This one gets intense and there are possible trigger warnings.
Ch. 4 Suck Your Breath, Pluck Your Heart Right Out Your Chest
(CLARE)
"Hey Clare," Adam answers cheerily.
"When did you last see or hear from Drew?"
"Last Friday when I asked if he was coming to our place for the weekend again. Why?"
"Because neither Owen nor I have seen or heard from Drew since Tuesday morning. Owen tried calling and texting and Drew hasn't answered," I inform Adam.
"Drew's missing?" Adam squeaks with worry over the thought.
"We don't know yet, but no one has seen or heard from him. Owen's on his way over, I'll keep you informed," I tell Adam. I'm trying to be reassuring, but I'm worried sick.
"I'll be home right after work. If you find him or find anything…"
"I'll call you right away," I assure Adam.
"Thanks," he says in a weary voice before hanging up.
I try calling Drew but it goes straight to voicemail so his phone is off. I start pacing and fretting about where Drew is and why we can't find him. I'm so caught in my head that when there's a knock at the door it startles me, until I realize it's Owen.
"I tried calling but his phone is off," I tell Owen as he comes in.
"Did he say anything to you when he left Monday?" Owen asks.
"No, just that he was working Tuesday and he'd probably call me Wednesday. Did he say anything to you when he was leaving Tuesday?" I question.
"Just that he would see me later. I checked his closet and dresser and none of his clothes are gone. Nothing is missing from his room besides his phone, keys and wallet which he took to work. I haven't called his parents yet, I'm afraid to. Did Adam say anything?"
"He hasn't heard from Drew since Friday. We should go to the mall, see if his car is there," I comment.
"Yeah, good idea," Owen nods.
I text Adam to let him know we're going by the mall to see if Drew's car is there while Owen drives us to the mall. Unsure of where Drew may have parked we drive around the parking lot for a short time. We do find Drew's car though, in the back of the parking lot, at the food court entrance.
"I doubt he's working, but we should go in and check anyway, maybe he got called in to cover for someone," I comment looking in Drew's car. Nothing looks disturbed, there's no broken windows, the keys aren't in it. There's kind of a mess inside, but that's how Drew's car always looks.
"Yeah, good idea," Owen nods.
We walk into the mall and the kiosk, we have to wait while the girl at the counter helps a customer. She tells us that she hasn't seen or heard from Drew and his next shift isn't until tomorrow. She does call Max and he says the same thing, both of them say that they will let us know if they hear from him.
"Let's go back to Drew's car and call Officer Turner. We may not be able to file a missing persons report yet, but he would know. I know we need to call Audra, but I want to call Officer Turner first, cover all of our bases," I comment as we walk away from the kiosk.
"Yeah, I'll call Officer Turner, you should call Adam and let him know what happened," Owen says and we both pull out our cell phones.
"Did you find him?" Adam asks when he answers my call.
"No, his car is still at the mall though, it looks fine, but there's no sign of Drew. We spoke to the girl working today and Drew's boss and both said they haven't seen or heard from Drew. Owen is calling Officer Turner now, I'll call you after we speak to Officer Turner," I tell Adam.
"Okay, my shift is over soon, but if something comes up…"
"Don't worry Adam, I'll keep you informed," I assuage him.
"Thanks," Adam says with a worried sigh. I wish I could comfort my best friend. I wish I could tell him everything will be fine, but I can't. As far as we can tell Drew just vanished into thin air.
"Officer Turner is on his way. I told him Drew was missing and we weren't sure if we could file a missing persons report yet. That we found Drew's car at the mall and Drew's not at work, and no one has seen him today," Owen tells me.
"Good, if his car is still here this has to be the last place he was."
Owen and I lean against his car waiting for Officer Turner, it feels like an eternity before he shows up. As soon as he's out of his patrol car Owen and I start talking at the same time.
"I know you are both worried but Owen already told me all this over the phone. You can file a missing persons report, but Drew is also an adult, he can disappear if he chooses to," Officer Turner says.
"But he wouldn't choose to disappear, he has no reason to. Things weren't bad, he is too close to his family, and he and I were...maybe, sort of, back together," I tell Officer Turner.
"She's right, things were going well for Drew, he'd been really happy these last few weeks. Especially with the way he and Clare were heating up again," Owen adds.
"Even if Drew was going to choose to disappear for some reason he wouldn't just leave his car abandoned at the mall," I comment.
"Yeah, and he didn't take anything from the apartment besides his wallet, keys and phone which he took to work," Owen says.
"I believe you, both of you, I don't think it's like Drew to just walk away from his life. Have you spoken to Audra and Omar yet?" Officer Turner asks.
