Missing Person's Report
Hurricane Police Department
Name: Charlotte Emily
Alias/Street Name/Nickname: Charlie
Age: 19
Sex: Female
DOB: 06/07/1979
Race: Caucasian
Height: 5'8" Weight: Appox. 160 lbs
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Hat: N/A
Jacket/Coat: Green Sweatshirt
Shirt: White t-shirt
Pants: Denim Jeans
Shoes: Black combat boots
Scars/birthmarks/tattoos: Scar on right side of forehead
Relatives: Henry Emily (Father), Jennifer Emily (Aunt)
Overall health: Good
Last seen health condition: Injured leg, concussion
Last seen by: Henry Emily
Last seen location: 8793 Maple Street, Hurricane, Utah
Last seen date: November 22nd, 1998
Last seen time: Approx. 11:30 am
Reported missing by: Henry Emily
Notes: MP was last seen driving a 1996 Dodge Stratus (green), license plate no. FUH-836.
Officer filing report: Clay Burke
Charlie and Michael drove in silence, the radio standing in for talk. They'd only been driving for about two hours, but Charlie's eyes were heavy and her leg was aching again.
"You wanna look at the map in the glove compartment?" She yawned, breaking the silence at last. Michael rummaged through the glove compartment and frowned.
"Which one? There's three in here."
"The one with the state flag on it."
"Ah. Here it is. What am I looking for?"
"Just take a look and tell me where the next city is. We're on I-15, going towards North Salt Lake."
Michael looked up as they passed a highway sign and raised an eyebrow.
"Umm… that sign said we're on I-70."
"What?"
"Yeah. We're going west right now."
"God dammit!" Charlie seethed, hitting the steering wheel.
"We should probably get off somewhere anyway. You look terrible."
"No. We're not far enough away yet." She changed lanes and a horn blared at her.
"Well, you're in the exit lane now. Might as well." Michael said nonchalantly.
She got off the freeway with a sigh.
"Now what?"
"There was a sign for a motel a while back."
"No. I just need a gas station and some coffee."
"Charlotte, you got three hours of sleep last night. It's just up ahead." Michael said firmly.
"Fiiiinnneee…" She knew he was right, but she really didn't want to admit it; arguing also required energy she didn't have. The Green River Motel was situated by a gas station, diner, and truck stop.
"I hope we can get a room. Parking lot looks pretty full." She yawned.
"There are probably just a lot of people at the diner. It's the first food place in miles." Michael shrugged. They pulled into a spot next to a massive pickup truck and a few truckers standing outside of the diner watched the duo as they stepped out of the car.
"Why, hello there." An older man wearing faded blue jeans and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt beamed at Charlie. She gave him a small smile as she leaned against the car, trying to take weight off her leg while Michael fetched his duffle bag from the backseat of the Stratus. "What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?"
The men beside him sniggered. Charlie had dealt with creeps at Junior's before, but she was always able to duck behind a counter or into the kitchen. She flashed the man another smile and then looked down at the gravel parking lot.
"What's your name, sweetheart? Wanna grab some lunch?" Another man piped up.
"Okay... let's go, yeah?" Michael said, helping her to lean against him.
"That your boyfriend? He looks like a pretty boy to me." The first man flashed a toothy smile. Charlie put a hand on Michael's chest pointedly and he looked at her with an amused expression. She exhaled and lowered her hand once they were in the motel's lobby, where a teenage girl was flipping through a magazine behind the reception desk.
"Welcome to the Green River Motel. How can I help you?" She rehearsed in a flat tone, setting the magazine down.
"Hi, we just need a room for tonight. Two beds?" Charlie said, shifting against Michael.
"I only have one room left and it's a queen bed. Will that work?"
"Yeah… that's fine." She sighed, just wanting to fall onto said bed.
"Our rate is $95 a night. Will you be paying with a credit card or a check?"
Panic struck Charlie- she only had her debit card and about $40 in cash tips from Junior's.
"Check." Michael set his duffle bag on the counter and pulled out what looked to be a new checkbook. Charlie stared as he filled out a check and handed it to the teen.
"Thank you. Can I see your ID, Mr… Smith, is it?"
"Here."
Charlie was baffled once again as he produced an ID card.
"Alright. Your room is up the stairs and to the right. We have a continental breakfast from 6 am to 10 am. Enjoy your stay." The teen handed Michael two room keys and his ID before going back to her magazine.
"I'm going to pay you back." Charlie muttered as he helped her up the stairs.
"Oh no, you're not. I'm not exactly broke here." Michael grunted as he struggled to balance both her and his bag.
