Back in the run-of-the-mill realm of the Outerworld (New York, United States to be precise) Emily and Charles Deetz were frantically searching the house of their infant daughter, Lydia. So far, they had moved furniture, checked under tables and chairs, and searched outside in both the front yard and backyard. It had been a single day since Lydia disappeared to the Neitherworld and they were smacking themselves in the faces for being oblivious.
"I-I can't find the baby! What'll we do?!" cried Charles as he buried his head in his hands.
"I don't know, Charles! The last time I saw her, she was in her crib… and that was yesterday afternoon!" Emily exclaimed.
"Oh, why were we so stupid?! We didn't even notice that Lydia was gone until the very next morning!" Charles bawled. "I should win the Worst Father of the Year award for neglecting my baby!"
Charles began to sob quietly with his head buried in his hands. Emily frowned at her husband as he bawled his eyes out. They say that men shouldn't cry — well, the people who believe that obviously didn't understand the grief Charles was going through.
"I just don't understand! How can Lydia disappear if we always lock the windows in her room?!" exclaimed Charles, wiping tears from his eyes with a tissue.
Emily shrugged her shoulders puzzlingly; at the time of Lydia's disappearance, she was taking a nap in the basement after failing to summon a ghost. Her brain was so fried from the trauma of losing her baby, she couldn't do anything but bury her head in her hands like Charles was doing. Although her brain was mentally done, that didn't mean she was out of ideas.
"Come with me," Emily mumbled as she led Charles by the hand to Lydia's nursery.
"It's no use, Emily! Why search in Lydia's room when we already know that she's gone?!" inquired Charles.
"No need to worry, we're playing detective!" Emily declared as she walked into the nursery with Charles by her side.
The couple had already searched Lydia's nursery multiple times in the past day — ever since she disappeared, this was their main place for clues. Speaking of clues, they forced themselves to play detectives in order to collect information about Lydia's disappearance. They scanned the room carefully as if they were detectives rummaging through a crime scene.
"So, where were you when Lydia disappeared? When was the last time you saw her?!" asked Emily.
"I knew you were in the basement reading books, but I was trying to calm Lydia down because she wouldn't stop crying about the mirror! I thought it was pretty ridiculous because it was only her reflection!" explained Charles as he glanced at the mirror above the changing table.
Emily couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous Charles' explanation was, "Perhaps she might be going through a phase, huh?"
"Yeah, babies are silly creatures," sighed Charles.
Charles giggled along with Emily as they patted each other on the backs. At first, it seemed as if he was slowly getting over it. Sorry to spoil the fun, but he wasn't entirely getting over it — he still was determined to find Lydia since she was his daughter. The second he turned his eye toward the crib, the happy-go-lucky laughter was quickly replaced with a black face. Emily noticed the internal crisis he was going through and responded by gently shaking his hand.
"Charles?! What happened?! Is there something wrong?! Charles?!" Emily worriedly asked as she shook Charles' hand.
Charles was incapable of uttering a single word — the utter shock of seeing the crib empty greatly impacted him. Other than the times when Lydia would play or eat, it felt weird and strangely creepy not seeing her in her crib. Although he had searched her nursery multiple times in the past day, he still couldn't shake off that Lydia was gone. His internal crisis had prevented him from speaking, moving, or even blinking his eyes; he was literally as still as a statue.
"C-Charles?!" exclaimed Emily.
There was a long moment of nothing but silence and stillness. Emily grew more concerned as she tried and failed to bring her husband back to consciousness. She had lost her daughter, now she was going to lose her husband? Let's hope not! We can not let Emily become a widow!
It seemed as if Charles was permanently stuck in a blank state for the rest of his life. Wrong! He had finally managed to break out of this blank state by inhaling deep breaths as if he was about to scream something very important. Yes, after 8 solid minutes, he was back to being aware of his surroundings — both mentally and physically.
"My…. My…. MY BABY IS GONE!" Charles cried as he rushed toward the crib to grab Lydia's black teddy bear. " SHE'S ALL GONE! I CAN'T SEE MY DAUGHTER EVER AGAIN!"
