Saturday July 14, 3:00am-
There was no rain that evening, only the gentle sound of the waves hitting the beach could be heard from the open window. The gentle breeze floated through the room silently, and in the distance there was the sound of wind chimes tinkling in the wind as the occupants of the beach house slept peacefully, and without worry.
It was that precise moment that an alarm sounded, slicing through the air like a machete blade, piercing into the heart and brain of Antonia and Harding as they leapt from their bed effortlessly. Antonia reached for the child that had been tucked against her, finding the sheets were empty and cold, she felt a rise of panic so violent that she felt she'd be sick.
"Melody." She whispered, jumping from her bed, she swung the bedroom door open. She noticed that the lights in the house were already on, as Ace appeared around the corner, mussed and pale, panicking as he checked the doors and windows. "Ace, have you seen Melody?" She exclaimed, watching his eyes snap to hers suddenly.
"She's not in your room?"
"No." Antonia said, the panic evident in her voice as she started moving through each room in the house, in search of the little girl. "She's not in her room either. Why is the alarm going off?"
"I'm checking the…" He mumbled, noticing that the back sliding door was open just a crack. "The door is open." He said, pushing the code for the alarm into the console, he watched Antonia slide the door open violently. The warm sea breeze slammed into her as she looked around frantically. "Toni. Toni, she couldn't have gone far." Ace said from behind her, sensing the intense panic.
"She wouldn't have heard the alarm, so she wouldn't have been frightened by it." Antonia said quickly, running down the stairs to the swimming pool, she flicked on the lights of the back deck, as the two of them moved quickly both through the house and outside, finding no trace of the little girl.
As Antonia moved through the house, checking room to room, she heard Ace's cell phone ringing and grabbed it quickly. "Tex, are you missing something?" The almost humored voice echoed through the line.
"Aiden?" She exclaimed breathlessly, her voice a virtual sob.
"Under the stairs on the deck." He said, calmly.
"What?" She shouted, out of breath and still panicked, she could hardly hear what he was saying. "Aiden, what are you talking about?" She exclaimed. "I can't find Melody!"
"Antonia. Go outside, look under the stairs on the deck." He said, and hung up.
"Aiden!" She screamed into the line, looking up at Ace as he stared blankly at Antonia.
"Under the stairs on the deck?" She said, repeating what Aiden had said. "Under the stairs on the deck!" She shouted, running out the sliding glass door, she pounded down the stairs toward the pool, she swung around the stairs, and captured in the corner of her eye the glow of something beneath the steps, where the outdoor shower was located. She flung open the door to the surprise of the little girl sitting there, her eyes wide as she dropped the phone in her hands to the ground. Antonia grabbed Melody with one arm as she started to wail, and the phone with her free hand as she flipped it around to see Aiden's face looking back at her.
"Thanks for dropping me." Aiden said as he made a face, listening to the little girl crying. "Ah, crap." He said, as Ace came running into the frame.
"She was video chatting him?" Ace asked, out of breath as he let out a slight laugh, pulling the crying girl from Antonia as she held the phone and continued to try to catch her breath, still unable to keep herself from trembling. "Toni, are you okay?" Ace asked, watching as she just stared at the phone, listened to the little girl crying, unable to catch her breath, her eyes still wide.
"Tex! Tex, breathe!" Aiden said, trying to get her to snap out of her trance, she tried to take deep breaths and couldn't keep up, she let out a whine. "Ace, catch her! Catch her! She's going to pass out!" Aiden said, his voice panicked. "Ace, she's going to…."
Suddenly, Antonia's eyes rolled up, and Ace grabbed hold of her as she started to fall backwards. He gripped both Antonia and Melody as the phone went skittering to the ground, landing several feet away. Ace eased her carefully to the ground, allowing Melody to crawl over him, gripping him tightly as her cries became more hysterical at Antonia's lack of movement.
"Come on, Toni." He whispered, touching the side of her face as she lay there motionless. "Toni, come on, wake up." He said, looking up at the outside showers, he pulled her toward them and quickly turned on the water, sending a cold wave of water down on all of them.
