Unfound

12

After talking to the police yet again, I was in low spirits. Days had already gone by and I hadn't heard back form O'era and the original - though incredibly uninterested - cop that took my statement in the back room was silent as well.I didn't expect much from him or his partner, but I thought they's at least call me to tell me that O'era had taken over. Though they might have known that I was aware of that already.

I tried calling everyone I could think of for updates, but they said they couldn't disclose any information about an open case. I was just relieved to hear the case was still open for investigation, someone had actually listened to me. They weren't proving helpful yet, but I have hopeful that they would find something soon.

I went back to campus, not getting any rest. I was ready to jumpstart an investigation of my own, though I didn't quite know where to even begin. I knew that if this went on long enough, I would also have to contact her parents, but I wanted to hold off for the time being. After what they went through the first time, I didn't think they'd be able to handle it again. They wouldn't let her leave their house for months after they had gotten her back, taking her out of classes for homeschooling. I couldn't imagine what they'd do if she was going to college states away from them. They even took the precaution of changing her name. As a child, everyone knew her as Caroline, but now it's legally Kara. I didn't know what changing her name would save her from as the guy was in jail and Kara knew what had happened to her, but that was just how careful they were. I didn't want them to drop everything and come up, they couldn't do anything either.

Laying in my bed, arms supporting my head, I stared at the ceiling as Kara would sometimes. She would bring her stargazing inside, making constellations of her own in the unique patterns of the ceiling. I tried to do the same thing she would, but my brain couldn't connect the patterns. I was never as creative as she was, unable to visualize the images she saw clearly. She would always point out the most random things in the clouds and even after turning my head in near impossible angles I could almost never see them too. I smiled to myself. She was definitely the creative one, all I could see was a bland, textured ceiling. I was picturing her wherever she was doing the same, though she'd probably have more luck creating images than I was. I'd hoped she was still safe and comfortable enough to use her wonderfully creative and unique brain.

The days had begun to spin together into a blur. What felt like years had been five days, but each day goes by in seconds. I had talked to what felt like the whole campus population, but no one knew or could recall seeing Kara talking to a strange guy in the cafeteria the day before her kidnapping. All of her friends were frightened and offering their assistance, urging me to call her parents. I couldn't bring myself to do it, not yet. I'd told myself I'd give the police a week before calling them, but the time was coming fast. I didn't have a lot left to go on and I couldn't let them live their daily lives when their daughter could be in danger.

I had stopped going to my classes. My time consumed with finding Kara, and only that. I had talked to the cafeteria staff, requesting any video feed they could offer me of that day. Watching on fast-forward I couldn't find anything of real use, until 4 O'clock that Saturday. I paused the video, dumbfounded to see my girlfriend on the screen, lively as she was, practically gleaming even then. She was facing the camera, looking as perfect as ever. Letting loose a breath, I played the feed again.

She began to walk through the cafeteria, the usual struggle for finding something that actually looked appetizing this point in time of the semester. She ran into someone. Light enough where they could have ignored it, but he stopped her and she began to talk to him. I couldn't see his face from the view the camera was on, his back to the film. I flipped from camera view to camera view, but he kept himself well out of sight. I went back to the first video with the clearest view of her. I watched the conversation develop, they shook hands. She laughed at something he said, though it was probably just her being polite. I saw a strange look appear on her face, she has a mixed look of confusion and concern. I paused the video again. I had no doubt this was the man who took her, and the look on her face confirmed it. I never saw Kara look confused or concerned such as this, even in he classes she worked hard and concentrated, but never made this face. Something was off about him and she knew it, she was just too polite to leave him lonely. I punched the desk, anger dwelling inside of me. If he put one hand on her I swear to god I was going to kill him.

I gave myself a second to breathe and calm down before continuing through the tapes, I had to see his face. When they began to walk, I paused the video every two seconds, flipping through the angles to try and find something. From his back, all I could tell was that he was fairly tall and lanky with dark black hair, but that wouldn't be enough, I needed more. Becoming frustrated, I slammed on the keyboard, somehow causing all of the screens to pop up at once. I watched him walk out, never getting a look at his face. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I stopped the tapes, and rewinded, stopping it as they passed the salad bar. I watched carefully and stopped it again. The video playing on the top right corner caught something. I rewinded again and hit play. Stop. There wasn't much, maybe nothing useful, but it had caught the side of his face. His hair covered his eyes and his head was low, but it was there, on the tapes.

I leaned back in my chair at the distance right before it would topple me out and onto the floor. I'd seen enough cop shows to know that a half profile isn't enough to help much and no one would show up on the police database because of it. But, if an art student could potentially fill in the face from the fragment I had, that might do more damage. I thought about my options for a second and decided on one thing, the police wouldn't be of much help until I could give them a jumpstart, and this completed profile photo was the best option I had.

I called up Kara's friend Elizabeth who was majoring in art studies and asked if she'd be willing and able to create a completed sketch of a person by their side profile. She tried to tell me the sciences behind it, explaining the theories and the ability to mirror the image. I didn't understand any of it, but all I heard was a yes. I asked her to come to my room as soon as possible so she could whip out the sketch and I could bring it to O'era as well as the tapes. She agreed and, like all of the others, told me that she was sorry about Kara and was willing to do anything to help. I thanked her and hung up, knowing it would take her a few minutes to gather supplies and make her way over to my dorm.

I leaned back in my chair again, satisfied enough with the slow progress I was making. I stared at my screen, taking in every single detail about Kara. She was smiling, per usual, her sparkling eyes noticeable from even the cafeteria cameras. I smiled back as if she were looking at me. I then closed my eyes and drafted a message to her in my head. I knew she would never see it or hear it or whatever, but I was hoping she could sense that I was thinking about her, and maybe it would help calm her. It was a long shot, but it was all I could think to do while I waited for the artist who would give me my suspect.