A/N: It's been a long while since I've updated this story - much like my other stories - but finally I'd like to try and push forward with it.
I was struggling to think of what kind of plot I could come up with before the students would need to be "rescued" from the school - and then something came to mind so I'll see if I can get to it.
Also looking at the premise of the story, I don't believe this will be a long story. There's really only so many ideas I could possibly venture towards before wrapping it up but we'll see where it goes.
For now, lets get to it.
~Lockdown in Detention~
VIII
*Charlie*
(Friday Night)
There was a sudden knock on my door which caused me to swivel around and face it; through the frosted glass I could see it was someone there waiting to enter. "Come in." I called out, clearing my throat slightly while sliding closer to my desk. The door swung open and it was one of my officers - Danny. He was a young man, in his mid twenties, moderately fresh from the academy and working his way up the ladder. He was of medium build with cropped brown hair, where his grey eyes looked over at me and then closed them briefly.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Chief. But we got a problem on our hands." he sighed.
"Really? I'm about to clock out." I grumbled, furrowing my brows.
"I know, sir. I'm really sorry but... They are causing a scene at the front desk and I think we should sort it out."
"They? Who's 'they'?"
"You should come see for yourself, sir."
It was now my turn to heavily sigh, my frustration starting to build. It was Friday Night, and I was getting ready to clock out from my shift and was going to pass it onto the others for the evening. Usually I know it was better to have all hands on deck when the weekend starts up, between rebellious and problematic teens, and the occasional drunk adults that are a hazard to the road, we needed all we could have on hand to handle everything. But lately I've been needing a break on these nights; it doesn't help that sometimes I'd run into Bella - my troubled daughter that I've kicked out of my house - and her big giant friend when on these night patrols. Just last week I caught them trying to set a damn stop sign on fire of all things. I knew one of these days they'll end up behind bars in bigger prisons versus our tiny jail cells. Their records were getting to that point that soon they would be going to prison if they didn't wise up but I was trying my best to keep it at bay.
My life has been nothing but a mess ever since that witch that was my ex-wife left me and corrupted our only child. I did love my wife back then, I thought she did too and when she blessed me with Isabella, I was over the moon. Sure we got together when we were young, had the happy accident that was our daughter, got married and she stayed home with her while I worked. I thought everything was hunky-dory but of course I was dead wrong. When I found out the bitch was going behind my back, sleeping with her drug dealer, doing said drugs and while also selling them, would steal money from me after all the work I'd put in to get it for us - would then hand it over to her dealer and pimp, if she was short on her sales. The worst she ever did was letting Bella and her friend, Emmett, try the drugs she was selling when they were mere children. I managed to catch it finally, threw her out and got custody of my little girl. It took a good amount of time though for Bella to try and go through the recovery process after some of the serious drugs that had affected her psyche and physical health. Meanwhile Renee was supposed to keep some form of contact with her, be it holiday cards or birthday calls, maybe even some visits if she was able to. But it was like Renee dropped off the face of the planet as soon as our divorce and custody battle was settled. I don't know what in god's name happened to her, if she was even still alive or if she was too doped up still to this day to even remotely try and contact us. I knew initially it really hurt Bella deep down that her mother never sent her cards or even bothered to call and see about coming to visit her. But after a point when she missed the fourth birthday for Bella, Bella grew numb to it and just had told me that it was better for her to think her mother never existed than to go through the constant disappointment that was Renee.
I agreed with her then and still do to this day. I fear still deep down she was still depressed by this but I never prodded her. It didn't help too that while Bella had gotten clean from the hard drugs she took when she was young, as she got older she got worse. She was acting out more and getting into crazy stupid teen stuff. I had hoped she would stop or at least focus on her schooling; I had high hopes that she'd turn out great and had pulled herself out of her dark childhood. But she let it define her and she ran with it, deciding to just let loose and pull even more stupid teen stuff between running around town with Emmett and lighting trashcans on fire, graffitiing, loitering, smoking. I had seen her drink once under my roof and had warned her that she had one more chance to stop the nonsense that she was doing or else there would be more serious consequences. Apparently, she didn't care to listen to me because that dreadful night that sits in the back of my head happened - she was smoking weed.
I shouldn't have cared that much about the fact that it was weed. That stuff isn't nearly as bad as some of the other hardcore crap that she's likely already tried or had been addicted to when she was younger before she got the help she needed. But it broke me - I had snapped at her at that point and had enough. We fought that night, screaming and slinging awful accusations and words. More than anything, while I was upset that she didn't want to listen to me and didn't see that she should stop her bad behavior - I was hurt. I had worked as hard as I could over the years to do what I could for her. I let some things go when she was younger because everything was still open and raw after her mother abandoned us. Specifically her, I knew she was fragile and anything could have easily set her off at that point. But the older she got, I grew more strict because I was trying to prevent her from following in her mother's footsteps. I feared she'd just go off the deep end like she did and I couldn't go through with seeing that again. I had loved Renee at one point, but all of that went out the door the minute she broke my heart and betrayed me. But with Bella, she was my little girl - my flesh and blood, my daughter. I couldn't bare the sight of losing her to the same downward spiral that took Renee.
And yet it seemed like she was on that path.