Melody gasped as the water hit her, stopping her crying for a moment, and Antonia's eyes popped open the moment the cold water splashed against her skin. She stared unseeing at Ace for a split second, taking deep breaths as she tried to figure out what had happened, when suddenly she heard Melody begin to cry again, her body falling onto Antonia's as she gripped her tightly, holding her face in her hands as Antonia blinked and lifted her hand to the little girl, trying to soothe her fears at seeing Antonia lying there motionless. Antonia just held the little girl as she lay on the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks as Ace stood catching his breath above her. "You're okay." He whispered, taking Antonia's hand, trying to calm his own rapid heartbeat. "You're okay. I got you guys." He said softly.
"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Aiden's voice came from several feet away where her phone had landed.
"They're both okay." Ace shouted from where he was still kneeling, soaking wet from the impromptu shower. "They're both okay, we'll call you back in a couple minutes." He said into the air, hoping that Aiden could hear him, and when the younger man didn't answer, he figured that he had just hung up the phone to wait for their return call.
Antonia looked up at Ace, relief across her features as he suddenly let out a relieved laugh. Her brow furrowed as she looked up at him, water dripping off all of them as she lay there staring up at his laughing face, his eyes closed tightly as he tried to control it and failed miserably. "Stop laughing!" She exclaimed, letting out her own laugh as he grabbed his side, and tried to control it, but couldn't help but let a loud belly laugh escape his lips, and after that the laughter came in uncontrollable waves. "Ace! It's not funny!" She laughed loudly suddenly. "Stop laughing!"
"I'm sorry!" He exclaimed in between laughs. "I'm sorry, I can't help it!" He fell onto his back in an exhausted heap, laughter still cascading from his lips as he tried to block her smacks as she sat up, holding Melody in her arms as Melody's tears subsided, and she looked to Ace lying on the ground laughing. "Oh my God, I can't stop!" he laughed. "I can't breathe!"
"Serves you right! It's not funny!" Antonia giggled. "Ace! Stop!"
"I can't! I can't stop!" He said, rolling onto his side as tears rolled down his cheeks, the smile on Antonia's face took all of the anxiety and worry in his heart and brushed it away, and his eyes closed as he continued to laugh. "I can't stop! I can't stop laughing!" He exclaimed.
"You're such a jerk!" She exclaimed with a laugh, reaching up, Antonia pulled he lever for the shower, sending another wave of water down onto the three of them, as he took deep breaths, trying to get ahold of himself, he watched as Melody laughed through her tears, looking up at the falling water, she giggled and leaned against Ace as Antonia tried to get up.
"Get him!" Antonia exclaimed, reaching over to tickle Ace, Melody followed her lead and did the same as they rolled around on the ground laughing and soaked, until every bit of fear had been washed away.
Once they were all safely wrapped in towels and Melody had fallen asleep against Antonia's chest, she lifted her phone and settled in one of the lounge chairs outside. She sighed as she let it ring, a ring that only lasted a half beat before Aiden answered.
"We're okay." She said, listening to the gentle sigh of relief from the other end of the line.
"I stayed on until I heard you all laughing." He said, "Are you sure you're all okay?"
"Yeah. We're okay, and it was mostly Ace laughing." She said, making a face at him across the way where he sat on his own lounge chair, a towel wrapped around his shoulders. "He can be a bit of a jerk in stressful situations." She giggled, sticking her tongue out at him. "So she wanted to talk to you, it appears." Antonia sighed. "Something that couldn't wait until morning, no doubt."
"She didn't really get to say much, because I had to call you to tell you where she was. I got the call, and before I could even see her face, I could hear the alarm going off. I was a little worried, and then the phone landed on the ground, and she started to sign to me, looking over the phone. Hung up on her, called you, and she called me immediately back, which was why I had to drop your call. I wanted to tell her to stay put."
"How could you tell where she was?"
"I could see the showers above her." He chuckled into the line. "I'm glad you're all safe."
"Well, we are… but Ace might not be too safe after the laughing fit." She said, watching as he lifted his head and looked over at her, shaking his head.
"He caught you, I'd give him the laughing fit." Aiden said with a smile. "Why don't you guys get some sleep. I love you."
"We love you." She said. "I'll talk to her about phone privileges." Antonia laughed.
"I don't mind if she calls me in the middle of the night, but maybe tell her she can only call me from inside the house." Aiden laughed.
"Sounds good. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Tex." Aiden whispered, as the phone disconnected.