Jake spent the next couple of hours doing homework and then dragon training. Every now and then when he would get a break he would try either calling Rose, or using the dream charm to see if she was asleep yet. She never answered, and was never in the dream realm.
By the time he finished his dragon training for the day and made it home, it was late. He needed to get some sleep before his early Saturday morning training. With the dream charm around his wrist, Jake nodded off. He had confidence that with how late it was, Rose would surely be asleep by now. When he made it to her door, he encountered a problem he had never faced before in the dream realm. The door was locked.
"It's going to take more than a locked door to keep out the Am Drag." Jake said as he morphed into dragon form.
He tried turning the nob with his enhanced dragon strength, and then kicking down the door. When neither worked he hit it with a breath of dragon fire, then took a couple of steps back, and charged it head on, bouncing right off and landing on the floor.
"Aww man," Jake said, rubbing his growing headache, "What are dream doors made of."
He had no choice but to give up. Rose was definitely in there, but for whatever reason, there was no way Jake was going to get in there.
Jake quickly sprung to complete consciousness and ran to his computer. He opened up his email and found an old email Rose had sent him that contained the address of her apartment in Bronx. He quickly scribbled it on a note.
River Hill Gardens, 1981 Sedgwick Ave, Bronx, NY.
Jake questioned how safe it was, letting 15-year-old foreign exchange students live in their own apartments. Even with chaperones on every floor, forcing school attendance, it was just asking for trouble. However since Rose wasn't staying with a family, it would make it easier for her to help Jake.
Jake started for the fire escape outside his window. Since his dad now knew about his role as the magical protector of a secret world, he had taken down that ridiculous alarm system. Jake changed into dragon form and started flying through the air, heading towards Bronx. Something wasn't right.
Jake stood alone in a long hallway, staring at the large oak door. He gave a quick glance down at the piece of paper in his hand to make sure he had the right place. He knocked on the door and called for Rose. He waited a couple of seconds and tried again.
"Ear of the Dragon." Jake said, pressing his ear against the door.
He couldn't hear anyone inside, so he went back down the stairs, out and around to the side of the building, and shifted into dragon form as he flew up the side of the building to Rose's window, using a little dragon motivation to slide it open when he got there. As he stepped inside and shifted back to human form, he walked across the room, turned on the light, and had a quick look around, the apartment looked untouched. Jake started searching the apartment for any personal belongings, any clue that Rose had been there. Like many other things that night, Jake had no luck. Other than the furniture that came with the apartment the place was empty. No sign of Rose anywhere.
Jake opened the door and walked out into the hall. He looked down the hall and saw one of the program chaperones doing a room check to make sure everyone was in by curfew. Maybe he would have some answers.
Jake walked over to him, "I'm looking for Rose." he said.
The chaperone frowned and looked at his clipboard, "Last name?" he asked, turning the page.
"It's..." Jake started,
"Never mind, I found it," the chaperone interrupted. "Hm, it says here she never checked into her room. Maybe she missed her flight."
Jake thanked the man and walked away. Something was definitely wrong here, but if Jake wanted to find out what, he was going to need help.
Spud typed furiously at the keyboard, going over records and files.
"According to the program records, Rose checked in at the airport in Hong Kong, and the airline manifest says she was on her plane, but there are no records of her checking in with her chaperone at the airport, or boarding the shuttle from the airport to the apartments. I managed to get a hold of the airport's security footage from earlier today, when Rose's plane was scheduled to land." Spud informed Jake, has he started playing the video file.
Jake studied the computer screen. He saw Rose walk on screen.
"There," he pointed.
Suddenly there was a quick flash of static across the screen, and when it cleared, Rose was nowhere to be seen.
"What happened?" Jake asked.
Spud responded, "It appears that there's a time gap in the footage where all the cameras in the area shut down. I'm searching for one that stayed up, but I'm not finding anything."
"You see!" Jake said, "This totally proofs that something is up!"
"Ok kid you've made your point." Fu said, still a little skeptical. This wouldn't be the first time Jake has overreacted about Rose. "I'll get started on something to try and track her down in the morning, in the meantime, you need to get some shut eye."
"But Fu!" Jake started.
"But nothing kid," Fu interrupted him, "you've done all you can for tonight. It's time for you to get your rest, and pick up the search tomorrow."
And that was the final word on the matter.