I know that everything between us was either going to take some time to mend or even come to a confrontation where I either try to repair our relationship - or if she doesn't want to speak to me anymore and act as if I don't exist anymore like she had done with Renee. Deep down that thought, that possibility, terrified me. I didn't want to lose Bella over this - I regret every horrible and nasty thing I said to her that night. I shouldn't have kicked her out to the streets where she could easily run into more trouble or end up in a worse situation than what I had already done to her. I let my emotions get the best of me though, and took out old pent up frustration from my ex wife leaving us, on her. It wasn't fair to her and it certainly only led to things being more screwed. I let the night go on after our fight, and the next morning I received a call from the McCarthys. Theodore and Mabel - Emmett's parents - had told me that Bella showed up on their doorstep in the middle of the night when the storm had hit (I still have nightmares of that night thinking she had slipped and fell into a ditch, hitting her head and passing out to then later drown as the ditch would get filled from the downpour - but since this call, some of my worries were eased). They told me that they could look after her so she wouldn't be out on the streets and I thanked them over and over for their generosity. When both Emmett and Bella were little they were like brother and sister joined at the hip. I knew she would be in good hands with them at least. Neither of them pressed me for details; Bella only had said the bare basics of what happened between us.
"Uh, Chief?" I jumped a little in my seat when I heard Danny calling for me. Ah hell, I was sitting around thinking too hard again and completely spaced on him. Right, got to get up and go see whatever's going on in the main lobby area of this place. I should've been clocked out by now. But guess this takes priority. Better be worth the trouble.
"Right, sorry. Got lost in my train of thought; alright, I'll go see whatever this problem is. Better be something important." I mumbled irritably, heaving myself up from my desk chair. He waited for me in the hallway while I shouldered on my jacket and after turning down the lights in my office, I brushed past him and headed towards the lobby. As I was getting closer, I could hear a couple voices speaking to our main secretary there in panicked tones. Soon as I entered, I was greeted to a group of adults.
Two of them I immediately recognized as Theo and Mabel McCarthy. They were standing off to the left of the desk, close together. Theo was a hulking man with big muscles, curly head of dark hair and dark eyes. Mabel was just a few feet shorter than her husband, sporting a motherly body that wasn't unhealthy in the slightest. She had the curves though thanks to her son being just as much as a mammoth as his father. She had short curly hair as well, tied back into a messy bun while her grey eyes flickered between her husband, the secretary and the two other couples at the front desk. The couple closest to her left was the Hales - William and Judith. William was a lanky staunch man, looking a bit more aged than his slightly younger wife. He had silvery platinum hair slicked back, wearing thick square glasses over his bright hazel eyes and his lips pulled back into a thin frown. He wore a fancy classy blue pinstriped suit, something that screamed high-end but nothing that I cared for or would ever even bother trying to understand the point of it. It was too flashy if you asked me. Judith was talking in a scathing hiss to our poor secretary, her icy blue eyes squinted and narrowed into a glare while she flailed a pink nailed manicured hand at her angrily. Her cornsilk hair was tied up into a bun and she too wore a fancy high end suit with sparkling jewelry to tie everything together I suppose. The final couple was someone I also slightly new, albeit not too well. It was the towns best doctor at the local hospital, Dr. Carlisle Cullen. On his arm was his new wife that he recently married to - think her name was Esme. I only heard about her through some chatter with Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Stanley. Carlisle was a slender man and I guess handsome for his middle aged years - slicked back blond hair, lean face and bright green eyes. He held himself in a proper manner while next to him the woman was damn near close to hitting him in the face with her sharp talons. He was more hyper focused on trying to calm his short wife while she nibbled on her thumbnail in worry. Esme was small, and she too had a motherly figure, nothing too round; it was well balanced on her. I'll admit, she looked very beautiful but nothing that I would honestly go out of my way to compliment her to her face about because that's just awkward and overstepping boundaries. She had long auburn hair that curled and waved naturally, which she had down. Her blue eyes would look up sometimes to Carlisle, or to the secretary.
I cleared my throat, leading to seven pairs of eyes snapping over in my direction. "Alright, what seems to be the problem folks?" I began with a grunt, shifting to cross my arms across my chest.
"You better be the one in charge around here because I'm completely upset with your secretary girl here in not bothering to answer my questions." Judith Hale had all but screeched with a huff at the end; William sighed and put an arm around her shoulders, squeezing and trying to keep her calm. Our poor secretary, a young woman named Sadie, minutely glared at her but I raised my hand halfway to motion to her that it's fine and that I'm rescuing her from the crowd.
"I am, ma'am. I'm Chief Swan. So, please, lets all calm down and go about this in an orderly manner. There's no need to let our anger or upset get the best of us." I stated, and Judith looked like she mumbled something under her breath but otherwise didn't say a word.
Mabel cleared her throat then and I looked over to her. "Charlie it's... it's our kids."
"What do you mean?"
"We think there's something wrong, Charlie." Mabel paused to purse her lips and begin wringing her hands. "We thought they'd be home hours ago but it's starting to get late. I mean, you know how Bella and Emmett are at least - they usually are out late but they would've called us or texted us to let us know where they are. We haven't gotten a single thing from them." she continued, looking up at me with eyes wide with panic. My heart clenched then hearing this; my daughter was missing?
"Mr. Swan, I think there's something wrong too with my daughter; we're new to town and she went to school today - I expected her to call me or text me letting me know when she was home or if she went out. But she hasn't sent anything to me! I'm worried something happened to her." Esme Cullen spoke up then, her voice beginning to tremble while her eyes looked glassy. Carlisle hushed her briefly and rubbed her arms to try and comfort her.
