Chapter Twenty-Five

In Which the World Ends

Elisa awoke Friday morning with an odd twinge of sadness. She and the rest of her class would hit the road for Steventon the next night. She’d had one of the best spring breaks ever while she’d been at Pemberley, and she didn’t want to go back to “the real world.” She’d been having fun with Darcy—and wishing they’d been able to get along like this right from the beginning.

On Friday afternoon, they had planned to walk around the grounds of the Fitzgerald estate, but a good, old-fashioned April rainstorm dashed that plan. So, the two stayed inside, walking aimlessly, just talking.

Darcy was showing Elisa the extensive family library, saying, “I don’t think it’s possible for one person to read all of these, even if they read a book a day their entire life.”

“How many have you read?” Elisa asked.

“Most of the ones in the classic fiction section—except for the ones by Kerouac. I could never get into his style. I didn’t get far in War and Peace, either, and I’ve tried at least four times. I’ve read a lot of the poetry, about half the plays… A couple nonfiction, but not many. It’s like…we have books so we can escape from reality. Why would I want to read more about it?”

Elisa laughed, a finger running over the spines of the antique books on the shelf labelled Collector’s. There were ladders and small stairwells leading to more and more shelves of books, and lots of tables and comfy seats for reading. Her father would go nuts in this place.

“What are you doing over the summer break?” Darcy asked. “I know you’ll have finals and stuff to deal with after spring break ends, but maybe we could get together after finals.”

Elisa smiled. “I’ll probably be taking a course online, but I’ll definitely be able to hang out some.”

“If it wouldn’t give you flashbacks to your stay at Netherfield Park, you’re always welcome to visit me here. I have more than enough room, and I haven’t had guests in quite a while.” She paused, quickly adding, “A-and your family is invited as well, of course.”

“Don’t let my mother hear you say that. She’d never leave. But I’d like that. It could be a fun vacation. Less expensive than Disney.”

She blushed. “I can’t promise it’ll be as fun as Disney, though. I’m not great at entertaining guests, I admit.”

“You’re doing all right.”

Darcy opened her mouth to say something else, but the ring of Elisa’s phone interrupted.

She glanced at the caller ID. “It’s Jules,” she said. “I should probably take this.”

“Go ahead.”

Elisa answered. “Hello?”

“Oh, thank God—I was worried I wouldn’t be able to reach you,” Julieta said on the other end. Her voice was high-pitched, shaking. Elisa had never heard her sound like this before. “You need to get home right away.”

“Wait, what? What happened?” Silence. “Julieta, what happened?”

“It’s Lucia.”

Elisa’s stomach twisted in on itself, visions of her baby sister lying in a hospital bed flashing through her mind. “Oh God—oh God, is she hurt?”

Darcy looked up, approaching her but saying nothing.

Julieta was audibly fighting to hold back tears.

“Vivian went out to get them some food this morning. When she got back to the hotel, all of Lulu’s stuff was gone, and she left a note. Don’t panic, I’m safe. George will look after me. Don’t know when or if I’ll be home. Love you.”

“She—she ran off?” Elisa stumbled, sitting down. Her hands were shaking. “How long has she been gone?”

“At least four hours. She’s not answering her phone, and she hasn’t posted anything on social media since early this morning. I’ve tried to call about a hundred times, but it goes straight to voicemail. She must have shut it off…”

Julieta sniffled then went on. “Vivi called the police after she called us, but they haven’t found anything, either. And—and Vivi’s aunt says she hasn’t seen her since last night. The last people to see her were the staff at the hotel—they said she returned her room key and got into a car, but they couldn’t tell who was driving. There—there was a camera outside the hotel, of course, but the footage doesn’t show the driver’s face, and the license plate isn’t visible, either.”

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Elisa trembled from head to toe, trying not to break down sobbing. “I’m coming home. I’m coming home right now. I’ll—I’ll, um, I’ll try to get a ride, and if I can’t—”

“I can get you home,” Darcy said softly.

