Disclaimer: Don't own them...But Cassie and the O'Connell's are mine. :)
SnowBlind
Wanewood College of Art and Creative Thinking Just outside of Castine, Maine
"Cassie, wait up!"
Cassie Anderson spun around to see the O'Connell twins chasing after her. She had to laugh. Though they were identical twins, Jack and Danny O'Connell had an older brother/younger brother mentality. So as she turned to walk toward them, it didn't surprise her to find Jack on top of Danny, pinning him down in a pile of autumn leaves. She shifted her bag to her other shoulder and walked toward her boys. She sighed, as the wrestling match continued. It was great that the boys had time for fun but she had a concert to prepare for.
"Cass, help me!" Danny called from the pile, his blond hair covered in leaves.
"You two are such children." She said and turned to walk away when Jack grabbed her leg and pulled her into the leaves with them. Her books went flying from her hands as she collapsed on top of him. Cassie met Jack's playful eyes before she dumped an new pile of leaves on his head. He retaliated by grabbing hips and began an epic tickle fight. The laughed and rolled around in the leaves, each trying to keep the other at bay while attempting to attack the other with their fingers.
"Jack!" she squealed.
"Why don't you two get a room?" Danny teased, finally getting up and dusting himself off. He then offered his hand to Cassie, helping her out of the leaves.
"Hey, what about me?" Jack asked.
"I think you can just stay down there for a little while." Cassie teased. Jack smiled and offered out his hand. After a few seconds, she finally gave in and helped him up. It was his eyes. They made her melt every time. Jack bent over to pick up her books. Big mistake. Jake felt the kick in the ass as he fell face first back into the leaves. Cassie smiled her apology and helped him up. His arms stayed around her shoulder and they continued on their way.
The trio walked across the campus of Maine's newest college, Wanewood College of Art and Creative Thinking. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon. Midcoast Maine at its finest. Cassie enjoyed it a lot more than the busy metro of DC. The leaves of the white birch trees were a bright yellow and raining down all around them.
"So are you guys going to "The Scottish Play" auditions tonight?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, I've been preparin all semester for this." Jack said. "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…"
"I think you'll be just fine. I, on the other hand, need to work on my sculpture for class and our duet for the concert." Cassie said.
"I think we're snow blind. We've had a hard time." Jack broke out into song. "And we can't see where we are." Cassie sang back.
"See you're just fine. So are you coming to auditions or not?" Jack said.
"Fine, I'll be there. Besides who else is going to play Lady to your McB."
"True. You comin, Danny?"
"No. I gotta work on my painting for the festival."
"Not the Mad Apples painting still?"
"It's not finished yet."
"Whatever." The three were so lost in conversation that none of them noticed the black SUV parked behind them. It started up and drove away.
They soon arrived at the foot of the grand stairs leading up to the Robert Jones Dormitory of Fine and Performing Arts. The magnificent brick building was home to about a hundred prodigies of the arts. Danny bid his farewell to the group and rushed upstairs. Cassie and Jack laughed as he ran right into the young redhead coming out of the doorway, scattering her sheet music all over the ground. It was Jessi Thomas, the violinist than Danny had been crushing on since arriving at the college. Cassie laughed at their awkward moment and then returned her attention back to Jack.
"Hey, pretty lass. What's on your mind?" he teased. She laughed. Jack always had a way of knowing when something was bothering her. Her gaze went to his eyes, their bright green shining even in the overcast of the skies. He had a way of smiling with just his eyes. It just made her love him even more.
"Something just feels off. I feel like someone's been watching me."
"Damn, you caught me." Jack joked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in a kiss. "I'm your secret stalker."
"Not funny."
"I'm sorry. Hey, I have something for you." He pulled her off the beaten path and pulled a small black box from his pocket.
"Oh God. You're not going to propose, are you?" Cassie asked.
"Am I on my bloody knees?" he laughed. "Just open the box, love."
Cassie carefully opened the black jewelry box to reveal a gold necklace. A stag stood proudly in the center of the green and white emerald studded pendant.
"Jack. This is beautiful."
"It's our family crest. My ma gave it to me when I first came to school."
"I don't even know what to say."
"How cute, Donny." The couple spun around to see a man in dark clothes and a ski mask standing behind them. Jack quickly pulled Cassie into a run, only to be cut off again. Another man in similar dress leaned against the hood of the black SUV.
"Aww. I know, Ray. It looks like we're spoiling the moment." The other man said, his voice more sinister.
"Jack." Cassie whispered. He grasped her hand tight for reassurance. Though in reality, he wasn't quite sure who he was trying to reassure, Cassie or himself.