"No, we didn't want to until we knew more," Owen says.
"Let's go in and talk to the security office, they should still have security footage of Drew's last night at work. I just hope the cameras are out this far," Officer Turner tells us. We follow Officer Turner into the mall and to the security office. The door opens before Officer Turner can knock so they must have a camera on this hallway.
"Something we can do for you Officer?" The security guy asks.
"Yeah, we need to see the footage for Tuesday night, the food court parking lot, around…" Officer Turner pauses to look at us. "What time did you say Drew got off last night?"
"He was closing and he usually gets home about 8:45 when he closes, so he would have been heading to his car about 8:30 or so," Owen replies.
"Start at eight, in case he closed early," Officer Turner instructs.
"What's this about?" One of the security guard questions.
"We have a missing person, he was last seen here and his car is still in the parking lot. I need to know if he even got to his car last night," Officer Turner informs them.
I realize he doesn't have a warrant or anything, I suppose the security office doesn't have to show us anything. I'm worried that they won't when the two security guards exchange a look. The one at the door steps aside and lets us in, he closes the door behind us. Then the one still seated punches his keyboard and brings up Tuesday's footage. It takes him a moment to get up the right cameras and then get to eight that night. We can't watch the footage in real time, so they speed it up a little and I watch closely for Drew.
"There he is," I say seeing Drew exiting the mall. The time stamp on the footage says 8:17PM. We watch in real time as the cameras track him to the back of the parking lot where his is one of only three cars that far back at that hour. We see Drew press his key fob to unlock his car, and he's a few feet away from it when a black van pulls up next to him. Drew looks back at the van and he is shot by the driver with a taser! "Oh god," I exhale gripping Owen's arm instinctively.
Drew convulses from the shock of the taser and falls to the ground. Two men jump out of the van and grab Drew tossing him into the van and it drives off. Drew was kidnapped from the mall parking lot and we had no idea. My mind starts whirling with what he may be going through now.
"I'll need a copy of this," Officer Turner says. The security guards seem to be shocked that a kidnapping happened in the parking lot and they didn't see it.
"N...no problem, one of them stutters, "we'll get it to you right away. We'll run the footage back and see if we can get a plate on the van or see the occupants."
"Good, here's my card let me know when you have it all together. I'll need to look at it and get it out on tonight's news," Officer Turner comments handing them his business card so that they have his contact information. "Contact me as soon as it's done," Officer Turner nods and we leave the security office. "It's time to talk to Drew's family, we should meet them at their house," Officer Turner tells us as we exit to the parking lot.
"I'll call Adam," I reply with a heavy sigh getting out my phone.
"Any news?" Adam asks when he answers his phone.
"Yeah, can you call your parents and meet us at their house? Officer Turner will be there with us," I tell him.
"It's bad isn't it?" Adam asks with a trembling voice.
"Meet us at your parents house, we'll tell you everything."
(ADAM)
I walk to my parent's front door with a heavy heart and a sinking feeling in my stomach. After Clare called I called Mom, I told her something was wrong and Drew was missing and she and Dad needed to get home right away. She started freaking out of course, asking me a bunch of questions I didn't have the answers to. All I could tell her was to get home, to get Dad home, that I would meet them there. Owen and Clare would be coming with Officer Turner.
"How could Drew be missing?" Mom asks as she flings the door open.
"I don't know Mom," I reply. She hugs me too tightly as though she's afraid I too am going to suddenly disappear. She releases me when Officer Turner's patrol car pulls up and Owen's SUV pulls up behind it. By Clare's face I know this is really bad, Drew missing is bad, but the reason he's missing is really bad.
"What happened? Where is my son?" Mom asks as the three of them come up the walkway.
"Let's go inside Audra," Officer Turner says. We all go inside and my dad greets everyone. "Owen called me to say that neither one had seen or heard from Drew since yesterday morning. Drew is an adult and that was not soon enough for us to make a missing person's report."
"Drew wouldn't just run off, he's too close to his family, things are going very well for him," Mom interjects before Officer Turner can continue.
"I know that Audra, Owen and Clare were also adamant about that and they met me at Drew's car still parked at the mall. We went inside and talked to the security office, we saw footage from Tuesday night when Drew left the mall. I'm sorry to tell you this but Drew was kidnapped from the mall parking lot Tuesday night," Officer Turner informs us and my heart stops.
"Kidnapped," Mom gasps.
"Were you able to see anything that would lead to suspects on the video?" Dad asks talking like a lawyer.
