Fortitude

Chapter 12: Hope

Song that inspired me to write this chapter:

Come To This - Nathalie Taylor

Tyler's POV

I walk to the kitchen and find Valerie sitting at the table, holding Angela's pink teddy bear between her trembling hands, staring at it with shock, and loathing. As if all of this was the teddy bear's fault.

She's barely spoken a few words since the police came, she was in a state of complete and utter shock.

I told her to go sit down and that I would deal with them.

They asked a lot of questions, one that particularly stood out.

"Has anyone threatened you recently?"

Jake's face came to my mind.
He said it wasn't over.

And I told them. I told the police the whole story about Jake knocking at our door, out of nowhere, wanting to be a part of Angela's life.

I told them about my suspicions of him being an addict and about his not so convincing story of his brother's sudden death.

They asked for his last name, and Val said it was Nelson. That was pretty much the only thing she'd said for the past two hours.

I clear my throat, letting her know I was here, and she immediately stands up, looking at me with hope in her beautiful eyes.

"Anything new?!"

I look down at my feet, shaking my head.

I hate to crush her hope.

"Not yet," I manage to say.

Her eyes start watering, and I actually feel kind of relieved. She is finally showing some kind of reaction. Watching her stare at that teddy bear so coldly for two hours straight was beginning to scare me.

"But they will find her, won't they? I mean, she can't be that far, right?"

"I hope so," is all I can say.

Hope is all we have now, and the only thing to  hold on to.

Hope that we would find our daughter.
Hope that she was okay.

Valerie suddenly snaps. She takes a kitchen knife and starts stabbing at the pink teddy bear, over and over again, completely destroying the thing.

Tears are now running down her cheeks as she continues her assault at what is left of the teddy bear, repeating under her breath the same sentence over and over again.

"Come back. Come back. Come back."

Slowly, I step towards her, saying: "Calm down, Val. Put the knife down."

She doesn't even seem to be hearing me.

I come up behind her and cover her small, trembling hands with mine, stopping her frantic movement. She let go of the knife and it falls to the table, next to the bits that are left of the damn bear.

She turns to me, sobbing, and buries her head against my chest.

I wrap my arms around her as her breathing slows.