Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Groaning, I turned away from the warmth and comfort of Emmett's large body to whack at the offensive clock on my nightstand. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. "Shut up," I growled, my arm fruitlessly trying to locate the alarm. Behind me, Emmett mumbled something about death and destruction to all things that make noise before turning on his other side and falling back asleep.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. "For fuck's sake," I grumbled, opening my eyes and finally slamming my hand down on the loud obnoxious thing to silence it. Looking out the window, I could see the weak rays from the sun of dawn filtering through the glass and I knew it was time to wake up. I turned onto my back and roughly dragged my hand down my face, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. Looking over at Emmett, I swiftly tap him on the ass and tell him to wake up.

"No," he grunted. "It's too early."

"C'mon," I replied. "Time to hit the shower." I got up, letting the warm covers fall away and stepped out of bed. Immediately, I regretted this action when my body exploded into cold goose bumps and a shiver shot up my spine. As swift as my sleepy body allowed me to, I sprinted into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I hopped around a bit, trying to keep myself warm while the water took it's sweet time to heat up. When I finally stepped under the hot water, I let out a sigh of relief. This really was the only way to wake my ass up.

After I showered, I woke Emmett again then dressed in jeans and a shirt. Together, we ate breakfast in comfortable silence before we had to say goodbye to each other.

"What time will you be home?" I asked him, folding my arms around his waist as we said goodbye on the porch. He reciprocated by folding his own arms around my shoulders and gently kissing me.

"At around five thirty, I think," he answered.

"Okay," I told him, kissing him a little deeper than he had kissed me. "I'll be waiting for you."

Emmett slipped out of my arms and walked off towards his car, yelling "Love ya!" over his shoulder.

"Love you too!" I replied, blatantly checking out his ass before it disappeared into the car. He started the engine and, with a wave, backed out of the driveway and drove off. I took a deep breath before walking back into the house and tidying up a bit. After loading up the washing machine, I walked into my little office and sat down behind my computer.

My work day was starting now.

As a website designer, I could work from home on most days, only really going into the office for meetings or customers. Currently, I was working on a website for the local high school, which meant a lot of different pages and a lot… a lot… of pictures. At around eleven, when I was about ready to throw up if I saw one more perky cheerleader posing for the picture taken, I took a quick break to get myself some coffee and to crack my aching neck.

I was standing in the kitchen, waiting for the coffeemaker to finish, when I was hit with a deep-seated, gut wrenching feeling of dread and misery. It was so strong that it made me stumble a bit and clutch my stomach.

"Whoa," I breathed. Though the feeling passed quickly, it never really left me and I was left wondering pretty much all day. Under normal circumstances, I would've called Emmett but I knew he'd be in about a million meetings today so I opted to leave him alone instead. He would probably call at around three anyway, like he always did.

I drank my coffee and worked on the website for a while longer, until 3 o'clock came and went. I couldn't help but remember the feeling I had standing in the kitchen but then chided myself for being over dramatic. He was probably just swamped with work. No big deal.

But my thoughts didn't soothe my feelings much. I got so nervous that I saved the changes I made to the website and shut down the computer. It felt like a century of pacing up and down the living room, willing the clock to go faster until Emmett would come home. I drank more of the hot coffee, then paced again until finally the clock hit the 5.30 mark.

But as longingly I looked at the front door, willing it to open and reveal the man I loved, it stayed stubbornly shut. Feeling bile rise up in my throat, I took my cell out of my pocket and called Emmett.

"Fuck!" I shouted when my call was picked up by voicemail. I tried calling his work number but considering it was past five, all the phones were immediately directed to voicemail too.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I once again chided myself for being a drama queen. He was probably just stuck in traffic. He'd be home soon. I forced myself to sit on the couch and pick up the remote.

I could just about hear his deep laughter if I were to tell him I had been so worried. "You waited on me like an over protective housewife, huh?" he would tease, poking me in the ribs and laughing. The thought made me smile a bit.

Despite my decision to stop worrying, six o'clock came and went and the dread returned in full. I took another breath to settle myself and stubbornly kept my eyes on the ever changing channels on the TV.

6.30… I pushed my feelings of nausea down but turned off the TV. Instead, I marched into the kitchen and started on dinner. I was getting angry now. Where the hell was he?

