Can it Get Any Worse?
Updated: August 29, 2017. Corrected some mistakes.
Disclaimer: I do not own PLL, Glee, or their characters. I own the rights to any characters you don't recognize.
Rated: Minor T. Back with the girls. A little calmer than before.
Spoilers:
Ages of the kids as of December 1st, 2018.
Zach: 10 years old.
Emma: 10 years old (going on 11).
Scarlett: 9 years old (going on 10).
Trevor: 7 years old (going on 8).
I'm in the year 2018.
Wednesday, December 6th
Dover, Delaware.
Her phone is what wakes Emily up. She tossed and turned all night and sighs as she catches sight of the clock. It's blinking with the time of 2:13, meaning the power has been restored. She grabs her phone, answering it, noting that is Caleb calling.
Suddenly, she is wide awake. Caleb told her he'd call if he was able to Hanna and the kids safely out of the house.
"Hello? Caleb? Please tell me you have her." Emily blurts out not letting the older boy get a word in. She frowns when she is met with silence and pulls the phone to make sure she still has a connection with Caleb. "Caleb? Are you there?"
"Emily…" His voice sends chills down her spine. It causes her heart to stutter and ache as she realizes that it's not the tone of voice someone who is thrilled to have found his best friend and her children would use. No, it's the tone of voice said person would use when about to deliver even worse news than was given in the last update.
If that's not enough, Caleb stating, "Em, I've some bad news. Are the girls there?" confirms it for her.
Emily sighs, sitting up and rubbing her temples. "What's happened, Caleb?"
"Em, it's really best if I speak to everyone at once."
"Okay. Give me half an hour. I have to make sure everyone is awake and make sure the kids are occupied. Then I'll call you, okay?" Caleb agrees with that and the two of them hang up. Emily let's out a deep breath as she tries to calm down.
Then she slowly makes her way to the kitchen where she finds all the kids, Ella, Ezra, Aria, and Samara and Zoe.
"Hey guys." She greets, taking a moment to look around at all the faces. She gets a "Morning, Em.", "Good morning, sweetie.", and "Morning, Auntie Em." in response.
"You couldn't sleep either?" She asks and gets collective, negative responses.
"No, I had a bad dream last night about Auntie Hanna," Scarlett says, frowning.
Emily smiles sympathetically. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Uncle Toby and his friends are doing their very best to find your Auntie Hanna and the little girls, okay?" She has to work to keep a straight face because as of right now, Toby is so far behind on where Hanna is he'll be lucky if he gets a good lead anytime soon.
Scarlett looks up at her aunt, and then around the kitchen before coming back to Emily. She notices the fourth-grader has the same look Aria did when she wasn't sure how to word a question or if she should ask at all.
"Scar," Emily sits beside her. "I want you to know that we know you and Emma and the boys are still young. But you have all been thrown into a grown-up situation, and we will try to treat you as such, okay? We're not going to dismiss your questions just because you are kids."
She glances around, at the other kids who are picking at their bowls of cereal or plates of bacon and eggs, and wishes nothing more than to be able to fix this mess. Why did it have to Hanna whose life was screwed up?
Instead of Scarlett asking the question though, it's Emma who does it. She's the oldest of the group, and decides to take charge in getting the conversation started. "Today is a school day," she starts out. Emily nods, letting her know she can continue. "And so is tomorrow and Friday. And, we have school next week."
Emily nods once more. "Yes, that's correct. Your mom and I, we checked in with Grandma Ella and Grandpa Byron. They said it's been real snowy back home. School is closed for tomorrow and Friday." Emma nods.
"And, we talked to Uncle Eric. He said that the runways will be cleared mid-afternoon Saturday."
"What does that mean?" This time it's Trevor asking, and Emily knows that what she is about to tell the kids is going to be very upsetting.
"Well, it means that we will be going home Saturday. It also means that Toby and Auntie Spencer will be staying here, and the rest of us, besides Auntie Samara, Zoie, Maya and Char, are going back home."
"So, even though Auntie Hanna and our cousins are missing, we'll be at home going to school?" Emma clarifies. Emily nods, wishing the little wasn't as smart as she was. She wishes she and the others could just tell them everything will be fine, and be able to mean it.
"Yes, that's right." Emily sighs, knowing that no one wants to hear the next part, but it's true and needs to be said. "And, eventually, probably by the end of next week, Uncle Toby and Auntie Spencer will come home also."
"But what if Uncle Toby can't find Auntie Hanna and the kids? Will they still come home?" Scarlett asks this, her expression telling Emily she probably already knows the answer.
Emily nods slowly, but it's Aria who answers. "I'm afraid so, sweetheart. You see, Uncle Toby has a job back home, remember? And so does Auntie Spencer. They'll have to come home so they can go back to work. We all have to go home, so you and Emma can go to school, and the adults can go to work."
