“Did you already speak to her friends or boyfriend?”
“No, she’s a quiet girl and stays to herself for the most part. Her life revolves around school and her community projects.”
That sounded like quite a rip roaring good time. No wonder she left. And, what teenage girl didn’t have at least a few friends and confidants?
“Did she ever bring anyone to the house?”
“No, never. Our girl is a serious one and hopes to be in management at the Rare Herbs and Medicinals Company one day. She won’t let anything alter her course,” said Mr. Jamison.
“Did she talk about having trouble with anyone either at school or at Vertical Horizons?”
“No, nothing like that,” said Mrs. Jamison.
“Can I check her room?”
“Is that really necessary?” asked Mr. Jamison.
“It’ll help, but I won’t force you to let me see it.”
“Of course, follow me,” said Mrs. Jamison, who threw a dirty look at her husband.
Mrs. Jamison pointed to a mantle of photos. In each photo was their daughter doing the typical teenage activities, standing at a dance, at the movies, eating at BAM Burger. The key difference from other teens was that she was alone in every single one.
“Floyd means well, but this whole thing has been so hard on us. We just want her back. She’s our only child and means the world to us.”
What I walked into was unexpected. Rather than a drab and boring room – based on the description I had on Emma; it was a virtual haven. Heck, even I wanted to sit down and spend some time here. There was a mural dominating the wall that showed a star scape. It was so realistic, that I touched it to make sure it was only a painting.
“Incredible work,” I said.
“That’s our Emma’s work. Who knows where she got the artistic talent from? Neither me, nor Floyd can draw anything more than a stick figure. And even that is a struggle for me,” said Mrs. Jamison.
I looked over the star scape. It covered the ceiling with shooting stars, sparkling planets, and glowing suns. There was a telescope on her desk and what appeared to be a sketchbook. An easel, with a blank canvas, was set up in a corner. This wasn’t a room. It was a dreamer’s escape. Emma Lynn wasn’t the boringly vanilla girl I thought she was. If I missed this about her, what else have I and her parents not picked up on?
I went to a midnight blue desk. It had three drawers, knickknacks and a computer. Like the rest of the room the theme of space continued. There was a super nova, comets, and sparkling stars on it. Looking closer, I saw swirls of violet, purple and blue through the desk in a pattern reminiscent of a spiral galaxy.
“Did she also paint the desk?” I asked.
“She did. And she’ll get to paint more once you find her,” said Mrs. Jamison.
“Have you gone through her computer for online activity? Or, her emails?” I asked.
“We value and respect boundaries and trust our daughter. We don’t need to snoop,” said Mrs. Johnson.
“Given that she’s missing, every avenue needs to be explored, even her online profile – sites she visits, social media, emails.”
“That is so invasive,” said Mr. Jamison.
Did these people want to find their daughter or not? Despite their naivety and stupidity, they genuinely seemed to love and care for her. Emma Lynn didn’t meet the typical criteria of a runaway like abuse or neglect, drug or alcohol abuse, or mental illness. I also couldn’t see any signs for concern about her home life.
In the scheme of things, working a case felt like a low priority. My father was lurking, we didn’t have a home or place of employment, Jennica had no magic, and Zander was still Zander. With my magic back, it was only a matter of time before the Mage Guild found out about it. Chances are Emma Lynn went on an adventure and would return with stars in her eyes, but ready to live her carefully planned life.
“I want one or both of you to go through her computer. Contact me if you find anything that is odd in any way. It doesn’t matter how small. I’ll follow up with you in a day or so to get any information about what you find. I can also give you an update.”
“Is there anything else we can do?” Mr. Jamison asked me on my way out the door.
“Not at this time. But usually runaways don’t really want to be gone and come back relatively unharmed. Your daughter isn’t a high-risk person and based on what you’ve told me, she’s very obedient.”
Vertical Horizons was my next destination. It was in Downtown, but fairly close to the Mid Line. I knew of it by name, but it wasn’t somewhere that I’d been to.
Little did I know that fate had other plans for me.
9
No sooner did I get into Betty, then my emergency alert com goes off. Was it my father? Dread surged through me on a tide that threatened to overwhelm me. I was still almost an hour from Lochlan’s house.
I hurried back to Rufus and parked the car behind the auto shop. The trip to the fae realm and to Lochlan’s house seemed to take nail-bitingly long hours, when in fact I made excellent time. His house was within sight and it only took me twenty minutes.
I sprinted the remaining distance to the house. Muffin easily kept pace with me. As I reached the house, there were no obvious signs of a threat or any kind of danger. I pulled out my sword and burst through the door. No one friendly or foe greeted me. An eerie silence was all that I found.
“Hey guys? Anyone?” I shouted.
There was no response. The silence worried me more than any sounds of fighting would. What happened to everyone and how could someone breach the wards? I needed to investigate the house and see if I could find anyone
