Levi tapped his fingers over his thighs. "Okay, okay," he exhaled to himself in reassuring puffs, "No problem."
Talking out loud to oneself when lost seemed illogical, but there was a reason why the majority of people did it; oddly, it focused the mind. He absent-mindedly tugged at the rolled up cuff of his sleeve, a habit he had when on edge. Whenever he experienced that kind of low-dwelling, tense energy, it needed an outlet to go somewhere or else it would cloud his brain, keep his judgement from tip-top form—so sleeves it was. This time wasn't any different.
The night felt like those tolerable kinds that brought just a hint of a chill, but to Levi the air was quite mild, not even balmy considering the obvious moisture in the air.
The mist appeared a tad thinner than it was approximately a minute ago, though he wasn't certain whether or not that was due to his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Shadowy, stationary shapes of all sizes leered from behind the gauzy curtain, many just several feet in front of him. Houses? Trees?
Somehow he preferred when the fog was as thick and evenly spread as icing.
The sidewalk seemed like one long, strictly rigid strip that stretched on forever. The fog cluster ahead gradually swallowed it whole, leaving Casey to easily imagine just a solid wall at the visible end. The sidewalk was currently doing a great impression of those motorized floors at the airport. Casey felt like he was traveling north on a south-operating conveyor belt walkway; nothing passing by indicated that he was making any progress. He almost wished the ground was at least a motorized walkway so that he could just coast while dedicating his full effort and attention searching for a signpost. Until then, he just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The baby weakly grunted with its tiny lungs.
"Shh," said Casey awkwardly, bouncing the bundle so lightly that it seemed like he wasn't motioning at all. He didn't want to disturb it too much and make things worse. "It's okay, we'll find your mommy and daddy soon."
He knew the baby wouldn't understand his words, they were more a comfort to him than anything else. Of all things to be left with, it had to be a baby!
White was typically a gender-neutral color. And that was what the baby was clad in head-to-toe—just all white, including the flannel onesie underneath the layer of blanket that he peeled back just to check. Not even a monogrammed name, which he thought would have been all the rage with parents these days.
Even after a hollow minute of strictly keeping to the path, the murk still would not give up a single address or direction. The length of sidewalk he was able to see had even stretched out further; the mist appeared to be gradually lifting. At least something was being helpful.
A greyish shape was emerging out of the cloud, keeping to the sidewalk. The figure's walk was casual, but not aloof, Levi noted. There was clearly an end goal to where they were going. The person then stopped, turning left and right as if looking for something.
"Excuse me!" Levi hollered to get the figure's attention. He raised his hand and waved emphatically to signal. "Hey!"
The figure spun around. Spotting Levi, it leaned forward as if squinting, and appeared to be a little bulky around the chest area. Levi then discovered that it was the figure's elbows; he or she was carrying something. Items from an errand?
Though approaching strangers in the dead of night on a lonely stretch of road wasn't the most ideal of circumstances, he knew he had very few viable options otherwise. Optimistic, but keeping caution dead within his sights, he jogged up to the stranger as non-threateningly as possible.
Face-to-face, the stranger appeared to be a young man, with floppy brown hair parted in the middle, and a freshly good-looking face in a teen hearthrob kind of way; Levi could easily picture the kid's face on a poster in his nine-year-old's room.
Casey stood stoic. Though he'd been hoping for some help, it helped to remain wary in front of this stranger. Afterall, who in their right mind (besides himself, he reminded) would be wandering around at this time of night?
The imposing man's black stubble beard and moustache combo was so pristinely groomed that it would have been no surprise if a measuring ruler had been involved. Altogether, the image said agreeable but to a point, as in liable to kick your ass into nonexistence should lines be crossed. It was an image that would take nothing beneath respect, and Casey would oblige.
"Hey, man," said Levi amiably, clapping his hands together casually and wringing them together, "So, long story short, I'm kinda lost right now. I'd really appreciate it if you could give me some directions."
Casey blinked his blue eyes dumbfoundedly. Dammit, he thought harshly. Someone finally came along, but they weren't going to be of much help. "Wish I could, bud, but uhhh..I'm kinda needing some myself."
"You mean you're lost, too?"
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Hmf. Small world."
Both men were at a loss for how to proceed. The most progress they'd made was add an additional member to their own respective parties.
Casey sighed heavily, puffing his cheeks. "I assume you don't live here either. You didn't happen to find a street sign, have you?"
"Not a one."
They both turned silent again, scanning the area as if something new was bound to appear any second now, something they'd missed before.
