Just a warning, M rated material ahead.
They arrived at the police station completely distraught. Niles was keeping C.C from hyperventilating as they pulled up in front of the glass facade headquarters, got out of the back of the police car and headed inside. It was quiet, too quiet as they followed the officer to a desk attendant that would grant them access to the morgue. The attendant used the card key to open the stainless steel doors and propped one open.
The officer turned to them, "I'll only need one of you to legally ID the body... unless the both of you..."
"Then I'll go..." C.C stepped forward before Niles held her back.
"No..." He grasped her hand in his, intertwining his fingers with hers and allowing their rings to clink together in unison. "We'll both go." He put his handkerchief back into his pocket after wiping his eyes once more. "Lead us to her..."
With a nod, the officer lead the way into the morgue. The lack of light from the outside window created a menacing mood while the surrounding room was lit by a blue security light. Some were still on their gurneys with a tag upon their toes, while some were wrapped in what looked to be a large space bags. Niles produced his handkerchief from his jacket pocket while C.C lead him the rest of the way.
They stopped before a large stainless steel cabinet as the officer opened the cabinet door, fog pouring into the room and blasted them with bone chilling air. A squeak and pull later and the two were looking down at a white sheet, their daughter on slab. Labelled Jane Doe #4128.
"I'll have to remind you. It might not be pretty."
They took their chances and nodded in agreement. The officer lifted the sheet to reveal the corpse's head.
The skull was crushed in, the face unrecognizable. It didn't even have eyeballs. The smell was repungnent. Niles swallowed and scrunched his eyes closed, covering his face with the cloth. "Good God..."
C.C continued to look on, looking for anything that would tell her this wasn't her. And as her eyes combed through the repulsive body, she found it.
Niles followed her eyes then removed the handkerchief from his face carefully. "This is not our daughter."
The officer looked over at them confused, "Are you sure?"
"This person has light brown hair." C.C pointed, "Sara's hair is light blonde..."
"Like her mother..." Niles smiled. Finally, some glimmer of hope.
"Mr. and Mrs. Brightmore, I know this is a rough time for you but I am making sure that you are perfectly sure that..."
"Hang it, Jim. They're right." A voice came from behind them, a pudgy man emerging from behind a column of freezer cabinets. "That is, if I am talking about the same case you are." He handed the officer a folder. "That accident reported earlier with the black Cadillac... they found an ID amongst the vic's clothes. Name's Hannah Farley, a local prostitute recently booked for grand theft auto about 2 months ago."
C.C shook her head, "Excuse me, but what the hell does this have to do with my daughter? Where is she?! Where – How did this this hooker get into my daughter's car!?"
The man turned to her, "If we're looking at the evidence right, it suggests that your daughter's car was stolen by this woman. There doesn't appear to signs of where your daughter is or went, Mrs..."
"Babcock Brightmore." Niles stepped forward, "I'm Niles, this is my wife C.C."
The man looked up at her with astonishment, "C.C Babcock? Of Sheffield Babcock Productions? The daughter of Stuart Babcock?"
"My daughter Sara's car was the one found in the ditch..."
The shorter looked over at the officer, getting red in the face. "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me that it was their daughter in question here?"
"I'm sorry sir, I didn't think it was that relevant."
"Not that rele..." He murmured to himself before turning back to Niles and C.C. "Mr. and Mrs. Brightmore, I apologize. Had I know this was your daughter in question, I would have put out an all points bulletin out less than an hour ago."
C.C went over to him, "Well, with my daughter's car found, doesn't this make this a missing persons case?"
"I suppose it does." He nodded, leading them towards the door, "Now that I know its your daughter, Mrs. Brightmore, I will send out an all points bulletin as soon as I can."
Niles touched the man's arm in thanks while C.C murmured a thank you while heading out the door.
As they left, the pudgy man turned around and hit the officier in the arm. "What the hell have you been doing for the last few hours? How could you let a case like that slip through the cracks?"
"What's so important about her anyway?"
He looked up at him like he had two heads, "Her father is one of this city's prevalent citizens. Hell, he gave money to make sure this building was properly facilitated. You wouldn't have a job if it wasn't for that man."
The Sheffields were already at the door when Niles and C.C got home.
"Oh thank God! We heard!" Fran grabbed Niles into an embrace first thing, who was still sighing in relief.
"You're ears were burning weren't they?" He asked with the best smile he could muster while handling the few stray tears of relief that came down his face.
Fran gave him a heartfelt smack as she reached over and squeezed C.C's hand. "How are you doing?"
C.C nodded, "There might be some kind of hope, thankfully. Seriously though, how did you know it wasn't her? From what I know, there were no Yentas down there with us."
Fran grabbed both of their hands and lead them to the television, "They have it on the news. Its all they have been reporting for the last 20 minutes!" She grabbed the remote control as Maxwell moved off the sofa and sat on the sofa's arm, while Fran changed the channel and turned up the volume.
"Authorities are announcing an all points bulletin on a local young woman missing from her home tonight. 15 year old Sara Babcock Brightmore, pictured here, the granddaughter of local prevalent philanthropist Stuart Babcock, has been missing for several hours. Authorities located her car in a ditch not 10 miles from central Los Angeles, and suspect that her car was stolen and the woman maybe wandering on her own. If have you seen this woman, please contact the local LAPD."
"Have you called the surrounding hospitals or shelters?" C.C asked out of the blue.
"Well... no... " Fran answered, "There was no reason to. We didn't even have a lead."
"Well there is now, Nanny Fine! Now go start calling!" She exclaimed.
"Alright, alright! I'll get the phone book and we'll start calling. Niles, where do you keep your phone books?"
"They'll be in the back office..." Maxwell stood up and lead Fran to the back offices.
