𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 : Robin Arellano

ELEVEN

It had been 3 days since Robin last saw Carmen and he could have sworn he was going insane. He hadn't gone back to school yet, but he knew he had to. Instead he had been trying to find Carmen.

Gwen and Finney were extremely worried about him, he didn't look good. Almost as if he wasn't really there, just walking around the town spying on people trying to figure out who took her from him. But he had no luck. So he had to return to school.

Finney had offered to walk with him but he rejected it, it already felt weird enough not walking without Carmen but replacing her? It just didn't feel right. He was taking his time, stopping to look down her street, the cars gone and instead just empty barriers surrounding her house, he didn't know where her family was or if they even cared. It angered him that no one else seemed to care that she was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.

Yet his thoughts were interrupted once he stepped through the doors of the school and everyone's eyes were on him. Like drawing a moth to a flame, gazes seemed to draw to him. It felt extremely uncomfortable and he had an urge to beat everyone's ass who was looking at him. But he knew that wasn't possible.

Even sitting in class was hard enough. No Carmen beside him in math or science. No hand to hold underneath the desk, no work to steal the answers from, no sweet laughter bringing him joy. Instead just the pitiful smiles from the teacher and an empty seat. Even the other students didn't really seem to care about her disappearance. Most the girls took it as an opportunity to ask him out, the boys just not even acknowledging it anymore. It hurt like hell to know that he was one of the only people who genuinely cared for her.

Just come back to me, Carmen.
Robin prayed.

~

Each day felt the same to her. There would be a small stream of light through the barred windows to signal when it became morning. Eggs and sprite would appear at the foot of the bed before she woke up, sometimes he paid her a visit. Sometimes he left for hours at a time. It was hard to tell really.

And still, each day she was constantly looking for a way out, never letting her guard down and giving up. Even if she never got close. It was the hope and her imagination keeping her going.
But it was every few hours when she would think of the people she left behind at home.

Her brother. He would have noticed her disappearance by now, the police would have questioned him and all that. So would he care? He always seemed to care when they were little about when she fell and hurt herself or their dad yelled and hurt her. But as they grew up they grew distant and it was hard to tell whether he really cared or if it was all just for show.

Even her father. He wouldn't know about her disappearance until the police tracked him down to break the news. Now she knew he definitely wouldn't care. More likely that he would show a moments of hurt in front of people but the façade would fall when he was alone again. It was his sick and twisted way of seeming like a normal dad so he could keep his house and kids.

Finney and Gwen...they had all grown so close since Carmen had moved there and she hated the fact that they were out in such a situation to miss her. All she wanted was to escape and show everyone that she was alive, not missing and dead. Perhaps they would all hold out hope for her, searching for her and not stopping until she was found.

But that was just a dream.

~

"Finney! Finney! I had a dream!" Gwen yelled racing down the stairs to find her older brother who was staring at a piece of paper laying on the counter.

"That's great Gwen but I don't have time to listen right now...Robin's my best friend and his girlfriend is missing. We're gonna find her." He muttered to convince more of himself than Gwen.
"No you're not hearing me. It was about Carmen. It was a special dream, I saw her in a children's room. The man they call the grabber was there too. It was real." She tried to convince him, a pleading look in her eyes.