Dream Lover

#15

I woke up on the second morning of my friends' disappearance, wrapped in the arms of my girlfriend. We had planned to get up at seven thirty but as my eyes fluttered open, I could see bright sunlight, and hear the chirping of winter birds.

I pushed myself up to see the clock on her dresser. My moving woke her up. It was just as well though because the clock read ten forty-five.

"Shoot!" Anna said as she must have read the time with me. We scrambled out of the queen sized bed and into the hall. I had slept in the clothes I'd worn the day before, but Anna had worn Pajamas to bed. She ran into her room and announced she was getting dressed.

"Okay, I'll get the flyers. Where did you put them?" I asked through the door.

"They're in the wicker drawer." She yelled back.

I trotted into the living room, where her wicker drawer was. I opened the top drawer but didn't see the flyers. Instead something else caught my eye. A letter. I pulled it out of the drawer and began reading it. It was addressed to Anna. I skimmed it just to see who'd written it. There was no name but it said: Sincerely, Your Lover

An old boyfriend I'd guessed. By why did it seem so familiar? I didn't have a chance to read the letter, but I guessed it was one of love. 

"Alright, did you find the flyers?" Anna asked coming out of her room. I panicked and threw the letter back into the drawer. I closed it and opened the next drawer down.

There the flyers were. I pulled them out and turned to face Anna.

"I got them, right here." I said with a smile and a fake laugh.

"Okay then, let's go." Anna passed me and I followed her out the door. We got into her car and raced off towards L.A. Once there we stopped often to post a flyer on a post, or in a shop window. We ran out of flyers around three o'clock and decided then to get something to eat. We picked up a couple sandwiches at a local dinner and went back out on the streets. We had kept one flyer and were showing it to people in different businesses to see if they'd seen our family.

No one had.

"Maybe we should give up for today." Anna sighed in dismay.

"Not yet." I said searching the street we were walking to see if there was a building we'd missed. There was, an old warehouse.

"Let's try there." I suggested.

"Micky no one is going to be there." Anna said.

"We have to try at least." I said, taking her hand and pulling her towards the warehouse.

I banged on the door and waited. No one answered so I knocked again. Still no one. I was about to knock a third time when the door creeped open and a masked figure answered.

"Hello?" They asked. The man had a monotone foreign accent. He seemed obviously suspicious but I passed it over.

"Hello." I said warily. "I'm Micky Dolenz from the Monkees and we were trying to find these people." I pointed to the flyer I was holding. "They disappeared two nights ago, have you seen them?"

The man hesitated before speaking. "Uhh...No. Have you tried the police?" He asked.

"Who is it, Charlie?" A voice asked from inside. Anna shuddered and took me by the arm.

Charlie turned his head around. "Just a man asking about a missing family, Eddy."

Anna began pulling on my arm.

"Come on, we should go." She whispered.

"Who is it?" The other man—Eddy--asked.

Charlie told the other man my name and then invited us in.

"No thanks, we really should be turning in for the day." Anna said with a fake smile.

"What?" I asked her.

"Yeah, we've had a full day of searching, and we need to get some rest. We'll come back tomorrow." Anna said and began dragging me away from the warehouse.

When we were far enough away I turned on her.

"What was all that about? What if my family was in there?"

"They are in there." Anna said.

"What?!" I asked. "How do you know?"

Anna stopped me. "Micky I know those men."

"You know them?"

"Yes, I used to date their leader. He was the man we didn't see. The one "Charlie" called "Eddy." I thought I'd seen the handwriting on the note before, and when I heard his voice it came to me." Anna informed me.

"So we're just going to walk away!?" I said in horror.

"We're not walking away for good. He won't hurt Lani or any of them until he has you. He's a wicked man and he was born with a jealous mind. We need to be prepared for what may come if we go through those doors." Anna resumed walking without another word.

I looked from her to the warehouse and made the hardest decision of my life. Her words seemed sound, so I had to trust them. I finally made my decision and ran to catch up with her.

I felt like I had betrayed my daughter. I refused to let Anna comfort me that night when I cried myself to sleep.

And so the plot thickens. Who do you think it is now?