Chapter 14
Charlie shot up in bed breathing heavily. She glanced quickly around the dark room in attempt to find the cause of her discomfort.
"What's wrong?" Joey questioned quietly as she sat up on her elbows watching Charlie getting out of the bed quickly.
"I don't know" Charlie pulled on her clothes as fast as she could before she turned around to face Joey "Something's not right"
The younger girl tilted her head in unadulterated confusion "What do mean? What's not right?"
"I don't know!" Charlie exclaimed, flicking the light on. Both girls blinked rapidly against the light which suddenly flooded the room.
"Charlie, Honey" Joey said carefully as she inched slightly closer to the obviously upset woman "You're not making very much sense...Have you been taking those pain pills? I know they make you kind of loopy sometimes..."
"I'm not crazy!" Charlie stated firmly "Something's just...Not right" she turned around and walked out of the room without giving Joey time to respond.
"RUBY!" she yelled loudly as she glanced around the dark living room "Ruby?!"
"Charlie!" Joey exclaimed as she rushed out of the room and grabbed Charlie's arm gently "What's wrong? You're going to wake Leah and VJ up!"
"Something's not right" Charlie responded monotonously though she continued to look around the room frantically.
"What do...?" Joey trailed off when Charlie pulled away from her and rushed to Ruby's bedroom. Joey followed automatically and frowned in concern as Charlie pounded loudly on Ruby's door.
"Rubz?!" Charlie called out quietly "Open the door!" she glanced at Joey who shrugged before she pushed the door carefully open. She inhaled sharply when she saw that the room was empty and Ruby's bed hadn't been slept in.
"She's not here..." she said softly as she turned around to face her girlfriend "She's not here Joey!"
"Okay" Joey responded softly, trying to remain as calm as possible despite the gnawing fear in her stomach "Let's just stay calm okay? She could be totally fine. She might just be running late...You know what Ruby's like...She's never on time"
Charlie's gaze left Joey's as she glanced over her shoulder at the clock "its 1am..." she pulled fully away from Joey and rushed from the room.
"What's going on Joey?" Leah questioned sleepily from the doorway "What's wrong with Charlie?"
"Ruby isn't in her room" Joey explained in a hurried voice "Charlie's panicking" without another word she hurried after Charlie. Seeing the door was open she groaned internally.
"Not again..." she muttered under her breath. She moved quickly outside and spotted Charlie immediately.
"Charlie?" She moved quickly over to the distressed woman and took her hand gently "Charlie...Listen to me!"
Charlie shook her head silently "I can't. I need to find Ruby...I can't just leave her out here...She could be hurt or worse..." she tried to struggle away from Joey but the younger girl held tightly "Let go!"
"No!" Joey refused adamantly "You're not thinking clearly. You can't just run off Charlie!"
"I have to find her!" Charlie growled out "She's my sister...I have to..."
"There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this" Joey soothed quietly "Like I said she could be late..."
"No" Charlie shook her head adamantly "She would never be this late...Especially not right now. She knows I would freak out"
"We'll go to the station, okay?" Joey said quietly "I'm sure she'll be fine"
"No, I have to..."
"Charlie!" Joey stated firmly as she cupped the older girls face in her hands "We have to be reasonable okay? We can't just run off into the dark to look for her. We have to do this properly..."
"Right" Charlie nodded quickly. She turned back towards the house and moved inside pulling Joey with her.
---
"Charlie?" Watson frowned in confusion as her friend and Colleague entered the station with Joey hot at her heels "I thought you were taking..."
"My sister is missing!" Charlie interrupted stopping right in front of Watson's desk "And I want her found right now!"
"Ruby's missing?" Watson question in concern.
"Yes" Charlie nodded "That's what I said..."
"Uh...Why don't we take this into your office?" Watson stood up and led them into Charlie's office realising that this was not going to be an easy conversation to have. She leaned back on the desk as Charlie stood in front of her with Joey hovering uncertainly at her side.
"How long has she been missing?" she asked carefully.
"Since this morning" Charlie answered monotonously "We haven't seen her since then and she hasn't come home yet...She's never this late"
Watson nodded slowly and walked around the desk feeling the need to put as much distance between her and Charlie as possible.
"As a police officer..." she started quietly "You know about the 24 hour rule..."
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE 24 HOUR RULE!" Charlie stepped forward and slammed her hands down on the table in front of her shocking both Watson and Joey with the ferocity of both her statement and the action.
"Charlie..." Watson began calmly.
"Don't 'Charlie' me!" Charlie said loudly just managing to keep herself from shouting "My sister is out there and she could be hurt!"
"But..."
"There also happens to be a psycho out there...Doesn't that tell you anything?!"
"The rules..."
