Equilibrium (Portal Chronicles Book Two)
By
Imogen Rose
Copyright © 2011 by Imogen Rose
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank my younger daughter, Lauren, for her relentless enthusiasm and encouragement, which started me off on this journey and keeps me on it. To Lauren, who keeps asking, “What happens next?” I offer this book in response. I’m also grateful to my teen, Georgia, for helping me make sure that all the ice-hockey descriptions were accurate.
I am indebted to my friend, Sue Bernstein, for editing this novel and for her patience with me. She continues to be generous, upbeat and always encouraging. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Lynn O’Dell (Red Adept Reviews), who edited this edition. I am extremely grateful to Andee Larkin and Keith Robinson for copy editing my work so carefully and to Angela Laskoff, Susan Janowski and Sarah Weiler for beta reading EQUILIBRIUM, and for their valuable criticisms and suggestions.
Thank you to all those who purchased and enjoyed PORTAL, the first book in this series. I am blown away by the enthusiastic support from all of you.
-Imogen Rose
A dreamer must dream
A storyteller must tell
I dream to tell
A STORY FOR LAUREN
Prologue
Erica Sen concentrated her attention on the group in the corner. The happy, animated voices were not what drew her in, nor was it the fascination with their striking looks. In fact, those aspects were merely distractions. Erica closed her eyes and covered her ears to block the plethora of noise from the restaurant. Now she could feel it. She could feel the intense love radiating from the table in the corner. It was so powerful that she could feel her body glow. Her mind felt like it was floating on a cloud. She felt a total sense of calm. She was at equilibrium.
“Erica, we should go. The Elders are expecting us.”
She looked up into the grey, serene eyes of Grayson Weeks and furrowed her brow. She felt a sense of foreboding.
“Erica, share,” Grayson whispered gently. He extended his right arm slowly across the table and held out his thumb. Erica reached over and touched it gently with her own and closed her eyes again. She let her thoughts flow to Grayson. It felt good to release them and share with her best friend.
Erica’s first consideration was her daughter, Simla. She had to be protected at all costs. Erica accepted that she had made a big mistake when she fell in love with a non-Wanderer. Her husband Raj’s ambitions had played havoc with their lives, turning their existence from one filled with love and calm to one of turmoil. However, their union had produced Simla. Erica loved her daughter unconditionally, even though she could be a challenge. Erica had to find a way to insulate Simla from any negative energy, or it would destroy her; it would destroy them both.
No one understood that better than Grayson. He had also married a non-Wanderer and produced a child, Justin. Unfortunately, his wife had died and left Justin with a sense of abandonment he’d never been able to cope with, especially when forced to wander with his father.
Erica’s latest project was Olivia, who had surprised her by successfully building a portal that allowed travel between time and dimensions. The creation of the portal had meant that Erica had to uproot her family from Princeton and move them to Mountain View, in order for her to be closer to Olivia. The existence of the portal had played havoc with Simla’s life. She had been transported back and forth for years so that Erica could fully observe Olivia’s changes.
It was time to deal with the consequences.
“Grayson, let’s go.”
1
I looked down at the puck, willing it to be my mom’s head. It was wrong, I knew, but I was beyond furious. I clenched the stick firmly and raised it, jamming the puck into the goal with one swift, hard slam. I waited for the next puck to appear, which it did almost immediately. With the same unflinching precision as before, I slammed it home. The next puck came sliding to me, and I slammed it in, repeating the ritual again and again until I almost couldn’t feel my shoulders anymore. Tears were trickling down my face. I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain in my arms and shoulders or from what had occurred earlier this evening. I looked over at Kellan, who had been passing the pucks to me. I raised my hand to let him know to keep them coming. My physical pain still wasn’t intense enough to mask the emotional turmoil that was burning up my insides. I kept going and going.
Hours later, Kellan and I lay watching the stars at our favorite spot by the lake. It was clear and dark with very little moonlight, perfect for stargazing. It was a bit chilly, so we had brought blankets and picked up some hot chocolate on the way. I lay back on Kellan’s outstretched arm and cuddled with him under the warm, blue flannel blanket, thinking back on our day.
