Chapter Two: Return to Sender
The tall black-haired girl woke suddenly, an echo of her younger self's "Dad?" fading as she jerked a little on her bed. As she straightened in the bed, her long, curly hair fell past her shoulders and down her back. Pale brown eyes looked up at the beautiful mural painted on the walls of her room. Stars shimmered on a deep indigo background with red flowers below them. An orange and pink butterfly flew near the flowers. Below the butterfly was an entire field of flowers and a purple unicorn hiding in the bushes. Next to the window, more flowers were pinned along the frame and the mural extended to the opposite side of the window. There the sky was shades of blue and birds perched in a tree to greet the sun. An owl peered out from its hiding place in the tree at the skinny, pale girl in the simple dress and sandals.
As she had done every morning since coming to this place, Penny approached the shuttered window, longing to go outside and feel the sun on her skin. To see the trees and birds and flowers and perhaps even the stars. Centimeters from the window, she halted and jerked back, the dog collar around her ankle buzzing in warning. She stared at the window for a moment longer, then turned to the small wooden desk in her room. Yellow loose-leaf paper littered the desk, filled with writing and a book lay on top, tattered with age and wear. On the cover a woman stood in a garden and the words Paradise Lost were written in white at the top. It was cracked open and the girl picked it up as she sat. She lifted her pen and examined the pages to find her spot.
As she wrote, she murmured the words from the book, " 'Long is the way, and hard, that out of hell leads up to light.' "
Lance curled up in his seat as much as possible, feeling like pond scum. His sister was gone, snatched while he sat meters away from her; oblivious and buried in a book. His plans for that stupid essay had gone up in smoke and probably his grade too, but he couldn't care less with his sister missing. Kira Marlowe, the SRU dispatcher on duty, patted the teen's arm, her gaze sympathetic.
Although the blond didn't know the teens as well as Team One did, they had often brightened her day with their squabbling, banter, and open affection for their uncle. Her blue eyes flicked up as Sergeant Parker entered, his brown eyes shadowed and hurting. The petite dispatcher rose, pulling out her application and pasting on a bright smile in an effort to lift the Sergeant's mood.
The Sarge gave her as much of a smile as he could manage and, with a shadow of their usual banter, said, "Good morning, Sunshine."
Kira's eyes danced briefly as she gave him the mail and teased, "You can call me Sunshine as long as you promise to…" She held out her application, forcing her smile to stay on her face as the shadows deepened in Sarge's eyes.
He cast a mournful look at the teen huddled behind the front desk, avoiding his uncle's eyes. Then Sarge took the application, scrawling his signature on it. "Signing it right now," he offered quietly.
"Thank you, Sarge."
Sarge nodded to her as he flipped through the mail, stopping almost at once. Kira looked away as fresh grief and old pain mixed on his features. The chair next to her creaked as Lance finally stood, one hand reaching across and grabbing hold of Sarge's right hand.
"I'm sorry," the boy managed, forcing himself to meet his uncle's gaze. Kira wondered if the apology was for the mystery letter or Alanna…or both.
Sarge tugged his nephew as close as he could with the counter between them. "Hey, hey. It's okay. It wasn't your fault." He tapped the letter with his left hand. "This is not your fault either." The stocky man met his nephew's eyes. "We are going to find her," he promised.
The black-haired girl wrote until the phone rang. She looked up, then hurried to the next room and snatched up the phone. She doubled checked the ID, then picked up.
"Gerald?" she asked.
"Hey babe."
"Where are you?"
The man on the other end of the phone stood outside a golden SUV, smirking as he spoke. Brown hair was cropped close in a crew-cut and equally brown eyes glinted under the sunglasses he wore. He might have been called rugged or handsome if it were not for the leashed malice evident in his face and posture. Sharp features and clothes hid lean muscle and a dominating, arrogant attitude.
In a casual tone, he told his 'babe', "Nearly home. How'd you sleep?"
"I didn't," she admitted. "I kept hearing noises."
His tone turned condescending as he reassured her, "But you know you're safe, right?"
"I know."
Gerald moved on, too excited about his new acquisition to pay much mind to Penny's distress. "Hey, you know what?"
"What?" she asked, eager.
"I've got a surprise for you," he almost taunted before hanging up.
He opened his car door, revealing a girl with violet eyes in boy's clothes and a gray ball cap. Red hair peeked around the edges of the cap and the girl cast a glare at her captor. She crossed her arms at his scrutiny, determined not to show fear.
"You okay?" he inquired in a lazy tone.
Alanna stuck her nose as far in the air as she could, imitating Madame Locksley at her most imperious, as she replied, "I will require the restroom soon." Under her breath she added, "Muggle."
Gerald cast her an annoyed look, deciding that the haughty and formal vocabulary would be the first thing to go. "Okay," he told her, unbuckling the seat belt. "Come on. Let's go," he continued, ushering her toward the gas station.
The clerk behind the gas station counter filed her nails as she watched the news report. Dark blond hair fell to her shoulders and her face was lined with middle age. Despite her routine and boring job, the woman's mind was sharp, with an excellent memory for details. Particularly with such a juicy news story.
"She's been missing for twelve hours. Police say she was abducted last night from a playground in Toronto. Her brother says his back was turned only for a second, and then Alanna Calvin vanished. Alanna was wearing a light purple jacket and Nike tennis shoes. She has long red hair, and violet colored eyes. Police…"
The clerk turned off the TV as two customers entered. A tall man in a tan jacket and a young child in a white shirt and gray ball cap. "Hey, guys," the clerk greeted.
"Hi, restroom?" the man asked.
"Yeah, out back," the clerk informed him. "Hang on," she added, pulling out a key. "You need a key." She handed the key to the man with a "There you go."
"Thank you," the man said, ushering the child out.
The pep in Jules' usual step and voice was gone as she entered the briefing room. With no word yet on Alanna, the whole of Team One was dragging. Their Auror liaison had relayed an offer from Madame Locksley to use the Lost Soul potion to locate Alanna, something Team One had pounced on, even if it would take at least six more hours before the potion would be ready. Even magical miracles, it seemed, took time.
Jules did her best to give the Sarge her usual tone. "Hey, Sarge, Wordy said you wanted to see me?"
Sarge looked up, the pain in his eyes still so raw that Jules winced. "Hey, Jules, grab a seat, will you?" He sounded as enthusiastic as an overworked paper pusher faced with a fresh onslaught.
Jules didn't have the heart to banter and dropped into a seat.
"Psych evaluations, you know they're mandatory, right?" Sarge said quietly, voice dull.
The petite constable ducked her head, avoiding the Sarge's gaze. "Yeah, I do," she admitted. Without waiting for him to prod her any further, she pulled over the sign-up sheet he had and signed up. "Sorry, Sarge," she offered. "They just freak me out. All those questions." She pushed the paper back to him, expecting to be dismissed.
Surprisingly, he met her eyes, his own warming as he gave her an encouraging look. "They're just questions. No right or wrong answers."
"That's the problem: I like right or wrong," Jules admitted. "You shoot. There's a target. You hit it. Bull's-eye. Bam. You go home."
Sarge actually managed a small smile at her words. "That's true. You can be perfect. Scared to make mistakes- it's going to get in your way." He leaned forward, thoughtful. "We're human. We're going to get things wrong."
Jules couldn't help but wonder though…what if Alanna needed perfect to come home?