The Next Reminder

XXI || The Search.

*Henry's POV*

We leave for Clay's in the early morning, the agreed upon time for the group. The fresh dawn air hits my face as I roll the window down, and the dewy smell on the grass and in the air reminds me of spring, although it is early fall.

I put my eyes back onto the road, enjoying the nice breeze. "Can we put the windows back up? The wind is making my hair go all over the place!" Elizabeth complains, and I sigh.

"It's so nice out, Elizabeth. Just tie your hair up." I tell her, pulling up my sleeve to reveal a hair tie. I always kept one on my wrist for Charlotte, and some of the hairties still have her hair on them. I frown, and Elizabeth takes the tie off of my wrist, tying her hair up. She thanks me, and by the time she gets her hair tied up, we're at Clay's. Everyone else is already here, and we both step inside, not bothering to knock on the door.

Everyone is gathered in the living room, even Clay. Clay comes up to me, putting his hands over mine. The warmth from his hands fills my body, and he apologizes about a million times. I sigh, "I'll forgive you if you do me a favor," I start, "help me find my ex-wife." Clay's face immediately drops as I say that, but I need to find her. I need to know she's better off. My curiosity is killing me.

"You still love her, don't you?" He raises an eyebrow, and I shake my head.

"That doesn't matter at the moment...just please look through your files, see if you can track her down." Clay nods, though I can see sadness in his expression. She asks me her name, and I give it to him.

"She's the old police chief's daughter." I add on some information, hoping Clay might know her whereabouts.

Clay's eyes light up, and that's when I know he knows. "The old police chief, Jessica Campbell, settled in with her daughter after her retirement. She told me over the phone that her daughter was going through a divorce and was providing her support. I think that's who you're talking about...what was your ex-wife's name?" He asks, tilting his head.

Although I knew Clay would have information about her, I didn't know he would have this much. Aurora and I had pretty much a private life, and I know she was close to her mother. I met her mother and we would always go over for Christmas. My eyes water as I recall the memories to my mind. "Aurora...her name was Aurora, and her maiden name was Campbell."

Clay nods, satisfied. He knows he has the right person.

*Jessica's POV*

"What's your dad doing down there, Elizabeth?" I questioned, sitting on Carlton's bed with Elizabeth while John and Carlton sat on the floor playing video games.

Elizabeth sigh, scratches her head, and puts her hands in her lap. She open her mouth to speak, but John makes an angry expression, crying out. I look toward the television, noticing that they were playing some sort of shooter game...I'm not sure, since I'm not a huge fan of video games myself, but John died, and Carlton's character was still alive and well. John lifted his head, reviving his character.

"...What I was going to say, my dad is looking for his ex-wife. They might already be off looking for her, I'm not too sure, but, I know that Clay is mad as hell." Elizabeth adds, and I agree.

John turns around sharply, glancing at Elizabeth, "No, shit! Clay is so in love with Henry, imagine how he felt when Henry said he wanted to look for her..." John puts a hand on his head, turning back to his game quickly. Carlton doesn't even seem to hear a word we say, but I couldn't care for his sense in this conversation, anyway. Then again, I feel like we need it. Clay is his dad, afterall.

*Henry's POV*

I settle into my seat, the passenger seat of Clay's car. I am honestly nervous, it's been a decade since I've parted ways with my wife and my son, and I don't even know if she wants to see me. I didn't tell Clay that, thinking he wouldn't take me, but it seems he doesn't even want to speak to me on the ride to. St. George is an hour away, and we've been sitting in silence for 30 minutes. All of the windows are down in Clay's truck, and the wind is blowing my hair into my face. I cross my arms, blowing my hair out of my face.

"Why do you want to see her, Henry? I thought we had something..." He says plainly, a hint of hurt in his voice.

I sigh, "I just want to see how she's doing...we never got a proper goodbye."

I mess with the loops on my pants, telling Clay about the day my wife left me.

She never showed any signs of loosing interest at all, so it was completely out of the blue. She kissed me on the lips as she went off to work, and it lasted longer than usual. When she went to work, it was always a quick peck, but I never knew she wasn't coming back. Of course, we fought in court over who would keep Sammy, since he was our only alive child, and she won. I was deemed too 'mentally unstable' to care for a child, and I see why now. Before I left to go far East and away from this godforsaken town, I was completely manic. My grief for my dead daughter had blinded me, so I faked my death out of fear I would be put into a mental hospital and never see the light of day again. My new life helped me some-what heal, and I was lucky I got out of Hurricane before I completely lost myself down a rabbit hole I never wanted to go down in the first place.

"Get out of the car, we're here." Clay thankfully wakes me from my memories, but I realize when I step into this house it's going to get a million times worse.