It had certainly been an eventful one, and I was still trying to decide whether I’d made the right decision. It was hard to believe that I hadn’t when I felt so at home where I was, lying in Kellan’s arms. I looked over at him. He was so perfect. His gorgeous hazel eyes were perfect for his sun-kissed complexion. I had found his lips hard to read at first, mistakenly interpreting his smile as a smirk, but I knew better now. I slid my fingers through his thick, dark-brown hair and smiled as I admired his lean, hard body. My boyfriend–who’d have ever thought! Arizona with a boyfriend. I’d never been the type who fawned over boys; that was more Ella’s thing. My little sister was always going on about the Jonas Brothers. I had always been way too busy for the boys; besides, what boy wanted to date a girl who was smelly from playing hockey most of the time? For most of my sixteen years, I had never thought of myself as pretty. I had straight brown hair, wide lips and hazel eyes, fairly ordinary, perhaps even a bit plain. That had all changed, though. When I had unexpectedly arrived here in Mountain View, I had been transformed, physically, into a blond Barbie. I had felt trapped at times, trapped inside a doll’s life. It wasn’t all bad. On the up side, I had this sweet, amazing boyfriend, whose eyes matched mine. He made me feel so happy.
I thought back to the meeting with my mother at Ames. It seemed so surreal–even the setting. A portal. That’s what Mom had offered as an explanation for the madness: a portal, which had transported me from one dimension to another. Totally insane!
“Kellan, what do you think about the whole portal thing?”
“Enough material for a book,” he mused.
No kidding, I thought to myself. A couple of weeks ago, I had woken up in my mom’s car and found out that I’d somehow time traveled, not just into the past, but also through dimensions. It was mind boggling. In a flash, I had gone from being a hockey player in New Jersey to being a cheerleader in California. I’d gone from being Arizona Stevens, a tomboy, to being Arizona Darley, a blond Barbie. I’d acquired a new dad, Rupert. My real dad was named Dillard. I had no idea what he was up to, probably looking for me. And to top it all off, I had a new family member, Harry, my blue-eyed, blond, six-foot-tall brother. Oh, I almost forgot, my dead grandmother was alive again.
My mother, a physicist at Ames, was the person behind this madness. After overcoming my fear that she would cart me off to a psych ward, I’d finally confronted her. Her explanation was that she and her team had designed and constructed a portal. A portal that–wait for it–had to close tonight. So, if I wanted my old life back, I had to go through or wait a whole year for it to reopen.
I did want my old life back; at least, I thought I did. But I needed time to think. I’d chosen not to make a rash decision, mainly because of Kellan. I wasn’t ready to give him up. I doubted that I’d ever be. I nudged him. “So, the portal?”
“Shrimp, I don’t know…. I guess it’s possible. In fact, it is. Our parents seem to have managed to construct one.” He turned to face me with a somber expression on his perfect face. “Are you happy with the decision you made?”
“Yes, I am. I have so many unanswered questions, but I’m sure of one thing,” I said, nuzzling into his warm chest. “I know for certain that I want to be with you.” I kissed him gently. “I just don’t get it. I know I should have asked more questions, but it was all such a shock. Now, I’m more confused than ever,” I groaned.
“Me, too,” Kellan agreed.
“So, I was somehow transported through a portal. That doesn’t explain how everyone here knows me, or Harry, Grandma or anything else,” I continued, getting more and more exasperated. “We need to go back and demand some more answers!”
Kellan took a deep breath and sighed. “You’re right, of course. Another ten minutes?” he asked, putting his arms around me.
I nodded as I brushed my nose softly against his cheek, breathing him in. He turned and kissed my neck, biting it ever so gently and then moving up to my lips. I could feel my body trembling. I unbuttoned his shirt and felt the smoothness of his chest as he enveloped my body with his.
Then everything went blank.
~
“Kellan, where are you?” It was pitch dark, and my head was pounding. Although I couldn’t see a thing, my nose worked fine, and I winced at the musty stench working its way up my nostrils. I couldn’t feel my arms as I tried to stretch and feel for Kellan. I tried moving my legs with no success. Then, I heard a moan from my left side.
“Kellan, is that you?” I asked, terrified.
“Shrimp, where are you?” he whispered hoarsely.
“Kellan, can you move? I think I’m over to your right. I can’t move.” I heard a shuffling noise. I hoped that it was him trying to get closer to me. I tried moving, again unsuccessfully.
“Kellan, I’m scared,” I whispered tearfully. I was more than scared; I was petrified.
