Thanks so much to mozzi-girl and BreezyFan for the reviews!
Natara Williams
The thought that Melanie may be innocent and was just taken before my very eyes crosses my mind, and before I risk her life and make an idiot of myself I quickly search for her. I call her name; but there's no response. No sign that Melanie was even here. After a few minutes of looking I know I'm just wasting time; and I sprint full-on through the trees.
I almost trip several times as I crash through the thick foliage, but I don't stop running. Maybe I should have looked better for Melanie; but there's no going back now. No, there was nothing I could have done. Even if she was taken I was too late by the time I let her go ahead alone, because whoever took her was so fast she didn't even have time to scream. I keep running in the same direction that she disappeared to; and I still don't see anything. My first theory has to be true. Mal doesn't know the woods; maybe Nathan's already picked up on that and is leading him as far away as he can now. Maybe that was the plan; Melanie ditching me to help her beloved Nathan to take down Mal first.
Something catches my leg, almost making me fall flat on my face, but I keep going. Nearby I can hear someone else crashing through the trees, and at first I think it's Melanie, until I hear a familiar voice call my name.
"Natara?".
I stop dead in my tracks; nearly running right into a nearby tree.
"Mal?".
I whip around and, sure enough, Mal and Nathan stand right behind me. "What's wrong?" Nathan asks, and for the first time his voice isn't filled with anger; but rather concern. "Where's Melanie?".
"Isn't she—?" I start to ask; but I'm panting so hard I find myself bending over as I try and catch my breath. How far have I ran? Mal grabs my arm, clearly concerned I'm about to keel over, but I shake him off. I look up to Nathan; about to accuse him and demand an explanation, but then I see his face. He looks genuinely worried; and not the way people are when they're being interrogated. It's the kind of worry you see in parents of abducted children; the kind of expression you see on a victim. "I don't know" I manage to choke out, my breathing slowly returning to normal. "She just…disappeared".
"No…" he says, taking a step back. Mal grabs his arm, obviously afraid he might he might bolt into the woods.
"I'm sure she can take care of herself" Mal says calmly "She's not like the others, even if she was taken, she at least has a little bit of an idea of what she's facing".
Nathan takes another step back, shoving Mal away from him. Nathan's mouth opens and closes once or twice in pure horror; like he wants to say something but he doesn't know how. "You don't understand…" he says, his voice shaking "Melanie has epilepsy".
I wait with Nathan in one of the interrogation rooms; watching him pace. We aren't in here because I'm interrogation him, but more so because it's the quietest place for us to be right now. After a moment Mal walks in, just finishing up talking on his phone.
"There's a search party out looking for Melanie right now" he says, talking more to Nathan than me "And there's a patrol set up around the park. If someone took Melanie; there's no way they're getting out".
Not even looking at either of us, Nathan sits down at the table, his head in his hands. I feel horrible; I should have done something. Maybe if I would have looked harder, if I hadn't been so firm in my beliefs, we wouldn't be in this mess. Still, the only way to make amends is to find Melanie alive.
"What I want to know" Mal says before I can even speak "Is how Melanie was even allowed to be out in the field. What if she had a seizure and ended up getting herself killed?".
Nathan shakes his head, still not looking at us. "It's not like that. Mel hasn't had a seizure in over two years…at least; not until Frank was taken. She takes medication for it, and most of the time her seizures are triggered by inadequate sleep. She hasn't been sleeping well since Frank disappeared; that's why we left so suddenly yesterday. She can feel them coming; and by now I know her well enough to know the signs".
"Like what?" I ask.
"She usually pats her arm or something; gets all jerky" he answers. "She doesn't like people knowing she has it; they treat her differently. Yesterday I was trying to convince her to go to a hospital; she had a really bad one. A Grand-Mal seizure. She lost consciousness for a few minutes. It's just not like her…she was getting so much better".
So that's what I had overheard yesterday. Nathan wanted to make sure Melanie was okay; and she just wanted this case to be over so Mal and I didn't find out.
