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As the World Falls Down

Chapter 6

The Watch

A week had gone by and things had gone back to normal. Allegra had managed to go back to work, whatever- had plagued her fading away. Within that week though she noticed her mother's absence. She didn't catch it right away, coming home each night and eventually falling asleep. At this point, David had taken to fiving her rides home in the evening, even if she didn't stay out late with them. In fact, it was actually David that had pointed out the oddity, realizing that a few things had been moved around in the house.

At first, about midway through the week they had realized that the coffee pot maker had gone missing. She'd been a little irritated by this, looking around the house for it with David's help. Unfortunately, the blonde had come up empty handed telling her that he'd help her find another one later that week.

T

I let out a sigh in frustration as I ran a hand through my hair. I'd been searching my room for the last hour now.

"Where the hell is it?" I ground out, teeth clenching.

I tore the sheets of my bed off in irritation and shaking them out. It was nothing, but fabric, nothing falling free from its folds. I moved to the edge of the bed next, gripping the post tightly in my hand as I pulled. The wood groaned for a moment, the weight unwilling to yield.

"Damnit!" I yelled, kicking it. "Would you move already!?"

I tried again, digging the heels of my feet into the floor. The frame groaned like it had last time, moving a couple inches away. It would have to do.

Grabbing the flashlight that I'd unearthed from my drawer, I shone the light against the wall, checking to see if anything had fallen behind it.

"Well, there's my hair tie," I muttered, scanning for anything else.

There were a few crumpled receipts, a bit of lint and dust. I could make out a random shirt that had gotten stuck, reaching down and fishing it out. The thing looked like it'd been there for a month, the fabric looking a little worn. It was actually one of my work shirts.

"It's got to be here somewhere," I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.

Standing up, I placed my hands behind my head, biting down on my lip. I chewed at it, trying to think of where it could have gone. Normally, I left it on my nightstand, that way I could put it on after taking a shower in the morning since the humidity normally made me sweat at night. This time though, it was nowhere to be seen, making me wonder if I'd accidentally laid it down somewhere else by accident and forgot. It made me wish that I had a way to phone the guys, that way I could find out if I by some chance left it back at the cave some how.

Having enough with looking, I decide to give up for the time being. I can wait until later when I see David and ask. With any luck he would have it with him.

T

"Hey, Aaron, what's up?"

Aaron turned around to look at me as I stepped inside, a smile on his face.

"It's about time you got here," he joked.

"Well, excuse me," I laughed. "I didn't know I'd been requested."

Aaron threw his head back in laughter.

"I was looking for my watch," I said, explaining things after a moment.

"Your watch?"

"Yeah," I said. "I couldn't find it and for the life of me, I can't think of where I could have put it."

"You didn't leave it here did you?" he asked.

"No."

I knew for a fact that I didn't leave it here last night. It just wasn't possible since I'd gone home with it.

"I had it when I left," I told him, rubbing my wrist absently.

"Well, did you take it off when you were with the guys?" he asked, raising a brow in thought.

"No," I said again.

"Well, what about…"

"Aaron!" I groaned. "I told you I had it last night. I'm pretty positive that I laid it on my nightstand, but now I can't find it."

"Huh."

Aaron stood there for a moment, no doubt trying to come up with an answer for me. I watched as he opened his mouth, only to close it a moment later, then repeating himself a second time.

"I got nothing."

I let out a breath of air at his words, running a hand over my face. I didn't wear the watch all the time, but that was beside the point.

"Why's the watch so important anyway?" he asked, wiping down the counter at the bar.

I watched as he wrung the cloth out after a minute, rinsing it back out to rid it of grime.

"It was my dad's," I sighed, removing my jacket and placing it on a hook in the back.

It kept it out of the way, placing it up in the back. Plus, it kept it away from nosey customers.

"Damn," Aaron muttered.

"Yeah."

