CHAPTER 57

  It was a large dry and extremely hot rocky landscape. They walked in a single file,not talking but their thoughts pulling on to each other. Just like it always was. No conversation but it was like they were in other's thoughts. Understanding, lighting up with love, their passionate love for each other swaying around them in a breeze that they weren't even sure where it came from. Their surrounding was completely desolate and the only living thing was them. It was like they had managed to create the very best of them out of nothing and nothing else in the world mattered. Being there, together with absolutely no clue of what would happen tomorrow but very happy in that moment. A special moment than they had ever had. She stopped and turned around. There she was,the woman of her dreams standing right in front of her. Her long dark hair being blown all over her face by the harsh wind but her smile fighting against it. Her smile so wide and loving, everything she would have ever dreamed of. Her soul was right where it was supposed to be. Her forever home and she didn't want anything else in the world besides this moment. She was happy,they were happy  and that was all that mattered. She stretched out her hand to her smiling equally. The tips of their fingers brushed but before she could completely grip her hand,they heard a scream. Loud enough to be heard thousand of miles across the land. They look at each other in panic then turned. Beyond a ridge a short distance away from where they were standing,a little boy appeared running as fast as he could towards them. His clothes tattered and covered in dirt all over. The hair on his head was a mess. 

                    "Mommy!" he shouted at the top of his voice.

She turned to her in question.

                "My son!" It was surprising at first but then something inside her opened up. She did know about him just that the picture wasn't coming to her clearly. "I have to go save him!" The woman said again with a panic filled voice. Right then she knew she had to do something. She couldn't just continue standing there helplessly with a scared woman beside her and a child running away from whatever it was he was running from. The woman made as if to go but she stopped her.

                 "No! I will go,you stay here. I will save him." With that she kissed her briefly but sensually then started off quickly towards the boy. She patted around her body but found no weapon. She ran regardless.

                    "Mommy!" the boy called again but she didn't hear the rest of the words he said. The wind was blowing past her, pushing the words past her before she could even hear them. Her determination to couldn't let her focus on anything else. Each step took her closer to him but it was like it was taking forever from the moment she lifted it  off the ground to the moment it hit the ground again. A light struck through the air in lightning speed even though the sky was clear. It was then she saw his face and recognized it. 

                   "Teddy! Hold on I'm coming for you!" she shouted and tried to move more faster. But just before she could reach him,he tripped and fell but he continued looking up beyond her,where she had come from. He lifted his arm weakly and when she knelt beside him he looked into her eyes and said almost in a whisper.

                    "Please save my mommy."

                    "What?" she asked in confusion then turned around immediately. A sandstorm had already gathered in the distance and was moving towards where she had left the woman. It was moving at a speed she couldn't match.  She picked the boy and started running back towards her. She wanted to shout to her,to warn her of the danger but her throat went dry. The point was not the sandstorm,that she could get through but this particular one looked like a monster wanting nothing but blood. Just a moment ago they had been so happy, afraid of nothing. Just some seconds  and everything had turned into a total mess. And then all of a sudden, she saw the face of the woman being magnified and every part of her face made clear. She stopped abruptly,her mouth going wide in shock. Not because of what had just happened but because of what she saw in the woman's face. She was smiling. It seemed like she knew what was going to happen to her and she had already accepted that. She was not scared. She looked at her eyes. There were tears but she could see beyond that. She saw love and everything she had always seen in them. Love,care and full trust. She immediately understood what was happening. She tried to talk but no word came out so instead, she stretched her hand out as if it would help with anything or maybe pull towards her like a magnet. The woman shook her head sadly. Then the unexpected thing happened. The ground below her opened up apart and formed a ravine. Deep and scary. It happened so fast and yet so slow. It was like the time was being toggled between fast forward and slow motion. She fell. That was when her voice came back to her. She screamed.

                       "Carly!"

         Dylan woke up with a start. She felt a  cold sweat trickle down her face then realized it wasn't just her face. Her whole body was drenched in sweat. What sort of dream was that? She looked at the time on her phone. Some minutes past seven in the morning. She didn't remember the last time she had slept that long. She held her face in her hands and closed her eyes. 

  Her bedroom door swung open and she looked up quickly. She never locked it, just in case of any emergency. She however didn't expect to see Teddy standing there. He looked sleepy. No, worried? He had the teddy bear she had bought him when he was in the hospital. She sat up more attentively.

                  "Hey bud, what's up?"

                   "I came to see if my mom was here,"he stated.

                "No, she isn't. She is not in your bedroom?" she asked the obvious question. Teddy shook his head. "Maybe she is in the living room or the kitchen?"

                  "She is not there either. I looked for her."