"I believe something happened to our children too." Mr. Hale cut in then. "Our son and daughter would never not tell us where they are; they're always so diligent in sending us texts or calls to let us know where they may be at, when they arrive at their destination, and when they plan on leaving. We even have them on our tracking apps to be able to make sure they're fine. But we've not heard from them at all throughout the day and it's so unlike them." he continued, sighing and looking down at the ground briefly. His wife huffed again, and with her arms crossed, she glared down at the floor.
I began to scratch at the back of my neck when hearing what they had to say. For one, my heart sank on hearing that Bella was missing. I wasn't in her life anymore - at least for the moment - so I hadn't exactly been keeping too many tabs on her other than the fact if I ran into her doing stupid stuff around town that would require police intervention - which like I said, last week I caught her nearly lighting the main street stop sign on fire. We had very few words with one another that evening but still that was the last time I actually saw her. I have taken the approach in not calling her or talking to her just yet, where I'd like to give her some space; within our argument part of the nasty words we had said to one another in the heat of the moment is that she didn't want to talk to me ever again, saying it'd be better for her to act like I had given up on her like Renee had done so. And I had said that maybe it'd be better for both of us to not contact each other anymore so it'd save us some heartache. Since than, I didn't ask for details or play by play updates on her life from the McCarthys. They didn't push for us to try and make up sooner than what we were ready for either but they hoped that we would make up soon. And now hearing she's missing, my mind couldn't help but play back every horrible, hurtful word I had let out during that night. Those were the last words she heard from me - and that's what she's living with right now wherever she may be.
Instantly I knew, deep down, I had to do something. The problem though, was protocol would keep us from really going out tonight and searching right off the bat. They were teenagers and while they have curfews, we'd still have to wait till at least morning before we can start the searches - at the very worst. There had to be a passing period of time to allow for the what ifs; what if they got sidetracked at a friend's place, crashed on the couch and forgot to charge their phone much less update their parents? Stuff like that was likely and it's happened in the past. Sadly, it's just what we have to follow and it was going to hurt to tell them this. But I could at least get statements out of them, any places they may frequent and descriptions of each kid that they were wanting to look for - so that way I could give it to our nightshift officers that while they're out on the job they could keep an eye for any of them incase they turn up.
"Charlie, is there anything we can do? Can we start searching for them?" Theo asked me then, breaking me out of my thoughts. I glanced up at him and saw he was trying to comfort Mabel as best as he could while she ran her hands through her hair in worry. Carlisle was hugging Esme to him, where she was crying into his chest. William was rubbing at his temples with frustration at the situation whereas Judith was... wait, she left the room. I let my eyes flicker between the couples, before I found she had left the lobby and was outside of the main doors, talking on her phone while waving her arms around wildly. Huh, if she was concerned about her kids' safety, she would be in here trying to figure out what to do - not taking some business call. I thought briefly, but shook my head at the thought. It wasn't my place to judge or question things.
"Unfortunately, we can't do anything - not yet at least." I began, noting how their faces had fallen briefly. "We have to wait at least 24 hours before we can proceed with looking. It's standard protocol. However, since it's our children that we are trying to look for, I may let up on that rule earlier and see if we can try starting up search parties sometime tomorrow late morning or early afternoon. For now, I'd like you all to make statements with our officers tonight; give us their descriptions and if you have any idea where they may go to for hangouts, who their friends may be - we need to narrow down spots where they might be for our search. I'll be having my nightshift officers see if they can keep an eye out while they're on their patrols - so if they see them out in the town at all, they'll be able to notify us right away. For now, after your statements - please go back home and be patient while we do what we can. It'll do you no good to be up all night or even out on the streets yourselves trying to look for them. I promise, we'll do everything in our power in finding them." I explained to them, sighing as they all nodded hesitantly to this.
"Alright, Chief Swan. We'll do what you say." Carlisle said, nodding his head firmly.
I waved Danny over, who was hanging nearby the lobby, and told him that he'd need to get a couple other officers to help him out in taking the statements. He nodded his head to me and started the process with the couples. I said my goodbyes to them all, went about clocking out, before I went to my car outside. Judith Hale was still outside on her phone, speaking as if she was annoyed by the whole situation yet her words were too garbled due to her anger for me to really get what she was talking about. I ignored her and went to my cruiser, getting in and starting it up. I pulled out of the parking lot, letting the radio play some quiet rock music in the background while I made the trek back to my house. The sun was nearly fully down while I drove the narrow Forks' roads, and I could see clouds starting to come to the area. It'll probably rain tonight, but when doesn't it ever rain. I debated on whether or not about heading to the diner or heading straight home for a short minute, but decided to go the route of the diner. There wasn't a whole lot of food at the house; there hasn't been ever since Bella left...
Shaking my head, I made the turn and started towards the local diner. It didn't take me long to arrive, seeing a few cars already parked outside with some folks entering the small building, and some leaving with their groups of friends. After parking, I got out and trudged up to the door. Some people who saw me and recognized me, waved and greeted me briefly which I returned the waves. I entered the small diner shortly after, taking in the smells of the food and the sound of the music playing on the jukebox as well as the current patrons who were taking up some booths and the counter talking loudly and laughing in their groups.
