Chain Me

Find Her

     The cold machinery in my hands makes me feel powerful and I squeeze out another bullet, the sound still getting through to my ears despite the earmuffs. The target across the room shreds as it's penetrated and I drop my arm, satisfied that I hit where I wanted. I haven't used a gun in ages, but it feels good, and I'm glad that I haven't lost any of my skill. I figure I'll need it whenever I find the people that kidnapped Lost.
     "You done then?" Cas asks from behind me.
     I turn to her and put down my gun then slip off my earmuffs. "Yeah. I feel better."
     "Good, because Mariam told me to get you."
     Immediately I leave the training area to go back to the room we commandeered and set up to use as a command center. Cas follows without a word and her footsteps are almost non existent compared to my stomps.
     "Do we have something new?" I ask as soon I step through the doorway. There are our own private detectives talking and chatting in front of an evidence board, photos and papers everywhere. Mariam is talking into her cell, a finger held up for me to give her a second.
     I trail my eyes over the evidence board as I wait and sigh at all the leads. This organization that took Lost has so many branches that everyone we've pursued so far barely counts as a twig. Sick puppies that kill for a vengeful God or traditional values or something just as stupid. I don't bother listening when common sense doesn't exist for them. All I care about is finding that branch that has Lost hanging on it.
     "Kahlan," Mariam calls, and I turn to her. "Your profile was right. They're bringing him in."
     "I want to talk to him," I demand. It was easy enough to find these goons when I begun profiling them as a terrorist organization. Multiple perpetrators, counter surveillance, hierarchies. I think I can get more out of the guy they're bringing in.
     Mariam lifts her glasses to rub her tired eyes. She's been up with me for almost three days. "You know you can't. Not after last time."
     "That was..." I broke his nose and three of his fingers, and was aiming for more blood. "... an accident."
     Cas snorts and says something about not thinking I had it in me while Mariam guffaws and tells me, "You can't be trusted. Let the professionals deal with this. We'll get the information, okay? We'll find her."
     I thought that, too, the first night. But it's been two whole days since then and I'm getting desperate. I've never been without Lost for so long and I want her with me again. I don't care if I'm acting irrationally. I want her back.
     "Are we sure he's high in the chain?" I ask softly, my jaw tight. "He's the one?"
     "I'm sure. They found three bodies on the property along with innumerable evidence that the cult bunked there. He ran the place, brainwashed a handful of kids to believe in monsters."
     "They're real," I mumble, putting my arms over my belly to hold my elbows. With all that's happened I believe now. I believe Lost and her witches and goblins and whatever else. "But go on."
     "Right. Well, they were being trained to kill people. They had weapons in every room of the house. This guy and all his little friends are twisted, I say."
     "Lost wasn't on the property? Was there a trace of her?"
     "No, but we found invoices to somewhere upstate. It was deserted but they're not sending goods to the trees."
     "Maybe Lost is there. This guy has to know. He has to!"
     "Okay, okay." Mariam motions for me to follow her out of the room, and I do when I notice the detectives trying hard not to stare at me. "You've got to calm down," she whispers when we're in the hall. "You don't know what's happening with Lost."
     Raking my hand through my hair, I nod and place a hand on my hip. "I know, I know. I just... What if she's not..."
     "She's fine," Mariam assures me. "She knows how to stay alive."
     "Mariam, some of the bodies we've found were tossed only hours after being kidnapped. She could be one of those bodies. It's been two damned days, three."
     Mariam stays silent for a minute, her face pained. "Don't think like that," she eventually tells me. Then walks back into the command center with a heavy exhale.
     I stay out in the hall to let myself relax. I understand why I can't be in on the interrogation, and I'm not proud of the reason, but I'm just so frustrated. I miss Lost so, so much. I miss her cute smile and her witty observations and that shy way that she grabbed by hand. I miss her so much that I've been tempted more than once to tell Mariam how deep our relationship is.
     God, I hope Lost is alive.