"But you were only working at Freddy's for what, two weeks? Won't the check bounce?"
Michael didn't answer until they stepped into their room, which smelled of cigarettes and lemon air freshener.
"My mom set up a savings account for me. Frankly, I'm surprised my father didn't get to it first."
Charlie fell face first onto the bed and hugged a pillow.
"But wasn't it under your real name? How did you get the money out with a fake ID?"
Michael laughed.
"You ask too many questions, Charlotte." He laid down on the bed beside her and grabbed the remote. Charlie closed her eyes, far too tired to be bothered by the TV.
"...In other news, police are searching for a missing Hurricane woman." A chipper newscaster's voice filled the room. Charlie's eyes popped open and she rolled onto her back.
"19-year-old Charlotte Emily was reported missing by her father last night. She is a caucasian woman with brown hair and brown eyes, last spotted wearing a green sweatshirt and jeans. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Hurricane Police Department's non-emergency line."
"Damn." Michael muttered, pulling a cigarette and his lighter out of his pocket.
"Oh my Godddddd…" Charlie covered her eyes with her forearm. "This is not good."
"We knew this would happen. It's okay." Michael put a hand on her knee.
"I know, I know. It's just… I hoped we'd be a little further away before it happened." She let out an agitated laugh.
"On the bright side, we've thrown my father off. He won't even know where to begin."
"That's true…" Charlie looked up at him and met his gaze.
"Go to sleep now. You need it." Michael made a makeshift ashtray out of the laminated channel guide on the bedside table.
"What about you?" She inquired, getting underneath the bed sheets and comforter.
"The Immortal and the Restless is almost on. Can't miss that."
Charlie glanced at her phone. It was at 45 percent battery, which was surprising considering how much it had been vibrating and ringing. She decided to turn it off- the likelihood of finding a new charger was slim unless they found an electronics store. As she lay there, she stared at her bare ring finger and teared up. She'd always thought that John would be the one to take her away from Hurricane. It was hard to believe that he was just… gone. He was gone, Jessica and Marla were gone, chances were Lamar and Carlton were gone… she'd driven them all away because of Freddy's. She was alone.
"Charlotte?" Michael turned the TV down and she heard herself sobbing softly. "Are you-"
"No!" She curled up.
"Is there anything I can-"
"No!" Anger surged through her, hot and fast. John was right- Michael had pulled her deeper in, and she would've been better off not knowing what she knew. It was tearing her apart. "...I hate you."
"What?"
Charlie sat up and kicked the covers off.
"I hate you!"
"What did I do?"
"Are you serious right now? What did you do? It's all because of you. My boyfriend dumped me, my friends won't speak to me, and-"
"And that's my fault?"
"Yes!" Charlie stood up. "If you hadn't told me about all of this bullshit, none of that would've happened!"
"So you'd rather be in the dark?"
"Yes, I'd rather be in the dark, at home where I belong, with my dad and John!"
"Let me get this straight. You're mad at me because I gave you the answers you wanted so badly?" Michael stood up too, hostility in his blue eyes.
"No, I'm mad at you for ruining my life! Things weren't great, but they were normal!"
"Charlotte-"
"Stop calling me that! You don't know me!" Her tears burned her cheeks. "Everything was just fine before that… that psycho, and then you, showed up! You're… you're…"
"I'm what?"
"You're just like him!"
"What?" Michael froze.
"There's a reason you were locked up." She said shakily, "You're crazy... just like him."
Michael looked as though she'd slapped him.
"You look like him, you-"
"SHUT UP!" He walked around the bed and advanced on her. She backed up, wanting to suck her words back in. The look in his eyes was familiar- too familiar. She saw William. She grabbed her car keys and held them in a defensive position. Michael paused.
"You really think I'm going to hurt you." He said softly. "If that's what you think, if that's how you see me, well…"
Charlie raised the keys and he laughed lightly before turning around and picking up his duffle bag.
"You can do this yourself."
Her anger melted away instantly.
"Michael, wait. I-"
"No, I understand. I wouldn't trust me either. After all, I'm just like him."
"Michael!" Her leg gave out and she fell to the floor. "Wait!"
He left the room, letting the door slam behind him.
"DON'T LEAVE ME!"
She tried to stand but her leg kept giving out. She sobbed into the dirty carpet for what seemed like hours. By the time she was able to stand, the sky had darkened. She was starving due to her outburst and limped to the nearby diner, trying Michael's phone over and over again. The diner was empty except for a few truckers at the counter. Charlie sat down in an empty booth.