“Hold on, Shrimp. I’m on my way, nearly there.”
I felt his hand on my face, pulling it close to his. I collapsed into him, my tears probably drowning him.
“Kellan, I can’t feel my arms or legs.” I sobbed uncontrollably.
“Shrimp, I woke like that, too. The feeling will come back very soon. Get prepared for unbearable pain, though. My arms and legs are throbbing.”
I closed my eyes and pushed my face as far into Kellan’s neck as I could as he cradled me in his arms. I waited for the pain to begin. It started way too soon. I had, for whatever reason, expected it to start in my toes. I was wrong. As I felt the first stabs in my left knee, I cried out. It was excruciating. It felt like a knife was being jammed into it, again and again. Kellan gripped me tighter as I started to cry and shake violently. It only got worse. My legs and arms both felt like they were being repeatedly attacked by angry, hungry sharks. I wanted, I needed, Kellan to cut them off; I needed release.
“Kellan, please. Cut them off,” I cried.
“Baby, hold on. It will get a bit less intense soon,” he whispered, as he pulled my head back and kissed me. I shook him away and then collapsed back on him, giving in to all of my senses, unable to concentrate, desperately trying to keep it together. All I wanted to do was die. My legs turned cold, and I started shivering. Kellan brought his legs over mine to warm them up. He took off his shirt and blanketed me with it.
Everything went blank again.
~
“Shrimp, wake up.”
I could feel drops of liquid on my lips as I struggled to open my eyes. My head was pounding, and my body still hurt. The sharp stabbing pains were gone, but a dull, steady ache remained.
“Kellan, I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
“Sorry?”
“You must be in the same pain as I am.”
“I’m okay,” he said. I knew he was lying. “Shrimp, I found some water. At least, I think it’s water. It tastes funny, kind of muddy. But, I drank some, and it seems okay. I think you should have some, too. You’re dehydrated.”
Dehydrated? That was the least of our problems. I wasn’t going to argue, though, so I parted my lips and let him sprinkle some more water into my mouth. It tasted awful, like dirt.
“Can you feel your legs and arms all the way, Arizona? Can you wriggle your toes?”
I tried to wriggle them; it hurt. I figured I should be thankful that I could feel them at all. “I can feel them. It still hurts a lot, though. How about you? Don’t just say that you’re okay; I know you’re not.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I hurt too. Not as much as before, though. I need to get up and feel around, try to figure out where we are. I think we must be underground somewhere; it’s so dark.”
“Okay, but don’t go far. I don’t want to lose you. Keep talking to me. I’m going to stay here. I don’t feel ready to get up just yet.”
“I’m going to put you down here and then try to get up,” he said.
I wasn’t the least bit happy about that but relented. Kellan gently put me down on the ground next to him. It was cold, hard and smelled disgusting. I could hear Kellan trying to get up, groaning with the effort. He was obviously in a lot of pain. I could hear him shuffling around, and then he knocked something over.
“Anything interesting?” I asked.
“Define interesting.”
I shrugged, then realized that he wouldn’t be able to see that in the pitch dark. “What is this place?” I wondered aloud. After a short struggle, I sat up and brought my knees to my chin. It was excruciating. I felt around for support and put my hands on what felt like a stool or chair, perhaps even a table. I didn’t really know or care. I pulled myself up slowly. Once on my feet, I tried to balance; I felt dizzy but managed to keep standing.
“Shrimp, where are you?”
“Over here, Kellan,” I said, waving my arms around trying to feel for him. He found my hands and pulled me over to him. I stumbled into his arms.
“I found some glass bottles. I’ve no idea what’s in them or how old they are. We’ll keep them for an emergency.”
I broke out in nervous giggles. An emergency? That was almost funny. I bit down on my lip to keep from giving in to full-blown hysteria.
“Arizona, I think we may be in a basement or somewhere like that. Let’s walk around and see if we can find a door or some way out of here.” He took me by the hand, and we slowly made our way through the darkness. We found a wall and followed it around the room. There were a number of knob-like things on the walls. Thinking they might be attached to doors, we tried pulling on them and pushing at them, but nothing worked. I was exhausted, and my body was giving in. I needed to sit down again. I let my legs buckle, and I fell to the floor. Sheesh, that hurt!
“Shrimp, you okay?” Kellan asked in a concerned tone as he sat down beside me. He moved his hands over me, presumably to check for injuries.