7 pm. I was glaring at the plate of spaghetti in front of me when the doorbell rang. Startled, I jumped up but got my wits about me quickly. Pissed, I stalked over to the door and yanked the door open. The person behind it jumped a bit and my anger deflated, immediately followed by concern again.

"Alice," I said, surprise clear in my voice. "What are you doing here?" Alice was my cousin and coincidentally Emmett's assistant at work. She even introduced us.

"Listen, Edward," she started off, looking pissed. "I don't care if you and Emmett decide to stay in bed all day and I really don't mind if he plays hooky every once in a while, but on a day like this? With a million meetings and whatnot and you know–"

I cut her off. "What the hell are you talking about?"

She huffed. "Emmett never showed up to work today. All freaking day! He won't even pick up the freaking phone!"

Her words hit me like a sledgehammer and she must have seen it on my face because she immediately calmed down and asked me if I was okay.

"He didn't stay at home today, Alice," I shakily told her. "He went to work."

"But he hasn't been at work, Edward," she told me. She stepped into the house and shut the door behind her with a concerned face. "Where could he be?"

"I don't know," I whispered, feeling like someone was suffocating me. Panic gripped me tightly and wasn't letting go. Maybe it was time to call the police…

"I'm gonna call the cops," I told Alice, walking into the living room. Her soft footfalls behind me told me she was following me. I grabbed the cordless from its station and dialed 911.

911. What's your emergency? The voice on the other side of the line said.

"Good evening, my name is Edward Cullen. I'd like to report my boyfriend missing," I said with a shaky voice, biting my lip as the weight of the words settled in my stomach. I sat down on the couch and held my head in my free hand.

"What's your boyfriend's name, Mr. Cullen?"

"Emmett McCarty."

"And when was the last time you saw him?"

I took a deep breath. "Last time I saw him was at around 8 this morning. He never showed up for work and isn't picking up his phone."

I felt Alice's small hand begin to rub circles into my tense back and I was grateful not to be alone right now.

"Mr. Cullen, I'm sorry but I can't report a person missing until 24 hours after he was last seen," the woman said. "He could very well be out with his friends or something like that. There's no reason to believe he's missing as of yet."

Anger flared up inside of me. "What? But he hasn't been seen all day! Not at home, not at work. It's not like him! There's something wrong, I know it!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but right now we can't help you."

"But, I–"

"24 hours, sir. That's the minimum amount of time before you can report someone missing," the woman cut me off.

Frustrated, angry, and sad, I growled, disconnected and threw the phone across the room. I could feel Alice's confusion but she never stopped rubbing my back.

"He has to be missing for 24 hours before I can file a report," I growled through my teeth. "Apparently, the cops think he might be hanging with his friends or screwing around or something."

"I'm sorry," Alice whispered.

"There's something wrong, Alice," I moaned with misery. "I can feel it in my gut."

"Maybe that's just your anxiety talking…" she offered in vain. I shook my head and got up, walking into the kitchen and taking the bottle of scotch out the cupboard. I didn't bother with a glass, instead I swigged directly from the bottle.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I heard Alice say. I shrugged, not really caring.

"Just to calm my nerves a bit," I explained to make her feel better. I took another large swallow, letting the burn wash over my throat and settle in my veins. Instantly, I felt warmer, less panicked, and I sighed with relief.

I looked over at Alice. She was shifting from one foot to the other, biting her lip and wringing her hands. She was scared. It was no secret she and Emmett were close. Their colleagues even lovingly called them 'the siblings'.

"Hey," I whispered, causing her to look up at me. "We'll find him."

She smiled a bit and nodded her head. "Yes, we will. And if the police won't help us, we'll do it ourselves."

I raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "Let's retrace his steps, okay?" she explained.

"Well," I breathed, running a hand through my hair and feeling a little better. "He went out to go to work."

"Right," Alice nodded. "And he isn't the type to just ditch work to go bowling with mates or something so we have to assume he was on his way to work."

"Yes," I said, my brain kicking into gear. Working on finding him made me feel much better, clearer in the head. "And his route to work takes him through a back road with a lot of bends."

"Okay!" Alice exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Let's go! We're gonna find him."

She took my hand and pulled me away from the counter, towards the door. Instantly, I knew what her plan was. We were going to drive the route to his office and see if we could find him. I tried not to think about what might happen if we did find him… with his car in a ditch somewhere…

I swallowed and grabbed the keys to my Jeep from the side table next to the door. Alice and I jumped into the car and took off. The first few minutes of the drive was along big open roads. If he or his car were there, we would've spotted them immediately. We found nothing.