"Charlie!" I looked up and smiled slightly. An old friend of mine who was a waitress here, was walking up to me once she saw me enter. She was only a bit shorter than I was, with short curly, black hair that she had pushed back behind a headband, while she had laugh lines on her face. She wasn't too skinny nor fat, but she had just the right amount of curves to her body. Her blue eyes twinkled once she was near, and she gave me a quick hug.
"Holly, nice to see you again." I murmured after she pulled away.
"I'm glad you came in tonight, especially during my shift. Here, lemme take you to a table and get you your favorite." Holly said, and we weaved through the tables to one in a corner. I let my eyes stray briefly to her walking in front of me, and couldn't help blushing a bit when I saw the natural sway of her hips. I don't think anyone ever would notice this but I did have a bit of a crush on Holly. We used to be high school friends that after we had graduated, I lost touch with her; I was after all wrapped up with my ex-wife and daughter that I didn't think to rekindling our friendship. But during some dark days while trying to help Bella recover, I'd come here with her and that's where I found out Holly had stayed in town and was working here part time while she was going to the local community college. We reconnected and picked up our friendship where we left off. I never had viewed her as much else other than my old friend when we were teens, but after my whole fiasco with Renee, I had taken some time to get to know my friend over again. And then the crush developed not long after we had begun talking again - it was as if we never lost connection really. I don't know if deep down when we were younger if I always had an internal crush on her that I never realized it, but I think I was blindsighted by my drug addict of an ex-wife to really ever consider looking at another woman after her. But now I was looking at it from another angle and realized perhaps I did like Holly more than just as a friend - yet I don't think I'd ever have the guts to let her know. I was happy and comfortable with our friendship for now; still those thoughts lingered about what if we were more. I just don't know what it would take to try and speak up to her about it. For now I wasn't going to disturb what we had.
After she seated me at my table, she said she'd be back with a coke, my usual drink. She walked off then, but didn't take long to return with my drink and said she had already put in my order with my usual meal that I get - steak and potatoes.
"Thanks, Holly. Appreciate it." I told her gratefully, taking a sip of my drink.
"Charlie are you alright?" I was a bit startled by her question, and looked up to see her biting her lip. How did she know that I had something on my mind?
"Uh... To be quite frank, no I have a lot going on my mind. But it's alright, don't worry about me. I don't want to take up too much of your time while you're on the clock." I waved it off, smiling a bit up at her to show her I'd be fine. But she shook her head at me and then sat down across from me. My eyebrows rose in surprise.
"It's fine, Charlie. I was actually about to go on a break here but was more than happy to put your order in before it. Now please, while I have some time - tell me what's going on in that head of yours. I've known you for years and know when something is up. I knew right away that something was wrong when you came in the day after your daughter left your place and I was worried about how you were then." I grimaced a bit when she mentioned Bella, but she immediately apologized soon as she saw it.
"It's alright, Holly. Not your fault." I took a moment to rub my hand over my face. "I guess I'm still easy as ever to read like an open book... It's Bella again but there's another problem beyond her." I started, and she rested her arms on the table.
"Tell me then, what's up?"
"Well... We just had some parents come into the station this evening just as I was about to get off. It was the McCarthys, Hales and Cullens. They said that they haven't heard from their kids at all for the afternoon and early evening - and are worried that something is up." I told her, sighing. "Now, we can't do anything for at least a day before we can send out parties to look for them but I said we may try earlier in the daytime tomorrow to look for them - but that's all we can do. I had them give statements to my officers before I was leaving, where I wanted them to tell me their descriptions and give out any details of where they might usually hang out or with who so we can try narrowing down where they might be. And I'm worried of course for their safety. My daughter is missing, how can I not be worried? But I feel helpless that I can't do anything tonight for them to try and ease their stress." I rambled, playing with the straw wrapper.
Holly pursed her lips at this. "Then I can completely understand why you're withdrawn this evening. I'd be worried too if I haven't heard from my kid at all for the afternoon and evening. And I get too as to why you can't go searching early due to protocol; there's always that chance that they're out with friends, or their phone died and they don't think to check or even update you on where they may be at. Usual teen stuff, nothing that we really had the luxury of when we were younger." she replied, a wry smile on her small face.
I nodded my head at this, she understood it and was seeing it from my perspective too. "I can only hope that's all it is really, nothing else beyond that. I'm hoping that they turn up tonight - otherwise, we're going to need to gather some volunteers and start looking for them tomorrow." I mumbled, taking another sip of my soda. "I'm just a bit weirded out by the fact that these five teens are all missing at the same time of each other; I would've just chalked it off as something insignificant if only one or two of them were missing for the time being. I'd still treat it as important but when the five of them are missing, that's more of a mystery to me as to where they could be. Could they all be together?"
"Well, I mean that's one possibility and one hope that they are together - it'd make it easier for you guys. But, do you know if any of them were actually friends with each other?" Holly asked.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know. Emmett is like a brother to my daughter but since she left the house, I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't exactly been keeping up to date on her day to day life." I paused to run a hand through my hair worriedly. "That I put the blame on myself though. I'm trying to give her space on this situation we're in because I don't to push her away further than what I already have done after our fight when she left. We said really nasty things to each other that I think it's going to take time to heal those wounds - and so I'm letting her have her space and not pressuring her to talk to me." I muttered and Holly frowned.