"There were at least three men in a van, unfortunately we could not see the men's faces or the plate number on the van. The mall security office should be sending me the footage any time now, and they were going to run it back first. We're hoping they will be able to see where the van was parked and get a clear view of the plate and/or the driver. As soon as they get it to me I will get it out on the news. We will find him," Officer Turner says with conviction in his tone.
"Why would he be kidnapped? If it's money they want we're not wealthy but we'll give them anything they ask for," Mom comments. Her voice is tight and panicked.
"If it was about money then you would have gotten a ransom demand by now. Drew's kidnapping has other motives, and at this point we don't know if he was targeted or they took him because he was alone in a dark parking lot. Once I have the footage we will release portions of it to all news media outlets. We won't give specific details but will say the men on the video are people of interest and ask for information," Officer Turner says.
"We're looking at some very bad possibilities," Dad speaks up.
"Possibilities such as?" Mom asks.
"Drew is young and good looking…"
"Human trafficking," Clare exclaims before Officer Turner can continue. Her voice is tight and high, she's starting to shake as she thinks of this possibility and I feel sick to my stomach thinking of it.
"Oh God," Mom gasps and looks like she might pass out. Before anyone else can say anything Officer Turner's phone buzzes and he takes it from his pocket.
"That's the footage," Turner says after looking at his phone. "I need to get this back to the station so we can get it out to the media outlets. We will do everything we can to find Drew, I promise you that," Officer Turner tells us before leaving.
"Will we get him back? You must know some statistics on these cases," Mom says to Dad when Officer Turner is gone.
"People are found or escape," Dad says though he doesn't sound very convinced and Mom starts to shake. "We'll find him Audra," Dad assures her holding her hand.
Mom starts to cry and then stiffens up and wipes her tears, "This place is a mess I need to clean." Mom stands up abruptly and begins cleaning furiously. It's what she does when she's angry or upset. This time is different though, she's cleaning because she's scared.
"I'll reach out to some contacts, I know people with CI's in the underworld, they may know something. Or know who to contact, some way to find him," Dad says and stands up to go to his home office.
"Contacts," Clare exclaims in a whisper and I look at her, "Adam, we should talk to Leland."
"I'll call Jane as soon as it's dark," I whisper back.
It feels like it takes forever for the sun to begin setting. Officer Turner calls us after about an hour to say a special news bulletin is going out. We watch it together, see footage of the large men that took Drew and a picture of the van, but it has no plates. They ask for any information on the men or the van, or on Drew and say that he is missing. Dad spends the afternoon and evening on the phone, Mom spends it cleaning.
Clare, Owen and I go to the basement and put the TV on though we aren't really watching. I'm looking outside and silently curisng the sun for not setting faster. I can't wait until dark but I call at dusk and Jane answers. She sounds like she's just waking up. I tell her about Drew's kidnapping and we're afraid it's human trafficking. I tell her that Clare and I want to speak to Leland and she says she'll call me back. It's not thirty seconds later that my phone rings again.
"Leland will see you and Clare, he wants to send a car for you. He was very concerned that Drew was kidnapped," Jane tells me.
"We're at my parent's house," I tell Jane and hang up. Mom isn't going to like that we're leaving with Drew gone. "Leland is sending a car," I tell Clare.
"You're going to the club?" Owen asks with an incredulous tone.
"We're going to talk to Leland, he has connections in the underworld. If Drew was taken by human traffickers or something then Leland may be able to find him and get him back," I explain.
"I should go with you guys," Owen says.
"No, Leland doesn't know you, he just wants me and Clare. Stay here with my parents in case there's any news or anything we can do," I tell him.
Owen doesn't look happy but he nods. Clare and I go upstairs to talk to my parents. I don't see either of them, but can hear the muffled sounds of Mom cleaning furiously and Dad on the phone. I decide not to disturb them, Leland may have nothing for us, and I don't want to get their hopes up or have them insist that they come with us. They've met Jane of course, only once when Mom and Dad met us for a late dinner. They were shocked to see me in my new body, happy to know I had a girlfriend and insisted on meeting her. They like Jane, and know how much she likes me, but they don't know Leland or even know about him. I leave a note to say that Jane is picking up me and Clare and taking us to talk to her boss. That he has connections to the underworld and there is a possibility he could help. I tell them I'll be in touch and we'll be home later.
Clare and I go out the front door and find Lucas waiting in a car for us. We get in the back and ride silently to the club. Lucas parks out back and opens Clare's door, then escorts us to the back door of the club. We're taken to Leland's office, he's waiting perched on his chair, his expression is hard to read, but his body language tells me something is wrong. I look at Clare wondering if she can see his emotions, her face tells me it's not good. Jane comes over hugging me tightly and giving me a soft kiss.