   She panicked as she remembered the dream she had just had. She however didn't want to alarm him so she composed herself.

                  "Maybe she just went out to get something,"she said but really hoped that was not what had happened. "She will be back." 

                      "I am scared. I think she is not okay."

    That statement sent her heart racing quadruple. She got up and went to him. She knelt down in front of him and held his arms firmly.

                    "You don't have to be scared. Your mom is okay." When he didn't seem convinced, she went on. "Tell you what,how about we call her together to know where she is?"

  He went back into his pajama pockets and retrieved Carly's phone and handed it to her.

                  "She left her phone."

She looked down and swallowed bitter tears.

                  "Okay,"she stood up. "Come on,we will try to see if she is with Uncle Carl." That she said trying to remain as calm as she could. Teddy obeyed and followed her. She lifted him up and settled him on her study chair then took the other one. Kenny was still sleeping on the couch, cuddled up to his knees as if he was cold. She wanted to laugh but the bigger part of her didn't feel like this was the time to make fun. She looked back at her phone and dialed. She took Teddy's hand and squeezed it lightly as she waited for Carl to pick up. He did when the call was almost ended.

                  "Hey,is Carly with you?" she asked even before he could say anything.

               "No,I thought she was supposed to be with you," Carl replied but his voice was filled with worry. "Should I be worried?"

              "No,"she replied but knowing Carl,that would go through one ear and leave through the other. "Are you at work yet?"

                 "Yeah, I just got here but I can call Emily and ask her if maybe she stopped by when I left."

                "Okay do that and call me immediately."

She hang up the phone but didn't put it down. She looked at Teddy who was waiting for her hopefully to say something. After two minutes passed, the phone rang. She picked up before it could ring fully once. 

                    "What did she say?"

                      "She isn't there. Emily is about to come to you." She closed her eyes and sighed. Was her nightmare beginning to come true? And why had Carly left the apartment without her phone or why hadn't she even said she was going out? She didn't realize that she hadn't said anything to Carl and hadn't hang up either until he called her loudly. "What the fuck is going on Dylan?" 

She shook her head as if he could see her. "It's probably just a false alarm. I just woke up and she was gone. Teddy said she woke up early and left the room. She will be back."

                   "Have you tried calling her?"

   She sighed,"She left her phone."

                     "Oh God! This is not happening. Tell me this is not happening. I have got a really bad feeling about this."

                  "Yeah,tell me about it." Teddy seemed to understand what was going on and she had to try really hard to appear normal just for his sake but everything felt wrong. ‘Where are you Carly?’ she murmured under her breath. Kenny stirred and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

                    "I hope you two weren't there all this time watching me sleep because that is creepy as hell." Clearly he hadn't seen that she was on the phone. "Sorry,my bad,"he whispered.

                     "Dylan? Are you listening to me?" Carl shouted on the other end and she jumped. "I am coming over, okay?"

                    "Okay." Her head was filled with multiple emotions that made her too confused to argue. She ended the call and dropped the phone on the desk then stood up and started pacing around the room.

                   "Uh-oh, what happened?" Kenny asked. She looked him then at Teddy. She didn't want to say it in front of him but she knew he already understood so there was no need to hide.

                     "It's Carly,we woke up and she wasn't here. She left her phone so there is no way of knowing where she is." She could have used the word ‘missing’ but that was a huge word. But what if it was true? What if she had been abducted? No, she shook the thoughts off. She would not go there just yet. Maybe Carly would show up after some minutes. Yeah, maybe was the best word to use.

                     "Well,no one could have probably taken her from the house with all of us inside. She probably went out to get something. Relax and let's wait for a few more minutes." 

   Kenny's calmness didn't really reassure her. Infact it made her even more worried. She resumed her pacing. She wasn't sure she would manage to sit and ‘wait’.

                        ★★★

    Carly's eyes opened and closed through the light and darkness. It hurt to open them and so she blinked rapidly trying to get used of the light. She felt a painful sting in her head, almost as if she had been hit. Hit? It came back to her slowly, she remembered standing in front of the apartment block where Dylan lived. Oh yeah, Dylan. This was definitely not Dylan's apartment as she looked around with squinted eyes. She was sitting on the floor but there was nothing else in sight except for the floor. At least as far as her eyes could let her see. She then remembered Kelley standing before her. Her smile that had immediately turned sour moments before she felt something hit her from behind. She tried to pull herself up but was held in place. Realized dawned on her immediately, she was captured. She had been abducted. Her eyes opened wide of their own accord and with all the energy she could gather, she screamed at the top of her lungs. However,all she heard was her own echo hitting back at her. Where was she? Someone pulled a chair before her. She looked up and met Kelley's eyes.

                  "Good, you are finally awake. That blow must have been really bad."