Chapter 12: Search and Rescue
Roxanne already knew that Rose wasn't at their house. The first stop the two of them went to was Spud's house, seeing if maybe Rose stopped by there. But when Spud answered the door, he shook his head sadly.
Joining the search, the three walked down the street more, over to Trixie's apartment. There was no true place to suspect Rose's whereabouts, so they figured they would first investigate the whole crew's houses. But just like Spud, Trixie's answer was no.
The four of them raced through the city, looking through every alleyway, corner, or hiding spot she could get too. But New York City is a big place, it would be impossible to search every single avenue.
"ROSE!!" Roxanne called out, starting to slow down her run. But there could be millions of Rose's here, and the odds of the one they were looking for calling back was small. But doubt all the odds and hopelessness, the four continued searching.
Eventually, their search led them right to Central Park. Rose was bound to be here; it was the biggest and most likely place for someone to hide. To make sure they didn't miss anything, the group decided to split up, and meet back at the park bench where they started. With that, Jake went forward, Trixie went the left, Spud to the right, and Roxanne walked the outer rim of the Park.
Flying through the forest, Jake went as fast as he could, looking under every tree and bush in Central Park. But suddenly, his flying came to a halt. He heard crackle in a tree, nearby. Jake turned around, to see the leaves of the tree, moving again. His heart racing, Jake soared over to the tree, and searched inside the giant foliage. But sadly, only a giant sleeping bright colored bird rested on the branch. Discouraged, Jake cleared out of the tree, and flew more into the area.
Little did he know, threw the giant phoenix's back, a green singe mark pierced through its skin. And it just so happens, it wasn't asleep…
About an hour later, everyone ended back at the bench. It was estimated that the whole park had been searched through, and still no sign of Rose. The search and rescue party was starting to lose faith.
It was about 5:30 now, they've spend the whole day searching for Rose. Exhausted, the four of them headed back deeper into the city, back to the shop. Along the way, they looked through the movie theatres, Spud's family restraunt, anywhere they've known Rose has been before. No one had seen her all day.
Lao Shi shook his head sadly, as Rose had not returned to the shop, all day. The four jumped onto the couch, tired.
Fu was still on the ground, now with thousands of books scattered by him. He was looking for the book that might have some information about Rose's condition. Even that search, wasn't going so good.
The clock showed 6:30, Lao Shi kicked the four of them out. They all were tired, and hungry, and searching in the dark was hopeless. He reassured them that he would keep on searching, but the four of them needed to get home.
Roxanne slowly walked through her front door. To the left, she could see her mother and father eating at the dinner table.
"There you two are, dinner's ready and I-" Her mother called out. But as Roxanne entered and sat down with her family, she realized that Roxanne was the only one there. "Roxanne, where's Rose?"
As Charlotte asked that, Roxanne was messing with her broccoli with her fork. Too depressed and worried to eat. "Is Rose okay sweetheart?" Her dad asked.
Roxanne explained everything to her parents. About this morning when Rose tried to kill her. About Jake and her searching the whole city, and not finding her. About calling and calling Rose's cell phone, but not once did she answer. Roxanne finished off by asking her parents if any of them saw Rose this afternoon. But both frowned, giving the same answer. No.
Back at the Long residence, Jake walked in, with the saddest face he could ever show. He just wanted to find Rose, make sure she was okay. Jonathan Long walked out from the kitchen, noticing Jake's expression. "What's wrong Jake-Michigan?" He made a joke, trying to raise his spirits up.
Jake sighed. "It's nothing." He replied, and then walked up to his room. He didn't feel like explaining the situation, to anyone today.
Jake jumped onto his bed, just thinking about Rose. Where could she be? Why is she acting like this? Those questions and more, raced through is mind.
All of a sudden, his eyes wandered off to a dusty old bracelet on the top of his dresser. Jake ran over to his dresser, and wiped off the dust. It was his dream charm, the one him and Rose used to see each other back when she lived in Hong Kong. This was the first time he's touched it, since they defeated the Huntsman. Suddenly, the idea popped into his head. Maybe if he goes into Rose's dream, it will help him find her!!! Jake jumped right back into his bed, trying to drift off to sleep.
Suddenly, Jake woke up in the middle of some street. He looked around, to the place he was at currently. This place looks familiar..? He thought, as he tried to walk forward, to tell where he was.
Just then, Rose appeared running across the street. She was in her normal clothes, with her Huntstaff in her right hand. She ran super fast down the street, then into an alleyway.
"Rose! Wait!" Jake yelled, dragoning up, chasing after Rose. She was running so fast, even with his wings he couldn't catch up. She continued down the alleyway, jumping over the iron fence that blocked the way. Then she continued forward, back into another neighborhood.
"Rose!" Jake repeated, but still no answer. Rose ran to the side of one house, and then suddenly she stopped.
Jake rushed so fast, and had to push back his wings just to stop. He then watched Rose, just staring at the side of the house. "Rose, what are you doing!!?" Jake yelled dragoning down.
Just then, Rose jumped into the air, grabbing the fire escape. She then flipped herself upward, moving higher and higher up the escape. Jake looked to the side of the house, then back to the front. "Wait…" He thought as Rose made it to the top of the fire escape.
BAM!! Rose busted her Huntstaff through the window. Shattered glass went all over the room. Jake jumped out of bed, falling to the side. He then got himself up, to see Rose standing right on top of his desk, with her staff pointing right at him.