Nancy threw her luggage into the trunk of her Blue Mustang, and hopped into the driver's seat. She backed up, out of her usual parking space, and drove away from the place that had scarred her. She needed to see her father... Hannah... Togo! The girl drove faster.
She reached her home within the hour. Forgetting about her bags, Nancy ran up her porch, and crashed into her screen door. With a small groan, the girl reached for her set of keys. Fumbling through them, she finally found the gray-silver one. She forcefully pushed it into the key hole, and pulled her door open.
"Hey!" Nancy called throughout the house.
She waited.
"Hello...? Hannah? Dad? Togo?" Where was everybody?
Nancy took a brief overview of her kitchen. Nothing had changed. The sink was spotless, the dishwasher hummed its rinsing cycle, and Togo's food bowl was... not there! Nancy did a double take. His water bowl wasn't there either.
"Togo? Come here boy!" Nancy called desperately. But no reply came. No happy bark. No being tackled by a playful dog. Not even a tail wag.
Deep inside, Nancy felt herself being stabbed once more. There was only one explanation to why his food and water wasn't there. And neither was he.
I don't have to say it, do I?
Nancy began to sob. She would have seen him if she had gone home for the summer. She would have seen him if she hadn't been caught up in Michael's spell.
Nancy took a minute to recuperate, then got to her feet. She could not dawdle on the fact of his death. She would have to... have to try... to get... over it. The teen repeated this in her head over and over again. She walked stiffly to her old room. It, like the rest of the house, looked no different. Hannah had made sure no dust got on any of the furniture.
Nancy flopped onto her bed, and heaved a sigh. She felt sick inside, but did not show it (too much) on the outside. She wasn't about to lose every drop of her dignity.
Dad and Hannah are probably just out. They'll be back. Nancy concluded.
The girl yawned and curled up under her covers. A nap never hurt anyone. And she certainly needed some rest.
If only she knew that it wasn't her she needed to worry about...
Nancy awoke in the middle of the night. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hide from the reality, and fall victim to her slumber. But her attempt was denied. With a "humph", the girl sat up and rubbed her eyes awake. She smoothed out her clothes and exited the room.
For a moment, she felt eighteen again. During night, she would wake up and come to the kitchen for a midnight snack. Her father would be asleep on the couch, TV on. There would be cookies in the refrigerator (courtesy of Hannah), which Nancy would munch on. She would slowly awake her father, and tell him to go to bed. The man would yawn, stretch and sulk to his room. Eventually, the rhythmic sound of snoring would escape his chambers. She would pet Togo back to sleep, for he would awaken by the smell of Nancy.
But not that night. Mr. Drew was not there. There were no cookies in the refrigerator. There was no Togo to pet.
Nancy finally gave up. She quickly searched for a pen and pad of paper. A minute later, she finished scribbling her note. She left it on the counter, and left without another word.
Outside again, Nancy took one last look at her house. With a sigh, she returned to her vehicle and slowly escaped from the strange force her house was giving her.
When Nancy reached the Yellow Mountain Lodge, she was in need of some 'thinking time.' She went into her room (the one I explained in the beginning) and fell onto her bed, which squeaked with her weight forced onto it.
Just as Nancy was deep in thought, her visions were ruined by the bleeping tune of her cell phone.
"Hello?" Nancy answered just before the second ring.
"Nancy! It's terrible! Everything is ruined!"
"Kara, Kara, calm down. What are you talking about?" Kara was Nancy's roommate at Wilder.
"The school is gone! Completely destroyed! All of my term papers are burned, my prized possessions evaporated!"
"What?"
"Nancy, the school's electric wires broke! The entire college is in flames... or should I say ashes!"
"Was anyone hurt?" Nancy head was almost falling off her body! This couldn't be happening! It just wasn't fair!
"No. We all got out. But Nancy, I can't fall behind a year! I have too much to do next year!"
"Chill out!" Nancy was angry. Not at her friend, but at fate. How could it be so mean to her? She lost her love, her friends, her dog, her family, and now her school! "There are several campuses at Wilder. We'll just be transferred over to one of them, and continue the classes there."
"I... I guess you're right. But all my schoolwork was in my desk."
"It's spring break. You'll have a chance to write it again. Besides, all the teachers know you're am honest person. They'll pass you no matter what." Nancy was barely listening to her own words. Wilder was gone... Wilder was gone...
"Alright. Do you wanna come down here?"
"Yeah… I think I will. I'll be there later today."
"Okay, Nancy. I talk to you soon."
"Bye, Kara." Nancy thoughtlessly hung up.
And now we are back to the beginning of the story. Poor Nancy has lost everything. Her loved ones, her dignity, her school, her spirit.
Nancy sat up from her trance, and searched the room. For nothing in particular; just searching. Something then came to her mind. She thought long and hard about it, and decided it was the best thing she could do. She left her packages on the floor, and left the hotel behind her.
Almost twenty hours later, a Missing Persons Report was put out for a Miss Nancy Drew of River Heights, Illinois.