Welcome to chapter 8 of The Elevator! I'm back bitches! Let's jump right into it!
Review please! Enjoy!
General P.O.V
Astrid would not admit that she hasn't slept in days. Wouldn't admit that she hadn't had a decent meal in over a week. Wouldn't admit that her lungs still burned and screamed with every inhale. Wouldn't admit that the dark bags under her eyes existed. Astrid wouldn't admit that she had gotten nowhere.
Two weeks since the fire. 13 days since she discovered that the destruction of her home was not an accident. 13 days since she last had a real conversation with Hiccup. 12 days since she'd seen her dad.
And through that, maybe even before something nagged at her, a full on hole grew with each passing hour with each unanswered question and echoing voice.
She scratched Stormfly's favorite spot, and although the tired dog's tail wagged, she was nothing close to happy. She could feel the tense darkness radiate off her human, the dull hunger in her stomach. The tightness of her chest. The smoky smell that now seemed to be embedded into her skin. Stormfly was at a loss. The only thing she knew to do was stay by her side.
Astrid huffed angrily and pounded her fist against the heated keyboard. The computer creaked in its exhausted response. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Stormfly sat up, ears raised with alert, a worrisome sigh escaping her muzzle. Astrid didn't even look up from her hunched over position, wrapped in Ruffnut's sweatshirt.
Stormfly suddenly realized that her human wasn't making much recovery. Not in here anyway. The large dog stood and shook out her ruffled, pearly coat and leaped off the bed. She pushed her nose through the crack in the door that bled a sliver of light from the world beyond Astrid's makeshift bedroom. The German Shepard padded down the hallway, the little nightlight illuminating the hallway. She kept her tail low, and ears high, searching for the familiar sound of Toothless cooing in his sleep. There. She shoved her muzzle through the crack in the door, and pushed it open. In a large bed across the room was Toothless's human. Hiccup.
Stormfly could sense him shift in his sleep uneasily. He was having a bad dream. Stormfly knew that. She had had lots of bad dreams. From the noise of the helicopter blades and watching human plummet towards the earth. And while being airborne thrilled her, it scared her watching her people fall.
Stormfly hopped up onto the bed and gave Hiccup's freckled face a large, sloppy kiss. Hiccup sputtered awake, flinging the blankets off him.
"Stormfly?!" She sat down and wagged her tail impatiently. She gave a little yip in hopes to get Hiccup and his disheveled mess of hair out of bed.
"It's 3 in the morning." She yipped again. She knew that. She snatched Hiccup's sleeve and tugged him to the edge of the mattress.
"What's wrong? Is Astrid okay?" He was talking to a dog. Gods he needed sleep. Stormfly continued to tug, and Hiccup swung his legs over the side. He scratched the impatient dog's head and padded across the hall to Astrid's room. There was a white glow coming from inside. Hiccup cocked his head and peeked through the door. He sighed sadly at what he saw.
"Astrid?" He whispered and stepped in. She didn't even lift her head. "Astrid." He pulled her hands from the key board and tugged at her softly to turn around. She did.
"Astrid. It's 3 in the morning. What are you doing up?" She sighed and gazed back to her computer screen.
"I'm... researching. Why are you up?" She tried changing the subject mainly because she was too tired to argue. Not that she would admit that either. He stepped back and placed his hands on his hips. He almost groaned.
"Because Stormfly seemed worried. And I'm seeing that she has good reason to be." Astrid's eyes narrowed and tugged her arm away sharply.
"Well, I'm fine. You can go back to bed." Astrid snapped through clenched teeth. She turned back to the now hazy glow of her laptop and small document folder she had received from Alvin. Hiccup slammed the laptop shut.
"Astrid? When was the last time you slept?" His question came out as a demand, causing Astrid to flinch. He ignored it, hoping to get a point through her stubborn head.
"Does it matter!?" Hiccup groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Yes! Astrid you're running yourself into the ground!" She glared at him and ripped her computer from his fingers.
"Why do you care?!" She hissed, beginning to storm out of the room. Hiccup grabbed her arm and spun her around. They paused in their gaze momentarily, the thick silence between them causing Stormfly to whine.
"Because, you're my friend! And I don't like seeing you like this." He got quieter.
"Yeah well, get used to it! Go back to bed, this doesn't concern you!" She shouted, positioning herself to slam the door on him. He huffed bitterly, grabbing the computer from her. She grunted angrily, cursing at him for being so damn stubborn.
"That's rich coming from you!" Hiccup sputtered in the heat of the moment. He immediately regretted it, but his anger had peaked. Astrid's hands clenched into a fist. She shoved past him and grabbed her car keys, the document file, and boots. Again she turned, her face flushed with rage and her jaw sore from how tight she clenched it.
"You know what? Fine! I'll get out of your way then!"
"Well fine!"
"Fine!" That was the last they heard from each other as Astrid was already out the door, slamming it behind her with a heavy force. She didn't even look back to see Hiccup watching her leave from over the railing. He muttered angrily to himself and stormed back to his room. Toothless stood at the top of the stairs watching his human's girl leave.
...