Levi noticed the cotton bundle and inclined his head toward it. "That your kid?"
"Huh?" Casey looked down as if he'd forgotten his delicate cargo. "Oh, no, no, no, I'm not a dad."
Levi paused a beat. "Nephew? Niece."
Casey shook his head. "No." He suddenly appeared rather agitated, something Levi found odd. "Look, man, I don't know what's went on in the last few hours with me, but...I have no idea what happened. I don't even know if it's a girl or a boy, or who he or she belongs to, I don't know this kid."
Levi's paused yet again. A small, nearly undetectable tautness hardened his features and his shoulders squared. The conversation suddenly got very serious very soon. "What do you mean you don't know this kid?"
Casey felt rather small all of a sudden, like he was under an interrogator's lamp. "Now hold on, I know this looks bad, but I swear, I didn't kidnap it. Or, at least, I don't think I did."
It was the wrong thing to say.
Levi's demeanor transformed from neutrality to suspicion. He knew from experience that a continuously stoic manner was more off-putting than assertiveness would be. "You don't think you did?" he probed.
Suddenly those muscles didn't look like they were just for show. Casey knew the man would have been ready to pluck the baby right out his arms if he uttered just one more questionable statement. He struggled to explain himself better. "Actually, no, I'm pretty sure I didn't," Casey insisted firmly. "I would never—listen, it happened like this: One minute I was walking to Jezebel Plaza, in the daytime, next thing I know I wake up sitting against a tree, in the middle of the night, with...this...in my lap."
Levi's eyes were trained on Casey like sniper rifles. Casey could feel the laser beads on him, roving, trying to find the spot of susceptibility.
"I swear," pleaded Casey with furrowed brows, "I only want to find this kid's parents and be done with it." Was this guy he just met a cop? He sure acted like one.
Though Levi wasn't quite sure how in the world the young man managed to get himself into such a situation, he was at a loss as to how it could have possibly happened. He had no choice but to give the benefit of a doubt. "Alright then," he said flatly after thoughtful delay. "I'll help you, if that's the case."
Casey's shoulders, stiff with the tensity of a high wire, relaxed a little bit. "Thank you. I actually really appreciate it, man."
"Any bottles, diapers, or binkies left with you?"
"No. No, I just found it wrapped in this blanket already."
"Hm." Levi nodded. "Then we should definitely take care of the little one first."
Casey nodded in full agreement.
"Levi Martin," he said, holding out his hand.
"Casey Glenn." Their handshake was brief, an almost non-existent one pump. "So where do you think we are?" asked Casey, tucking his arm back under the baby and eyeing the sky as if it were a mysterious dome entrapping them.
Levi placed his hands on his hips and looked skyward as well, though he was sure there were no answers to find suspended above the two—or three, rather, counting the mystery child. "Can't say. Don't recognize this place from anywhere in Gotham. Not that I know every neighborhood, though. Been trying to look for a street sign for the past ten minutes or so."
It was a lucky coincidence that he came upon the young man who also happened to be lost. At least he'd have an extra pair of eyes now.
Levi craned his neck and scanned their surroundings like he was looking over a tall, invisible fence. "I'm almost pretty sure we're in a residential zone, at least. There might be some houses around here. It's late, but I'm sure someone will understand if we explain ourselves and ask to use their phone."
Casey nodded, again in agreement.
Returning to the curb, the two wandered past a street lamp and onto an up-turning slope of grass in the direction of what Levi assumed to be someone's property. His intuition was correct—a modest bungalow with a wood-shingled roof and a quaint wrap-around porch appeared from the gloom and into his view. He noted the yard of dead, yellowed grass while crossing the premises to the porch steps. He was definitely in a neighborhood of some kind. One he certainly didn't live in, and one he'd certainly never seen, judging by the houses. He blinked several times, as if that would help clear the heavy mist still hovering about, but it still wasn't ready to lift just yet.
After hopping the three porch steps, he heard them creak behind him, signalling that Casey was right behind him.
Manners taught him better than to disturb neighborhood denizens so late at night and ask to borrow their phones, especially if it was his own fault how he found himself wandering around outdoors at such an hour, and he even felt the hesitation before he finally knocked. He'd seen war-torn territory, witnessed mushroom clouds erupt from buildings, been in tense situations that required split-second decisions, and yet he still feared what his mother say if news ever reached her about this night.
Nevertheless, he had to do it. He was already rehearsing his apology as he rapped his knuckles against the door.