"Did Melaine have any enimies?" I ask "Anyone who would want to hurt her? Maybe an ex-boyfriend or a particuarly outspoken family member of someone she arrested?".
"It's hard to have this job and not have any enemies" he answers.
I rifle through the various files that are strewn across the table, eventually coming across Melanie's. I almost don't want to look; I feel like I'm intruding on something private. But it could be the only way to save her. After only a few minutes of skimming over everything; I find what I need.
"Melanie was married?" I ask, seeing it marked down; but no sign of what became of her spouse.
"Once, a long time ago".
"Divorced?"
"Widowed" Nathan answered "Her husband died shortly after they were married. He was a Navy-Seal; just like Frank. They were in the same unit, but he never made it home".
I nod, replacing the file on the desk. I don't think I can read it any more. I can see it now; poor little Melanie broken after her husbands death. So sure that she can find love again; almost desperate to. Maybe her husband even told her to move on if anything should happen to him. And now she's lost the only living piece he left behind.
"So Frank Coleridge meant a lot to her then?" I ask.
"They were best friends. Richard, Melanie's husband, made a pact with Frank just before he died. That if anything happened to either of them; they would look after each other's families. Frank was like a brother to her".
Without looking up at Nathan; I grab the file regarding Frank Coleridge. The one Melanie kept hidden. "It says here the cause of death was strangulation" I read off to Mal. "Found by an unmarked grave of a John Doe who was found about ten years ago. Very few defensive wounds, evidence of malnutrition, killed shortly before being placed…and several dog bites on his arms". I look up at Nathan. "Didn't you think this was worth mentioning?".
"Not really; Frank had dogs. They were healed and well-dressed; so we figured that one of his own dogs attacked him before be was taken. They were too well-cleaned and healed to be able to tell if it was one of his dogs; so I didn't pay too much attention to it".
"What about Dane Sunderland?" Mal asks "Was Melanie close to him?".
"Not really; kid just ended up hanging around her a lot. He was pretty young; and I think he looked up to her".
"It looks like our killer's targeting people who Melanie was—" Nathan makes a small sound, and I quickly correct myself "—Is close to. While the others seemed planned, Melanie was taken on impulse. They didn't even wait until I was out of the way when they took her".
"If that's true, then that means—".
"You don't even have to say it" Nathan interrupts. For the first time since we've been in here he looks up. His eyes are red. "I know I'm next".
"No, you're not" I say "You won't be; because we're going to find Melanie before anything happens to her".
"And how do you plan to do that?" Nathan challenges; his voice shaking slightly. It doesn't surprise me how upset he is; his fiancé is out there. He's acting just like I was when Neha was taken. Once again I push this thought away; this whole case has just been one big walk down memory lane.
"I'm going to offer myself as bait" I say eventually.
My words are like a grenade; sending protests from both men flying across the room. "You don't have to do this!" Mal says, his voice standing out more than Nathan's.
"Yes, I do. If I wasn't so careless; Melanie wouldn't have been taken". I don't look Mal in the eyes as I say "Whoever took her must have seen me with her; they know that I know her somehow. Whoever's doing this is smart; they have to be. It's unlikely the search party or patrols we set up will do much; this killer knows what they're doing at this point. I'll walk around the woods where Frank Coleridge was supposedly taken. You and Nathan keep an eye on me; look for anything suspicious".
"Nat—"
"If we don't find Melanie soon" I interrupt "Then her medication will wear off and she might start having seizures. We don't know if this killer can or will help her if this happens; and without the proper care she could die".
Nathan stands up, puts a hand on my shoulder and says "Thank you". I don't look at him, and a few moments later I hear the door open and close. Perhaps he's gone to call Melanie's disappearance into his precinct.
"You don't have to do this" Mal says. I look up; which is a big mistake. His eyes at wide, his face set. "None of this is your fault; you said yourself she didn't even have time to scream".