Soon I turned onto the long, dark, hidden road that led straight through the woods and slowed down, putting on my high beams. I slowed down to 10 miles per hour so we could search the woods on either side of the narrow road without missing anything. Alice opened her window and stuck her head out. Following her, I did the same.

No matter how hard we looked, after ten minutes we still didn't find anything and I was starting to panic again. Where could he be? Was he with somebody? What if he had crashed his car and was hurt or… worse. I swallowed back bile as that thought entered my brain and didn't leave.

"Edward!" Alice screamed. "Stop the car!"

I slammed on the brake, looking at whatever she was looking at, but I didn't see anything.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I saw a red light!" she shouted, getting out of the car. Hope – and dread – flared up inside of me as I cut the engine in the middle of the deserted road and got out, sprinting after my cousin into the woods.

Tiny as though she was, Alice was a fast runner and following her, I finally saw what she had seen. The red light she had seen were clearly the rear-lights of a car. I felt like puking when I looked down and saw clear skid-marks on the trees had damage from the car impacting them with great speed.

But then, when we came closer to the car, I could see it was Emmett's sedan. My heart stopped before starting to beat wildly in my chest as I ran as fast as I could to the drivers side.

I could see the car was totaled; it had crashed directly into a large tree. I yanked the door open but there was no one inside.

"Emmett," I breathed. He wasn't there. I looked around but it was too dark to see very was no way he could've gotten out of the crash unscathed. He had to be here somewhere. I squinted through the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of his broad back or something but couldn't see anything.

"Edward," Alice choked. "What is that?" She pointed to a few spots on the seat. I turned back to the car and my eyes followed her pointing finger.

There were darker spots on the drivers seat. I reached out and touched one of them. To my utter disgust and dismay, I felt wetness.

"Oh my god," I gasped, pulling back my hand. On a closer view, I could see the tops of my fingers were now covered with a thick, crimson red liquid.

"Is that blood?" Alice shrieked. The world started spinning under my feet and my skin broke out in a cold sweat.

"Oh my god…" I choked. "Oh my god, Emmett."

Alice was quick to take out her phone and dial 911, but I didn't hear a word of what she was saying. I felt like I was about to pass out and maybe I did, because next thing I remember, cops were everywhere. Alice and I were taken away by one of them for questioning.

I walked – unseeing – towards my car. I didn't even feel the supporting hand the cop had placed under my elbow. He let me lean against the Jeep, while Alice was off with another cop, and get my wits about me somehow.

"Mr. Cullen?" he asked after a good five minutes. I shook my head and put my hand in front of my mouth. The officer looked off to the side, then took to his walkie-talkie thingy on his shoulder.

I didn't hear a word what was being said, but after he was done, he turned back to me and tried to smile encouragingly.

"There will be a Detective here soon," the cop told me. "He'll have some questions for you, Mr. Cullen."

I nodded, not really caring. All I could think about was this morning, when we said goodbye. Would that have been the last time I ever saw him? Touched, smelled, and heard him say he loved me?

I closed my eyes to stop tears from flowing freely. He was my everything. My world, my voice of reason, my only reason to wake up in the morning. What would I do if he was… I swallowed, not allowing myself to finish that line of thought.

"Newton!" someone from inside the woods shouted, gaining the attention of the officer in front of me. "We need you!"

He turned his gaze back to me and smiled again. "Don't worry, . We'll find your man." With a squeeze on my shoulder he walked off, leaving me alone. I stumbled along the car until I reached the drivers side door, opened it, and sat down. I rested my head in my hands, letting the full weight of what was happening engulf me in its clutches.

Emmett's car was no more than 50 yards away from me, with blood all over the interior, and I had no clue as to where my love was. I tugged on my hair sharply, hoping beyond hope that it would wake me from this nightmare, but there was no waking up.

Emmett, the love of my life, was missing and I had no idea if I would ever see him again. If he was even still alive…

Thanks for still reading! I hope you won't kill me for this. Remember, it ain't FF without a HEA ;D

Special thanks to my wonderful Beta Mrs. Agget and my kick-ass prereader DelphiusFanfic. They are both incredibly talented writers so check out their stuff.

There are links on my profile that you might find interesting.

XoXoX Eve