“I’m okay, Kellan. I just couldn’t stand up anymore. I need a short rest.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean to rush you.”
“You’re not. I’m a mess, though. What happened? Where are we?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“None at all?” I pleaded.
“No.”
I lay back and tried to remember what had happened. The last I thing I remembered was Kellan lying on top of me at the lake. I vaguely remembered his head hitting mine. “Kellan, did you bang my head by accident at the lake. You know, when we were lying down?”
“My head did hit yours, but I have no idea how. I don’t think I just fainted on top of you. I think something hit the back of my head, but I can’t be sure.”
“You think someone hit you?” I asked, surprised.
“Someone or something. I have a fairly bad dent in my skull.”
I felt the back of his head. He was right. There was definitely a dent. Weird. I was sure we’d been alone. Kellan needed to see a doctor.
“You don’t think a meteorite remnant hit you, do you?” I asked curiously. We’d been at the lake after all, which was our spot for watching meteor showers.
“Highly unlikely,” he mumbled. “Besides, that wouldn’t explain what we’re doing here, would it?”
“So, you think someone hit you and brought us here?” I asked.
“It seems like the most likely explanation.”
“An axe murderer?” I shivered, my body was starting to give in to full-blown shakes.
“I don’t know, Shrimp. We just need to be ready for anything and to figure out a way out of here, wherever here is.”
“No kidding,” I agreed. I really could do without the throbbing pain. I needed to be able to fully concentrate on dealing with this situation, but I could barely think over the pain. Kellan and I were normally pretty strong. The two of us should be able to deal with a lunatic axe murderer–no problem, I thought. We definitely needed to get ourselves ready. “Kellan, let’s get organized.” I felt around for my cell phone on the off chance that whoever we were dealing with was just plain stupid. He or she wasn’t. My iPhone was missing from my pocket, as were my keys. “Kellan, do you have your phone?”
“No, I checked; it’s been taken.”
“Why would an axe murderer take us?”
“Shrimp, we don’t know if it’s a psycho killer, an escaped lunatic, or someone we know.”
“Well, no one we know would do this!” I was fairly certain of that.
“I think we have to consider Justin and Simla.”
“Justin and Simla? No way, they don’t have the strength!”
“A sudden blow to my head wouldn’t require a lot of strength, just precision.”
“True, but they’d also have to have been able to get us here, wherever we are. There is no way those two idiots could manage that unless they had help. Do you think that’s it? That they actually managed to get others involved in their stupid schemes?”
“You’re right, it seems too farfetched. Maybe we should work on the basis of the psycho killer angle instead,” Kellan suggested.
That was not the least bit comforting. I knew very little about murderers of any sort. I had read a few James Patterson books and occasionally watched Law and Order. If we were in for that kind of ugliness, I was fairly sure that I couldn’t prepare myself. I would just have to fight my hardest.
“Let’s look around for possible stuff to use as weapons,” Kellan said.
Good idea. Weapons would certainly help. I stood back up and started feeling around. I wondered why we hadn’t been tied up. Perhaps whoever brought us here had expected our numbness to last longer.
“Kellan, do you think we were drugged? You know, the numbness?”
“Yeah, I do. We didn’t just go numb on our own.”
“I guess that’s one more thing that points toward a psycho killer rather than Simla and Justin. They wouldn’t know how to drug us.”
“True,” Kellan said uncomfortably. I guess he felt like I did, that if it was someone we knew, we could take him or her, but neither of us were comfortable having to deal with a warped psycho.
My toes nudged against something, and I bent–painfully–to pick it up. It felt like a stick. I ran my hand from one end of it to the other.
“Kellan, I found a hockey stick!”
“A hockey stick?” He came over and took it from my hand. “Hmm, it does feel like a hockey stick,” he agreed. He took my hand and rubbed my fingers against it. “Do you feel that?” he asked.
“What? The scratch marks?”
“They aren’t just scratch marks. This is a U+ stick. You can feel that, right?”
In all honesty, I couldn’t. I’ve never been good at feel-and-tell games. All sticks feel the same to me. I could barely make out that this was a hockey stick. So, I shook my head lamely, thankful that he couldn’t see me in the dark.
“Shrimp, you mark your sticks, don’t you?”
I’m not exactly a well-organized person. “No, it’s never occurred to me to label things since I was in first grade!”