"Charlie it's not your fault for what happened. You and your daughter I think never had the best of relationships but look what happened to you two after Renee caused the mess that she did. Pardon my words if I'm being harsh but I don't think it was fair in the slightest bit that she did what she did, and then disappeared into thin air. Bella was left in a broken state afterwards and needed to heal; you did too. I don't think either of you two really fully recovered from that." Holly admitted to me truthfully, and I blushed a little at how her voice spoke with such conviction. I coughed behind my hand where she smiled at me.
"Thanks at least for the vote in that area."
"Do you know though if Bella and Emmett were friends with the other teens missing?" she continued, letting the conversation about that night, drop thankfully.
"I honestly don't know if they were. I never interacted much with Bella regarding the Hales' son and daughter since I was too wrapped up in handling her and her problems. I don't think though she was friends with the last teen - the Cullens' daughter. You know Carlisle Cullen is recently married to a mother; apparently his wife and now his new stepdaughter are new to the town. So I don't think Bella's had any time getting to know her." I answered, shrugging my shoulders slightly. Holly nodded her head then.
"Well, I can only hope for you that this will be sorted out with no mishaps. I do wish you luck in finding them sooner rather than later and I hope they're safe out there wherever they may be in the town." Holly told me with sympathy, giving me a small reassuring smile. I nodded my head back to her and smiled as well. I heard someone shouting in the back where the kitchen was, for Holly and she jumped up out of her seat. "Well looks like my break is over and sounds like your food is done. I'll bring it over and then I have to get back to the other tables. I'm glad you told me what was on your mind Charlie, and please take what I said to heart about everything. I'll be glad to help out with the searching if you need more hands on deck so let me know." she added, smiling quickly at me before she turned and left me at my table. She returned with the food and I stopped her just for a minute.
"Thanks for lending me your ears tonight, Holly; I really appreciate it. I'll let you know if we need more hands on our search party efforts. And I'd love to see you again where we can keep catching up on old times together." I offered with a wide smile. I could see the slightest of tinting to her cheeks - that was new - but she giggled and nodded her head. My heart stuttered at the giggle, but I said goodbye to her so she wasn't being kept from her job any longer by me. I ate my food then in silence, letting my thoughts just run through my head then. I would keep it in mind to see if perhaps there was some connection with them if the teens might all be friends with one another; maybe they're in a club together, or share a class. Granted, Bella was never one for advertising that she was joining any clubs. Then again she never really clued me in on her day to day life, much less her school life. I only knew of her grades and how abysmal they were which I was disappointed with; I had high hopes she could turn them around so she can graduate. I wasn't going to be upset if she chose not to go to a college. At this point with her grades it was unlikely she might get into anything. But if she even just continues with community college after high school or something like that, I'd feel happy for her. I just wanted her to be secure in her adult life and be a functioning human being. She deserved something good in her life after all of the hell she's been put through.
I finished my meal and after paying with an additional big tip to Holly, I left the diner. I was greeted with some rain once I was outside, where off in the distance I could see some flashing of lightning up in the sky. As per usual, a rainy night that doubled up as a storm for good old Forks. I hurried to my cruiser and drove out from the diner's parking lot, noting that it was nearing 9pm. I didn't realize just how much time had gone by while out eating, but it was fine by me since I got to vent to Holly about my current situation which I did feel a bit better talking to her about it. It didn't take me long to make it back to my little white house, where after parking in the driveway, I hurried to the small porch and got inside after unlocking the door. I turned on the foyer light after shaking off my jacket, and the dim yellow lighting lit up the small space quickly. Sighing, I went to the kitchen and grabbed myself a beer from the fridge. The house was its usual quietness with nothing on other than the fridge's humming of its motor. The place had just felt so empty ever since my daughter left, and nothing about it felt welcoming. It's honestly never felt warm or welcoming over the years; nothing but constant bickering between the two of us would fill these walls. There'd be lots of slamming doors when she'd stomp up to her room, sometimes she'd throw things or break something in her enraged states.
I plopped myself down in my old armchair and turned the TV on to some sports channel where a football game was on. I grunted but sat in silence, sipping my drink and focused on the game for now. It was a nice distraction from what was going on currently, so I let it numb me for the evening. I could hear a storm brewing outside but I paid no mind to it; when you've been living here pretty much your whole life, storms weren't new to this small town. After watching the game for another hour, I could feel tonight's events hitting me and the exhaustion came quickly. So I huffed, downed the rest of my beer, before standing. I turned off the TV and just as I turned to go upstairs, I spotted the old family photos on the mantle.
How many times have I walked by this old fireplace and just ignored the family photos that stare back at me to mock me of the past? It was only a few photos of my little family before it imploded in on itself. One was of Renee and I when we had eloped, smiles plastered on our goofy faces while we held each other in an embrace that would say we were young and in love. Oh, the truth that followed years later could tell that was all a lie. The next photo was of Renee holding our daughter when she was born, taken in the hospital. Bella was so tiny and red in the face while Renee held her, her eyes tired but a wide smile on her face. It had been a long night when Bella was delivered; it wasn't a completely easy birth and it did a toll on Renee that night, but it was worth it. The next photo on the lineup was just a Christmas photo of us, smiling for the photographer while wearing matching goofy Christmas themed sweaters; all part of Renee's plan to make it seem cohesive and coordinated so she could send something back to her mom. This was taken when Bella was at least four years old. It was only a couple years before the blow up that happened. But the last photo on the mantle made my eyes prick with tears that I wanted to release. It was in Bella's young teen years; it had been at least a year or two after she had gotten out of her rehab situation and was on the mends of getting better - or at least I thought she was on the mends. But she never let it on at that time that she was still doing stupid stuff and putting her health at risk. I guess this was just a day where I caught her in a good mood.
