Chapter 18 | Warrant

Callie's POV

Everything seemed to have calmed down since Katherine had left for Boston, leaving with us the burden of everyone potentially being watched.

It seemed everyone had grown too comfortable with the plan while Stefan was alive, none of us knew how to act now that he was dead and buried. Her words had left everyone on edge, some worse than others. Out of the five of us, it was Chad and Melanie I worried about the most.

Melanie hadn't left her house since we all parted ways that day, not even to go to work. She spent her days in bed, wandering aimlessly out of her bedroom window. Some days when I had went to check on her, she hadn't switched positions since the day before. She had chewed her nails down to the nubs, and her skin grew pale from the lack of sunlight. Her hair was falling out by the clumps from the amount of stress she was under. I watched her tug and pull at her hair by the roots while she sobbed, only to rip out mounds of hair. Shockingly, she wasn't beginning to bald. The under parts of her eyes had blackened, and they were always bloodshot and puffy.

The once bubbly Melanie had swallowed herself into her own deep hole, and became her biggest enemy.

Since we had started dating, Chad and I had become almost inseparable. Where you would see me, Chad would always follow closely behind. When Katherine paid us a visit Chad shut down. He was never around anymore, except at nights when he came to bed. His muscles were now swole from the amount of time he was now spending at the gym, and a new hole was blown into my wall every night when his temper would flare. The only thing that would calm Chad was the idea that in a few short months I would be bringing another human being into our lives, despite the child not being his he was wanting to be a father.

∞∞∞

"I couldn't ask that of you, this is your best friend's child. I wanted him to step up," I stirred the sugar into my cup of tea as I felt Chad's gaze studying me.

He bit his lip seductively before returning his mouth to his coffee, "He won't step up, he's not man enough to face his problems. You saw how he treated you when you asked him to talk about it, he ignored it. He told you to rid him of your life and demanded you to leave him out of it. I'm not offering to be the baby's father, but being with you I feel it as an obligation to step up. Let me be there for you."

I rested one of my hands on his that was placed on the table, and soaked his generosity in. I knew he meant well, and I wanted to let him.

Emotionally I wanted to invest myself and time into someone other than Stefan. I wanted to know what it felt like to have the unconditional love Chad was offering, though I knew of his past. I knew about the no girlfriend rule he had in college, a different female every night and sending her home with a 'shacker shirt.' I failed to see the good he saw within me, but since the first night he had always stuck around. He wasn't the same guy he was in college, they were polar opposites. Instead he was opening car doors for me, toting around my handbag without me asking him to, and waiting at the door wondering whether or not he should leave you with a goodnight kiss. He was poetic and genuine, you would have thought the man in college was nothing more than his evil twin.

My gaze had sunk into him, I couldn't help but find myself lost in those eyes of his. His perfectly white smile, the perfect round shape of his nose, his sharp cheekbones, and the slickness of his hair. He was damn near perfect, something you'd cut out of a magazine only to hang in your locker. Every girl's definition of 'Prince Charming' molded into one human creature. He, luckily, was seated in front of me. His scope aimed closely on me.

He gently tapped my foot with his, breaking me from my thoughts.

A wide grinned smile swept across his face, "What do you say?"

We had remained there staring at each other, speechless, for a few minutes now. Something we seemed to do often, getting lost in each other's eyes and breaking the conversation. I felt the flutters in my stomach, reminding me of the conversation at hand.

I brushed the hair from my face and gently picked up my cup of tea, "If you're in this, there's no backing out. No matter how hard things may seem, you cannot back out. I won't ask you for a penny, I emotionally want your devotion."

He nodded his head signaling his understanding, "I would kill for you Callie. I'm in this for the long run."

∞∞∞

Things were simpler then, I didn't feel as alone as I did now. My friend wasn't sucked into her own manmade black hole, and my boyfriend hadn't completely reached the brink of insanity. Most important of all, nobody was dead. Benji was still alive and Stefan wasn't ten feet deep in a hole specifically dug by everyone around us. Everyone was innocent, and our world's weren't slowly crashing down.

