Here's the next installment. There is furious writing and editing happening, and a lot of what has been written up to this point will probably be different from how it was originally, but I'm looking forward to seeing all this hard work in its final form eventually.
If you missed:
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There was a police car outside the store, red and blue
lights swirling. Vin stood outside, speaking with an officer. We walked past
them and as soon as Sophie saw us, she jumped up from where she was sitting
near the bottom floor fireplace and ran towards us. She hugged us hard and I
could feel her sobbing into my shoulder.
When she caught her breath, I held her at arm’s length
and looked in her face. “Soph, let’s go sit and you can tell us what is going
on.”
We returned to where Sophie had been sitting, and she
recounted what happened since meeting Vin after work to go to the store. They
showed up, door was locked, big mess, no Theo. Big mystery. I know I was mad at
the man, but I never wished for this. I had thought that after everything blew
over, we’d have time to talk about things and I could ask him all the things I
wanted to. He had the answers I needed, and now I might never find out what
they are.
Just then, Vin and the officer came in the store and Vin
walked over to us. “The officer wants to ask you guys some questions,” Vin
gestured towards the front doors. Milo and I rose to meet the officer, but Vin
stopped me, letting Milo go ahead. “Lily, I’m sorry about everything. I hope we
can all work through this.”
“It’s okay, Vin. It’ll all work out. Let’s just focus on
finding Theo.” I squeezed his arm and jogged to catch up with Milo.
The officer began, “Sorry I have to do this, but it’s
standard procedure when dealing with a missing person report. Officially, we
usually wouldn’t report someone missing until at least 24 hours have passed,
but in this case, there is the possibility of a crime involved.” He proceeded
to ask us typical questions, and we seemed to pass the test. He looked at Milo
and said, “You can go.” He turned to me, “Ms. Stone, I have a few more
questions for you.”
Milo looked at me apprehensively, but I gave him a nod.
“I’ll be all right.”
“Ms. Stone, you just found out that Mr. Trussman is your
biological father?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And the last time you spoke with him, you had an
argument?”
“Well, he had just told me he gave me up because he was
too sad to keep me around. I was angry and hurt, so I made him leave.” I was
getting agitated with the direction this questioning was going. I eyed the
officer, a gold bar across his pocket that said “Simons”.
“Did the altercation become physical at all?” This Simons
fellow was grating on my nerves.
“I beg your pardon! Firstly, look at me. Do I look like I
could take a grown man? Secondly, the man was my father. Yes, I was shocked,
but I was not so angry would kill
him! Are you finished?” I crossed my arms, and threw my most intense withering
glare at him.
“Sorry, ma’am, I’m just following protocol. I’m all set
for now. Thank you.” He tipped the edge of his cap, turned, and walked out.
I walked back to where Sophie, Milo and Vin were standing
by the fireplace. Sophie came to my side and linked her arm through mine. “You
okay, Lil?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just strange questions from that
officer. It seems he was implying that I’m responsible for Theo disappearing.”
“What? That’s ridiculous! Don’t worry about it, he was
probably just asking normal questions when someone is missing.”
“You’re right. Back to you, tell me more about when you
and Vin showed up today.” I needed to stop thinking about the officer’s
questions and try to figure out what happened to Theo.
“You know most of the story, but follow me.” Sophie
started walking towards the staircase.
We walked up to the second floor, and a few aisles in had
yellow tape across them. That dizzying feeling hit me again, just like the
first day I walked through the door. I stopped, put my hand on the railing, and
I felt Milo next to me, putting his arm around my back.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m fine, just a little lightheaded.” I started
following Sophie again, the dizziness fading, but a fuzzy feeling had settled
in my head. Nevertheless, I could feel Milo’s concerned gaze on me, so I turned
to him and said, “Really, Milo, I’m fine.” He continued walking, but I knew he
would be keeping an eye on me.
The closer we got to the yellow tape, the more cloudy my
head felt. I heard Sophie explaining the scene they found earlier, and judging
by the mess of books all over the floor, there had been some sort of skirmish.
There were books everywhere, the shelves almost empty. Although I had just
found out my father was missing, all I could think was how the books would be
ruined; their bindings over-stretched, the pages bent, and dust jackets folded.
I shook my head, trying to clear the fuzziness. I left the group looking at the
mess and started walking. I wasn’t sure what, but I felt something pulling me.
“Lily, where are you going?” Milo was taking this new big
brother gig too seriously.
“Milo, I am fine. I’m just going to look around to see if
I can find anything else.” I turned on my heel and headed down the rows,
following the pull deep in my belly.
The feeling was getting stronger with every aisle, but at
one point I could feel it fade slightly. I stopped, and then took three steps
back to a row behind me. The intensity grew deep in my gut. I looked back to
where Sophie, Milo and Vin were standing, deep in conversation, and none of
them were watching. I turned into the row and started walking.
The fuzziness in my brain was taking over, but I knew
somehow that I had to get down this aisle. I walked to the end of the row, and
saw a book lying open on the floor. As I stepped towards it and bent to pick it
up, it felt like I was watching someone else’s arm reaching out. I picked up
the book and closed it, a picture of a crown on the front. Suddenly, the world
was spinning, like being on the teacup ride at the fair. I saw the floor
getting closer and the book bounce across the floor away from me. I felt a
grinding sensation in my shoulder as it bore the brunt of my weight from the
fall. I thought I heard “Lily” faintly from somewhere in the distance, but I
couldn’t find it in me to answer.
My vision blurred and the bookshelves in front of me
shifted, changing shape and color. The strangest feeling came over me, like all
the cells in my body were jumping away from each other, stretching out beyond
my skin. It wasn’t painful, but uncomfortable. I wanted my cells to stay where
they belonged, and for my skin to stop crawling. Then, everything went black.