"What do you want?" Jack asked, defiantly, his bravado slipping through his Irish brogue.
"Honestly, we want nothing with you." The one called Donny said.
"We've come for the girl." Ray said, flashing his gun at the couple. "Now come along nice and gentle-like and we won't have to get rough with you."
Jack stepped in front of Cassie, shielding her with his own body, his eyes never leaving the gun.
"Piss off!" he spat.
"Very well." Donny sneered. He turned around to march back to the truck. Suddenly he whipped back around and punched Jack right in the face. He went down hard.
"No! Let me go! Jack! Jack!" she struggled.
"Ow!" Ray scremed as Cassie's teeth clamped down on his hand. "The bitch bit me!" Donny back handed Cassie with the butt of his gun and she went limp in Ray's arms.
"Better? Now just the girl in the car and let's get out of here!" Donny barked.
"What about him?" Ray asked as he put Cassie into the back seat.
"We'll take him with us as leverage. Kind of a Plan B of sorts."
"And if that don't work?"
"We kill them."
Portland International Jetport Portland, Maine
"So why are we here boss?" Tony asked. "Considering we just got off the flight from Hell."
Gibbs grinned. The flight from Washington D.C. had been a little on the rough side. McGee spent most of his time locked in the airplane bathroom and DiNozzo had a nice bruise on the left side of his face. He had smacked it on the plane window during a patch of turbulence.
"What's the matter, Tony? Rough flight?" Ziva said with a smile as she grabbed her bags from baggage claim.
"A little. Must have been nice being bumped up to first class."
"Jealous, Tony?"
"You weren't lonely, Zee-va?"
"I kept myself occupied with some light reading."
"Another men's magazine, Ziva?" Tony asked. Ziva smacked him in the chest with the book she'd been reading.
"The Langoliers? Seriously? We're on the flight from hell and your reading The Langoliers."
"The Langoliers?" McGee said, stepping out of the men's bathroom.
"You never read it, McGee? Stephen King. Only one of the best horror writers of our time. A group of passengers make an emergency landing at the Bangor International Airport after discovering that most of the passengers had disappeared. Some freaky stuff happens. Time travel, hallucinations, past-eating creatures."
"Let me guess, they made a movie about it."
"Why's that, McGee?"
"Cause it's hard to believe that you actually read anything."
"Come on, Probie. Give me some credit." Tony said. He paused for only a short moment before. "Okay! It was 1995. Most of the film was shot in Bangor, Maine, which happens to be King's hometown. King even made a cameo in the…" SMACK! Gibbs hand connected with the back of his head.
"You about done, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he walked towards the airport doorway.
"On your six, Boss." Tony said and scrambled to follow Gibbs.
"So what are we actually doing here, Gibbs?" Ziva asked. "The last thing you told us was that there was a case up north that needed our immediate assistance."
"A Navy Commander's 23 yr old daughter disappeared from a college near Castine. He reported her missing after not hearing from her after her auditions."
"She an actress, Boss?" McGee asked.
"Prodigy. Actress, singer, poet, sculptor. She does it all."
They left the jetport to find a military convoy waiting for them. A stern somber looking man came to greet them.
"Commander Anderson." Gibbs said.
"Agent Gibbs. Thank you so much for your haste. I didn't know who else to call."
"Easy Luke. I'm here now and we're going to do what we can to help. Now when was the last time you saw your daughter, Commander?"
"Last Sunday, she came home for the weekend. But I called her on Monday. She had auditions and I wanted to wish her luck. That was the last time I spoke to her."
"When did you notice something was wrong?" Gibbs asked
"I knew there were two days of auditions and then callbacks. But when it got to be Friday I knew there was something wrong."
"Why's that?"
"She would have called. She always calls right away, whether she got the part or not." Commander Anderson reported.
"Maybe she got distracted. She is a college student after all. Or maybe she called her mother?" Tony asked.
"Her mother ran off to Atlantic City soon after Cassie was born. She's been out of the picture for a long time."
"I'm sorry."
"Please, Gibbs. You have to find my little girl. She's all I got left."
We'll find her, Commander. Is there anyone else we can talk to who had regular contact with Cassie?"
"Mr. Cochrane is her theatrics professor."
"Anyone else?"
"The O'Connell boys. Jack and Danny. Jack is my daughter's boyfriend."
"DiNozzo. McGee, you two find the boyfriend. Ziva, let's you and I have a chat with professor." Gibbs turned back to the Commander. "We'll find her, Luke."
TBC...well its a start. I should have another chapter up soonish.