The Sadian Chronicles: Book 2: From Mercury To Venus

Personal Search: Part 2

Ty Whitney and Carla Benson packed within an hour and loaded the old van. Carla thought it to be the safest way for them to travel. Since only the front seat had windows, it would be easy for Ty to hide from the eye of onlookers.

It took them the better part of a day to reach Michigan from the Rockies, making several stops for gas, repairs, and food. Ty became agitated by this believing Marianna to be in serious danger. Carla was equally worried but repeatedly demanded that everything would turn out fine.

Carla decided it would be best to stop first at Marianna's apartment, hoping there would be some clue to where she had gone. She went alone, arguing with Ty that it wasn't safe for him to show himself in the daytime. The night had a way of shadowing his appearance that made him look less intimidating.

When Carla reached Marianna's third-floor apartment, she found a police barricade. A young officer of no more than twenty-five had stopped her before she had a chance of entering.

"Sorry, ma'am, but no one enters a crime site," the officer said and tried to steer her away from the apartment door. She could see there was a line of yellow police tape crisscrossed over the door.

"But my daughter lives here," Carla said referring to Marianna. "She's missing, so could you please let me in just for a minute?"

"Sorry, Ma'am, but not without authorization," he said and looked disappointed. He gave her a sympathetic look and it seemed like he just might change his mind. "Just wait here while I find the officer in charge."

Carla waited patiently, but no one came. She wondered if he left on purpose to give her the chance to go in on her own, so she tried getting in on her own. She soon realized that the barricade was too tightly locked. After about an hour of waiting, she noticed the sun going down. Ty was still hold up in the van as far as she knew. She went back down to the parking lot to check on him.

She didn't want him to think that she abandoned him, but when she reached the van, she saw that he was no longer there. She was going to go look for him, but just then, she spotted one of Marianna's friends. It was the girl she used to room with.

"Cynthia?" she said in a questioning tone, not really wanting to deal with her right now, since ty had taken off.

"Hey, you're Miss Benson, right?" the young girl said. The girl had a concerned look on her face, and Carla figured she knew exactly what she was doing there. "Did they find her yet?"

"No, and they won't let me into her apartment to look around," Carla said, but she wondered if Cynthia had any information. "Do you know where she might have gone?"

"After she left the lab, no, but Edie might know," Cynthia said after thinking on it for a moment. "She's one of the student interns."

"Where can I find her?" Carla asked looking hopeful.

"She lives in a dorm on campus," Cynthia said, thinking for a moment. She pointed her finger in the air like it would help her find the answer. "It's the south entrance, dorm seven."

"Thank you, Cynthia," Carla said looking as if Cynthia had just become her hero.

Carla returned to the van to find the back door open. She looked inside to see that Ty was nowhere to be found. She gave a deep sigh, knowing he had taken off to find Marianna. She decided that she had to check out this Edie even though she had anxieties about Ty's disappearance. As she drove down the dimly lighted streets fear overtook her. Part of her believing Marianna to be innocent, but part of her feared it an unlikely possibility. If the circumstances were true, then it was highly possible that Marianna met with foul play.

She reached the dorm around nine o'clock to find a party going on. There were the typical beer guzzlers and those who preferred their animalistic dances. Carla shuffled through the crowd trying to gain the attention of anyone who would listen, but these freshmen teenagers only thought about partying. None of them would speak to her.

"Excuse me," she kept shouting. "Can someone tell me where I can find Edie?"

A teen boy with spiked blue hair approached her. "What's an old broad like you doin' in here?" It was obvious that he was drunk.

"I'm looking for Edie," she shouted, trying to speak over the loud music.

"Upstairs," he shouted, pointing to the stairway.

Carla tried asking him where, but he disappeared before she had the chance. She climbed the stairs anyway, heading on alone in her search.

She heard laughter coming from several rooms on the second floor, sounds that were all too familiar. She knocked on the first door, calling for Edie.

"Not in here," called a laughing male voice from the other side of the door.

"Last door," a girl from the inside the room called out.

Carla followed the direction they led her. When she reached the end of the hall, she found the only door that wasn't closed. She peeked in to see a girl and boy locked in a lover's embrace.

"Excuse me," she said, startling the couple. Embarrassed, she looked away. "I'm trying to find Edie."

"Who wants to know?" the girl said, covering herself with a blanket.

"I'm Carla Benson," she said, entering the room. "Marianna's guardian."

"M.J.?" Edie asked a bit of annoyance in her voice. "Look, lady, I already told the cops everything I know."

"Then you're Edie?" Carla asked, hoping to get a little more information out of her.

"Yeah, and this is my boyfriend Bobby," she said and was trying to shut the door on her, but Carla held on to the handle not allowing her to close it. "We're kinda busy, so if you don't mind..."

"Please, I need to know what happened to her," Carla said in desperation.

"Why don't you ask Marcus,' she said and a pissed off look on her face. "Ya know he disappeared, too."

"I didn't know that," Carla said and thought that maybe Ty was right. "Thank you for the information." Carla made her way out of the noisy dorm feeling a bit of shame. "How could I not believe you, Ty? I was so wrong."