Okay, so I was very bored and I got the idea to do this one-shot. It's in Steve's POV. I thought that I should do a little background on In The End, which I'll be updating sometime in the next couple of weeks, and this was the best way to do it. It will start from a week after Chloe went to Lyle House and end when she finally comes back home. :D I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Literally.
It had been a week since my little girl had gone to that group home. I didn't like the idea of it, but Lauren insisted that she go. I've missed her like crazy. I mean, I'm always away on business trips and such, but even those I miss her. It's hard to be away from the one thing I truly love and have left.
I was going to call her today. And then that call. That terrible, terrible phone call…
I was just getting off the plane from Berlin when my phone rang. I check Caller ID. Lyle House. The group home my little girl was in. I answered it ASAP.
"Hello?" I spoke into the receiver.
"This is Lucille Talbot. I'm the head nurses at Lyle House. Is Mr. Saunders available?" came from the other end.
"Speaking. What can I help you with?"
"Mr. Saunders, this call is regarding your daughter, Chloe. There seems to be a problem."
Oh, shit. I knew this was a bad idea. We had no clue what types of lunatics are in that place. What if one of them hurt her?
"And that is…?"
"Sir, she seems to have run away with a few of the inhabitants of the home. Simon Bae, Rachelle Rogers, and Derek Souza all turned up missing in the morning when one of the other nurses went on the wake up call. Chloe was also missing. We think they all escaped together."
"My little girl wouldn't do that. What makes you think this isn't a kidnapping?"
"Mr. Saunders, there was no sign of struggling at the house. Or even forced entry. We want to know what you want to do. Need I remind you your daughter is schizophrenic and loose on the streets of Buffalo?"
"No, ma'am. You don't. Is there someone I could contact in order to get my little girl back?"
"Yes, sir. Marcel Davidoff and Diane Enright will gratefully help you get her back…"
She gave me their contact information and I decided to give them a call at a later time.
…And now I hold the phone in my hand, preparing to call them. A tear sprung from my eyes as I punched the last number on the keypad and hit 'dial.' It rang three times and the receiver clicked, alerting me the phone has been answer.
A kindly old man's voice followed. "Hello?" he greeted.
"Hi. I'm calling for a Dr. Marcel Davidoff. This is Steve Saunders. I was told to call you in help of finding my daughter," I said.
"You called the right place. What all do you need help with?"
"Well, my daughter, Chloe, supposedly ran away from her group home with a few other occupants last night. They have no lead on her. I'm willing to pay whatever. I just need her back."
"We'll get her back, Sir…" Dr. Davidoff went on discussing what we were going to do. Then we'd have to wait.
My phone rang in my pocket. I hope this is news on Chloe. Checking Caller ID, I notice that it's an unknown number. But I answer it anyway.
"Hello?" I said, voice sounding hollow and dead. It's been a few days since my little girl went missing, and we had no leads on her or the other teens. I had Chloe's photo and a half-million-dollar reward all over New York and a few surrounding states, hoping someone would see her and call in with something.
The voice on the other end replied with a cheery but sad and worried tone. "Hi. Is this Steve Saunders?" she said.
"Yes, ma'am. This is he. How may I help you?"
"I think I may know where your daughter is."
"What information do you have on Chloe! Where is she?" I said, quickly. I needed this. Where was my little girl?
"Last night, I saw young girl with light colored hair and bright red streaks being yelled at by a tall dark man. She was flinching back from him and everything. Then when he left, she just followed. I think it could be your little girl."
"Thank you. I'll alert the search party. Where are you at?"
"I'm at the outskirts of Buffalo…"
And from there, I had one hint. And we searched there. Chloe was no where to be found. We did find some blood. And three teenaged girls who looked like they were a gang. (A/N: Steve is a business man. I could word this better, but from what I can tell, he doesn't know a lot about being on the streets of Buffalo.) When asked about if they had seen Chloe, one with a scar down the side of her face nodded. She told us that they had come upon two teenaged girls, one being Chloe, trying to take their alley. They were gonna teach them a 'lesson' but Chloe and the other girl ran. We were about to go, but the scarred girl held us up. She had more information.
"They ran, and I caught the little blond one. We figured she was just a typical runaway—most are—and I was gonna teach her a lesson about living on the streets. But before I could, this tall dude was pulling me off her like I weighed nothing and was about to throw me into a wall. Blondie screamed 'No!' and he just dropped me. Then they walked off, Blondie jogging to keep up," she said, pointing in the direction they went.
As we were walking off to go follow the new trail, she shouted out, "I'd be pointless to go after them. By now, they probably hitched a ride and are hours away."
Another trail that was a failure. Another week. Dr. Davidoff and Mrs. Enright claimed it to be a kidnapping and put out an APB for the most likely kidnapper, Derek Souza. From the descriptions we got of his appearance and behavior, they figured it was him.
From what I know of this guy, he's a danger to her. We need to get her back fast. Who knows what he would do to her?
After three weeks of searching to no end, we still had no sign of Chloe after that one woman's call. Dr. Davidoff and Mrs. Enright told me to stop by their office building today to talk to me. It was regarding the search. Hoping that they had found Chloe, I eagerly went.
I was already in the office, just waiting for them to come in. The door knob turned and in came a sad looking pair. They sat across from me in their much, much larger chairs, pulling out the case report.
"What is it that you need to talk to me about?" I asked, a small amount of worry clouding my tone of hopefulness.
"Mr. Saunders, I'm sorry. But we have to call off the search. I know you want Chloe back, but by now she's bound to be long gone or dead. We'll probably never find her," Dr. Davidoff said, placing a supposedly comforting hand on my shoulder.
I looked down in sadness and terror. My little girl was gone. I had no one. I broke down. Since Jenny's funeral, I cried for the first time.
"We're going to need you to take down the reward money and announce the end of the search tonight. We will set up for a news crew to come for the announcement," Mrs. Enright said.
I nodded slightly and got up to leave. "We're sorry for your loss," one of them called out to me as I exited.
I just numbly drove back to the house and didn't come out with the exception of the announcement I had to make.
I stayed holed up in the house for a couple of days, then decided that I had to move on. I started to make plans for the funeral. I would still buy a casket in case she is dead and her body shows up out of no where. There were all these plans made by the time she was declared dead for a week.
I was on the phone with the shop I was buying the casket from, seeing if they were open and trying to set up for me to come and purchase. But of course, they had all these questions about it. Why'd I need it? Who died? What price range did I need? What size did I need?
I answered them as easily as I could with out breaking down. It still hurt knowing Chloe was gone. I set up to come and look at what they had as soon as I got off the phone.
As I hung up the phone, I looked out the window. I could have sworn I saw my little girl, but I had thought I saw her a bunch of times. This time, though, seemed different. She was with a bunch of other people. But then again, I hadn't been getting a lot of sleep and I missed her so much. The same thing happened with Jenny. I still saw her a few times after she died.
Heaving a sigh, I grabbed my coat, draping it over my arm, and trudged to the door. I exited and turned to lock the door, my jacket still draped over my arm. As I stepped down the steps, I pulled it on, looking at the ground. I looked up once my jacket was on and saw something so shocking, it scared me a bit.
I did a double take, then spoke. "Chloe? Is that you?" I choked out, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.
"Yeah, Dad. It's me," she said, then ran up to me and gave me a hug.
"I thought you were dead. They said it was to long and you couldn't have survived."
"I'm alive. And I'll explain where I went once we are all inside."
"Okay. But I was just about to go pick out you coffin. I guess I don't have to now."
"No. You don't."