He's An Arrangement

December 17th

December 17th

I woke up to the sounds of Evelyn crying. When your daughter is born under such horrifying conditions, hearing her cries in the early morning is the least of your concerns. I groaned still, rubbing my eyes and rolling over in the bed, as quiet as I could. Not to disturb Emma.

My feet hit the cold wooden floors and I grimaced, "Carpet would've been better," I whispered to myself, the floorboards creaking underneath my weight.

She flailed her tiny arms around, kicking her feet as she did. Evelyn laid in a pink and brown portable crib, because as we had discovered last night, I'm not ready to leave her alone.

I lifted her from the makeshift bed and held her against my chest, bouncing her and making an odd shooshing noise into her ear. Her tiny hand curled around my shoulder, holding onto my skin as best she could.

"Go back to sleep, princess," I mumbled. Gods, I wish I could be asleep. It's only the second night, maybe I'll fall into a schedule. I'll get used to being woken up at three in the morning.

She stopped crying, her eyelids shut and mouth ajar. Evelyn makes weird sounds in her sleep, likes she trying to snore but doesn't have the energy to. I wonder if all babies do that. You're going delusional, Killian.

I sat at the edge of the bed with my daughter, rocking side to side to keep her asleep. She cooed, and I smiled at the touch of her body. Evelyn's still so tiny at barely six pounds, and I almost want to say half that weight is all the curly black hair on her head. It's thick like Milah's was, with waves and loops.

The fact that she'll never see her mother does sadden me, but that was on Milah. She risked Evelyn's life.

I looked over on the other side of the bed to see if I had woken up Emma.

But I didn't see anything.

I stood up, placing Evelyn back in her crib. I  double checked the bed again.

Absolutely nothing.

I knocked on the bathroom door.

No response.

The door cracked open with a noise, the lights were turned off, and no one was in there. 

I ran down the stairs, checking every room in our house.

I checked Evelyn's nursery. Backyard. Porch. Driveway. Car.

Call David.

I ran back inside to our bedroom, a small bit of me wishing I'd find her upstairs giggling, saying that she totally fooled me. I'd let out a sigh of relief and curl my arms around her and kiss her forehead. We'd fall back into the comfort of our white sheets and we'd go back to sleep, trying to get as close as we could to one another.

An empty bed met me, and the knot grew tighter, pulling and tugging at my insides. I picked up my cellphone from the nightstand, punching in David's number. It rang four times before he picked up, "Killian! It's three in the morning!" He whisper-yelled into the phone. Probably because his wife was fast asleep next to him.

"I'm sorry, mate. I'm sorry. I wanted to ask if Emma was there? Did she stay with you and Mary-Margaret last night?" I tapped my foot on the wood, the phone being balanced on my shoulder as I looked for a t-shirt.

Movement was heard through the phone, "I... I didn't see her last night. I'll check again, though."

"Okay," I breathed, placing it on the nightstand for a second as I slipped on a dark purple t-shirt. I flicked on the light, mumbling an apology to Evelyn as I woke her from her slumber.

With the device pressed against my ear again, I awaited David's response. I knew what it would be, but that doesn't stop me from  being shocked at the words, "Emma's not here, Killian. What's going on?" David asked, and worry seemed to slide into his tired voice.

"I think Emma's missing," I said the words I didn't think I would ever have to. But there they came. They were cool, but tasted salty in my mouth. They made my tongue click against the roof of my tongue, heart stopping when I said her name followed by "missing". She's not missing, I can almost feel her presence behind me. I want to turn around and grab onto the side of her face, kiss her lips and stroke her hair. Hold my legs close to her's and smile until my face can't smile anymore. 

I snapped back at the sound of David's voice, "Regina, Ruby, and Robin all slept here because we were having a get-together."

Yes, Emma and I couldn't go because Evelyn is still settling in. Maybe she's on her way there now, no, it's three in the morning. Why would she go now? What if she got in a wreck on the way there? The thought of Emma sitting in a hospital bed, not being able to move or even say her name caused me to tense up in fear, "I'm going to call the police, David. I'll tell you if they have anything."

That's what I did. I called the police who said that I should wait to file a missing person report, "She's got a crazy ex-boyfriend, I'm worried for her safety, officer," I had told him.

"Everyone has crazy ex's, son," he had said in response, followed by a yawn.

I paced the floor, my face turning red. How the bloody hell can they not help me? "I know something's wrong. He had threatened her, just a few days ago. December 8th, I believe."

"Sir, there's nothing on his record. He's a successful business man with millions of dollars. You're a brand new American citizen who just called me at three in the morning. Are you on something, son?"

I grabbed at my hair with my other hand, "On something? I'm calling the police to file my... my... fiance," I still said it, maybe because that's the only comfort I have right now, "... to file my fiance as a missing person."

He sighed into the phone, "I can send out some volunteers here to search for her, but I need you to come by the station for questioning, okay?"

"Yes, thank you, officer. I'll be there soon, just have to drop my daughter off at a friend's house. Thank you."

The phone call ended with a click, signaling that it had been recorded. I wonder if the local news station will play it along with a segment about a young woman who went missing on an early December morning. Will I have to show up and plea into a microphone for someone to return her? For even just a tip?

Come home, Emma. Come home. 

I'm writing the next chapter now, I love being on a role!! 

Honestly, these are my favorite chapters to write. The chapters that cover just the span of an hour. An hour that can drag on and on, the character is in complete agony and their mind races. I absolutely love internal dialogue.  It forces me to stretch my imagination and fall into their mind. How do I express their feelings through my words? What are they doing? Are they collected, or in hysterics? Anyways, fun chapter to write. 

-Rose