Astrid scrunched her nose at the musty motel room. She should've called Heather. But she was staying at Fishlegs's place and she didn't want to bother them. So she settled into the arm chair that creaked along with the rest of the ancient room. The room was coated in an olive green wallpaper with light pink curtains that most certainly did not match. A queen size bed sat across her, the fluffy mattress calling Astrid to come sleep. She instead focused on the stains scattering the white comforter. She would not sleep in a bed like that. Her body however slumped forward in disagreement. She rolled her eyes at herself and flipped open her laptop and begun going over the very few facts of the case.
Well shit.
She scanned the what she already knew -what was burned into her brain- and huffed angrily. She couldn't think straight when she was this worked up. She scanned the facts again.
-Officer Hofferson caught in drug deal crossfire at 1009 Raven Point Dr. (Abandoned tire factory.)
-Unknown drug found - tested to be extremely dangerous
-Main suspect killed. Officer Hofferson down. (Concluded comatose)
-No other known suspects.
-Additional claims by Hofferson undocumented
Well shit. Astrid slammed the little folder shut. So much ran through her head yet it felt so blank. She wanted to scream in anger. She so desperately wanted answers, so desperately needed a win. Stormfly paced by her side, the nervous energy pooling off Astrid irritating the dog. Astrid sighed and grunted loudly again, pinching the bridge of her nose. She took a deep breath and thought about a good place to start... where to start... where to start... where to... that's it! Hastily, she stood and grabbed her keys and case file.
"Come on Stormfly. Let's go to that tire factory." Why not start where it all began! The large dog woofed in disagreement. The last thing Astrid needed to do was drive. What she needed was sleep. Stormfly stayed firm in her spot, but Astrid whistled for her. Failing to ignore her human's call, she reluctantly followed her out the door.
...
Astrid flicked her flashlight on, and allowed any fear to disintegrate. Stormfly tugged her arm as she steered her human around the crumbling ruins of the abandoned factory.
Astrid looked around, feeling like she was at a complete loss. However Stormfly seemed very determined, her nose pressed to the ground, inhaling every scent she could pick up. So far nothing, but she pulled onward. Astrid trudged through the factory grounds looking for something, what she was looking for, she still wasn't sure.
She felt her legs buckle feeling her body being pulled to a work bench. She sat down heaving a sharp sigh. Stormfly lifted her head in alert and joined her person on the bench.
"I'm sorry girl." Astrid huffed, her fight with Hiccup rewinding in her mind. Stormfly let out a little yip, trying to tell her that she didn't mind. She leaned forward, licking Astrid's hand, patiently waiting for Astrid to get up and finish the job. Astrid chuckled, but Stormfly didn't like that laugh. It wasn't genuine.
Astrid pressed her forehead against the German Shepard's, stroking her fluffy coat. She smiled sadly into her dog's fur. After another minute in this peaceful position, Astrid steadily stood and motioned for Stormfly to continue on. She tugged the leash towards the right hallway, towards the main factory floor. Stormfly however, tugged the other direction. Her ears rose with alert, her nostrils flaring as she caught a whiff of a very familiar scent. She growled deeply and pulled her ears back, the scent making her stomach turn in knots. She knew this smell.
"What is it girl?" Stormfly grunted and took off down the left hall, Astrid struggling to keep up. Stormfly leaped over a fallen trashcan, Astrid hurdling herself over nearly a second to late. Stormfly sped up, her nail gripping the cracked ground under her feet. She stopped abruptly, pressing her nose to the ground roughly, moving slow and cautiously until she found her target. She sat and waited for Astrid to catch her breath. She growled again, pawing at the ground.
Astrid bent down and touched the odd grey powder sprinkled over the ground. It looked eerily like ash, but it didn't not leave black smudges on her fingertips. Astrid lifted the powder to her nose and sniffed it. A very faint smell leaked off it, but the smell hit her like a ton of bricks. She knew that smell. And she had seen the grey powder before...
After the apartment complex had burned to the ground. She stood up quickly, a little gasp escaping her throat. Stormfly let out another low growl.
"We've got to tell the BPD about this!" Stormfly barked in agreement. Astrid began to pull Stormfly out of the building when a sound cut off the early morning silence.
Astrid nearly jumped out of her skin as the familiar vibrating tune of her favorite rock song echoed from her back pocket. She sighed and snatched it from pocket and hazily looked at the number. Her heart stopped. Her breath became shallow and shaky. The normally rosy cheeks drained of any color as her trembling fingers went to answer the call.
"Hello?" Her voice cracked, the brave face she once wore disappeared. Stormfly whined and nudged her person, but Astrid remained stiff, her knees locked and other hand unresponsive to Stormfly's cold nose. The voice on the other line was quiet and solemn, and that pissed Astrid off. She swallowed, the rock in her throat burning miserably. She gulped again gather words in her blank mind, just something to say back. She came up with nothing. She choked down the thick saliva that gathered in her mouth, and nodded.
"...Okay... I-I'll be t-there..."
I hope you enjoyed! Sorry it took me a while to get back to this story, I really had to think it through! I'm sorry it was short next one will be longer! while I'm here, go check out my Supernatural stories! Destiel all the way! Anyway, please review! Until next time,
-Daisy