Supernatural in Real Life 5

Chapter 32

It's about fifteen minutes later when I finally give up. It's not a very big house, so I don't know how I haven't found him yet. I sigh to myself and go over to drink my punch. Which cup is mine? Right, the one I wrote my name on. This is why I love markers. They make life so much easier.
I take a couple sips of my punch. Okay, more like almost the entire cup, but can you blame me? I haven't had this in so long. My mom used to make it for parties, but I haven't been over here in forever. It's really energizing.
I notice Richard nearby, chatting with Julia. I walk up to him quickly. Maybe he can help.
"Hey, Rich, you know Rob's here, right?"
He nods. "I've heard, yeah."
"Have you seen him lately?"
"Nope. Sorry."
Great. Just great. I already lost him, and he's been here maybe half an hour. I sigh and take another sip of punch. At least I have this. Suddenly, Rich reaches out and takes it from me. And now I don't even have that.
"What the hell, man?" I ask, annoyed.
"Don't drink this," he warns me.
I roll my eyes. "My mom made this. I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't be trying to kill me."
"No, that's not..." He glances at Julia, clearly frustrated that he can't say whatever he wants to say. 
"It's cool," I assure him. "She knows."
"Oh, thank Dad."
I tilt my head in confusion. "Gabriel? What are you —"
"This isn't punch," he interrupts. "Well, not just punch. There's something in it. I can't put my finger on it, but it's powerful."
"But why —" I cut myself off as I realize what it must mean. "Rob."
Gabriel nods. "Probably." He glances in the almost empty cup. "Please tell me you didn't drink all this."
"Would you like me to lie to you?" I offer.
Gabriel groans. "Dammit."
"Bailey, what's going on?" Julia asks, sounding concerned.
"That is an excellent question," I reply. "He said he wasn't here for Macie. Do you think this is what he wanted?"
"Probably," Gabriel agrees. He looks down at me — not doing the awkward avoiding-eye-contact thing we've been doing for a week now on the very rare occasions we've spoken, and takes a step back almost unconsciously.
"What?" I ask.
"You're..." He trails off. "Nothing. Never mind."
"Okay... I'm gonna go find Lucifer then, tell him that the witch hunt is over."
"Uh, yeah. Good — good idea," he agrees.
I walk away quickly, because things just kept getting more and more awkward as the seconds passed. Julia follows me quickly.
"What's going on?" she asks again.
"I don't know," I tell her honestly. "I'm sure it's nothing." That part is less true; I'm not sure about anything right now. I just don't want to worry her. "Go find Natalie. You said she's coming, right? You two go hang out and I'll tell you when I figure everything out."
"Alright," she agrees before walking away hesitantly.
I spend the next fifteen minutes in search of Lucifer, but I can't find him, either. He must be looking for Rob wherever I'm coming from. Finally, I give up the search and just pray to him to meet me in the kitchen. This ends up getting me stuck in a ten minute conversation with my aunt, whom I haven't seen in a year. When I finally do get away, I realize I have a problem. Lucifer didn't come.
"Misha!" I say urgently, hurrying up to him in the most casual way possible. He's the nearest person from the group that I can find.
"What's up?"
"I can't find Lucifer," I tell him, panic laced in my voice.
"So? He probably ditched. I mean, you heard him. Christmas isn't his type of thing."
"But I told him I needed to see him. He would have come."
"Oh." I can see that Misha understands the issue here. "What do you think..."
"Rob," we both say at once.
"Dammit!" I mutter. "How are we supposed to find him?"
"I don't know," Misha admits. "Um... Angel Radio? Cas, can you...? Thanks." There's a pause that stretches on for about a minute or so. "He's not answering."
I groan in frustration. "Okay, um... Maybe he just doesn't want to talk to Cas. Um... Rich is over there. Maybe Lucifer will talk to Gabriel."
"Worth a shot."
We hurry over to Rich, who seems startled at our sudden appearance.
"We need to talk to Gabriel," Misha tells him.
"I'm here," Gabriel announces. "What do you need?"
I can't help but notice how he only looks at Misha, completely ignoring me. I can't say I hate it, even if I did love talking to him.
"Not answering," Gabriel tells us. Well, tells Misha. "And he wouldn't ignore me. We've got to find him."
"But how?" I ask. "If we can't talk to him..."
"We'll figure it out," Misha replies. "Gabe, can you track him?"
"No, he's warded."
"So what are we going to do?" I ask. "We have to find him."
"Dammit, Bailey, I know we have to find him!" Gabriel snaps. "Shut up and let me think."
I flinch at the harshness in his voice. Gabriel never snaps at me. Gabriel never snaps at anyone. It's strange to hear, and sort of scary.
"Well?" Misha prompts after a while.
"I don't — I don't know," Gabriel says. "Usually we have something to go off of, but now... He could be anywhere. He doesn't even have to be on earth. Um... I just — I don't know what to do, where to look."
"Then who would?" Misha asks. "Could Michael help, do you think? He's the only one I can think of that could do it any better."
Gabriel shakes his head. "No, not Michael... God. Maybe he could help."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's call God."