Cassie’s POV
I’d already gotten home and Kate still wasn’t back. I was nervous, genuinely losing it a little.
Where the fuck would she even be? Is she safe? These questions ran through my mind.
Should I call her dad? Ask Alex? Had something happened to her.. trouble, an accident, worse?
The questions kept looping. Calling her father felt like the only real option left.
My hand shook but I dialed his number anyway.
It rang once, twice, and on the third ring he picked up.
"Who is this?" His voice was flat, unfriendly.
"Cassie, sir." My voice trembled. "Kate’s friend."
"Okay, Cassie. Is there any problem? Hope everything is fine."
I didn’t know how to phrase it, how to ask if his only daughter was with him, or tell him she hadn’t come home since yesterday.
"...Sir, is Kate with you?" I stammered.
"No. Is something wrong? Where’s Kate?" His tone shifted instantly... angry and afraid at once.
"I’ve been trying to reach her, but I can’t get through. I thought maybe she was avoiding my calls because of Dylan. Is she okay?" Her dad asked.
"I haven’t been able to reach her either. I assumed she was with you."
"Oh my god. Security!" He shouted, then hung up on me without another word.
She wasn’t with her dad. So where was she?
Alex.
I tried his number too. Straight to voicemail. At this point I knew, without question, something was genuinely wrong.
(Doorbell rings.)
I ran to answer it, hoping it was Kate. Instead I found a group of security men probably sent by her father.
"We’re here looking for Kate Winswood," one of the men said.
"She’s not here. I haven’t seen her since yesterday."
"We need to search the property."
I let out a bitter laugh. "Seriously?" I said, stunned. "She’s not here. She could be literally anywhere.. in actual danger and you’re here searching the house."
"Ma’am, we still need to confirm. Excuse me." He pushed past me into the house without waiting for permission.
I stood there, watching them waste precious minutes. I couldn’t just stand around, so I rushed to the police station to report her missing.
"Has it been 24 hours since she went missing?" one of the officers asked.
"No, but she could be in real danger.. kidnapped, hurt, anything. Please, I need your help." Tears streamed down my face as I said it.
"Ma’am, you have to wait the full 24 hours before we can file a missing persons report. That’s protocol."
I left the station in a daze, aware of people staring at me like I’d lost my mind.
Alex. I need to check his place.
An hour later I was standing outside his door. Locked. I tried forcing it, shoving, until it finally gave way. Empty inside, it was completely empty.
I pushed further into his bedroom. Nothing. No sign he’d even been home recently, and nothing that suggested Kate had ever been there either.
I broke down right there, sobbing. Where the hell is she? I checked the kitchen, no one, but the stove was still warm. Someone had been here, and not long ago.
I checked the bathroom next. Nothing. I was completely drained at this point. I slid down against the wall, tears burning, out of ideas. I’d already tried her father’s office yet nothing there either. She hadn’t shown up to work.
There was nowhere left. Something was seriously wrong. Then my eyes landed on a door across from where I sat — one I’d already tried earlier and couldn’t open. This time I noticed footprints leading right up to it.
I went back to it, pushed, shoved. Locked from the inside. Someone was in there.
I tried again — pushing, kicking, throwing my whole body against it. Nothing. I scanned the room for anything I could use to force the handle open.
Back in the kitchen, I spotted an axe leaning near the door. I grabbed it and ran back.
The first swing at the handle didn’t do anything.. the axe was heavier than I expected.. but I kept going, hitting it as hard as I physically could.
Eventually the door gave. I dropped the axe and stepped into the dark room, no idea what I was walking into. No plan. Just instinct.
I was terrified, and somehow brave at the same time — I couldn’t tell you where that bravery came from, except that when it came to Kate, I’d do anything.
The hallway grew brighter the further I went — some kind of hidden passage, or a basement, I couldn’t tell. Whatever it was, it felt deeply wrong. Why would he have something like this in his own home?
Fear settled into my chest the moment I saw the pictures lining the walls — him and Kate, over and over, with TOGETHER FOREVER scrawled across them in thick, deliberate letters. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. More photos of her, candles arranged around each one like some kind of shrine. Was this obsession? A fixation? Whatever it was, it was deeply, unmistakably unwell.
Then my stomach dropped completely.. a huge painting of me, rendered like a villain, something out of a twisted fairy tale, a thick red X slashed across my face.
I froze, unsure whether to keep going or turn back and get real help. But something pulled me forward anyway, and that’s when I found Kate, tied up in the center of the room, surrounded by candles.
"Oh my god." I ran to her, pulling her into a tight hug before working to peel the tape off her mouth.
"Cassie." She sobbed. "You need to hide — he could be back any second."
"No. I’m not leaving you here with that psychopath." I fought to loosen the ropes around her wrists.
"Cassie, watch ou—"
She never finished. Something slammed into the back of my head, and everything blurred at once. I fought to stay conscious, but it was no use.
Then nothing.