Chad silently closed the door behind him, mentally he must have thought I was asleep instead of cleaning the kitchen later than usual. He put his gym bag in it's usual corner by the fireplace and seated himself by the sofa.

"You're here earlier than usual," I watched as he jumped out of fright from the sound of my voice. I walked over to him placing my hands on his shoulders, and gently kissing the arch in his neck, "I've missed you like crazy, we're both out of sync lately. I don't want that. You're stressed and tense."

I began rubbing deep into his shoulders and shoulder blades, watching as he brought his gaze up onto the ceiling letting out a few quiet moans. His fingers intertwined with mine and he pulled me close to seat me in his lap facing him. He caressed my face into his palms and brought my lips to his, the kiss felt more passionate than our very first one. Fireworks going off like the fourth of July, our bodies more compatible than they had ever been.

A knock at the door drew us away from each other. I stared into Chad's eyes waiting for him to give me a signal as to who it could've been, but he gave me nothing.

My heart began to race with anticipation as Chad lifted me from his lap and onto the couch, "Just stay here."

I could tell by the tone in his voice that he was nervous, his footsteps were unsteady and a look of horror swept his face as he looked into the peephole and back at me.

"Seattle Police Department, if someone is in there please make yourself known," a familiar tone chimed from the other side of the door.

I could feel my heart beating in my chest, I could hear it louder than it had ever been.

Nobody knew Chad was staying with me, not a soul. My mind was rushing around why they would be here, and my thoughts immediately rushed towards Katherine. The police had their sights on someone, what if that someone was me?

"You have to answer the door," I whispered to Chad who's stance had remained strong, "They aren't going to leave, I'm sure just being here they will bust down the door if they have to."

I squeezed his bicep trying to reassure him that everything would be alright, but the uncertainty stuck like glue.

Tears began filling his eyes and I felt him tremble with fear as he began reaching for the knob, deep down he knew I was right. It was give up willingly, or watch everything unfold horrifically.

As he pulled the door open, he gently ushered me behind him and on the other side of the door. Shielding me from eye range of the police.

I heard the familiar tone belonging to Detective Massey grunt as he began to speak, "Is Callie Mitchell here?" I heard Chad rustling with a piece of paper, "We have a warrant for her arrest."

"There has to be some kind of mistake," Chad's trembling voice signified the tears that were escaping from his eyes.

I wanted to grab ahold of him, pull him close for our last few moments together, but my intuition said for me to stay back. Stay hidden.

Chad slightly pulled the door closed, embedding himself between the door and the doorway. Creating more space between him and I.

"Callie moved a couple of weeks ago, she went to stay with her family," his lie made my skin crawl.

The grunt that escaped from Massey showed he wasn't falling for it, "Mr. Duncan we have had people watching this apartment, we know about yours and Callie's relationship. We have reason to believe Callie is behind the disappearance of your best friend. You could be charged with aiding and abetting of a criminal if you choose not to surrender Callie this instant."

Chad's arm tried to hold me back, but I couldn't let him catch unnecessary charges when there was nothing to worry about. My eyes met Detective Massey, his arms folded across his chest as he smiled pleasingly at the sight of my presence.

"She's pregnant," Chad cried out behind his uncontrollable tears.

Detective Massey spun me around to have my back facing him placing the cold steel handcuffs around my wrist. As I heard each side click his voice near shouted, "Callie Mitchell you are under arrest in the connection of the disappearance of Stefan Monroe. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to a lawyer and have him or her present while you are being questioned. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning if you wish. You can decide at any time to exercise these rights and not answer any of these questions or make any statements. Do you understand the charges that you are being held accountable for?"

I reluctantly nodded my head as he ushered me out of my doorway and into the corridor of my apartment building. The walk to the exit seemed to go on for miles, and I wanted to wake up. It had to be a nightmare. My worst nightmare come true.