Deadline≫hemmings a.u

2.5

edit: I know I just posted this but I changed some stuff and added like 5,000 words, so there.

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"I know you're out there, Mel," Calum's voice rang through my head as Michael quietly led me back to the hotel. "I know you are. If you see this, Melanie, please come back."

My mind was numb and I could hardly think about anything. I let Michael guide me, unable to command my own body.

"If someone out there has Melanie, this is me begging you," Calum croaked, looking squarely at the camera. "Just let her come home. There's a family who wants their daughter back, and there are people who want their friend back. I want my best friend back."

My legs went out from under me and I fell to the ground, my eyes blurred with the tears I wouldn't let fall.  

Michael's arms slipped under mine to pull me up. I dully felt the sting of my knees, skinned from the fall I took. Mutely, I limped along with Michael, my white socks turning red.

"No one should ever have to feel like this, to feel the loss of someone ripped from your life so suddenly." Calum's voice was quiet yet strong. But you couldn't ignore the way it sounded shattered, like broken glass. "You've done us all enough pain. Look around," Calum gestured around him and the camera shifted, showing the crowd behind him. "A whole nation is behind us, asking you to give such an amazing person back to us."

Michael's arms slipped under mine to pull me up. I dully felt the sting of my knees, skinned from the fall I took. Mutely, I limped along with Michael, my white socks turning red.  

"Every day, we have searched for her," Calum said in a strained voice, his skin stretched tight over his bones as it took every ounce of strength he had to get these words out. "And every day we will continue to search until we find her."

"C'mon, Melanie," Michael whispered gently as we stepped inside the hotel elevator. I stood off to the corner, blankly staring at my reflection in the elevator doors.

"I know you're alive, Melanie," Calum said strongly, as if propelled by a sudden surge of confidence. "And I will see you again soon."  

Suddenly I gasped, feeling all of the air - all of it - leave my body, just as the elevator doors opened with a mocking ding!

"Woah, there," Michael rushed forward, throwing his arms out in front of him as my knees buckled and the floor rushed towards me.

I collapsed into Michael's side, my fingers searching hungrily for something to hold onto before bunching themselves into the fabric of his white shirt. My lips moved on their own accord, desperately trying to form words. I spluttered hopelessly, unable to get a coherent sentence out as Michael helped me walk and half dragged me down the hallway to the room.

"Melanie, Melanie," Michael tried to grab my attention as we came to a stop in front of out room. "Melanie, you need to calm down."

Somehow, through all the chaos in mu head, I was able to hear and process Michael's voice. I nodded at him and took a shaky but deep breath. I followed up with a few more that each became increasingly more steady.

"You aren't crying," Michael noted, surprise tinting his voice.

I looked up at him, my breathing calmer but my face blank.

Michael opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. Making no other attempts to talk, he let go of me and fished around in his pocket before producing the keycard.