Welcome to my newest story, this is the prolog and sets the scene for chapter one, which will be up on Sunday. I'm going to update this story twice a week until I have all chapters written and can upload daily.
It Happened That Night
Prolog
When I was ten and my parents told me that we would move away from Montesano I didn't want to leave. I was afraid to lose all of my friends, my home and everything that I knew. I thought about running away to make them stay, but was too scared to go through with it. What I didn't know at the time was that by moving to Bellevue I would find true friends that over the years have become a second family to me.
On the first day we moved into our home I met the boy next door, Christian Grey. He was almost twelve at the time and we instantly had a connection. He introduced me to his brother Elliot, who was the same age as him, though they are not twins but both adopted, just like their sister Mia who soon became my friend too along with her best friend Kate.
For the next almost six years the five of us have been inseparable. There was nothing we didn't do together and especially Christian and I have become really close, so much so, that our families used to joke that by the end of high school we would be engaged and ready to start our own family before the end of college.
The truth though is very different. Christian and I never even dated, we've never been more than friends… until that night. The night I lost my virginity to him. I had never even dared to hope that Christian would feel the same way about me as I felt about him, but that night, on our last camping trip before school would start again, he asked me to take a walk with him, while the rest of our group was ready to go to bed.
It wasn't an unusual request. Christian was always a bit of a loner, just a person who felt most comfortable talking in a one on one situation and not with others within earshot. So, we strolled down the small path to the lake in comfortable silence and sat down on the small dock.
We talked for a while and he told me how excited he was about starting senior year and going to college next year. In hindsight, I feel that he was hiding something, that he took me there to talk about something completely different but changed his mind last second. Then suddenly he said we should return to the others, he got up, held his hand out to me and pulled me to my feet, but instead of letting my hand go he pulled me close to him and just looked at me for the longest time.
I remember not daring to say a word, too scared that I would ruin this moment and then he leaned in and kissed me. Even as inexperienced as I was I knew two things. One there was desperation in the way he kissed me and two neither of us would be able to stop.
And we didn't we made love in the soft grass by the lake and then just laid there, me cuddled up against him, while he was absentmindedly playing with my hair. I wish I would have remained silent, maybe we would have just stayed there all night and nothing would have happened… but instead I asked what he was thinking about and with that, the moment was ruined. He sat up, shook his head and got up.
"Come, I don't want you to catch a cold. Let's get you dressed." He said and started to collect our clothes.
I dressed in silence, unsure of what to think about what just happened and also scared to death that it ruined our friendship. Once we were both dressed we walked in silence back to the tents.
"Christian… please say something… I mean what happened between us it didn't ruin our friendship, did it?" I finally asked and he cupped my face in his hands and smiled down at me.
"There is nothing in this world that could make me feel any different about you, Ana. You have been the most important person in my life from the first time we met and you always will be the most important person in my life… don't ever forget that, okay and I promise you I will always be there when you really need me." He said and kissed me.
"Time for you to go to bed, it has been a long day." He then said with a smile and I smiled up at him.
"Goodnight Christian." I replied with a smile and went to my tent, but stopped turned around and jumped into his arms once more making him laugh.
"Sorry, but I wanted to do this for so long, I couldn't help myself." I giggled and kissed him again before I let go of him and got onto my tiptoes to whisper into his ear:
"You are the most important person in my life too if there is really something like people being soulmates I'm glad I found mine when I met you." And with that, I hurried to my tent and got in between Kate and Mia who were already fast asleep. I remember falling asleep with a smile on my face that night, not knowing that once I would wake up in the morning, nothing would be as it was… and it never would be again…
When I woke up the next morning we found Elliot walking towards us from the small path that led to the lake near our campsite. He asked if anyone of us had seen Christian. Of course, none of us had, so we all tried to find him, we looked everywhere and we couldn't even call him, because he left his phone. After three hours we called our parents, who came immediately, but even with their help, we couldn't find him. Around afternoon park rangers and the police had been alerted and were searching the area we chose for our camping trip.
Divers had been called to search the lake for him and policemen with dogs ran around everywhere to find even the tiniest hint of him. Each of us had been questioned by the police. As it turned out, I was the last to see him alive, because Elliot was asleep before we returned. I told them everything, eager to help find Christian and way too innocent to believe that I would become a suspect.
But that was exactly what happened. The police believed that we had sex, he told me it didn't mean anything to him and I killed him in a fit of rage. Since there was no proof to actually put me through a trial I just remained a suspect but was never arrested.
For the first few weeks, the police kept looking for him. One time a body was found, but it turned out it wasn't Christian. During that time my friendship with his siblings and Kate crumbled. They wanted to move on, but I couldn't. No, I needed to know what happened to Christian, I went to the police station every day asking them if they had found a new lead, but it wasn't until the Detective assigned to the case told me that they would close the case until further evidence had been found that I broke down and completely lost it.
I just couldn't understand why they would do that, after just two months and it nearly cost me my sanity. I broke down so completely at the police station that I had to be hospitalized. On the second night there I dreamt of Christian. He was touching my cheek, looking at me with a sad smile.
"Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but you have to stop, Ana. I want you to be happy again and when the time is right we will meet again. Until then you have to live for both of us." He said gave me a gentle kiss and held my hand until I went back to sleep.
When I woke up the next time I cried because I felt like this was our final goodbye and part of me hoped to wake up and find Christian still sitting in the chair next to my bed.
My parents really worried about me and decided that it was best for me to leave Bellevue so I wouldn't be constantly reminded of Christian. I didn't want to leave, but at the age of sixteen I had no say in it and so I was shipped off to live with my aunt Rebecca and her family in Boston.
In some ways it really helped me, I made new friends, finished school and went on to attend college at Harvard. In all those years, Christian has remained a constant in my life. I know his family believes he is dead, they even held a memorial service for him and visit his empty grave at the cemetery. I, on the other hand, don't believe he is dead, I just can't. Not without any proof.
I haven't been back to Bellevue, my parents made sure to visit me in Boston for the holidays and my birthday, so I wouldn't have to return. Now, however, I will return and not alone. My friends Lisa, Siobhan and Nick all know about Christian and they also know that I will never be able to fully move on with my life until I know what happened to him.
So, I have eight weeks to find answers and more so, I want to know the truth. His family may have given up hope, but I haven't and that is why I will find him. Either I'll find out that he for whatever reasons decided to leave his old life behind or I will find his body and murderer. Because I know I will never be able to move on with my life until I know what happened that night…
Let me know what you think so far...