Scarlett's expression crumbles, and Emily and the rest of the adults' hearts ache for the little girl. "So, you mean, Uncle Toby will have to come home, a-and stop looking for Auntie Hanna and our cousins?"
Aria nods sadly. "Yes, Uncle Toby will no longer be able to look for Aunt Hanna here. But he will be talking with his friend who works at the police station. His friend is going to call him and give Uncle Toby updates. Then, Uncle Toby will tell us if there has been any progress."
Scarlett sighs, still looking sad, so Ezra comes over and the rest of them leave the kitchen to give him and Aria a few minutes alone with their daughter. They all settle on to the couches, and switch the TV on for the mid-morning news.
After the mid-morning news, the broadcasters talk about the urgent news involving Hanna and the kids.
"Two days ago, on December 4th, 28-year-old Hanna Marin was abducted from her hometown of Rosewood, Pennsylvania. Following her disappearance yesterday, her children, 6-year-old twins, Annabella and Skyelynne Marin, 8-year-old Madeline Johnson, and 6-year-old family friend, Caroline Cook were also taken, this time while playing in the backyard of a friend's house."
Their pictures come up on the screen. Bulletin points pop up beside Hanna's picture. "Hanna has curly blonde hair with light blue eyes and was last seen wearing grey sweatpants with a blue sweatshirt and grey tennis shoes."
"Annabella and Skyelynne are identical twins. They both have shoulder-length blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and Annabella has a dimpled smile. They were last seen wearing matching pink sweatpants and sweatshirts."
"Annabella may go by 'Anna' or 'Annie', and Skyelynne may go by 'Skye'." Next is Madeline's picture. They list off what she looks like, what she was last wearing and her nicknames, and then move on to Caroline. Then, a picture of their abductor pops up…Justin.
Emily feels the anger bubbling up inside her at the sight of the bastard that took her best friend and nieces. The one that has subjected Hanna and the twins to his abuse all these years. She glances around and sees every adult, including Alison, Charlotte and Maya, who must have woken in the last half hour, looking about the same way she is.
Afterwards, they inform everyone to call the number at the bottom of the screen. The number to the Dover police station.
After the news goes on a commercial break, Emily suggests the kids go to the playroom. She then turns to all of the adults in the room and feels the air thicken with worry.
"What's wrong, Em?" Emily sighs and runs a hand through her hair before she prepares herself to give her friends even worse news than before.
"I spoke to Caleb before I came down to the kitchen this morning," Emily begins, and almost immediately, the others begin to chatter.
"Are you serious?"
"Well, what did he say?"
"Please tell me he found Han and the kids."
"Is Caroline all right? Please tell me that bastard didn't hurt her."
Finally, Alison notices the look on Em's face and holds up a hand. "Hold on, guys." They quieten down, and she directs the next question to Emily. "Em, he didn't have good news, did he?"
Emily sighs, pulling her phone out. "No, no it wasn't good news. I'm supposed to call him so he can give the details." And she does so, dialing Caleb's number.
"Hey, Em. Is everyone there?"
"Yes. You have everyone here. Can you tell us what's going on."
"Okay, well as you know, we've been tracking an UnSub, or Unidentified Subject, for a while now. Last night around 10 p.m. I went undercover with a colleague of mine. The UnSub we were after was killing couples where the wife has blonde hair and blue eyes. They have kids, no less than two, no more than 4, and have lost at least one child."
"Now, we weren't positive that Justin was the one were after, but we got information from Hanna last night."
"Wait, you actually talked to her last night?" Aria interrupts as she moves closer to the phone. "Well? How did she look? Was she ok?"
Caleb sighs over the phone before saying, "I'm not going to lie; she didn't look too good. She had bruises on her face and arms, and she was limping a little when she walked. Honestly, it took everything in my not to go give that bastard a piece of mind."
"She confirmed last night that Justin is the one we are looking for by telling us they had a total of four children, and that they had lost their only son. We got everything we needed and went back to the police station. Our plan was to go over the info we had, gather up the necessities, storm the house and arrest Justin."
"But you didn't get to do that, did you?" Emily questions, and once again, Caleb sighs.
"No, when we got there, the house was up in flames. It looked really bad and the firemen were having a hard time putting out the flames." Everyone lets out a collective gasp at that, and Emily chokes out,
"Caleb, please tell me Hanna and the kids weren't in the house."
Well! There you have it. Don't you just love cliffhangers?
I hope you liked this. I know the beginning seems rushed, and honestly, I don't like how it turned out, but oh, well. Please review and let me know what you thought! :)
Next Up: Chapter 33 - surprise chapter!