He sighed. “Shrimp, feel the markings.”
I was annoyed. We didn’t have time for games. The scratches could be anything?
“It says JW,” Kellan said triumphantly.
“JW?”
“Justin Weeks.”
“Justin Weeks,” I repeated with relief, now hopeful that we wouldn’t have to deal with a psycho-killer lunatic, although, Justin probably could be classified as one, sort of, the lunatic part, anyway. At least we knew who we were dealing with. What an idiot, leaving his stick here for us to find! He was obviously not alone; there was no way he could have gotten us here on his own. The drugging was a mystery. I wondered if he had more drugs. Would he come back and drug us again? I couldn’t bear the thought. I tightened my grip on the stick. I would pound his brains in if he showed his face.
We continued our search and found some more hockey sticks, unmarked ones. We found a metal bar– well, I did. I grabbed it firmly in my hands, and we gathered the rest of our potential weapons and sat down beside them. We took turns getting up and looking for possible ways to escape–doors, windows or hatches. It was too dark to see anything. I wondered again where we could possibly be. The ground beneath my bare feet felt cold and hard, like stone, and the place stunk badly. I imagined it being some kind of cave, but the walls were too smooth and had angular corners. We were most likely in a room of some kind, a basement or perhaps a storage facility. We were definitely underground, as Kellan had said, judging by the complete lack of any light. I stood up on tiptoes and waved my hands about trying to feel for a ceiling, a lamp–anything. There had to be a way out. I pounded on all the walls with the metal rod hoping that one of them would give way. My arms hurt. I finally felt my way back to Kellan by following his voice.
“Why do you think we’re being held here? What’s the point?” I asked Kellan.
“I’ve been wondering that myself. I thought all that stuff from the parking lot was behind us. This is a bit over the top, even for Justin, the drugs, especially. I wonder if Simla’s involved? We don’t even know for sure that this has anything to do with Justin. Someone could have taken his stick. Dad mentioned that someone has been messing with the portal. I wonder if this has something to do with that?”
“If this has to do with the portal, why pick on us? We’ve got nothing to do with it! Whoever should have taken Mom, instead!” I said irritably.
“Shrimp, you don’t mean that. This is an awful situation to be in, especially since we don’t know what’s happening. What if your Mom has been taken and is being held somewhere else? Would that make it better?”
“Of course not!” I said angrily. “I was just saying!” I let go of him and marched to the furthest corner I could find.
Suddenly, I heard a scratching sound coming from the wall. I ran back to the security of Kellan’s arms, and he held me close as we listened. The scratching noise was followed by a tapping sound. We quickly and quietly gathered our collection of weapons and made our way to the farthest wall from the noise. We crouched down and didn’t move, being as still as statues. I could barely breathe, I was so afraid. I gave myself a mental shake. We were being ridiculous. It was probably just Justin. We needed to get ourselves ready and teach him a lesson. I pulled the metal rod close to me, clenching it firmly in my fist. I was ready.
A clunking sound preceded a blinding beam of light that pierced the darkness of the room and then stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Someone suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the light–away from Kellan.
2
“They should have been back hours ago,” Olivia said, with pangs of worry shooting through her. She looked over at Rupert. “It’s four in the morning. Kellan always brings her back on time. Neither Kellan nor Arizona is answering their cell phones. I called Larry. They’re not over at his place. He’s driving over. Do you have any idea where they could have gone?”
“Ollie, to be honest, I didn’t think of asking. Arizona looked so distraught that I was relieved when she left with Kellan. He’s probably the only one who can calm her down at the moment. We should get Harry up; he would know where they are, if anyone does.”
She nodded. “I hate waking him up in the middle of the night like this, but I guess we’d better. I’m really worried. I hope they didn’t do anything foolish.”
“Foolish?”
“Yes, like run away.”
“I guess it’s a possibility. They weren’t happy with the situation. I doubt they’d run away, though. Kellan is too sensible for that. And even if they did, where would they go?”
“I don’t know, Rupe. Let’s wake Harry and see if he knows.”
“Are we going to tell him what happened earlier this evening?”
“I don’t want to get into it with him right now. Let’s just tell him that Arizona is upset with us, and we can’t reach her.”
“Okay. I’ll go wake him up.”
She nodded. “Be careful not to wake Ella.”