He bawled his eyes out into the teddy bear as Emily watched on in both horror and concern.
"I don't even know where she went! It was as if… some ghost had kidnapped her or something!" sniffled Charles.
Emily gasped audibly, covering her mouth with her hands. Charles was one step closer to finding out about her secret passion for the supernatural and undead. It wasn't long before she joined in with Charles' frantic crying fit. Complete with tears streaming down her face, she sobbed loudly while jumping up and down.
"Oh, I am so sorry! What have I done?! I was such a complete fool! Why did I have to cause this?!" sobbed Emily, making a claw gesture toward her face like an actress losing her loved one in a movie — for more information, try thinking of a woman kneeling down while screaming, "Why?!".
"Wait, you caused this?!" Charles paused his sobbing fit and glanced at Emily, who was still sobbing her eyes out.
"N-n-no, I didn't! I-i-it was just a guess! Yeah, an assumption!" stuttered Emily, trying her hardest not to let Charles know about her secret.
After distracting Charles with a brief smile and wave, she immediately dashed out of the room to call the police. She dialed 911 on the kitchen's wall phone and impatiently waited for the dispatcher to respond. While holding the phone close to her ear, she paced a tiny circle around the kitchen while staying close to the phone's base. Luckily, a faint buzz could be heard blaring through the phone, which meant that the dispatcher was ready to call.
"Hello! New York 911, what's your emergency?" greeted the dispatcher.
"MY BABY! S-S-SHE'S BEEN KIDNAPPED! YOU GOTTA COME OVER HERE IMMEDIATELY, WE NEED YOUR HELP!" Emily bawled through the phone while sobbing her eyes out.
"Ma'am, calm down, take a deep breath!" reassured the dispatcher. "Now, what's the child's name, gender, and age?"
"H-her name is Lydia Deetz! She turned 6-months old a few days ago!" Emily answered frantically. "Can you please come over right this instant?! Bring the police! Bring the fire department! Bring the state sheriff! Bring a search team! No, scratch that! Bring multiple search teams! With dogs! Bring everybody!"
"Ma'am, we know how much you're desperate for her daughter," the dispatcher sighed. "And don't worry, we'll bring the entire crew over for you in no time!"
"Thank you so much! People like you deserve a gold medal! No, scratch that! You deserve the Nobel Prize! Thank you for helping us! Thank you so-"
"Alright, enough of that," the dispatcher interrupted Emily's cheers of happiness. "Like I said, we'll bring the entire crew over for you!"
"Thank you, bye-bye!" Emily hung up the phone and dashed into Lydia's nursery to grab a picture frame from the changing table.
Once she grabbed the picture, she clutched it tightly in her hands and hugged it like it was a teddy bear. The picture was of Lydia when she was a newborn (about 2 or 3-weeks old). The tiny baby girl was sleeping on her belly, wearing nothing more than a pair of angel wings and a big white angel ring headband — this picture was one of Emily's favorites since it reminded her of the days when she was a naive young mom learning the basics of baby rearing. She loved the picture so much, it was always displayed on the changing table in Lydia's nursery. After a brief hug with the picture, she placed her hands on her hips and shot a determined look at Charles.
"Charles, we're gonna find Lydia once and for all! She's our baby and we're never gonna give up until we find her!" Emily declared as he led Charles by the hand to the front yard of their house.
"But Emily, we already know that Lydia is gone! What's the point of searching again?!" inquired Charles, trying to resist Emily's pulling.
"It's best to look multiple times! That's what I tell my students when they proofread their essays!" Emily answered. "Besides, if we get the entire neighborhood to help us, the chances of finding her will be high!"
Charles shrugged his shoulders and sighed, reluctantly going along with Emily's plan. While he had secret regrets about marrying a go-getter, he still appreciated her for never giving up when the situation called for it. A child's life should never be spared and that was the advice the Deetz couple were taking for granted. They showed determination when it came to finding Lydia. It was as if they were on a manhunt for a baby who disappeared into the unknown. Emily and Charles Deetz weren't quitters and they were going to prove it to everyone in the New York area.