"I've seen the news footage, the men that took him were not human, not entirely," Leland tells us.
"You mean he was taken by vampires?" I blurt out.
"Certainly not," Leland replies looking offended, "vampires would not need to jump from a van and shoot him with a taser. I don't know what they are, but we should go to the scene anyway. Lucas will drive, we'll take the limo." Leland says it as though he's saying we'll take the van to the grocery store. Clare grips the back of my shirt, I don't think anyone else notices, but something has her on edge.
Jane takes my hand and I link my arm with Clare's, I doubt she's on edge thinking that Leland is going to hurt us. Nor could I take him or Lucas, or Jane for that matter if they decided to turn on us. I don't believe they would, and while I can't see intent or emotion I know how much Jane cares for me, and how intrigued Leland is by Clare. Still I feel the need to keep her close to me. I think she's on edge because Drew is missing, and knowing that those that took him are not entirely human.
I have to wonder what Leland intends to find or discern from the scene of the kidnapping. Whatever it is he gives us no clues on the drive over, in fact we ride in total silence. Jane cuddles up to me, but Leland sits straight and unmoving like a statue. He looks at Clare and she avoids his gaze by looking out the window. Lucas pulls to a stop where I'm assuming Drew's car was, but is gone now, the police took it for evidence and there's evidence of the crime scene people being here.
Lucas comes over and opens the door on Clare's side, Leland gets out and holds his hand to Clare to help her out. She hesitates for a brief moment before taking his hand and stepping out of the car. I wonder if I should do the same for Jane, but she gets out after Clare without waiting for me. As soon as we're out all the vampires sniff the air, Jane and Lucas make faces. They smell something unpleasant, Leland continues to sniff the air and his brow furrows.
"Metavasi of some kind, not a pleasant kind," Leland says with something between disdain and disinterest in his tone.
"Metavasi?" Clare and I ask at almost the same time.
"Were-creatures, metavasi means transition, but it was not wolves that took Drew, something...something with an awful musk but not Percula-Metavasi, skunk," Leland says translating the word none of us know. "Something else with an awful musk and even as humans don't keep themselves very clean. I'll put the word out amongst the metavasi about the kidnapping. Now, tell me what you see Clare?"
"What?" Clare questions.
"What do you see? Use your gift," Leland instructs.
"How? Drew isn't here, the men that took him are gone, what am I supposed to see with no one here to read?" Clare asks with venom and aggravation dripping from her words.
"Strong emotions leave a permanent mark on the place they happened. They leave an impression that is nearly impossible to dispel. What do you think most hauntings are?"
I was going to ask if ghosts are real, but held my tongue. This was not the time or place for such queries. I looked at Clare, but she just looked frustrated.
"I see you, I see Adam, and Jane and Lucas, I see a lot of...I don't know," she sighs and clenches her fists in frustration.
In the blink of an eye Leland stands behind her, his hand on her shoulder and another covering her eyes. "Breathe Clare, deep breath, you need to relax, your own emotions are clouding everything. You can do this, you have to have faith," Leland tells her.
"You have far more faith in my abilities than I do," Clare shoots back.
"You simply need to learn how to use it. Now take a breath, think of Drew, when you open your eyes look at the spot he was taken from," Leland instructs. He then takes his hand from her shoulder and snakes it around her waist picking her up. Moving in a blur he takes her to the spot where Drew was taken, so they now stand between where his car was parked and where the van was parked. Then he lifts his hand from her eyes. "What do you see Clare?" Leland asks in a soft, soothing voice.
Clare looks around, she seems to be almost startled by whatever she sees. Her head moves around for a moment and her eyes squint like she's not sure she's seeing it right. Her hand moves over the air as though she's tracing something.
"Fear," she says softly, "Drew is scared. The men in the van have nothing but determination and malice." As she speaks her hand traces the air again. "Pain," she whimpers, the word leaving her mouth as though she were just in pain. "Drew's in pain, the men are happy, accomplished. Drew is so scared and...and...I'm not sure, worried maybe. That's all I…" she stops, squinting her eyes and pinching her fingers together as she traces the air again.
"What is it Clare? What do you see?" Leland pushes her.
"I see a...string?" She says the last word as a question meaning it's not really a string but she doesn't know how else to describe it.
"Leading where?" Leland asks. He's not at all surprised by the fact that she sees a "string" that's not there. Meanwhile Jane, Lucas and I are fascinated by what's playing out before us.
"Into the van," she replies.