Patience was only fair. Levi couldn't expect the house-owners to answer within a reasonable time. He knocked again after a proper lapse, letting the owners know it wasn't a one-off. He knew if it were his house he'd be mighty pissed somebody was making such a racket at an hour when the sun wouldn't dare show its face. But a lost child on the line more than justified his decision.
He thumped on the door again, more firmly this time, but not threateningly as to scare the inhabitants. Then again, the home-owner could call the police and cut out the middle-man...
Casey was rocking side-to-side, not at all to soothe the baby, but to restlessly wait it out and get rid of some tense energy.
Nobody showed up after a minute. Both men tensely anticipated a click of the deadbolt being removed any second, yet the door did not budge. Levi listened for footsteps signalling a peek through the living room window in order to spy on the intruders, but he didn't even see the old-fashioned white lace curtains stir.
The lack of wind made for an eerily silent atmosphere. Casey noticed it, too. It felt strange to not even sense a breeze tickling his ears, or slithering softly through his hair.
Levi shifted his feet just to make sure that his hearing was still as sharp as it ever was. He knocked a fourth time, extending it a few more repititions, trying to communicate the urgency. Stepping back and crossing his arms for another minute, he found he was staring so hard at the door that every fleck of chipped brown paint came into sharp focus.
"I don't think anybody's home," he said finally. "Vacation, maybe." He didn't want to sound defeated. There were more houses in the neighborhood.
"Yeah," said Casey, already turning to descend the porch steps.
Levi followed and they both crossed the foggy yard to the next yard to try their luck. A second house loomed from the mist. It's appearance confirmed this particular street was a neighborhood, and it looked as though it was bordered by houses that all appeared the same if these two were anything to go by. Same bungalow style, same wrap-around porches, and same lamposts at even intervals before each property, standing like a guard.
Casey was doing his best not to show it, but he was getting rather impatient. The little baby was no more than a dozen or so pounds, yet every minute it remained in his arms the more burdensome it's weight seemed to be. Even though his arms were itching to do so, he knew he couldn't just hand the kid off to the first stranger he saw. But he also didn't want to be saddled with the responsibility to care for it. This Levi person seemed like a stand-up guy, but ten minutes wasn't enough time to determine the true measure and intent of a stranger. He wanted to be rid of the baby, but he wasn't heartless. Casey watched the door with rapt attention, praying that at least these owners were home.
The veranda stayed silent for the next tens of seconds. Not even a blinding porch light sprung to life, fluttering with busy moths. Levi knocked a few more times just for good measure, but Casey was already traveling to the living room window nearby. Same ugly lace curtains. Making sure the baby was cradled fully in the crook of one arm, he uncurled the other and shielded his eyes so as to peer better through the marginally grimy glass.
"Levi?" he said.
The other man was busy watching the door in puzzlement like it was a riddle to be solved. "Hm?"
"This house is empty."
"What?"
Levi strode up beside Casey and binocular-shaded his eyes to peek through the window, too. Casey was right. The open-layout room was indeed devoid of any furniture, not even quaint decorations expected of a house like that one. All that was left was just plain, exposed, dull hardwood flooring. Another window, this one curtainless, on the rightmost wall let in a tinge of the soapy-orange streetlight.
Levi pulled away. "Let's try the next one."
The third house was the same. They didn't even bother knocking on the fourth one's entrance, they went straight for the window. Empty. Just like the last. As a precaution, they retraced their steps across the last few frontyards, back to the original house they tried. They found it abandoned just like the others.
"Have we just been dumped onto a street under construction?" pondered Casey outloud.
"I don't think so," said Levi, gazing out into the weather-obscured night, "these houses look pretty old. The wood's almost rotten on some of these stairs."
"Then just where the hell are we?"
"Somewhere abandoned, I'm betting." Levi didn't like the implications of that. Kidnappers isolated their victims for a reason.
And just like so, Casey didn't seem quite so innocent to him anymore. Not that he believed the kid was responsible, and he was willing to give the benefit of a doubt, there was no proof after all, but if Casey had collectors chomping on his heels, Levi wanted no part in it. If he was just an innocent bystander who somehow got roped into some scheme that Casey was the target of, then he was not happy about it in the slightest. Was some money owed? Levi was certain he didn't have any outstanding debts, especially from shady dealers, unless his bank branch recently upped their collection procedure.
He stored that notion in the back of his mind for now. He didn't want to dwell on it, it would only cause him to jump to conclusions, but he nestled it into a small nook for later pondering. Just in case. Right now, the mystery of the innocent baby was his top priority. He could survive on his own. The little one could not.
