SHE (On hold)

Chapter 12- Alternative

Chapter 12

I sit patiently in the waiting room and wait for my dad to come and let me know the good news. The station is awfully quiet at this hour, especially here in the waiting room. Accompanied by rows of chairs and four walls, I attempt to not be overwhelmed by my thoughts. The only thing I hear is the constant buzzing from the lights and the vending machine just outside.

I hear his footsteps nearing. I regulate my breathing and prepare for whatever the news I'm about to hear . The door clicks. " I cannot explain it to you. You have to come and see it for yourself " . And he holds the door open gesturing me for to leave first. This form of sudden communication seems so foreign. " what, you need an invitation? Hurry and leave already" . Guess I was wrong about seeing a change in him.

The drive to the supposed location was quiet.

We arrive at a scene cordoned off by the caution and police tapes. The scene looks very odd, no bloodshed, no damage. In fact, if not for the tapes surrounding the place, it just looks like a normal black muscle car parked at the edge of a cliff that faces the sea.

I let the forensics people have their time before I can have a closer look. When I do get my time, I'm slightly stunned by what I see: clean black leather seats with cleaned interiors and a key, that has been placed on the dashboard. Nothing much I can pick out except on how the key is placed pointing towards the edge of the cliff, then again, that might be coincidental. Well this is disappointing, not a single thing that leads me closer to finding Jake. Then what am I even doing here? I turn to face the sea and let the calm of the breeze slow things down for me.

" this came along, the forensics had to have a closer look for finger prints. I don't get what it says, you have a look" I turn to see my dad, holding a piece of paper, which was all too familiar. The note with a black ribbon attached around it.

I hold the piece of paper in my hand, the paper texture feels the same, no distinct scent, identical ribbons. " where was this found? In the car?"

I ask and begin to open the note and hold it at the corners trying to get as little of my fingerprints on it as possible. Just one line in the whole paper.

The note:

A PLACE WHERE HOPE RISES AND FALLS, YOU MIGHT JUST FIND WHAT YOU NEED AFTER ALL.

All this is fine, but why does it require my presence? Why must I be here to read this? I turn and face my dad who just stared at me blankly all these while.

" why did you even bring me here? How is this linked to me? " I ask in monotone hoping he has a logical reason for wasting my time

" what the hell are you reading boy? Look at it again and read "

I hold the paper on its sides and flip it all around

And then, I realized, my hands had initially covered the important part in the note when I read it the first time around.In the top left hand corner, it clearly stated that this note....................was addressed to me. It could not be more clear than ' To: Ryan Moore' . Well that does explain why I need to be here, but this adds up to a dead end.

" So if there is just a note, then why are the police involved? "

He raises an eyebrow an gives a puzzled expression. Its like as if he's asking me how dumb can I get.

" you've gotten worse kid. Not that you're any good to begin with. A girl by the name of Regan or Tegen came by the other day to file a report for a kid named Jake something. And this beauty of a car you see here was reported missing on the same day. We got a call from a nearby church that they heard gunshots, we followed up and this is where it leads us, the reason why you're here is because the trunk had a little bit of DNA from Jake and obviously the letter. So what do you need to explain? "