I want to look away, but I can't. All I can think about is how grief-stricken Nathan is about losing his fiancé; and she might not even be dead yet. As much as I want to say that I would; I just don't think I would be like that for Oscar. Yes, I would be horrified if anything bad happened to him. And I would do anything to bring him back to safty. But I can't imagine myself being devastated if he died; so broken that I'll never be able to put myself back together. Nathan would be like that about Melanie…so shouldn't I feel that way about Oscar? The only person I can think of that might cause me to fall apart like Nathan should they die is Mal; but there's a good reason for it. Mal's my best friend; and we've saved each others necks countless times. He knows me better than I know myself; and I know that because everything he said at that couples retreat was completly true. Would Oscar be able to say those things, does he know any of that?
"I'll be fine, Mal" I answer eventually, ignoring every thought that runs through my head. Now's not the time to be thinking of these things. Besides; I shouldn't even be comparing Mal to Oscar in the first place. "This is just something I need to do".
And with that, I brush right last him, leaving him alone in the file-filled interrogation room.
Evening's already fallen by the time I make my way out to the woods; Mal and Nathan in my wake. I walk slowly through the trees; and after I've been going for a while I don't hear Nathan or Mal's footsteps anymore. Not that it's a bad thing; they can't follow too closely behind. Right now they should be milling around the woods; hopefully not too close by. They can't see me, but should I scream, they would surely hear me.
I nearly slip as I make my way down a rocky hill, but manage to save myself just in time; earning me a large cut across the palm of my hand. Blood seeps through my fingers, sending a wave of pain up my arm.
"Dammit…" I whisper, trying to get a better look at the damage. After seeing it's not too deep I continue, ignoring my throbbing, wet hand.
As darkness begins to fall I start thinking about heading back; but don't know if I should call out to Mal and Nathan first so they know to head back too. Maybe I shouldn't, I could still see something as I walk back; and yelling for Mal and Nate could scare anyone nearby away.
Deciding to silently head back, I make my way back to the rocky slope. I'm just about to climb up the first rock when I hear a noise, like someone stepping on a twig.
"Mal?" I call "Nathan?". No answer. It's probably just a rabbit; since Mal and Nathan are supposed to stay far enough away that I would have to shout for them to hear me. Ignoring it, I pull myself up over the rock.
That's when I feel something heavy push at my back, sending me crashing to the ground. I try and scream, but as I hit the rocky surface the breath's knocked right out of me. I can feel short claws on my back, heavy paws instead of feet. In one fluid motion I shoved whatever's on top of me off, scrambling up the rock before it can so much as touch me again. My lungs burn, and in my panic I can't figure out which way to run. Behind me is danger; but I won't be able to climb the rocks in time to get away. But my brain is too concerned with escape; and I find myself desperately clamoring up the rocks. For a moment I think I'm about to escape, but then I'm yanked down by my left leg, something sharp piercing the skin. Once again I try and yell, but it's lost as I hit the ground again. Before I can get up again I can feel something ram into me; and it feels like I've been hit by a train. As I try and get up one more time, I can feel teeth sink into my arm; and the force flips me over onto my back.
In the dim light I can see a massive dog; a German Shepard. It's paws dig into my shoulder, pinning me down. It's jaw opens, a growl forming in it's throat. I squirm in fear, lashing out with my feet and hands; twisting my body in a desperate attempt to escape. But the dog, obviously very well trained by someone, lunges for my neck. I manage to jerk my body out of the way, and instead it's teeth sink into my upper arm as I block with my shoulder. My skin feels like it's on fire, needles of pain gripping my arm. Already my body's giving up, all the fight sucked out of it. I wouldn't be able to call out if I tried.
That's when I hear a noise; like someone calling a name I can't quite hear. At first I think it's Mal or Nathan; come to my rescue. Then the dog calmly backs off of me; as if commanded to. A figure emerges out of the trees, comes over and crouches next to me; as if concerned.
"You shouldn't have fought. You're just like the first one". I can't see the face, since it's covered by a hood, but the voice is undeniably female. In panic, I try and grab my gun from my holster, but I'm since rammed against a rock it's pinned under me.
That's when I see the large stone in her hand. Before I can even try and escape again she raises it above her head; and after a quick, sharp pain in my temple everything goes dark.
Thanks for reading! Please review?