Honestly, I'm not really sure why it bothered me that much, but it did. I didn't really have anything of my dad, the watch being one of the few things that he'd left behind when he'd disappeared. Recently, I'd taken to wearing it, a few of the link in the titanium band having been taken out a few years ago. Prior to that, it'd been far too big for me to wear properly.

"Are you sure you didn't just lay it down or something?" Aaron asked, moving to the back to grab some ice from the cold room.

"Yes, Aaron!" I ground out. "Now stop asking!"

Damn, he could be annoying some times.

T

I couldn't stop thinking about it. The watch had been on my mind all day long and I still couldn't decide on what could have happened to it. It was actually starting to upset me. My thoughts were momentarily placed on pause as David walked through the door, Dwayne following behind him as the bell above the door sounded.

"Evening, Princess," David greeted, hands shoved in his pockets as he made his way over to the bar.

I walked around the counter to meet him, hands in front of me.

"Please tell me you found my watch?" I asked, brows furrowed as I clasped my hands in front of me.

"Your watch?" he asked, the look of confusion obvious on his face.

"Yeah," I nodded. "You know, that big clunky thing that I wear around my wrist?" I explained, even though I knew that he knew what a watch was. "It tells time and Paul said it was ugly?"

David snorted in response, remembering Paul's comment.

"You still had it when I dropped you off," he told me.

Hearing his words, I felt my shoulders slump. I already knew in the back of my mind that this would be the case. Still, I had hoped that I was wrong.

"Damnit!" I hissed.

Quickly, I turned on my heel and headed out back, the back door slamming behind me. I was so mad. How could I have lost it? It was my dad's. I don't even know how it was possible to have lost it. The house wasn't even big enough to really lose anything in, much less the space of my tiny room. Had I truly been that careless? Had it fallen off and gotten stuck between the floor boards? Maybe it had fallen in the toilet? Could I have somehow managed to flush it?

I gripped my hair in my hands, fingers curling as I pulled. It was driving me crazy. Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes as I pressed my back against the wall, the bricks pressing against the points of my spine painfully. My face was hot as tears rolled down the edge of my jaw, shining as they fell to the ground at my feet and bursting to pieces. My breath was now labored and I let myself slide against the rough exterior of the building behind me, pulling at the fabric of my shirt. Out of frustration I buried my head between my legs, curling in on myself.

My shoulders shook as I set there. In fact, I was so absorbed that I barely registered the sound of gravel being displaced, the crunch of stone approaching. A grunt followed with the ruffle of cloth and I found the outline of a pair of boots staring back at me. The boots stayed where they were, unmoving after they'd cemented themselves to the ground.

"Hey."

My shoulders stiffened, flinching slightly as I sat there. I didn't want to acknowledge them right now, far too irritated with myself.

"Allegra…"

It was David, the blonde letting out a sigh as his hands reached forward gripping my shoulder.

"Look at me."

His voice told me that he wasn't asking, my breath catching in the back of my throat. I wasn't used to that. Drawing up a bit of courage, I peered through my hands, head tilted down as I peered at him through my lashes.

"Hey. Don't give me that half ass shit," he growled, nails curling into my skin in warning.

Biting my lip I finally turned my head to look at him properly, sniffing as my nose ran a bit. I felt embarrassed now.

"Now, tell me what's wrong," he said firmly, the pressure from his nails easing up as he allowed me to pull back slightly. It was hard trying to meet his gaze, those icy blues staring back at me. They were telling me that he was growing impatient at my silence. I couldn't blame him though. I'd probably be frustrated with me too. Wait, I already was.

"My watch," I swallowed, lips parting. "I-I can't find it."

David seemed to process my words for a moment, letting them run through his head.

"Where was the last place you had it?" he asked calmly.

"I don't know," I said quietly, shrugging my shoulder. "I don't know anymore."

"Allegra," he ground out, giving my shoulder a small squeeze to recapture my attention.

