Disclaimer: I don't own the OC
Dusk had settled across the glamorous, beautiful, and the facade of a snow globe. The elite members of Newport went about their everyday lives. Bright parties were held, little children taken care of by nannies, and gossip spewed across the lips of lonely people. Did you hear about what happened at Harbor Elementary? Did you hear about the two masked men? Did you hear about little Gemma Atwood? They say that Marissa Cooper, pardon me, Marissa Atwood broke down right there and Ryan assaulted a police officer…doesn't sound like they changed much. The people would smile and voices would drip in supposed sympathy before moving on. They were able to smile and forget about the ugly destruction that destroyed worlds. Some were not able to forget as easily. Some people could still see the haunting smile of a little girl with bright blue eyes. One person remembered hearing his little girl cry the first time and how he thought he might cry. One person remembered cuddling her little granddaughter while reading a bedtime story about happily ever afters. Another person remembered laughing like crazy when her best friend opened the door with a screaming two week year old in her arms and hair that looked like it had not been washed in days. Someone remembered her little girl yelling over her shoulders that she would love her forever and ever. Some could not forget so easily.
Julie Cooper-Nichol rushed up the driveway and attempted to push her way through the police officers that surrounded the door.
"Miss, miss you can't go through there."
"Excuse me," Julie bit out angrily turning to face the burly guard. "I'm Julie Copper-Nichol, perhaps you…"
"She is okay Fred," Sandy Cohen walked out and placed an arm on Julie and guided her past the guard.
"Well, I don't know if I'm okay. I don't know if I have ever been okay, but thanks anyway Sandy." She looked up at him trying to joke but ended up with tears pooling in her eyes. She only had one question. "Where is my daughter?"
Sandy didn't say anything, just pointed in the direction of the kitchen and followed the whirlwind of red that swept past him. The scene in the kitchen was a twisting of the gut feeling. At least four police officers swarmed around the room getting coffee and making notes, while Lieutenant Wylie sat at the table. Across from him sat Ryan and Marissa. Well, Ryan sat while Marissa was hunched over with her head in her arms obscuring her face. Ryan's arm was swung around her shoulders and gently rubbing her left arm. Sandy didn't know if Ryan was supporting Marissa or Marissa supporting Ryan. Everything was too confusing now. Kristen sat on Ryan's other side holding his hand tightly for support.
"Marissa, oh honey…" Julie took one look at her daughter and almost burst into tears at the spot.
Marissa's head slowly picked up from the table and gazed at Julie uncomprehendingly. "Mommy?" Her voice trembled as did her chin as her already bloodshot eyes leaked more tears.
Sandy decided at the moment that he had never seen somebody look more destroyed. He had children; he knew that he couldn't even understand what Ryan and Marissa were going through. Looking over, he watched as Ryan picked his arm up from around Marissa as she fell into her mother's open arms and sobbed. Julie held her tight while whispering soft words into her ears. Running a hand across his face, Ryan leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes breathing deeply and forcefully. Sandy walked over to him and simply placed a hand on his shoulder. Ryan looked up at him with what could be considered thanks.
"Mr. and Mrs. Atwood, I know this is hard but we are doing everything possible to find Gemma. Along with several different forces, we are combing the surrounding areas. Road blocks have been put up, and Gemma's picture is on all the major networks. An Amber Alert was issued two hours ago. All we can do now is wait."
Ryan's chair came down with a thud as Marissa lifted her head from Julie's shoulder. Both stared at Lieutenant Wylie with a mixture of disbelief and amazement. Ryan opened his mouth to say something, but Sandy intervened quickly. "Lieutenant Wylie, may I have a private word?" Leading the officer away from the kitchen, he heard Marissa's voice raise above the hum getting higher and higher mixed with Ryan's deeper tone trying to calm her down. "Is it possible for Ryan and Marissa to go get some rest? They are about to snap and that would not help the situation."
Lieutenant Wylie scratched his head and finally nodded while making a gesture to an officer walking in. Within minutes, Julie and Kristen had whisked Ryan and Marissa upstairs despite their adamant protests.
Ryan went along after watching Marissa sway unsteady on her feet as she walked up the stairs. He would make sure that Marissa got some rest then come back down. He had to do something or he was going to hurt somebody. Suddenly Marissa stumbled on the steps in front of him and almost went down. Automatically he reached out and caught her, placing his arm around her waist and helping her up the stairs. She didn't even look at him. Walking into their bedroom, Ryan made Kristen and Julie leave them for privacy and turned back to his wife. She was standing at the window peering out with her arms wrapped around her for protection.
"Marissa, you should rest. You should…" He looked helplessly at his wife.
"Don't Ryan, just don't okay? I need…I need…" She turned to him with swimming blue eyes and suddenly was wrapped tightly up his arms. Her arms wrapped around him in desperation, and she squeezed Ryan as tightly as possible. She needed to know that he was there. She needed to feel the pain of him squeezing her as tightly as she was him. She needed to no longer be numb.
Ryan gasped as Marissa tightened her arms painfully around him, but all he did was pull her even more into him. There were not any tears, screams, or sounds of fists punching the wall…their pain blended and crisscrossed in violent reds and haunting blacks being absorbed by each other. The earth was crumbling to ruins; a facade of life slipping away each moment little Gemma Atwood was missing.
"And tonight on the eleven o'clock news, Harbor Elementary school was compromised by two men in black masks at eleven o'clock this morning. Students were reunited with their parents six hours later as the lockdown was lifted. However, one student is missing: four year old Gemma Atwood. She has auburn color hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a denim skirt with a green sweater. She has her hair in two braids. If anybody has seen anything, please contact the police immediately." The announcer looked up from his script and peered deeply into the box as if he could see the audience, "The community needs to pull together. Something this horrific…this is a parent's worse nightmare…"
Sandy switched off the TV as a picture of Gemma filled the screen with a wide smile and sparkling blue eyes. He turned to Kristen, but stopped seeing she had finally fallen asleep with Julie sacked out across the room. Standing up and placing a blanket around her shoulders, he crept quickly upstairs. Peering into Ryan and Marissa's room, he was relieved to see both of them huddled on the bed in a tangle of arms and legs. Ryan's arms kept twitching as he shifted in sleep, and Marissa restlessly tossed back and forth. It had taken some doing, but Sandy had finally convinced the two to get at least a couple hours of sleep because going only on fear and adrenalin would only get them so far. Closing the door, he walked back downstairs and tried to catch some sleep if possible.
Ryan woke up with a start covered in sweat. He had been dreaming that Gemma was right in front of him, but he couldn't reach her no matter how hard he tried to. Turning over, he stopped surprised at seeing an empty bed. Where is she? Did something happen to her? Is she going to disappear like Gemma? Rushing from the room, he stopped in the dark trying to get his bearings. He could hear the faint sounds of cabinets being opened and closed followed a soft bang as the front door closed. Pulling on his shoes and a coat, he raced out the front door and bewilderedly looked around the yard. A faint beam of light bounced off the trees as a person moved quietly through the woods heading toward the beach. Angry at himself for not grabbing a flashlight, he began trekking through the woods following the faint beam of light stumbling around in the dark as the mist swallowed up everysound. Silence was everywhere. What is going on?
To be continued! Thanks for the reviews!