Even with all the sand, the beach was the perfect blend of both their elements. This was where the sea and sky met, and as the wind whipped her hair around, Mia felt at home.
She saw Kevin walking towards her, looking just as disappointed as she felt. While she felt like she was at home, there was someone who wasn't. Antonio was still missing and after hours of searching maybe it was finally time to call it quits for the night.
"He's not fishing anywhere," Kevin shook his head and sighed heavily. "I thought for sure he would be here."
"We've got to be missing something," Mia said, "We've checked all his favourite spots."
"Maybe those are too obvious. Antonio would know those would be the first places we looked. He left a note, so he left willingly. Why would he want to be found?"
Mia sighed sadly, "You have a point. Do you think Mike and Emily found something?"
"They would have called if they had. Maybe we should just head home."
Kevin started for home but Mia didn't follow. Her gaze strayed back to the shore and she wondered where Antonio could have possibly gone. Was he even in the city anymore? Was he okay? It was getting dark and cold; did he have somewhere to sleep? Was he safe?
Kevin turned around, saw Mia staring out at the shore and sighed. He walked back to her and wrapped his arms around her.
"He's tough," he said, "He'll be okay for one night. We'll find him tomorrow so don't worry."
"What if he's hurt?" Mia asked. "We can't just stop looking."
"He's not stupid, either. If he's hurt, he's got a cell phone. Even if he doesn't call us, he'll call someone."
"Why do you think he left? We've all had hard times. That Nighlok put us all through the ringer and, I mean, he was bad, but we've faced worse."
"Maybe he's finally snapped. Maybe he wasn't cut out for this."
"Kevin!"
"I'm not saying that to be mean," Kevin looked down at Mia, "We've all been bred for this. Antonio chose this. There's a difference. Maybe he's in over his head. I'm worried for him, but right now, that's the only explanation I have."
Mia sighed and nodded her head, "I guess all we can do is look for him tomorrow?"
Kevin took her hand and started to walk home with her, "He'll always be welcome home and we won't stop looking for him. If he wants to come back, he will."
-Samurai-
Jayden had cried it all out. He couldn't produce anymore tears. He felt so weak, so stupid, and so empty.
Serena hadn't said a word and at first he appreciated it. All she did was rub his back and support him. But now the empty silence was reaching his ears and he wanted her to do something that would break that silence.
As if she could read minds, she finally spoke, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Jayden shook his head, "There's nothing to say."
"There's plenty to say," Serena said. "When my mom ran away…"
"Serena, that's different."
"You love Antonio. I don't see a difference," Serena said and then smiled softly at Jayden, "When mom ran away, I had so many thoughts racing through my head; so many questions. I felt so overwhelmed and scared and…"
"She was your mom. They aren't supposed to run away."
"Neither are boyfriends," Serena said. She hugged Jayden, "It hurts a lot, doesn't it?"
Jayden nodded sadly, "Why couldn't he have just talked to me?"
"Many reasons," Serena shrugged, "Maybe none of them are good reasons, but I'm sure he has them."
"Do you think he tried to talk to anyone?"
"I don't know, Jay."
Jayden stood up, "Mike and Emily talk about being partners all the time. Kevin and Mia are partners… aren't we?"
"Yes."
"He should have talked to me. He could have at least told me in person that he was leaving."
"Maybe he's just a dick," Serena said and received a deadly look from Jayden. She looked back, "Maybe he's not doing this to hurt you. What did the note say?"
"I can't remember. And I tore it up. I didn't… I couldn't…"
Serena saw Jayden was about to break down again so she got up, pulled him back into her arms and held him. She had never seen Jayden hurting this badly. She thought he had reached his low after his break-up with Amanda but this was worse. She didn't know if she was happy he had found true love, or pissed because his true love had hurt him so badly. No one deserved this.
If Antonio did choose to come back, he would be welcomed, but he would have to be ready for the biggest ass-kicking of his life.
-Samurai-
Frankie barely got the door to his open before Emily invited herself. She called Antonio's name and raced in and out of the rooms. Frankie closed the door as he walked in and locked it.
"Antonio!"
He heard Emily's footsteps racing up the stairs. If he wanted to keep this lie up he had to let her search the house.