Elisa nodded, then realized Julieta couldn’t see her. “I have a ride. I’ll text you as soon as I’m on the way. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Julieta hung up, leaving Elisa sitting there, phone still in hand, staring straight ahead. Rain continued to pelt the roof, the only sound other than her racing heartbeat.

“Elisa?” Darcy whispered. She sat down next to her and hesitantly offered her hand. Elisa took it without thinking, lacing their fingers together and squeezing tightly. They sat there for a moment, Elisa trying to keep her breathing steady, before Darcy tried asking again. “Elisa, what happened?”

“Lucia’s… Lucia, um…she…” She took a shaking breath, trying to focus on the feeling of her hand in Darcy’s. “She went down to Daytona Beach with a friend, and—and this morning, she ran off from the hotel, leaving a note to say she’s with someone named George and she doesn’t know if she’s coming home, and—and…”

Darcy frowned. “George,” she said quietly. “Not George Sedgwick?”

Elisa looked over at her, heart freezing. “You don’t think…?”

“It’d be one hell of a coincidence, but…given Wick’s history…”

“Oh no, no, no…” She pulled up Twitter on her phone. “I unfollowed him, but his privacy settings let anyone see his profile. Stupid piece of shit.”

She pulled up Wick’s profile and looked at the most recent post.

It was geotagged from Daytona Beach.

“Fuck.” Elisa dropped her phone into her lap, burying her face in her hands. “I could’ve prevented this, I should’ve fought harder to keep Lucia from going, I should’ve told her the full truth about Wick…”

“And I should’ve warned more people what he is,” Darcy said gently, rubbing Elisa’s back. “There’s a lot of could’ves and should’ves. We can’t dwell on those. We’re no good to your sister like that.”

Elisa nodded, feeling numb. “You’re right. I, um, I have to get back to the hotel and tell the prof I’m leaving…” She began to stand. Darcy followed her.

“No,” she said. “Go home now. I’ll have someone drive you from here. Give me your room key, and I’ll get your things out of your room and have them sent to you. I’ll explain everything to your professor, and you can email him when you get home.”

Elisa nodded again, following Darcy out of the library.

Five minutes later, the two girls dashed down the front steps. The rain poured down harder than ever, soaking them both as a car pulled up to whisk Elisa away.

“It’ll be all right,” Darcy said. Elisa didn’t know if she actually believed it, or if she was just trying to comfort her. She decided to go with the former.

“I… Darcy, thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me. It’s nothing.”

“No, no. It’s not nothing. It’s so far from nothing.”

Elisa hesitated, then threw her arms around Darcy, pulling her into a hug. She was surprised but reciprocated. For a brief second, they stood there, holding each other, and time stopped. For just a moment, all the panicked noise in Elisa’s head went quiet, leaving her with only the patter of the rain hitting the sidewalk and the sound of their breathing. Finally, they pulled away, tears escaping Elisa, at last.

“You better get going,” Darcy said softly. “You’re already soaked to the skin.”

“Yeah, yeah, I… I know.”

She took a step back, wiping her eyes to no avail.

She almost said, “Come with me.”

Instead, she said, “It’s crazy.”

“What is?”

“This whole thing. Lucia, Wick…you and me.”

“You and me?”

“I can’t believe how wrong I was about you.”

Darcy smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She just said, “Go. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me. I’m here for you.”

If she’d said anything else, Elisa definitely would’ve burst into tears on the spot. So she just nodded, before getting into the car. Water dripping from her clothes and onto the fine leather seat, she turned to gaze out the window as the engine revved. The driver, having been told it was urgent, peeled away from the house, and Darcy disappeared from view within a minute. The last Elisa saw of her, she stood out on the sidewalk in front of the estate, completely drenched and shivering, brown eyes watching the car speed away.

She leaned back into her seat, trying to regulate her breathing. It would do no good to panic. No good whatsoever.

She panicked anyway.