SOFT SPOT// h.s

1.9 ~ "I'm sorry Miss"

Harry just stood dumb faced and looked at me, his eyes wide with shock. "What do you mean she's gone?" He asked me, as if unable to understand what I was saying.

"Gone Harry! Do you not understand English language? Gone, lost, temporarily misplaced, asta la vista?!" I yelled, close to the point of yanking my hair out.

Harry ran a hand through his own hair and looked at me worriedly, pulling his lip between his teeth, which momentarily side tracked my brain.

"Come on, she can't have gone far," he assured me as he beckoned me to follow him out of the room.

My heart leapt in my chest every time I saw a small human as we frantically scanned every corner or the motel Ellie could have wandered to.
We were practically flipping over tables as I shouted myself hoarse yelling her name. I didn't care that other residents may have been sleeping, but I was determined, and nothing could stop me until I found that little devil.

Millions of theories raced through my head as I pictured tall men in black trench coats leading her away by the hand. I shuddered as the image of my daughter's confused and terrified innocent face flooded my mind. It took almost everything I had not to burst out crying and screaming at everyone.

Harry evidently saw my misery and led me gently by the wrist down the creaky old stairs to the inefficient reception.

The receptionist had that same lazy expression on her face, speaking with a slow drawl, not caring about the incident at all.

"Look, please. She's my daughter. Can you just please, please just-" I begged pathetically, after she had refused a search party, just before Harry cut me off.

"Listen here. You're going to get some security to find her daughter right fucking now. Got it?" He growled threateningly at her, leaning in close to her made up face, the orange foundation contrasting with her pale skin.

The young girl's face turned understandably unsettled as her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "S-sure. I'll get t-them now," she stammered, hiccupping.

Harry scanned my distraught face and turned me round to face him, both his hands on each of my shoulders as he stooped his head down to meet mine.

"Clary, stop stressing. We're going to find her ok? She can't have gone off too far. I promise you, she'll be perfectly fine, ok?" He said, his smooth voice low and soothing.

I nodded, but I still found myself unable to shake off the nagging feeling of dread and anxiety. I watched as two burly security men began to walk around, speaking into walkie-talkies with grim faces.

I nervously chewed on my nails, seeing as I had picked off all the nail polish already. The habit was disgusting, but it kept my mind off things. Well, no it didn't. Not really.

I tried counting sheep in my head, anything to keep me occupied. I attempted several times to translate song lyrics into Spanish and to count the number of tiles on the lobby floor.

Harry sat with his knees wide apart and his hands clasped together between them, his head hanging low as his eyes studied the uninteresting ground. He probably didn't even care that Ellie was lost; in fact, he would probably be grateful for one less mouth to feed and listen to.

I was transfixed in a daydream when I felt a firm tap on my shoulder. I knew it couldn't be Ellie or Harry, but my head whipped around eagerly.

Towering over me, was one of the stern faced security officers, his dark sunglasses shading his eyes, which were presumably grim.

"I'm sorry miss, but we can't find her anywhere in the building. We think that the child is no longer on the premises. We have alerted authorities and the police and they are already on their way," he explained.