Looking uneasy, Rupert reappeared in seconds. “Harry’s not in his room. His bed has been slept in, but he’s gone.”
Olivia called his cell. No reply.
“Let’s not panic, Ollie. I’m sure there’s a perfectly simple explanation. Maybe they’re all out somewhere together, somewhere without cell reception.”
Olivia nodded hopefully. “I’m sure you’re right. Still, it is late.”
There was a sharp knock at the door, and Olivia hurried over to let Larry in.
He looked worn out as he made his way to the couch and slumped down. He ran his fingers through his unbrushed hair and looked at Olivia wearily. “Ollie, what’s up? You sounded worried.”
Olivia noticed he was looking at her with a worried expression. She knew she must look a mess, far different from her usual, composed self. “You’re not worried that Kellan’s not home or answering his cell?” she asked, puzzled.
“I guess, a little. But, after what we put the kids through today, I’m not the least bit surprised. I’m sure they are out de-stressing somewhere. They’ll be back when they feel they can face us–with more questions, no doubt. I do wish I knew where they were, but I’m not too worried. Arizona is in good hands with Kellan. He’s unlikely to do anything stupid.”
Olivia wasn’t entirely convinced. It was nice that Larry had such confidence in Kellan, but they had really thrown the kids for a loop, so who knew how they’d react.
“Larry, Harry is missing as well.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? It means that they called him, probably to talk things through.”
“It’s not ideal,” Olivia responded. “I’d rather have explained this to him myself. Neither Kellan nor Arizona understands this enough to even begin to explain it to Harry. It’s going to be a mess.”
Larry nodded. “I suggest we wait awhile and see if they turn up in time for school, although, I suppose they may head straight there.”
“That sounds like a sensible plan. Ollie, don’t you think?” Rupert asked.
“I guess. It’s already past five, so we haven’t got that long to wait. I’ll take Ella to school this morning, and if Arizona hasn’t shown up by then, we’ll head to the high school. Larry, stay over. Use one of the guest bedrooms and get some sleep. You look worn out. I’ll wake you for breakfast.”
“Thanks, Ollie. I will go and lie down for a while, though I doubt I’ll sleep.” With that, Larry left, leaving Olivia and Rupert alone again.
“Ollie, come sit by me and try to relax. We’ll wait for them together.”
Olivia was exhausted. She went over to the couch and sat down next to him wearily. She felt stressed; something was wrong–very wrong. She leaned into Rupert for support. He felt unusually tense; his normally comforting heartbeat mimicked her anxious palpitations. He put his arms around her for comfort, but it did nothing to distract her thoughts. There was nothing to do but wait. The kids were bound to come back in the morning. But what if they didn’t? They could have been in an accident. They could have run away to find Dillard. Or, they could have just run away to never be found again.
Olivia chided herself. She should have been gentler when she had explained the situation to Arizona. Throwing all that information at her daughter, all at once, had been foolish. There was no way Arizona could understand or process the information. After all, who could? Just the possibility that a portal could be constructed that could facilitate transport between different dimensions was a concept even most physicists would have a hard time swallowing. In fact, the idea that there even were different dimensions was way beyond the scope of most people’s acceptance. Yet, she had expected her teenage daughter to accept it and then additionally absorb the fact that she had been transported through such a portal. And to top it all, she’d told her daughter that if she wanted to go back to her father, she’d have to go back through the portal right away. Olivia knew that she’d handled the situation very badly. She had gone way too far. If she could only go back….
“Ollie, wake up,” Rupert whispered, gently shaking her. “It’s time to wake Ella. I don’t think Arizona or Harry came home, unless they snuck past us quietly. I must have dozed off.”
Olivia sleepily turned to look at the hall clock. “Ella must have slept in; it’s seven already. I better go and wake her. I can’t believe I fell asleep.”
“I’ll make some coffee and get Larry up,” Rupert said, as he stood and stretched.
The house seemed unsettlingly quiet as Olivia walked up the stairs to Ella’s room. She quietly entered the room. She savored watching her eight-year-old daughter sleep those last moments before she had to wake her. She tiptoed to Ella’s bed and gazed down. Ella must have slid under the duvet as she often did in her sleep. Olivia gently pulled up a corner by the base of the bed and peered under it. There were no signs of Ella among the tossed pillows and crumpled quilt.
