A/N: Thank you, reviewers! And the thing in this chapter about the bathroom and The Hours and Nicole Kidman, it's all true! Freaked me out! But, stupidly, we didn't see Johnny Depp's star.
Chapter Seven: Taken?
"What do you think Barkley?" asks Venice, as she returns to her hotel room. Barkley's unpacking a few things into the room.
"Honestly? I don't know," replies Barkley. "I just hope she's alright."
"Can I tell you what I think?" asks Venice, sitting down on the bed.
"Sure."
"Phoenix and Harley are pretty sure she wouldn't leave, the rest stop, and she wasn't there, I think, I think there's always the possibilty that she's been taken," says Venice, quietly.
"Taken?" asks Barkley, although knowing quite well what she means.
"Yeah, it's awful, but, if she wouldn't leave and she wasn't there, then it fits," says Venice. Icing comes into the room.
"What fits?" she asks.
"We were, we were just saying, that Levi could have been kidnapped, taken by someone at the rest stop, we're not saying that's what we think, but, it's a possibilty," explains Venice. Icing sits next to her.
"It had crossed my mind too, but I didn't want to say anything to Phoenix or Harley, they must be going through hell."
After much discussion the next morning, the five decided to go ahead with the holiday as planned, much as Phoenix wanted to stay at the hotel in case Levi turned up, saying that he wouldn't enjoy the holiday without her.
Only taking one car, Barkley drove into Los Angeles and then into Hollywood. Cameras at the ready, Venice, Icing, Harley, Phoenix and Barkley piled out of the car, putting some coins into the metre and setting off to see some sights. But before going too far, Venice needed the bathroom. After looking for one for at least twenty minutes, they found one, in a tour store, and everyon epicked up a map of Hollywood, showing the Walk of Fame, and where each celebrity's star was.
"That is a disgusting bathroom," says Venice, coming out shaking her hands like a wild woman. "I was almost too afraid to wash my hands." Icing nervously went in after her, to the small bathroom with The Hours poster pinned up. Icing felt incredibly creeped out, feeling as if Nicole Kidman's eyes were always on her, and not in the most flattering position.
They started walking down the stars, inspecting the names. Harley wanted to see Ozzy Osbourne's star, while Venice wanted to see Johnny Depp's, and of course, all the stars they wanted to see were blocks away from eachother.
After walking the Walk of Fame, and photographing the Hollywood sign, they decided to shop a little, for souveniers. Whilst browsing the shelves, Harley managed to hear a snippet from a news radio broadcast.
"Police have discovered the body of a teenage girl in forests in Arizona, they do not have any identification at the moment and are urging anyone who knows of a missing teenage girl with shoulder length brown hair in the west Arizona area to come forward." Harley stopped, almost dead, and beginning to shake, so much she dropped the glass ornament she was holding at the time.
"Hey, you will have to pay for that ma'am," says the storeowner as Icing runs to her side.
"Harley are you ok?" she asks, putting an arm around her cousin. "What's wrong?"
"Levi's dead," says Harley, tears welling in her eyes, even her voice shaking.
"What?"
"They've found a body in Arizona, didn't you hear the radio a second ago? They've found a body in Arizona!" she broke down in tears and her legs collapsed beneath her, Icing lowering her to the floor as she cried uncontrollably. By this time, Phoenix and Barkley were by their side.
"Harley says she heard a news broadcast on the radio, they've found a body in Arizona, teenage girl with shoulder length brown hair," Icing tells Phoenix, immediately his eyes well also.
"We don't know if it's her, we'll go straight away," says Barkley, bending by Harley, to help her up.
"Of course it's her!" screams Harley, still sitting. "Of course it's her."
"Come on Harley, we've got to go and see, it's no good staying here in the dark," comforts Icing. "Where's Venice?" she asks her brother.
"Dunno, she must have left the store, I'll be back in a minute," and he went to look for Venice. Icing had helped Harley to her feet and they were taking slow steps towards the exit of the store. Phoenix, tears rolling down his cheeks too, almost threw twenty bucks at the woman behind the cashout for the broken glass.
"We've just got to hold on a minute for Barkley, he's gone to find Venice," Icing says to Phoenix. Harley's legs are still weak and Icing is still having to hold her up, but at the thought of waiting for Barkley, she lowered Harley to the floor again, where Phoenix sat and hugged his sister. Two or three minutes later, he came back.
"I can't find her," he says, "She's nowhere round here, I asked people, no one's seen her."
"Levi, we've got to go and see Levi," Harley sobbed from the sidewalk. Icing stood up beside Barkley.
"Listen, you take Phoneix and Harley back to the border, Phoneix can't drive like this, and one of us has got to stay and find Venice," she says.
"But then you won't be able to get back to the hotel, we only brought one car," says Barkley, not wanting to leave his sister so far away.
"We'll get a taxi," Icing says, "You go, I'll keep looking for her, keep your cell on." So Barkley and Phoenix supported a sobbing Harley back to the car, and left for the state line. Icing, located herself on her map of Hollywood, bought a bottle of water and began looking for, and asking after, Venice.
No one had seen her, and Icing knew she was going to have a hard time finding a girl in Hollywood, the place was packed with them, mostly in their teens, most with blonde hair, most tall and slender. It wasn't going to be easy.
Phoenix and Harley sat together in the back of the car all the way to Arizona, back to the same rest stop to ask for which police station to go to. After finding out what they should do, they left.
The police were sympathetic, knowing that even if the dead girl wasn't their sister, they still had a missing relative, and the police still had an unidentified dead body. Phoenix went to see the girl, both he and Barkley knew Harley wouldn't be up to it, but as soon as returned, crying and nodding that it was Levi, Harley burst into the room and fell to her knees before her dead sister. Her face was pale and her hair straggly, wet and matted around her face, her clothes looked like rags and her hands were covered in damp dirt. Her eyes were closed and her lips blue.
"Can I touch her?" Harley asked the officer. He nodded, and Harley reached out a hand to caress her sisters face. The body was freezing cold and hard as stone, limp as if a puppet. Harley stroked her sisters hair and held her hand. "Levi? Levi."