Cold Blooded

Missing

If there's one thing that was ever taught to the search party those nights, it was to learn to move on. Even if it was the things you loved most. Some despise those in their family, others will do anything for them. There are a lot of things that you can replace. A broken toy, perhaps. Or even a phone. You can even replace broken car windows, or the car itself. Not all can be replaced, such as teeth... or body limbs. Most importantly though, family. Blood runs thicker than water.

"Nate, wake up, I gotta go and uh, can you take care of dot for me please?" Aubrey said as she nudged Nathan out of bed. She stood there waiting for him to actually move. He stared at her as if she was a crazy woman. 

"Jeez, did you just get back from the Grammys or what?" he said rubbing his eyes.

"No, business trip, important, have to make a good first impression, but I'll take it as a compliment!" she said with a small twirl. He chuckled and stood up. 

"You off today?" she asked him as she was scuffling some small items in her purse. "I know you're super FBI or whatever it's called, but they have to give you breaks here and there, right? And gosh, do you ever wear anything other than those sweatpants? Look at those stains!! Is that coffee?"

He slid on a T-shirt and walked over to his desk scanning through some papers he had brought home the previous night. "I am off actually, and yes they do. Also, I'm an investigator. God I wish I was a part of the FBI. We'd be making more than what we are right now. I also wear shorts... and jeans sometimes. And no, it's not coffee... it's.. uh.. blood." He said glancing at her then back at the papers. Silence and awkwardness had slid their way into the room.

"Yet, you still wear them? That must be disturbing or at least, traumatic." Aubrey said quietly.

"Definitely most traumatic, but we're not rich, Aubrey." he sighed. 

"What even happened. You know, with the blood and everything." She said, trailing off. 

He let out a small sigh. "It was an uh, accident with someone. He was suicidal and we couldn't stop him. Stabbed himself in the chest 13 times." he said nodding at her, "So yeah"

"Oh wow.. how old was he?" she asked, trying to wonder further into his life stories. 

"12" he answered. The room fell silent again. Dot's howl interrupted. Dot was their adult husky that Aubrey had adopted a few years ago. "I should probably take him out and feed him." Aubrey said as she unlocked his cage. 

"Yeah I'm going to go get in the shower, when will you be back?" Nathan asked her.

"Hopefully I'll be back by tomorrow night. If everything goes right." she answered. 

"See you later than sis. Be careful, it's dark and temperatures are dropping every minute." That was Nathans way of saying, don't turn into an ice block. They did live in Alaska after all. It was the time of the year though where it was dark nearly all hours.

"Yep, cya later man." she said as she took Dot outside. By the time he was out of the shower, Aubrey was gone, and Dot was back in his cage. He sat on his bed and sighed. he looked at Dot. "Guess it's just me and you tonight. And tomorrow probably."

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On the second night, Nathan sat and waited for Aubrey to come home. He was up until six in the morning. Yet no sound of her. He thought this was strange. Dot whined in his cage. He wanted to go outside. Nathan took him out of his cage and took him outside to do his business and walk around. There was no sunlight, so Nathan had to keep an eye on Dot. He looked around the woods that surrounded him. They ingulfed him in darkness. He took Dot back inside and went to sleep, hoping Aubrey would be there, waking him up. Like usual.

Four hours flew, and there was no Aubrey. Nathan was confused and began to overthink. He created many scenarios. Maybe she got lost and took a different route. Or perhaps she crashed. He had no clue. She also wasn't answering any of his texts or calls. He sat there, holding his phone in his hand. He dialed her number again. It immediately went to voicemail. "Hey, uhm, please call back when you get the chance. I don't know where you are, but I'm worried so please come home soon." He sent the voicemail and laid back down on his bed. Before he could actually, get some sleep, there was a knock on the door. He went to the front door and saw his co-worker and former partner, Steven Bybee. He was in his uniform. "Ah shit, Bybee, I didn't think I worked today, sorry man. Hold on, let me get dressed." Nathan apologized. 

"No it's not that Mr. Daniels. Its about your sister." Steven said in a low and serious tone. Nathan grew pale and turned around to look at him in the eyes.

"What about her Steven...?" he asked in a worried tone, hoping it was good news. 

"I'm sorry Nathan," he started, "We found your sisters car on the side of the highway a couple miles down the road. It was empty."

"Wait what? Do you know where she is?" Nathan grew worried. 

"We have no trace so far." Steven said with narrowed eyes. 

"So you're telling me this entire time, my sister was just down the road? I was.. I was outside earlier and I..." He kneeled down and started rubbing his face.

Nathan couldn't believe any of the words coming out of officer Bybee's mouth. 

Was his sister, Aubrey Daniels, really.... Missing? Yes, she was, and they had not one trace on her. That's all she was. Just.....

Missing.