"What can I get you to drink, hon?" A brunette waitress with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth arrived instantly.
"Umm… a Coke please." She picked up a one-paged menu and examined it.
"Well, where's that boyfriend of yours?" The man in the Led Zeppelin t-shirt sat at the table next to her. Charlie ignored him. "You guys have a fight?"
"Yeah." She said finally, keeping her eyes on the menu.
"That's a damn shame. My buddy was kidding about that 'pretty boy' stuff. He seems like a real stand-up guy, helping you with that limp and all."
Charlie decided on a grilled cheese and set the menu down.
"Well, he's gone." She teared up all over again.
"What are you doing out here? This really ain't a good town for young ladies to be walkin' around by themselves."
"I… I ran away from home."
"And where's home?"
"Hurricane."
"Hurricane… ain't that where all those kids went missing a few years back?"
"Yeah." She sighed. Good old Hurricane, famous for missing kids.
"Well, you should go back. Runnin' away from your problems doesn't do shit. I'm away from home all the time and my problems are still there. My woman is still cheatin' on me."
"Really? That's awful."
The waitress set Charlie's drink down in front of her.
"Whatcha gettin', hon?"
"A grilled cheese, please. With fries?"
"You got it, hon." The waitress turned to the trucker with a smile. "I hope you're not givin' this young lady any trouble, Stan."
The trucker laughed.
"No more trouble than usual, Di." He turned back to Charlie. "I'm more than certain your family misses ya. Just another reason to go back."
"I guess, but my dad… he did something really bad and I'm not sure I can ever forgive him."
"Fightin' with your daddy, eh? That's a damn shame, too. I have a daughter m'self. She's about your age, maybe a little younger. We fight, but I'd still do anything for her. No matter what, she's daddy's little girl."
Charlie thought of sitting in her father's workshop when she was a child, playing with stray screws and bolts. One day, when she was sitting there, he'd handed her Theodore. She thought of sitting in his office coloring while he did inventory. She thought of her senior prom, when he'd teared up upon seeing her in her dress. He'd done so again at her graduation ceremony. No matter what, she's still daddy's little girl.
"Anyhow, I hope everything works out for ya. I hope you find your way back to your daddy and boyfriend."
"My dad maybe, but Michael… he's probably on a bus right now. I don't think I'll ever see him again."
"Oh, I think you will." Stan winked and looked towards the back of the diner. Michael was sitting at a table, smoking and flipping through a newspaper.
"Michael!" Charlie jumped up and limped over to the table. He glanced at her but immediately went back to his newspaper. "Michael, I was so worried. I thought you'd left."
"Not yet. Bus doesn't leave for another forty-five minutes." He said coldly.
"I don't want you to go. Please." Charlie sat down across from him.
"Oh?" He put the newspaper down and took a long drag off his cigarette. "I thought I was just like him and you don't want anything to do with me."
"I was just mad. Really. I'm still shocked that John left me, but it wasn't your fault no matter what I said."
Michael sighed.
"No, you do have a point. I did ruin your life with all of this shit, but I've also ruined my own. I could've just started over in a new town with my new name. But it's too late for that now."
"But at least we're in this shit together now."
"And it needs to stay that way." He smiled.
"There you are. Here's your grilled cheese." The waitress set Charlie's plate in front of her and smiled at both of them. "Can I get you anything else?"
"Um… I guess I could go for some pancakes, now that I'm not catching the bus." Michael said.
"You got it, hon."
"Michael… I really am sorry for what I said." Charlie looked down at her plate.
"Let's just put it behind us, yeah?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie could see Stan grinning at them with a toothy smile.
They both lay awake that night, facing away from each other. Charlie knew that Michael was still awake because his breathing hadn't slowed.
"Charlotte?"
"Hmm?"
"What if they come again tonight? Those bears? There aren't any doors to close."
"I brought the flashlight in from the car. They seem to hate light, although sometimes it doesn't bother the black one." She tensed as she remembered the cold paw wrapped around her throat. He rolled over and she did the same. Even in the dark she could clearly see his features and blue eyes. His fingers curled around the hand that was resting on her hip and she was startled. However, she didn't pull away. The physical contact confirmed that she wasn't alone.
She was able to relax at last, closing her eyes. BANG! They popped open just as quickly as she'd closed them. BANG! BANG! Something was hitting the window. Michael jumped up and grabbed the flashlight. He recoiled as he pulled the curtain back and then yanked it shut again.
"Is it-" Charlie sat up. Michael shook his head.
"It's worse."