It worked as he gave me a serious look, eyes flitting over my face, lingering somewhere in the middle. It left me unsure of exactly where he was looking. Was he looking at my forehead to make me think he was giving me his full attention? Was he really looking me in the eyes, demonstrating his respect? Or was he staring at my mouth, leading to distraction?

"I was hoping that maybe you had it," I sighed, finally lifting my head fully and locking my teary eyes with his own.

"Well, we can get a new one," he said.

I shook my head, wiping my eyes. I think I was more frustrated than anything at this point.

"No, I can't," I huffed.

"Okay…?"

He was obviously confused. Then again, I couldn't blame him. It wasn't like he knew any different.

"It was my dad's," I explained, groaning as I pressed my forehead into the side of my arm.

The whole thing had given me a headache at this point, the blood pounding painfully in my ears as I tried to push everything out. I'd never been that careless with my things in my life. Never. It just wasn't me.

I heard him sigh, watching as he ran a hand through his short hair. He looked perplexed now, sucking in his upper lip with the use of his teeth. Again, I was reminded of how sharp that were, a chill running through me.

"I'll double check the cave," he told me. "My memory isn't always 100%"

I felt my lips pull slightly, a small smile forming as he tried to cheer me up. In the back of my mind though, I knew that his memory was just fine. Id' been the careless one.

T

It was about an hour later that we found ourselves back at the cave. David had ordered everyone to start combing through the cave, searching for the slight chance that we might actually find my watch. I still wasn't very optimistic though. Especially, since we both knew it wasn't there. Still, it would help to take my mind off of things.

T

David grunted as he rolled the toolbox away from the wall, checking behind it. It was 'heavy'. Unfortunately, there was no watch under there. As he pushed it back, he tried to sort through his head, thinking about when he'd seen her with the watch. It had been the previous night.

Initially, Allegra had joined them for about three hours, eventually deciding that it was time to head home for the night. For her, it was late, unlike how things worked for them. They were normally up at night until the very moment that the sun rose in the sky. Allegra, given her schedule, wasn't able to stay awake for that long.

He remembered the slightly clunky piece of gears hanging from her wrist, but it had been nowhere near loose enough to simply just fall off without warning. Even as he'd pulled up to her house, she still had it on, the links pressing against his shoulder as she climbed off.

David began pulling the couch apart next, Dwayne helping Allegra root through the bed, turning the mattress over. David pulled the cushions from the couch, tossing them to the floor. It wasn't stuck under them. Running his hand between the crease and folds of the fabric, he tried to feel for anything. He found a random chopstick at first, continuing to look. There was some change buried, along with some lint, and random candy wrappers. He nearly cringed when his hand met something sticky, pulling it back and shaking off a piece of chewing gum.

Looking over his shoulder, David watched as Allegra rustled through things under the bed, Dwayne sitting close to her as she pushed things out to him, letting out a yelp when she knocked her had on the frame. If it hadn't been for the circumstances, he might have chuckled at her misfortune, but that wasn't the case. Instead, she was sulking while trying to find her watch.

Thinking back on things again, David realized that he watch had been attached to her wrist when they'd migrated inside of her house, talking for a bit longer as she got ready for bed. She'd taken her shoes off first, removing her socks and stuffing them inside. After that, she'd gone into the bathroom, brushing her teeth and changing into a pair of loose shorts and a tank. It wasn't until after that did he recall her undoing the clasp and laying it on her nightstand beside the bed.

"It's not here," he said more to himself than anything else. "Allegra!" he called out, roughly stuffing a cushion back into place, before turning in her direction.

At first, he wasn't sure if she'd heard him or not, watching as she pushed herself away from the bed. Her hair was a mess, hanging down in her face, the ends sticking out a bit.

"Allegra!" he called again, watching as her head snapped in his direction.

He had to swallow the lump in his throat when he noticed the spark of hope in her eyes.