It was a photo of us outside on the local reservation where we had gone over to see my old friends, Billy and Harry. Bella used to be friends with Billy's son, Jacob but they grew apart since she was closer to Emmett and well, she was getting into her reckless teen years during this time. But I was hugging my little girl in this photo, both of us smiling brightly at the camera. Nothing about it would read what was really going on behind the scenes; we'd have small fights at this point or we'd rarely talk to one another as she'd rather keep to herself. Still, she humored me that day and came out with me versus staying home or going out with Emmett. Her smile was beautiful, and her eyes twinkled in that photo like she was laughing on the inside.
I let a tear or two fall when recalling those old days when she used to let me in, would talk to me, ask me how my day was at work. She was my girl then - and now we were strangers to each other.
I picked up the photo that had Renee holding her when she was a baby, but frowned when I felt something on the back of the frame. Strange, this feels like there's a piece of paper attached to it. I turned the frame around and I felt my eyes widened when indeed, there was a piece of notepad paper stuck to the back of it. How come I never noticed this before? I mean after years of just dealing with all of the crap that I have, I think I decided to ignore these photos for the most part especially after Renee left. I didn't want to be reminded of the past when I wanted to forget - so this might of been sitting here for awhile and never realized it was hidden here. I took the paper off the back of the frame and opened it up. My heart clenched when I saw the handwriting.
It was Renee's scrawl that I was looking at.
Charlie,
I don't know when you'll find this, or if you'll ever even consider reading it. Especially after you finding out that I've been cheating on you and stealing money from you, I wouldn't put it past you to act as if I never existed in your life. And rightly so, you deserve some peace after all I have put you through. I'm sorry that I have failed you as your wife - I don't know when or why I started going down the path that I did. I don't to pass off blame to something as lame as postpartum or feeling like a failure as a mother because I didn't have anything going for myself in life after getting pregnant so young.
I'll never regret that we had Bella - she's the light of my life, and yours too. I adore her. But I couldn't shake my demons and let it consume me rather than trying to seek help. I dug myself in too deep of a grave and let it drive my life. And in turn I dragged her down with me. I know she's messed up now because of me and I am thankful that the court rightfully saw that you were the right parent to take care of her. I only wish that she can heal from all the hurt I have put her through - and I wish the same for you too.
I think it's better if I don't reach out to Bella through her years of growing up; I know it'll deeply hurt her further but she doesn't deserve to be reminded of her pathetic excuse of a mother. I want to get clean and be better for her, but it's going to take some time. I don't know if or when I'll get better, or if I should reach out again if that happens. But you two deserve peace from this - and I won't be bothering you for a long while until I know I'm Renee again.
I do love you Charlie, but I hope that one day you'll forgive me and we can be friends again. I wish you and Bella the best.
Renee.
I wiped a hand over my face after reading her note. This must've been sitting here for years but I never bothered to look for it. I was heavily focused on repairing my daughter all these years, all futile since she chose to be wild after everything that happened. I don't think I helped much in trying to force my rules down her throat when I did - but I guess I was also trying to prevent a repeat of the mess that Renee had left behind when she did what she did. But I guess this not explained now why she never bothered calling our girl to see how she was doing, or didn't send in any cards. I think it was ultimately for the better - this especially was mature of Renee to realize that she was completely in the wrong. While her disappearing definitely broke Bella's heart, both accepted without the other knowing that it was for the better because it'd maybe allow for room to have them heal from the scars. I don't know honestly if Bella was fully healed or if she was still sore from this. I know I had did what I could for myself and tried to push Renee and all the memories of her out of my head; I was heartbroken and furious with her cheating and stealing. I don't know if I could ever forgive her for that, much less forgive her for hurting our child. But the willingness to forgive her lied within our daughter, not me.
I set the note down on the endtable for now, deciding that with this new information, I'd hold onto it and probably show the note to Bella if we were to ever reconcile with one another. She deserved to know why Renee kept herself absent in her life. Whether we'd ever get around to making up, that was another story. But for now, I at least had a reason as to why. I tossed my can away, shut the lights off and went upstairs to crash in my bed. Soon as my head had hit the pillow, I was out like a light.
(The next day, Saturday)
I had gotten back down to the station midmorning since that's when I was planning to clock in. I had slept through the storm last night, dreamless but at least thankfully it was a full rest. I was still worried when I woke up that morning, but I set my mind towards a determined goal that we would sort out where these teens of ours were. I chose to not let fear rule me today. I had braved through the still ongoing raining that was happening outside, noting that the winds had picked up and the aged trees around town were swaying wildly to the increasing winds. I could only hope there'd be no fallen trees today as that was sure to cause more problems and lead to more issues with us trying to look for the kids.
After I entered through the lobby of the station, Sadie greeted me without looking up, and Danny was waiting there for me. Well that can't be good.
"Well, what's with you greeting me at the door today?"
"Chief uh... well the families are back." he stated, cringing as I groaned.