“Ella, are you in the bathroom?” Olivia called, heading over to the bathroom door. There was no reply, so she opened the door. There were no signs of Ella in there. “Ella, where are you?” she yelled, as her heart started pounding erratically. She was barely able to breathe. She ran out of the room and stumbled down the stairs, almost crashing into Rupert. “Rupe, Ella’s not in her room. We should have checked on her last night!” Olivia cried, as Larry came rushing down toward them.
“Let’s look outside, maybe she took Gertrude out?” Larry suggested.
Rupert nodded, but she knew that he was feeling as guilty as she was about not checking. “Larry, I’m going to look for her inside the house, can you take the outside?”
Larry rushed off without another word, slamming the door behind him while Rupert and Olivia scrambled their way through the house looking for Ella.
With Gertrude by his side, Larry returned looking despondent. Olivia picked up her cell and called the police. “They’ll be here in a few minutes,” she said, as she started opening the kitchen cabinets to check and see if Ella, for whatever reason, had decided to play hide-and-seek. “Where did you find Gertrude, Larry?”
“I heard her whimpering in the garage, so I opened it. She jumped out. It looked like she’d been stuck in there all night.”
“You know,” Rupert said, “we probably shouldn’t touch anything until the cops get here.”
Olivia frowned at her husband. “Why?”
“Ella is missing. I doubt Harry took her with him. He would never do that without letting us know. I can’t imagine that she just took off. I’m hoping that she’s not been taken….”
“Taken?” Olivia asked in disbelief. “You mean as in abducted, kidnapped? Why would someone do that? Who?”
“I have no idea, Ollie. It’s just that this is so bizarre. All the kids are missing. Let’s just wait for the cops.”
“No, let’s not. We need to find them. Let’s check the house again, more thoroughly this time, both inside and out. Larry can you drive up and down the road and see if you see any signs of them?”
After asking Rupert and Olivia to give him updates via his cell phone, Larry left. Rupert and Olivia started a thorough search, looking under beds, in closets, behind curtains–everywhere. There were no signs of Ella or any of the others. When the doorbell rang, Rupert let the police in. He recognized the two officers from when Arizona had been attacked.
“They’re all gone!” Olivia exclaimed, before sitting down on the hall chair, too distraught to speak anymore.
“Sir, can you tell us what’s going on?”
Rupert nodded. “We had a disagreement with our teenage daughter, Arizona, yesterday. After which, she disappeared with Kellan, Larry Fox’s son. We assumed that they were cooling off somewhere and would be back once she’d calmed down. When they didn’t return, we went to wake our son, Harry, to ask him if he knew where they were. That’s when we discovered that Harry was gone as well. Again, we assumed that they were out together. We weren’t overly concerned. However, when we went to wake our younger daughter, Ella, for school this morning, we found that she is missing as well. So, we’re obviously seriously worried.”
“I’ll need pictures of them, preferably computer images. We can email them to the station and get a search going.”
Rupert nodded, and went to fetch his laptop. The officers emailed the photographs to the police station and then turned to Rupert with more questions.
“Do you think that the children went somewhere together or that they’re apart?”
Rupert shrugged. “I know for sure that Arizona and Kellan left together from Ames on Kellan’s bike. Harry and Ella were both home last night. They disappeared from the house sometime in the middle of the night. We didn’t hear anything. We’ve no idea when, or how, or even if they went missing together. I haven’t even checked to see if Harry’s bike’s here,” Rupert said.
Olivia groaned when she heard that. They should have at least looked for his bike.
“Let’s do that, sir. It’s important to know what mode of transport was used.”
~
Rupert followed the cop to the garage. Harry’s bike was still there, as were all the cars. “I assume that if they left on their own, it was by foot.”
“We’ll start a search of the immediate area.”
When they got back to the house, another four squad cars had arrived, and it was swarming with uniforms. Rupert made his way to a dazed-looking Olivia who was sitting with a female officer.
“Rupe, what’s happening?”
“They’re checking the house for clues, trying to get a feel for what could have happened, for what’s going on.”
“Mr. Darley, can I have a word, please?” an officer interrupted. He waited for Rupert to follow him into the kitchen. “There are signs of a struggle in your son’s room.”
“What sort of signs?” Rupert asked, suddenly petrified.
The officer grimaced and said, “Well, things have been knocked over, and there are bloodstains on the floor and by the window, just a few splatters.”