Ian and I sat on the curb of a park. We had no idea where to go. We had no idea what we were going to do if we figured out where to go. We didn't have a single clue, a lead, a hint. It was a dead freaking end.
"AAH!" I cried in frustration. "What the hell are we going to do?" Ian acted much more composed that me, but I could see in his handsome face that he had the same internal battle going on. I couldn't take the silence or stillness any more. "I'm going for a walk," I said, then started walking.
Kids were swinging on the swings, sliding down the slides, even though it was pretty cold. They were laughing and crying and smiling and frowning. I couldn't look at them without thinking about Dan. What was he doing right now? Was he waiting for me to come? He'd probably ask Natalie if she'd ever tried a cheetos-and-banana sandwich, and completely gross her out by telling the tale when he had. I smiled, then felt sad all over again. I don't know what I would do without him. He helped me get through the clue hunt. I don't know how I could get over losing him if he wasn't there to comfort me.
I had walked so far that I couldn't even hear the children at the park. The sun was casting a pinkish glow on the park, even though it was only 4:30. All of a sudden, a little girl appeared out of nowhere. She had big, sad brown eyes, and dirty blonde hair that was tangled and messy. She was wearing tattered clothes. She looked about 6 or 7.
She looked up at me and asked, "Do you know where my parents are?" Her voice had a musical, sweet yet heartbreaking sound to it. it was impossible to describe, so sad and so beautiful.
"Their names are Jack and Marie. They brought me to the park, and said they went to go buy me the teddy bear I saw on the window of the toy store. They said they'd come back. Do-do you know where they are?"
Listening to her made me realize what had happened. She had been abandoned, thrown away like a piece of trash. My eyes felt wet, but I blinked the tears away. I was angry at 'Jack and Marie'. Didn't they realize that they couldn't just through a life away like that? I bent down to the little girl and asked, "When did they go to the toy store?"
"A week ago." I felt myself go angry all over again. How could they have just done that? People like Ian and I were risking our lives for our siblings, and this girl's parents had just walked away. They hadn't even left her in an orphanage, or a relative, or someone to feed her and hug her and teach her.
Unexpectedly, I asked, "Where would you go if you were looking for someone?" Random much? The little girl looked back at me and said, to my surprise, "I would go to Loch Coruisk. My mummy told me about that place when I was little, and told me stories about how all lost people go there. They go, and wait for someone to bring them back." Her eyes lit up. "Do you think mummy and papa are there? Maybe they're waiting for me to come!" I had been looking away, at the orange and pink and purple sky, with the blue swirls floated around. It was gorgeous. I looked back down to tell her that they might be, but maybe she should come with me, so I could get her something to eat and take her somewhere nice, but when I looked down, I didn't see anything but the path. The little girl was gone.
But that's when I realized where we had to go. It was as clear as a cloudless night. It was totally obvious. I ran back to Ian as fast as I could.
"Ian! Ian! I know where!" I shouted. I came up to him, panting. "Loch Coruisk. That's where we have to go." Ian looked at me, face expressionless. I couldn't tell whether he was listening to me or didn't have a clue of what I was saying, or just didn't believe me. He just stood there, looking at me. "Loch Coruisk. That's where we have to go," I repeated.
Immediately, Ian started briskly walking. "Where are you going?" I asked, catching up to him. "Library," he said. "We're going to need a map." I walked fast with him, and soon enough we came to the little town library here. "Oh, and Amy?" he said, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "I heard you the first time." I rolled my eyes and him, and we both walked into the library, feeling somewhat more at peace than before, now that we knew where we were going. All we had left to do was to figure out what we going to do.
We got off the taxi and stood in the middle of nowhere. We were going through on instinct, now. But it felt like something was controlling me, some force of nature- or maybe it was all just in my head. We may never know. I said, "This way," to Ian with a sense of confidence, and it felt just right. Sure enough, there was a gigantic cave right in front of us, that totally said "Do Not Enter." So, we did what any smart person would do and entered.
Like, el duh. As Dan would say.
The cave was big, dark, and pitch black. Your typical evil hangout. As Ian and I wandered deeper and deeper in the cave, the anxiety grew larger and larger. It was screaming and knocking inside of me. Ian and I had no plan, really. We were hoping that the world would take pity on us and help us out.
Faster and unbelievably unnoticeable than seemed possible, the cave transformed into a hallway, the type of hallway you would see in a high tech studio or work place. Fluorescent lights, smooth floors, and wooden doors surrounded us. The doors on every side, but it looked like no one was there. No lights were on, no sounds other than our footsteps.
We came to a sudden dead end, with a giant metal door. It was slightly open, but we couldn't see anything through it. I looked at Ian and he looked at me. He slowly pushed the door open.