"I don't want to hear about the stupid rules!" Charlie exclaimed her voice increasing in volume "I WANT MY SISTER FOUND RIGHT NOW!"
"Charlie..." Joey stepped forward and tugged at Charlie's hand "Stop yelling"
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO FUCKING CALM JOEY?" Charlie yelled, spinning around to face the younger girl "Ruby is missing! Don't you get that?!"
"Yes" Joey said tightly "I do get that Charlie!"
"Well the least you could do is act like you care!" Charlie blurted out before she could stop herself.
A hurt expression instantly adorned Joey's features "You know that I care about Ruby..."
"I want her back" Charlie said shortly as she turned back to face Watson "And If nobody will help me I'm going to go and look for her by myself. I swear to God I will fight through heaven and hell until she's found!"
Watson sighed heavily "I'll see what I can do. I'll put out an APB straight away since these are special circumstances...What with a killer on the loose and all..."
"Okay..." Charlie nodded "I'm going to go and look..."
"No" Watson shook her head adamantly and looked pointedly between Joey and Charlie "Neither of you are going to look for her tonight. I'll get a team on it. We can't afford any more casualties...You know it's the right thing to do Charlie..."
Charlie hesitated for a moment before nodding "Fine. But first thing tomorrow I'm out there" she turned and walked quickly towards the door. She stopped at the doorway "Watson?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you"
Watson watched Charlie leave the room "Joey?!" she said quickly stopping the younger girl from leaving the room.
"Yeah?" Joey questioned hoarsely. She turned around to reveal tears in her eyes.
"Look out for her okay?" Watson asked quietly gesturing towards the doorway "It seems to me like she's blocking her emotions...Except anger of course. It's perfectly normal in cases like this but...When the time comes..."
"I know" Joey nodded shortly as she once again turned to leave the room.
"And, Joey?" Watson once again stopped Joey leaving the room "We'll find her"
Joey nodded "Thanks" she moved quickly out of the room.
---
"How is she?" Leah questioned quietly as she sat on the couch and placed her hand on Joey's back "Actually...where is she?"
"She's sitting in the kitchen...Waiting" Joey answered "Just like she has been all night. I don't know how she is...She won't talk to me. It's like she's blocking all of her emotions"
"Has there been any news?" Leah softly.
"No. Not ye..."she trailed off as Charlie walked through the room "Charlie?" when Charlie merely ignored her she sighed and turned to Leah "I'm going to go after her..."
Leah nodded and Joey pushed herself off the couch, walking into the bedroom she shared with Charlie "Charlie?" she watched as Charlie pulled a pair of jeans on "Where are you going?" she inhaled deeply when Charlie once again ignored her "You're going to have to talk to me eventually you know..."
"What, Joey?!" Charlie exclaimed finally spinning around to face her "What do you want me to say?!"
"I want you to stop shutting me out!" Joey answered firmly. She moved forward and placed a hand on Charlie's cheek "You don't have to be strong for me Charlie. You don't..." she was cut off as a beeping sounded "What's..."
"My phone..." Charlie moved over to her phone which was on the bedside cabinet and picked it up just as the beeping stopped.
"I have a missed call..." she said softly "From Ruby...Last night..." she quickly dialled a number "I have a voicemail message..."
Joey watched hopefully as Charlie lifted her phone to her ear. Her hope faded however when Charlie paled dramatically and she slumped back on the bed, allowing the phone to slip from her grasp.
"What?" Joey questioned in panic "What is it?" Charlie offered no response and Joey picked the phone up from the floor. She quickly selected the option to replay and listened carefully, growing more horrified by the second.
"Damn it..." Ruby's voice sounded.
Her voice faded slightly as if the phone had been lowered "Phew...That was kind of close"
A loud scream from the phone caused Joey to jump slightly. A moment later a thump was heard as if the phone had been dropped to the ground.
"That was easier than expected" a man's voice sounded.
"Oh my God..." Joey muttered as she dropped shakily on the bed next to Charlie.
"Last night..." Charlie whispered, her mind flashing back to the previous night.
"Charlie..." Joey panted against Charlie's skin "Your phone..."
"Ignore it" Charlie moaned softly as she pulled Joey back to her and kissed her deeply.
"It could be important..."
"If it is they'll call back..."
The sound of ringing cut her from her thoughts.
"CHARLIE!" Leah yelled a couple of moments after she had answered it "PHONE!"
Charlie rushed out of the bedroom and took the phone Leah offered her "Thanks Leah" she raised the phone to her ear.
"Charlie?" Watson's voice rang out.
"Yeah?" Charlie swallowed nervously "Have you found her Watson?"
"No...But we've found her phone" Watson answered slowly "We've also found what appears to be traces of blood..."
"How....Is it Ruby's?"