He walked into the kitchen. This was the first time he came into this room since he had come home from school. He saw the note his mother left for him.
"Frankie, I've got some leftover pasta in the fridge for you for dinner. I'm working again tonight. Heat and eat."
He was sure she wrote that last part to try and be clever but it didn't work that way, especially when she said it every time. He checked the time. Normally his father would be home by now.
Normally, ha! he laughed to himself. His father hadn't been home at this time in years. If his father wasn't working overtime, he was out at the bar. His dad was never home until late. Most nights, his father came home after his mother. Both were usually in after midnight. His mother worked shifts at the hospital and his father... Frankie didn't really care for his father.
Suddenly he heard Emily racing down the stairs.
"Frankie, he's not here."
Frankie looked down at his mother's note, "Sorry, Emily. I think he bailed."
"What?"
"He left this," he flashed the note for a quick second, barely enough time for her to read. "He must have seen me bringing you home."
"Then he can't be far," Emily said and she turned to leave the house, "Thank you, Frankie, but I've got to…"
"No!" Frankie shouted. She was in his house, she was alone with him. He was so close to her he practically had her all to himself. He couldn't let her go now. Both times he had seen her it had been fate, luck! But if his luck ran out it could be days, weeks, or months before he saw her again.
And the thought of her leaving, the thought of her going back to her friends, calling them, calling her boyfriend sickened him. Where were they now? Why was she all alone? She shouldn't have been alone. They should have been waiting on her hand and foot.
Emily turned around at Frankie's shout, "What?"
"You can't leave," he said, "What if he comes back?"
"Why would he come back?" Emily asked.
"Maybe he just went out," Frankie suggested, "Maybe he didn't see you coming."
"What?" Emily walked back over to Frankie, "Well, what does the note say?"
"Nothing, you just… you can't leave," Frankie said. "You… you have to stay here."
"Frankie, Antonio's out there somewhere. I appreciate your help, but if he was here, even five minutes ago, then he's close enough to catch up to. I have to…"
"NO!" Frankie screamed and as Emily turned to leave he grabbed her arm and pulled her back in, "You're not leaving. You can't go back."
"Ow! Frankie, you're hurting me," Emily said and she tried to slip out of his hold but Frankie struggled desperately to keep her in his arms. Emily was the better fighter, but Frankie was unpredictable, bigger, and he had the element of surprise. He finally grabbed her around the waist and picked her up. Emily kicked her legs and tried to rip his arms away but Frankie held on tight. He wasn't losing her.
Emily kicked Frankie in the knee hard enough to make him fall and elbowed him in the face. She fell with him, naturally, but Frankie had already walked her close enough to the counter that when she fell, she smacked her head against it. She didn't lose consciousness, but she was quite dazed.
Frankie hadn't hit his head in the fall. His knee hurt and his face was sore, but he still had the advantage.
His father wasn't much of a handyman. To his father, duct tape fixed EVERYTHING. The kitchen sink had been leaky the other day and his father had fixed that with duct tape, and then left the roll lying around on the counter for someone else to clean up. No one had. Frankie never cleaned anything (proven by the mess in his room) and his mother usually got home from work so tired, she didn't care about a mess.
Frankie grabbed the duct tape. He knew how to keep Emily here. Emily heard the sound of the duct tape ripping at it was being pulled. Despite her confusion, and her spinning vision, she tried to get up to her feet to run. Her clumsy nature and her added dizziness made this task harder than it needed to be. Her head throbbed but she continued to run to the door. She tried to open it, but it was locked.
"Don't leave me!" Frankie screamed and Emily was suddenly pulled back roughly and thrown onto the floor. Frankie had lost it.
-Samurai-
Mike was looking everywhere. He was starting to feel like a creeper. It was getting dark and he was peeking through every shop and restaurant window hoping he could see Antonio.
Finally, he gave up. There was no use tiring himself out anymore. A Nighlok could attack at any minute and Mike needed his strength. He sat down at a bus bench and tried to call Emily's Samuraizer. She didn't have her cell phone with her, he knew. She had been getting strange text messages from some guy she didn't know and decided to turn her phone off until he got the message and left her alone. Because it was off, and staying off, she left it at home.
