Saving The Undead - Book 2

Chapter 8 - Unsettling Doubts

Bleed out - Isak Danielson

When did everything get so complicated?

So disturbing and just plain wrong? Maybe it was her fault, maybe she should have known. But when Andrea woke up to find her daugther gone, the less than kind words of the previous night came back like a vicious blow to the chest. Knocking the wind from her lungs and forcing her to her knees.

Did she miss the signs? Did she ignore them for far too long?

She blasted through Sydney's room, going through all her drawers and cupboards. She even lifted the mattress but found nothing. Safe for a few items of clothing and all her toiletries that were missing, nothing pointed to where her daughter might have gone, or why.

Andrea ran her hands through her hair, frantically looking around the room, begging to spot something she missed. But there was nothing. Sydney was far too smart for that. Sometimes too smart for her own good.

Grabbing her phone and running downstairs to the kitchen, Andrea tried dialing Sydney's number. Pacing back and forth to curb the ever growing worry that was gnawing at her insides.

After Sydney's phone went to voicemail for the third time in a row, Andrea kicked the kitchen island, smashing her delicate toes in the process.

"Shit!" She cried as tears welled in her eyes. Some, for the pain. But most out of fear.

Then she did something she promised she wouldn't. She called Brice Thomas. He picked up almost immediately and Andrea didn't wait to tell him what's going on.

"Syd's gone. I need you here right now."

Brice didn't wait a second to respond. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

After the call, Andrea nervously paced by the front door. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her mind from going to dark places. If only she had listened or tried harder to speak to Sydney.

A knock sounded at the door and Andrea barreled towards it. Brice stood on the other end, dark shadows marring his features. A new fear spiked in Andrea's system. What if he knew? What if he was bringing her even worse news than her daugther being missing.

"Andrea." He said on a whisper.

"She's gone, Brice. What am I going to do?"

"Look, there's a lot I need to tell you. Can I come in?"

Andrea nodded her head and stepped aside so that Brice could walk past her and into the house. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop the worry gnawing at her insides, it was useless.

She followed Brice into the living room and sat down on the sofa, with her body ramrod straight. Brice sat across from her, his troubled expression putting Andrea on full alert.

Andrea sighed. "Tell me what's going on."

Brice rubbed his hands over his tired face before leaning his elbows on his knees. "Honestly? I have no idea. First we find that body in the woods and they rule it as an animal attack. Now the Biotech fire is ruled as an accident. Something isn't right."

"An accident? How? When?"

"Chief told us this morning. We've officially been taken off the case."

Andrea processed the new information but couldn't quite understand what Brice was saying. There were so many things that just didn't make sense.

"But why would Syd run then?"

"Are you sure she did?"

"Her things are gone, Brice," Andrea sighed.

None of this made any sense. Then again for the past two months nothing made sense. Andrea tried telling herself that Sydney was going through a phase but that no longer held any clout. How could she have been so stupid? Her daughter, the focused and driven girl who was so much older than her age suggested, would never have changed so drastically if nothing was wrong.

"I know you don't want to hear it," Brice began, "but it might be time to acknowledge that Syd lied about not knowing anything."

"Brice, don't—"

Brice leaned forward and grasped both Andrea's hands in his own. "Andrea, she lied. She knew both Peter and Noah. She knew that fire was no accident and she lied to you about it. What does that tell you?"

"It could have been shock, you don't know that she lied!"

"Listen to yourself. I'm not saying Syd did anything wrong. But you know her better than anyone. What would it take for her to lie about this?"

"You said it was ruled an accident. Why does it matter anyway? It's over now, isn't it?"

Brice shook his haid. "Don't you see? That fire wasn't an accident. It was deliberately set and we have proof of that. The bodies we found were at various stages of decomposition and yet we found smoke in their lungs. And now we're supposed to believe it was an accident? They confiscated all of our evidence, Andrea."

Andrea wanted to scream. She knew Brice was right. Sydney knew something and now she was gone.

"So what are you trying to say, Brice?"

Brice squeezed her hands and for a moment, relief made her insides swim. Because he was here, after how she had treated him. Even after how she had kept him a secret from her children for months.

"I think something is going on, and whatever it is, Syd got herself in the middle of it."

Tears welled in Andrea's eyes as her fear reached a new level. "What am I going to do?" She whispered, while praying Brice could give her the answer she was desperately looking for.

"I don't know. But we'll find her, I promise."

Andrea wasn't so sure. Where would they ever start? Why had she allowed it to come to this? For all that she was worth, Andrea hoped and prayed that her daughter would be safe. That Brice would keep his promise and find her.