With that, C.C stood up from the sofa and went to the wetbar, not giving a shit if Niles did come after her. But he didn't. Although, he did follow her over to it.
"I hope you realize you're helping out, too. And that we are not going to listen to some old hag order us around."
C.C chuckled, seeming like forever since she had done so. It was a welcoming feeling.
"And you think I'm going listen to your wise words, Aristotle?"
"Is Caca giving out compliments now? I better alert the world to get in line to get their fair share while it lasts."
C.C walked over to him with a fresh cup of whiskey, "No, you're just hard of hearing in your old age."
"You don't have to tell me what I already know... but I am not hard of hearing..."
They shared a laugh as they swung back their drinks together, "She might have not been that corpse... but she's still out there..." C.C murmured, her hand reaching for his hand beside his waist. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it. "I'm scared Niles... I'm frightened..."
Niles smiled to her, "I know... you nearly drowned my jacket on the way home."
She wiped at the tear that escaped her eyes, chuckling with a bright smile. She looked over his shoulder to see Maxwell and Fran coming out of the back office, cell phones in each of their hands. They had also called the kids to come over and help them in the search and would be over in a few minutes.
In the meantime, Niles reached into his pocket and got out his cell phone, bringing a phone book between him and his wife.
"You ready?" Niles asked her.
C.C gave him a smile, "I'll race ya, Butler Boy..." She dialed the first number in the phone book.
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The Venice Boardwalk had been closed for nearly an hour or two, leaving Sara stranded in near total darkness beside the vendors. If only she had locked the car after she grabbed her towel from the back!
There were no phones near by, her cell phone was in her car and there wasn't any pockets on this damned costume to check for spare change. Only the odd light from distant bonfires made her aware of where she was at, either on the beach or on the boardwalk.
She decided the best thing to do now was to stay put, wait for a car, and hope to God they will take her home. Or, better yet, the owner could come by and allow her to use the phone. Either way, all she wanted was to get out of there. It didn't matter how, she just wanted to leave now.
Her stomach began to growl fiercely, and she realized it had been hours since she's eaten. She had to find food. Though the darkness was prevalent around her, her eyes managed to adjust to it enough to make out outlines and simple shapes. A small look at her surrounding picked up a trash bin about 50 yards away from where she sat. Jackpot! Yeah it would be disgusting, but if there was food in there, sealed food if anything else, then why not?
She ran over and looked around, finding a hole in the side of the bin. She stuck her hand in, her fingertips touching something slightly squishy. When she pulled it out, she found it was half of a wrap, nicely cut. From what she saw, and felt, it wasn't bitten into and decided it was safe enough to eat.
She moved away from the bin and began slowly biting into the piece of nourishment. It wasn't anything like her father's culinary perfections or anything like the food she could pick up in the surrounding local restaurants, but it was delicious nevertheless. A simple meal, nothing more or less. Why couldn't life be more like this meal, her life at least?
Now was not the best time to think about the unfortunate details of her life. Now was best to savour the moment as best she could.
The faint sound of talking could be heard cutting through the darkness, getting closer and closer by each passing second. It sounded rowdy, almost as if a party was just wrapping up and the guests were all piling up to go home. Soon the noises were nearby, and Sara saw that these people were indeed rowdy. Rowdy and just plain drunk. The air reeked of booze as they came into view, all three boys seemed about 18.
As she stood up, her toe got caught on the corner of the bin, making her fall forward and stub her toe.
"Shit!" She called out loud before flinging her hand to her mouth. But it was too late, the guys already saw her.
"Well, what do we have here?" The tallest one laughed. "Hey guys we finally got ourselves the hooker we called for this evenin'!" He came over to her, "Hey baby, what's going on with you tonight?"
Sara shook her head, "I think you got me mixed up with someone else..."
"Don't be so modest, baby. C'mon... you promise to give papa some lovin' tonight." He brought his lips forward onto her lips, in which she flung him away from her.
"Oh, we got a rough one here fellas... Baby likes to play it rough, don't cha?" He made a grab for her waist and pulled her toward him, making her fight back with everyounce of energy she had left. He struggled against her, trying to bring her over to the rest of his buddies, but it was no use. They were flung to the ground and the rest of them caught up to hold her down. Sara's legs began kicking furiously against them, kicking one of the them square in the nose.
"Rowdy little bitch!" He screamed and held his handover her mouth, which she bit away right quick.
But that didn't stop him. "Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" He gave her one last slap, sending her head banging against the bin behind her, nearly knocking her unconscious.
Her eyes slit open just enough to see the guy stand up before her, chuckle at something and began removing his pants. He had them pool at his feet, pulled her skirt above her knees and pushed her panties to the side. Her eyes began to close as she slowly start losing her sight of them.
As of the guys looked away, and glanced up drunkenly towards the trees, a tall shadowy figure stood amongst the trees staring straight at him.
"Hey, Marc, man!" He grabbed at him, "What the hell is that?"
The taller guy looked up, "Screw him, I'd rather do her." But as he looked up, the shadow figure continued to look at them. Silence.
They stared at ti, and it stared right back. They couldn't move a muscle as it continued to watch them. The one guy slowly trying to pull his pants back up. "Uh... we're er... sorry... really..." But it just continued to stare. "We didn't mean any - "
The black figure rushed forward and grabbed a hold of the guy's throat, levitating 2 feet off the ground then thrown several yards into the sand. His buddies began screaming as they scrambled to their feet and ran away from the area, the taller guy in tow.
She had slip out of consciousness. She was floating, falling... it was hard to tell which. But everything was complete darkness. No shapes, not outlines to make out. Nothing. Just pure black color. Like being settled in a tomb, know you'll never see the light again... that you'll never see anyone again...
And then, a speck of light. A light at the end of the tunnel... was this heaven? Or a rebirth?