He heard the familiar chirp of the Samuraizer ringing, but that wasn't possible. He shouldn't have been able to hear her phone ringing unless she was nearby. He waited to see if she would try and surprise him, but the Samuraizer just continued to ring and ring. He could hear it, ringing and ringing.
A thought occurred to him and he decided to follow the noise and see if maybe Emily was playing a game with him, but the noise was coming from under the bench. He looked under. His heart froze. Her Samuraizer was there, but Emily was nowhere in sight. He knew, because once he collected it he looked around and around for her.
Antonio was gone and now Emily was gone. This wasn't good. This really wasn't good.
Mike was shaking from terror he could barely stuff her Samuraizer in his pocket and when he got up to run home he nearly stumbled and fell into the pavement several times.
"Please be a dumbass like Antonio," he muttered as he ran the entire way home. When he was close, he pushed Mia and Kevin right out of his path, raced through the gates, up into the house and into the common room. He tapped the table, bringing up the map, and he pressed as many buttons as he could, trying to see if the map had picked up any Nighlok activity over the last few hours.
When he saw nothing his heart fell, but he remembered the Gap Sensor wasn't as sensitive as it could have been because of Terran. Mike turned the sensitivity up as high as it would go and he saw absolutely nothing except Terran. The Gap Sensor blared loudly.
Kevin, Mia, Jayden, Serena, and Mentor ran into the common room, "A Nighlok? Now?"
Mike shook his head and pounded his fists into the table. Ji looked at the map.
"It's only Terran," he said, "There are no Nighlok."
"Antonio doesn't have his Samurai Morpher," Kevin reminded Mike, "You won't see him on the map."
Mike didn't say anything. To keep calm he couldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe Emily was still in the city, unaware her Samuraizer was missing.
"Please be a dumbass," he muttered and raced for the front door again, storming through the others who watched him leave curiously.
"Do you think he saw Antonio but he got away?" Mia suggested hopefully.
"That wouldn't explain why he's looking on the map," Kevin answered. "I doubt he found Antonio."
"Shouldn't Emily be with him?" Serena asked. She knew how the teams worked. Jayden had said it in the dojo only a couple of hours before. Mia and Kevin were a pair, Jayden used to be a pair with Antonio, and Mike and Emily were a pair.
"They probably split up to cover more ground," Mia said with a quick shrug, "Kevin and I did."
"But then why would Mike come home without her?" Serena asked. She clenched her fists, "He lost her, didn't he?"
Mentor looked at the map again and shook his head, "This says Emily's with him. They're headed into the city."
"Maybe they did find something," Kevin said. He looked to Mia, "C'mon."
Jayden didn't want to go. He wanted to stay home in case Antonio turned up to collect the rest of his stuff, the things he had left behind. If everyone left, the gold Ranger could sneak in and out.
-Samurai-
It was dark out for Antonio. The sun was long gone and the only light was coming from the street. Antonio could see enough to know he was alone.
He laid down on his side, curled up in his ball for warmth. He faced the soda can he had picked up. It was his only company on this night.
He didn't know how long it took him to fall asleep or how long he was asleep for, but he woke up suddenly, covered in sweat despite the cold that had taken over. He had another nightmare about being a fish, about being trapped, unable to move, call for help, or protect himself as a set of jaws, this time he hadn't see who they belonged to, came down to devour him.
His tears streaked his face. He couldn't remember ever feeling this scared, hurt, disappointed and utterly miserable. He wanted to be able to go home and be with his friends. He didn't want to be scared. He remembered his bed back at home and how warm and comfortable it was. He remembered how recently he and Jayden had started sharing the bed and Jayden's body made the bed even warmer.
He remembered waking up to hear someone laughing, especially recently when everyone was playing the silly game of whom can make Terran laugh the loudest. He remembered the little boy's giggles warmed him heart, and the sound of his friends laughing warmed the rest of his body.
But he didn't have that anymore. No friends, no baby, no laughs, no blankets, no bed, no home. He had nothing.
Though he didn't want to, he drifted off to sleep again. His nightmares continued to return for the rest of the night and he would never wake up until he was being eaten.