"We don't know yet...We're assuming that this is the crime scene"
Charlie released a soft whimper but tensed almost instantly determined that she wouldn't let her emotions overrule her "I have a voicemail message on my Cell phone...It sounds like she was attacked..."
"We'll be there soon okay?!" Watson said. She hung up before Charlie had a chance to reply.
---
"Charlie..." Joey said softly as she watched the older girl walking aimlessly around the kitchen. It had been over an hour since Watson had stopped by to pick up the phone and since then Charlie had reverted back to silence.
"What?!" Charlie asked loudly.
"Are you...Mad at me?" Joey asked hesitantly.
"No" Charlie answered quietly bracing herself with her hands on either side of the sink "I'm not mad at you...I'm mad at myself! This is entirely my fault Joey!"
"It's not your fault" Joey argued softly as she moved slightly closer to her distraught girlfriend.
"It is. She needed me and I was too busy..." Charlie trailed off unsure as to how to finish that sentence "She needed me...And I wasn't there for her...I wasn't THERE!" she slammed her hand down on the edge of the sink causing Joey to wince slightly.
"Charlie..." she placed a hand on Charlie's shoulder, relieved when she wasn't shrugged off "You have to calm down..."
"Why do you keep saying that?!" Charlie growled tensing under Joey's hand "How am I supposed to calm down? Ruby could be hurt or...or DEAD!" she released a quiet sob and turned around to face Joey as tears finally spilled from her eyes "I can't do this Joey!"
"I know" Joey wrapped her arms tightly around the older "it's okay...Just let go..."
"I can't lose her" Charlie sobbed into Joey's shoulder "I can't...Not her"
"Shh" Joey soothed quietly pushing her own tears back "I know" she pulled back slightly and offered Charlie a weak smile as she took her hand "Come on..." she pulled her gently though the living room and into their bedroom for privacy. She shut the door and turned back to Charlie, tenderly brushing still falling tears away "We're not going to lose her okay?"
"I want to believe that..." Charlie said tearfully "But I can't..."
"Charlie..." Joey watched helplessly as Charlie lay on the bed and turned away from her. She took a deep breath and did the only thing she could in that moment. She climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Charlie from behind.
"I miss her so much" Charlie choked out, her whole body shaking softly with sobs.
"So do I" Joey whispered tearfully.
"I can't lose her" Charlie repeated quietly.
"I know" Joey finally allowed emotions to overtake her as her tears fell faster. Charlie turned around in Joey' embrace and wrapped her arms around her tightly. They lay sobbing, guilt and sorrow washing over them before they both fell into a restless sleep.
---
"Ow!" Ruby groaned as she raised a hand to her head. She blinked her eyes open and closed them instantly when pain shot through her head "Fuck..." after a moment she opened her eyes tentatively and looked around the room. The walls were bare as was the floor she was lying on.
"Charlie?" she called quietly as she stood up slowly. She backed herself up against the wall as the door opened. A muscular dark haired man walked through a moment later and grinned at her "Aaah, you're awake"
"Where's my sister?" Ruby demanded.
"I don't know" the man shrugged.
"Who are you? And where the hell am I?!"
"You ask a lot of questions" He muttered as he leaned casually against the wall "What the hell? My name's Colin...And I'm not stupid enough to tell you where we are"
"What do you want from me?!" Ruby questioned angrily.
"I don't want anything from you" Colin laughed bitterly "The person I want is Joey"
"Joey?" The teenager questioned angrily "What do you want with Joey?!"
"I want to hurt her as much as possible"Colin grinned sadistically "And the best way to do that is to hurt the people she loves...Which is why I took you and why I attacked her precious little girlfriend..."
"You attacked my sister?!" Ruby made a move towards him stopped when he pulled a gun from his belt and pointed it directly at her.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you..."
"You're the guy from the boat..." Ruby muttered in realisation.
"Joey tell you about me, did she?" Colin smirked "Good..." he shifted his gun to the side and fired at the wall, Grinning sadistically when Ruby flinched "Now you know I mean business..."
"My sister will stop you" Ruby said shakily.
"You're sister won't have a chance..." Colin responded firmly "Which reminds me...I have something I need to do"
"Leave them alone!" Ruby demanded.
"You all seem to care about each other a lot" the man nodded thoughtfully "Good...That means this will only cause Joey more pain..." he tucked his gun into his belt and turned towards the door. He froze however at Ruby's voice.
"Why are you doing this?"
"This is personal" he answered stonily "I'm going to do to her what she did to me..." with that he left the room and locked the door behind him. Ruby rushed over to the wooden door and tried to pull it open but to no avail. She slid down the door to the floor and her eyes filled with tears.
"Charlie!" She yelled painfully "Joey!"
Her only response was silence.
TBC