"Follow it," Leland encourages her. She gives him a doubtful look. "Follow it Clare, you can follow it."
She takes a couple steps forward, seemingly following the string. She squints her eyes and looks around her, I can't tell if she's seeing something or expecting to.
"What do you see Clare?" Leland asks when she's silent for a moment.
"Fear," she whispers softly, "Drew is so scared. Inside the van is mostly black, malicious, greedy, coveting. There's something else with Drew...recognition. He knows her," Clare says.
"Her? Her who?" I question.
"Zoe," Clare gasps as her eyes go wide.
"Zoe?" I question, trying to think of anyone in my brother's life named Zoe and I can only think of one. "Rivas? From high school?" I question.
"Yes, I think so, I couldn't see her face but…" her voice drifts off as she has trouble describing what she saw, or felt? I don't know how this power of her works. "I should have thought of it sooner. When I had lunch with Drew at the mall a couple weeks ago she was watching us. She looked angry, jealous, and Drew said she hung around a lot and watched him at work."
"Zoe watching you two eat lunch is still a pretty big jump to her arranging his kidnapping Clare. There's no reason you could have thought of it or should have assumed it was Zoe. Did Drew say she was threatening him or anything?" I ask.
"No, just that she was at the mall a lot," Clare replies.
"Then I don't see how you could have made the jump to Zoe hiring men to kidnap Drew," I comment.
"Adam's right Clare, that was two weeks ago, unless you had seen at the time that Zoe wanted to kidnap Drew you couldn't have known. I should get you both home now, wait until morning and then call the cops, tell them about this Zoe girl," Leland is saying when Clare cuts him off.
"Tell them what exactly? That in a vision, I'm not sure I really saw, Zoe had some large men kidnap Drew?"
"No, tell them it might be nothing but you remembered Zoe watching you both have lunch, that she looked jealous and Drew mentioned her hanging around. You won't be lying, but it will be enough for them to look into Zoe. I'll return to the club and call my second in command, and all my contacts in the area, in case Zoe took Drew out of the city. In the car now, you should return home," Leland instructs with a hand at Clare's back to direct her to the car.
"We're staying at my parent's house, you can take us back there," I comment as we get in the car.
"Just to be safe I'll have security watching your parent's house, and your apartment as well as Drew's," Leland tells us as Lucas begins driving.
"Vampires can't watch us all the time, can they? I've never seen a vampire in the day time," I remark.
"I never said anything about the security being vampires," Leland responds but says nothing more.
"You think Zoe would come after us?" Clare asks.
"Merely a precaution," Leland replies and again says nothing more.
"I'll watch your parent's house tonight, if I see anything I'll call Lucas," Jane says taking my hand and interlacing our fingers.
"Jane could probably watch from inside, say she's worried and wants to be with you," Clare comments and Jane grins.
Leland nods his approval but says nothing.
"Why would Zoe kidnap Drew though? We went to high school with her, she was jealous and petty, but kidnapping? Would she really kidnap Drew just to keep us from being together?" Clare asks.
"It's more than that Clare, if she is metavasi and she wants to be with Drew she probably intends to make him her mate. To do so she would have to turn him, bite him over and over until he is part metavasi himself. If she succeeds and they mate it would bind Drew to her for life, whether he wished to be or not," Leland informs us and my stomach churns. I just picture my brother being kept in a dark room, bound somehow and repeatedly bitten. By the way Clare turns green I'm sure she's thinking along the same lines. The rest of the car ride to my parents house is silent.
"You're back," Owen says with relief, "that took a long time. Hey Jane, is your boss going to be able to help?"
"I believe so, he has many connections as does his second in command Lou."
"We should let my parents know that we're home," I comment and we all go upstairs.
"You're home, hello Jane," Mom smiles politely, "is your boss able to help?"
"He believes he might, he's going to reach out to his contacts. I was hoping I could stay tonight and be with Adam, I know how worried you all must be," Jane says.
"Yes, of course that's fine, I don't know how much sleep any of us will get," Mom replies.
"We'll be downstairs," I tell my parents and Mom nods.
"I'm sure there isn't anything new, but I'm going to call Officer Turner and see if there's any news," Dad comments as we go downstairs.
I turn on the TV, we're not really watching it's just to have noise, something to keep us from thinking of the worse. Dad comes downstairs a few minutes later to say that there's no news. We all nod and look at the TV again, looking at it, but not watching, thinking of Drew. After a while Clare goes upstairs, I expect that she's getting something to drink or eat, or maybe talking to my parents. When she doesn't return for over ten minutes I go looking for her.