Chapter 2
"Dad? Why isn't Aden back yet?" Nicole asked, "He said he'd be back by ten." The clock showed it was nearing quarter past eleven.
"He's probably spent the night at Belle's" Roman replied.
"But he would have called; he wouldn't leave us worrying Dad." She urged.
"Why should we be worrying? He's probably just forgotten to call." As Roman said it there was just a tiny nagging feeling in the back of his mind, what if he's not at belle's?
Nicole confirmed that feeling,
"But what if he's not at Belle's? Dad, the storms getting worse, what if he's caught out in that?" She questioned, looking out the window at the rain drenching the roads, the flashes of lightning streaking down from the sky, the sound of thunder booming over the bay, and in the distance the crashing of the waves onto the beach as the sea turned deadly.
Nicole didn't know what it was, she just had this feeling, something wasn't right…
"Can't we at least call Belle? Please" She begged.
Roman had never seen his daughter like this, never seen her care so much for someone before so he went to ring Belle, if only to put the doubt in his mind at rest too.
Belle answered on the second ring, she sounded like she'd being crying
"Belle, is Aden still at yours?" He asked, dreading the answer as that sinking feeling pushed itself to the forefront of his mind.
Nicole was watching her Dad while she was on the phone and when she saw his face drop after Belle replied, she knew…
"He's not??" Roman questioned incredulously, "Oh god…" he whispered though both Belle and Nicole heard him, "It's just… he's not here either…" There was a stunned silence on the other end of the phone. "Do you know when he left?" Roman nodded in reply, a worried look crossing his face, "No, don't worry, we'll find him." He put the phone down before turning to face Nicole.
"He left hers at 8.30, something upset him and he ran off."
Slowly realisation dawned on the pair,
"You mean… he's been out there for nearly three hours, and he's upset!!" Nicole exclaimed. "He could be anywhere! He could of done anything!"
"Hey, hey shhhh…" Roman murmured pulling his daughter into his embrace as she broke down with worry over Aden. "We'll find him don't worry…"
It was nearing midnight when Roman finally had everyone assembled in the Surf Club. He'd left Nicole at home; he didn't want to have to worry about her as well. He'd organised a search party but because of the storm not many people could help and the police were out of contact. The storm had affected the phone lines it seemed. Roman had seven people lined up including himself to help search for Aden, he was desperate he didn't know what he'd if they didn't find him or if they did and he… he w-was…
Roman, Alf, Tony, Hugo, Miles, Geoff and Romeo all set off from the surf club in different directions so they could cover as much ground as possible before the storm got any worse. The rain was stinging their skin as it violently lashed into them, the sound of thunder mercilessly booming all around them, streaks of lightning shot down frequently blinding them, if the storm got any worse than this, then never mind Aden they'd all be goners…
Alf and Tony set off towards the forest; Hugo, Geoff and Romeo to the outskirts of the town and finally Roman and Miles went to scour the beach. They left Irene and Belle and the surf club so they could get in touch with them via radio if any happened – provided the connection held out. Belle couldn't stay stuck at home doing nothing and Irene wouldn't let her go by herself so had reluctantly come along with her though to her relief they were made to stay and keep in contact with everyone.
Alf and Tony had been wondering around for several hours now, they had nearly covered the entire of the forest are and still no sign of Aden.
"We should head back now Alf" Tony reasoned loudly, "We've looked near enough everywhere and still not found him; the storms getting worse and we don't want to get caught out in it if it does, we don't want to create more problems by us needing to be rescued as well."
Alf nodded in agreement not bothering to shout back after he had strained to hear Tony over the noise of the storm. They turned around and headed back in the direction of the surf club.
Hugo, Geoff and Romeo dragged themselves through the door of the surf club and collapsed on the nearest seat, the storm had taken it out of them and they all looked exhausted, muddy and worried. It was clear from their expressions that they hadn't found Aden.
Tony and Alf returned just a few minutes later and when Belle looked up expectantly they just shook their heads whilst Tony murmured,
"Sorry…"
Belle felt her heart sink, she was beginning to lose hope, what if Roman and Miles didn't find him? Then what? He could be lying dead in a ditch for all she knew. She felt tears welling at her eyes and before she could stop them the slid silently down her face, the others looked on sympathetically, they knew how hard it must be for her and each and every one of them held the same fear and worry inside their hearts.
Roman and Miles had nearly covered the entire length of the beach but still no sign of Aden, the wind bit harshly into them turning the rain into tiny swords that cut through their skins, the sea crashed beside them luring them into its deep murky depths but still they carried on.
"Mate," Miles called to Roman who was several yards ahead of him, he stopped and turned towards him waiting for him to continue. "Don't you think we should head back now?" Miles asked almost doubtfully, "We're soaked and exhausted, if we haven't found him by now then…"
Roman cut Miles off with an angry expression on his face, "NO! He's not… he's not…" He trailed off tears trickling down his cheeks; he couldn't bear the thought…
"We'll find him Miles, we have to… I can't bear the thought of losing him, after everything that's happened, he's… he's like a son to me…" He pulled himself together, he'd be no use to Aden in this state, he looked over and saw Miles understand where he was coming from and reluctantly stepped forward as if to carry on. He smiled briefly at him before he returned to searching the beach.
It wasn't much longer until Roman saw something, a dark shadow of something hidden just behind a set of rocks. With his heart beating profoundly he scrambled over the driftwood and rocks until he finally reached the shadow. Miles saw him run and hurried to follow only stopping when he saw the same thing as Roman…
A lifeless figure lying face down on the ground; soaked to skin and tinged a deathly pale, blood seeped out from their head and many other wounds. There was no steady rise and fall of their chest, no signs of life in their face, no response made to anything that was happening… There was no way they could be anything other than dead…
Roman fell to his knees as he let the sobs send shockwaves through his body, his eyes never left the motionless figure on the floor and he choked out one final word before falling into Miles's arms.
"Aden…"