"Maybe we should wait by the road," suggested Casey. "A car might pass by, we could ask for help then."
Levi was left without options, and he couldn't think of any better ones. Curb it was, then.
Casey lowered down on the grassy edge, seating himself on the concrete lip bordering the road. He gave his cramped arms a rest and balanced the majority of the baby's weight in his lap, careful to keep the head safely elevated and supported in the crook of his arm. His muscles were stiff from overcompensation. Babies were much too delicate, he was nervous that somehow he would get too comfortable and then accidently drop it.
Levi paced back and forth, keeping a look-out for headlights on either end of the street. The quiet was as stifling as the mist, but neither man felt much like having a conversation. Due to the fog's thickness, a car could pass before they even knew it. Staying alert was key.
At each passing minute, the fog seemed to be clearing little by little, though. Levi hadn't noticed at first, the change was so gradual, but he discovered during his next lap that he was granted the abilty to now see at least thirty feet away. The street almost looked like it was opening up. The rows of houses were dimly visible now, ghostly outlines.
"Give it time," said Casey, propping his chin up boredly with his free hand.
"Hello!?" Levi called into the darkness.
Casey winced. The call sounded so piercing after hearing nothing for so long.
"Somebody? We have a baby here. If anyone can hear me, please help!" Levi's neck chords strained with his pleas.
The night didn't answer.
"Guess we can't expect the construction crew to come, not until morning," offered Casey sullenly.
Levi wasn't listening. He had stopped pacing, and was squinting far into the tangerine oblivion. A strange, small shape could be seen dancing on the street's horizon. It wasn't a car. The erratic silhouette looked to have moving limbs. He thought it could have been an animal, but the movement wasn't coordinated enough. Even when frightened, animals displayed a type of grace and fluidity. This had to be human.
Casey rose onto his feet and met up with Levi side-by-side, squinting in the same direction. He had seen it, too.
The figure gradually grew clearer and larger—whoever it was was heading their way.
A woman. Hunched over and destitutely wandering. She wore an airy skirt that fluttered down to her ankles—and the fabric was busy. She was swivelling, pivoting, and twirling clumsily like she was part of some bizarre, acquired-taste performance piece. Her manner was very disoriented, like she was hopelessly lost.
Levi felt he needed to do something. "Hello?" he called, cupping his hands to carry his voice over. "Do you need any help?"
The woman's head snapped in their direction.
"Oh thank God, thank God!" they heard her broken, trembling voice. Hobbling as if overcome, she clumsily sprinted to them while holding up the hem of her billowy skirt, her bare feet loudly slapping the wet road. Casey pivoted slowly and presented his shoulder in her direction with unease, shielding the baby just in case. Levi stood solid, staring the girl down as she got closer.
Her run powered down as she met up with them, but her panting was heavy like she had torn through a marathon in just a couple minutes. Her expression was hysterical. "I-I need help, I need a phone," she managed to force out. Her chest was heaving, and she wouldn't stop shaking her head.
"Calm, down, calm down," urged Levi. He wanted to hold her shoulders to keep her still and support her, but he felt that it would only make her panic, considering they were strangers. "Just tell me your name."
"Dee—" she gasped another breath, placing a hand over her heart to steady it, "Deanna."
"Deanna who."
"Baumbach."
"Levi Martin. And this is Casey Glenn."
Casey nodded, though uncertainly, and was looking back and forth between the two.
Levi had hoped his stable tone and introduction would help the girl at least find some focus and clarity, but she couldn't seem to stop vibrating and darting her eyes, like she was in the middle of a frozen wilderness and wild dogs were slowly closing in. "Are you lost?" he asked her.
Deanna nodded desperately, her brows knitted. "I-I don't know where I am or how I ended up here. Get me out of here. Please! I need to go home. Right now." Her voice trailed off into a shuddery whisper, as if she was being timed on a clock and the seconds were about to tick to zero any second now.
Levi and Casey exchanged the same befuddled look. This strange woman's story was sounding awfully familiar.
"Alright, alright, just sit down and relax," said Levi soothingly to her. "We'll figure something out." Without touching her, he guided Deanna to sit on the curb. It took some coaxing, and it didn't seem like she was capable of sitting, she was too wound up, but finally, she lowered herself onto the curb and hugged her shins, burying her mouth into her knees.
Levi snuck a glance at his watch again. Time felt like it had at least passed an hour by now, he'd been wandering for some time.
Twelve midnight exactly.
A/N: Would love to know what you all think so far :D