"I thought I'd told them that we'd give them a call when we'd start up our searching, and it was better for them to stay home." I grumbled, shaking my jacket a bit to try and get rid of some of the rain that was on it.
Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I know, sir. But they insisted that they come back in and be kept up to date as to what is going on. So they came by and are waiting in our debriefing room, refusing to leave."
I shook my head at this bit of news, but sighed once more. "Alright, fine. I'll go to them and see what we can do. Did you get their statements last night at least, all sorted?"
"I did. I had Matt and Rhea take them with me, and I complied them together for you in the room with the parents. I figured you would want to go over all the details together." Danny offered and I nodded my head to him in thanks. Then I trudged my way through the building, making it to the briefing room in a short amount of time. When I opened the door, all six pairs of eyes fell to me.
"Hello to you all. I thought I had told you all to wait at home till we either had news of where the kids are or when we'd start our search efforts." I grunted to them in greeting, shutting the door and making my way over to a chair at one end of the table. The couples were paired in chairs around the long table, huddled to their partners and had been muttering to themselves before I entered.
"Well, Theo and I couldn't wait any longer on this and needed to know what was going on. We're worried about Emmett and Bella, Charlie." Mabel said to me, biting her bottom lip in worry.
"I'm distraught over my daughter, Chief Swan. She's just so small and fragile." Esme had all but cried, running her hands through her hair roughly in worry while Carlisle stood behind her, hands on both of her shoulders.
"I'm more upset with my children than anything; this is so unlike them and I'm furious that they're doing nothing to call me of their whereabouts." Judith snipped. I furrowed my brows at her weird state of mind; why isn't she worried for her kids' wellbeing? She was angry over being scared at the fact they're missing? William glared at her from the corner of his eye but she huffed at him, not changing her attitude. I sighed and once again decided to ignore her weird mood, instead focusing on how to handle this now.
"I know you're all still worried for their safety. I don't think either of my officers saw them on their patrols last night else they would've told me so this morning. I promise you still, this is on our radar and is still important to us to handle. Right now, I'd like to go over your statements that you gave and see if we can make a connection between our kids. Firstly I'd like to ask if you know if any of our kids were friends with one another, or even are in clubs together. It'd help because at least then if they might be so, then perhaps they're together and it'd be more of a help to us when looking for them." I asked outright to the parents.
"You know that with our Emmett and Bella, they're like brother and sister. So I can only wish that while they're missing, they're together at least. I know Emmett cares about her wellbeing and will do whatever he can to protect her should they be in danger." Theo immediately piped up and I nodded to him, expecting that answer.
"I don't think my Alice was friends with any of your children yet; like I said last night, we're new to town. I had only recently married Carlisle last month and we were in the process of moving in and getting settled before she had her first day yesterday." Esme supplied sadly, frowning. Well I guess that threw that idea out then for her daughter.
"I don't know honestly if Rosalie and Jasper were friends with either of your children, either. But my wife and I never pried in on their lives for those details." William informed me, a regretful tone in his voice while he spoke. I frowned with him.
"We cared more about their grades, and how they were holding up in school - not their social life. They should realize they have no time for silly trivial things such as friends with other teens that won't make it past senior year. Their focus should be on their future, and that they don't make fools of themselves." Judith cut in with an edge to her tone.
"Judith, please." William all but begged of his wife, to get her to be quiet. I furrowed my brows further, as did the other parents around her. She was really coming across as hostile and as if she really didn't care what is happening to her children. She seemed just more angry that they were missing and not worried about their safety - as if this was causing such a great inconvenience to her day. It was so odd to see a mother not worried for her son and daughter, but as if they're committing a great offense by not calling them and informing them where they might be.
"Well, it's at least worth a shot to see if they are friends, but if they aren't then it's no problem. I'm going to now look over your statements." I stated simply, picking up the piles of paperwork and began to scan over them. The McCarthys' statement was first where I just briefly skimmed over their descriptions of our kids, noting nothing was new about it - I knew what the two of them looked like easily. I read over their usual hangouts, noting that I knew every bit of information here as well seeing as some of these hangouts I've picked them up from before when they'd get themselves into trouble. Once I was done, I looked over the Cullens' statement about their daughter. I took in the information about their daughter, seeing that she was named Alice Cullen; she was tiny in height and weight, with blue-green eyes and short black hair. She had no hangout spots here in town (duh, she was new to the place) but regarding her hobbies, there'd be options that she could've gone to a mall or any clothing store. But if she would've been last seen there, she likely was kicked out at some point due to closing time. So that lead would go nowhere but it's worth a shot to see about asking any store owners if they've seen her. The search would be too broad but it was a start. Finally I quickly read over the Hales' statement about their son and daughter. I took in their descriptions - both had blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin, were semi tall in height, and that they would likely not be too far from the other. That was good at least because if I'd find one, the other wouldn't be that far off in searching for. Their hangout spots was something mall related as well - between clothing stores, or game stores, or even the local library for both. I took some time to glance again between the Hales' and McCarthys' statements about our children, seeing if they shared a common group of friends of whatever their parents may recall - but there was nothing to go off of.
So far I had only progressed in knowing what each teen looked like that they could be easily identified if we find them out on the field - but there was nothing to go off between likeness in friend groups or even hangout spots. This was going to be challenging for sure.
I sighed and stood up which gained the attention of the parents in the room.
