a sword. Libby snuck behind her.
They neared the car. It was pitch black inside but the car boot was wide open, shining a small amount of light out. The girls started searching there. Inside was almost completely empty except for some rope, tape and...was that blood?! Ellie pointed her stick at the red stains and Libby's eyes widened further.
The girls crouched down again and crept around the side of the vehicle. Anyone could be lurking inside, ready to pounce. Ellie and Libby shuffled over to the nearest window and slowly rose to peer inside.
Nothing. No one was there. Both girls let out a little sigh of relief. But where was Liv?!
Ellie scanned the back seat for clues and saw her bag stuffed halfway beneath the driver's seat.
"I hear something," Libby whispered in her ear, "Voices. Over there." She pointed into the forest, where the road ended.
The girls crept through the tree ferns and underbrush, along a thin trail towards the sounds. Ellie found the going tough with the branch in hand so reluctantly left it on the trail before moving into the undergrowth. The girl's progress was agonisingly slow as they were at pains not to step on any fallen twigs or dried fern leaves that could give them away.
The trail ended in a small clearing with an old picnic table and a blazing wood fire that filled the area with dancing shadows. Beyond the clearing was a small precipice and lookout. A broken fence left nothing between the viewer and the thousand-foot drop beyond. With the help of the faint light of the moon and stars above, Ellie and Libby could just make out the dark silhouettes of the distant mounts. The thing that drew their attention immediately though, was a man, pointing a gun at two figures. One had to be Olivia.
Ellie led Libby off the trail and further into the thick shrub. Ellie carefully inched her way around the perimeter of the firelight, stepping around and over twigs and brittle bark that could disastrously herald their arrival. Eventually, they found a place to hide, sandwiched between two tree ferns. The fronds curved low over them to shield them further.
