fearless

Chapter 109: Where are You?

Hunger of the Pine- Alt-J
Maddie

I open my eyes to a chill slipping down my spine. It's freezing in the bedroom. I stretch, then move to sit on the edge of the bed. That's when I remember that Ty is gone, and I almost start crying.

I quickly pick up his pillow and hold it close to me, burying my face into it as if it was Ty himself. I scream into the pillow, and it comes out as a rumbling groan. I then turn and put the pillow back on Ty's side of the bed and make the bed.

As I'm pulling the blanket to the top of the bed, I hear the bedroom door creak. My heart leaps as I allow the possibility that it could be Ty slip into my mind, but then I'm let down because Hannah comes walking into the room with her little stuffed bear in her hand, the bear dragging the ground.

I remember when Ty bought Hannah that bear. A little bear for his Hannah Bear.

She rubs her eye, then yawns. "Da?" She asks. I bite my lip before tucking the blanket in, then walking over to Hannah and picking her up. I walk over to the bed and place her down on it. I then lay next to her.

"Da?" She asks, "Miss Da!" She says loudly.

"Sh, Hannah. Da's at Zeze's." I say, trying to come up with some reason that Ty wouldn't have said Good Morning to Hannah this morning.

"ZEZE!" She claps, her eyes brightening. Hannah and Zeke have always had one of those special bonds. Zeke can always make Hannah laugh, no matter what.

"Now, let's go have breakfast. Just you and I since Dylan is still asleep." I say, then help Hannah off the bed. She toddles out and makes her way down the stairs as I put the bear back into her room.

We both walk down the stairs, and then turn into the kitchen. "Here, Hannah." I say, then pick her up and put her on the couch. I turn on the television and bright colored shapes pop up on the screen—same channel as last night.

"Yee!" Hannah cheers. I kiss her little cheek and then walk into the kitchen to make pancakes. These will have chocolate chips in them, just for Hannah.

I hear Hannah giggling from the living room, and I think, there's only one thing that could make this morning better.

Ty.

>> Ty

I open my eyes to a man hovering over me. I scream, but the man shushes me. "It's time for testing. Get up." He says brutally and then grabs my arm, dragging me out of the cell. The deadbolt clicks behind me, and suddenly we're in a narrow hallway.

I move to stand up, tired of being dragged, and ask the man where we're going. "To talk to Jeanine." He says, and then we arrive at a set of big blue doors.

He punches in a code on a small square machine, and then the machine scans his face. "Access Granted." The machine says, and then he handcuffs me as the doors open with a squeal of the release of steam.

The man holds my neck and my hands as he walks me into a white room, with a wall of glass to the right. Jeanine stands near one of the white walls, pressing buttons on a remote. Wires dangle from the ceiling and I realize that this is the lab from the footage Maddie was showing me a few weeks ago.