"Well I appreciate the statements about your children, folks. But right now, all I can work with is their physical descriptions; they don't share commonalities with friends from what you've told me, nor any hangout spots that they might frequent." I concluded with a frown and they all looked at their partners with worry.
"Where does that leave us Chief?" Carlisle spoke up then, looking up at me with concern written on his face. I pursed my lips contemplating.
"Well, I think the only thing we might be able to really connect them on is the fact they go to the same school - and you all saw them in the morning before they left for their school day. Afterwards sometime in the day, communication went dark. So at that point from whenever they were last seen - be it in the school or after school hours - that is where we're at. The grey area, with no knowledge of where they might've went. You all have tried calling them, texting them, and I'm assuming it's either gone straight to voicemail meaning their phones are off, or it's gone through all of the rings with no answer meaning they could've lost their phones at some point. Best case would be they know they're in trouble with their parents, see the calls or texts and are ignoring them to avoid blowups - but we don't really know." I tried to explain, puffing my cheeks out.
"In that case, why don't we just call the school's principal and see if he saw our children?" Mabel offered; at the sound of this, the faces of the parents lit up.
"That is definitely an option. I'll have one of my officers get on that as soon as possible." I replied to her, nodding my head.
"But at that point, we're still sitting ducks with no knowledge of where our children are." William countered.
"Yes that's true, but while you're left still waiting at least if we can get somewhere with the principal's statement about when he might've last seen them, it's a potential lead." I reassured him. He seemed to be fine with this answer and nodded to me thoughtfully.
"So, we can at least hope that they're last known whereabouts might be within the school or at least just before they left school premises. Once we get ahold of the school's principal, we can go from there."
"But are you going to start up the search party?" Theo asked next. Before I could reply, suddenly the lights flickered for a minute while I heard a low but long rumble of thunder, followed shortly by a resounding cracking noise outside the building. The women jumped at the noise while the men looked at the lights apprehensively. None of that seemed to be a good sign...
Danny burst through the door with his expression reading fear. "Sir the phones are going off. The storm outside is getting really bad - winds are picking up with trees falling over. There's been reports of some flooding going on now on some of the roads and just now we've been informed by the local Firehouse that some trees were struck with lightning and have fallen over. There's damage around town and some roads are blocked." he informed me, his tone grim. God damnit! Of all the times for there to be a bad storm, it had to be today!
"Damn it!" I growled, turning around to run a hand through my hair. The parents behind me gasped at this bit of news. "We're not going to be able to go out searching for these teens now if roads are blocked or flooded. Out of all the days in the year, this storm is bad today when we need to start looking into finding where these kids went." I grumbled roughly shaking my head.
"I know Chief but we have to wait until the flooding goes down, and until the roads are cleared. I know the Firefighters are working right now as calls come in to get trees cleared out of the road but looking at it the best way possible, it might be all cleared by tomorrow morning. But at the worst, it may take until Monday." Danny told me and I groaned; none of that helped to ease my worries. My daughter was out there somewhere, who knows where, and with how bad this storm has already escalated, she was more at risk wherever she might be.
"Charlie, we can't risk anyone's safety during this storm. I know we'd like to look for our kids - but it sounds bad out there. I don't want anyone getting hurt while we look for our kids." Theo told me, and I looked over at him to see him hugging Mabel to his side. She seemed to be shaking but she was trying to hold it together.
I sighed again, running a hand over my face. I seem to be doing that a lot within the past 24 hours.
"So we're just going to be sitting ducks. Fantastic." Judith Hale had complained then, rolling her eyes at the sound of these news. I could see that Mabel and Esme had slightly glared at her, but her husband was doing most of the glaring because he seemed really upset with is wife's behavior.
"None of us are happy in hearing this bit of news, Mrs. Hale. But as a doctor, I'd hate to see or hear anyone get hurt on the roads while they look for our children. I want nothing more than to start the search parties - but doing so now is extremely risky. I think it's better if we wait for the storm to pass and for the roads to be cleared before we begin our searching." Carlisle tried to reason with her, pursing his lips as he too wasn't seemingly happy with how she was acting.
"And that is what we shall do. I don't know if either of you would like to remain here while we work on our current game plan - speaking of; Danny," Danny looked up when I called him. "I need to find the contact information of the high school's principal. Our current lead that we need to try following is that the principal might've seen these teens last and might've seen where they went off to. I want him on the phone within the hour - if he doesn't answer, call until he does. Check back with me after the hour is up and we'll see where to go from there." I ordered him. He nodded his head to me before turning and leaving the room.
"I'm going to stay here for now. I don't want to risk the roads, but I'd like to know if you get anything out of their principal." Theo told me and I nodded to him. I saw that the other parents had nodded their heads in agreement with this plan, though it looked like Judith wasn't too happy to hear this is what we were going with. But it was all we could do for now.
It was time to wait. And it was time to pray that our children were safe out there. God, I hope they're fine.
A/N: Alright and that's the new chapter. I figured I'd attempt a different POV, considering it's time to see what the parents of these troublesome teens are going through while not knowing where they're at.
I've got some plans for where this story will go, and it's time to start leading up to it. There was some hinting of something going on under the surface at the school regarding the teens, in previous chapters. I'd like to see about tying up those ends that I left hanging.
Any feedback is definitely appreciated!
Signing off for now,
~Lady Eleanora~