"It's not here," he informed her, a tone of finality in his voice as he spoke.

Hearing this, he watched as her shoulder slumped, gaze falling down to her hands. He could see the look of defeat on her face as tears started to well up in the corner of her eyes again. He hated seeing her cry. In fact, he found it unnerving.

"I'd like to go home now," he sighed, slowly pushing herself up off of the ground.

They all watched as she dusted herself off, not really having the energy to meet anyone's gaze. It was sad, but there wasn't really much that anyone could do. Marko surprised them though when he came over to her, pulling her into a hug. He said something to her, but she merely shook her head, heading outside. Once she had left, the others looked at each other, a little unsure of what to do. They were at a loss.

Letting out a sigh, David ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. He'd have to take her home and hopefully figure things out from there. With any luck, perhaps he'd find her watch there. Maybe it'd just fallen off and ended up underneath of something.

T

Upon getting back to the house, they went inside, heading upstairs into her room. David had pulled the door back up into its place, eyes trailing the room as Allegra stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. He could hear the sound of water running as he walked around the room, trying to see if anything was out of place. It was a little odd as he turned a few things over eyeing a few papers as he noticed that they were bills. He couldn't understand why she was the one with the bills though. Shouldn't her mom have been paying them? Thumbing through them, David realized that most of them were overdue, different ones already having incurred interest as a result. Shaking his head, he laid them back down where he'd found them, his eyes scanning around the room.

He stopped by the bookshelf at the side of the wall. She kept some of her records there. Crouching down he ran his fingers over them, brows furrowing as he realized something. A couple of the records were missing. As he looked around the room he realized that they were nowhere in sight at all.

Standing from his spot by the bookshelf, he felt his jaw tighten, eyes narrowing slightly as he strode over to her nightstand. He wrenched the draw open, bits and bobs rolling and bouncing about like a pinball machine. He found himself rooting through it, any spare change that she had now gone. It didn't make any sense. Sighing, he slammed the drawer shut, plopping down on the bed. He let himself fall back, glancing up at the ceiling as he mulled things over in his head. No doubt, Allegra hadn't even realized that it wasn't just her watch that was missing. It was like a random thing here, a random thing there, that way one likely wouldn't notice right away. He wasn't even sure that he could bring himself to point it out to her. After all, it wasn't like he had taken anything and the only other person that would be able to get in or know where anything was would be…

Slowly, David pushed himself up onto his elbows, realization dawning on him. Granted, he didn't have any proof, but it was the only thing that made sense at this point in the game. They had an addiction. Why they needed their fix, what did they do? Her mother had been stealing from her own daughter. It would also explain the couple of other things in the house that had gone missing like the coffee machine.

"I'll be damned," he muttered, turning his attention to the bathroom when Allegra finally came out.

She looked a little better now that she'd had a shower, but he could tell that she was still out of it, carefully making his way over to her.

"Hey," he breathed out, gently taking her into his arms.

She didn't really respond at first, standing there almost mechanically as he pressed his forehead to hers. He knew that he definitely couldn't tell her now. Not tonight anyway and not until he had solid proof in his hands to back up his accusations.

"Allegra," he whispered, running his thumb over her cheek.

He watched as she closed her eyes, giving a shaky inhale. Her mind was still a whirlwind, though now, it was mainly the aftermath of said whirlwind. It left a shiver to run through her spine as she tried to make sense of everything. She just couldn't seem to process things the way that she normally could while upset.

"Hey," he breathed out, cupping her face between his hands. "Everything will turn out alright," he promised, his words a little out of place for him after all these years.

It was something that he never thought he would get around to saying again, much less to a woman like Allegra. At the same time, it made him feel a bit more human.

T

He told me that it would be alright, that everything would get better. I didn't know what to believe though. Yes, I wanted to believe his words, but at the same time, I just didn't believe that they were valid. Anyone could say that things would be okay, that it would be alright. It didn't mean that it would actually work out that way though. Those were the thoughts that ran through my head as I laid there curled up on my bed, my sense of awareness fading in and out as time passed by. I vaguely remember David sitting with me, hand gently rubbing my back. Eventually, my eyes closed for the last time and I found myself falling into the dark embrace of my subconscious.

T

Proof. Evidence sufficient to establish a thing as true, or to produce belief in its truth.

That's what he was looking to achieve. If he could find that then he'd be able to validate his suspicions. At the same time though, he was silently hoping that he was wrong. Over the past couple of weeks, he'd noticed a change in things having to do with Allegra's mother. She'd been home a few times when she normally wouldn't. In fact, it was about midway through last week that he'd actually seen her. Her hair had been greasy and her skin was pale. She'd smelled off, smelling oddly enough like narcotics. The strange thing was, this in particular wasn't one that he was overly familiar with. The blend had smelled faintly familiar, but only just. It had initially sent him for a loop actually, making him wonder what he was smelling. He was used to smelling the almost medicinal smell of pot. What he'd smelled back at the house though was something that he'd occasionally only caught whiff of down around the seedier spots of the board walk. In fact, the Surf Nazi's were notorious for the smell.

It was then that he made the connection, momentarily pausing in his stroll on the boardwalk. He had already known that the woman was smoking stuff, but he hadn't realized what else she'd been doing. The sad part about it was the fact that it was extremely addictive. A handful of the people he'd fed on had been completely laced with the stuff, tainting the flavor all together. One of the guys had nearly made him sick after feeding, leaving a rotten taste in his mouth.

It was a little unnerving, realizing that Allegra's mother had somehow gotten hooked on the disgusting substance, abusing it no less. Unfortunately, he also knew that these situations never turned out well for anyone involved. Still, it left the real question to be asked. How long had she been on it? After all, half the time it was a tossup on if he would go inside or not depending on how tired Allegra was. If she wasn't too tired, then he'd normally go up to her room with her, laying down on the bed and talking. Occasionally, she'd play one of her records and they'd just lay there and listen to music.

"Watch where you're going," a guy said as he walked into David, throwing him off course by a few degrees.

It took him a moment to right himself, narrowing his eyes in irritation. He'd almost made it to the end of the boardwalk, looking in at different shops. There were several pawn shops in the area, each one selling something different. Looking in, he saw a few guitars on display. There were a few mannequins in some of the shops, some of them dressed up in the current fads.

It was actually funny, having seen how much society's taste in clothing had changed or rather, what they deemed to be cool or 'in'. There was always something weird though, whether it was clothing or hair. Even he'd admit that some of the styles had been a bit out there, the women's 'beehive' being one of them. It just didn't look right. The 20's had been the odd 'flapper' routine. The 50's and 60's was similar to his current fashion, with the leather jackets and 'tuff' clothing. He could have done without the poodle skirts though, since he found them rather nauseating. Or the polka dot phase. What the hell had that been about? The 70's was a little strange with all the hippies, bell bottom pants and afros. Now you had the 'rock look' and big hair or mullets in his case. Eventually he would have to change it though, but for now, it was staying as it was.

Pushing that from his mind, he stopped in front of one shop in particular. At the front, it had a showcase of jewelry. There were rings, necklaces, bracelets and such. There was one necklace that caught his eye. It was a little gold pendant with a brightly shining opal stone in the middle about the size of a pea. In the lamp light, it reflected all sorts of colors back, even with the glass in the way. He stopped that when he spotted something oddly familiar, a watch.

"Son of a bitch…" he growled out, pressing his hands against the glass.

Looking up, he took in the name as on the sign. T & E Pawn. The place was closed for the evening, having closed at around 10. If he wanted proof, he'd have to wait until tomorrow, despite how much he wanted to just break the glass and bring the watch back to her at that moment. She'd just have to wait a little bit longer.

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