Tide

Chapter 31

Piper, my mother and I sat in a vehicle. Isaac and Harper were sitting in the one trailing behind us. We had all agreed to do one last search around Thailand before leaving, just in case.

I had my hopes up. Maybe I would find my father.

On the ride there, Piper continuously teased me. Soon after I'd seen the spider and kissed Isaac, Piper walked outside and saw us. "So, you are Isaac's girlfriend."

"Who is?" my mother interrupted.

My face heated up. "I am... Sort of. It doesn't matter though."

"Doesn't matter?" Mom asked.

"Well yeah. I'm never gonna see him again."

"Don't be so negative, Ava."

"Yeah, Ava. Really." Piper chuckled.

"Long distance relationships don't usually work out, you know that."

"Yeah, okay. Whatever." Piper sighed, "You guys are cute together."

The vehicle slowed and I hopped out, following the others and observing my surroundings. We were near one of the hospitals, and I could see people staring at the photographs pasted along the walls and roaming though the maze of bodies.

It was nothing I hadn't seen before, but an uneasy feeling stirred inside my stomach. The images were disturbing, something I could never get over. 

I squinted at the hot Thailand sun. It's radiant beams had seeped into my skin over the past couple of weeks -- and now it was all red and blotchy and it stung. Isaac's skin looked the same -- it was all sunburned and scratched up. The long cut across his face had scabbed over and was healing, but I could tell that it was going to leave a scar.

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We searched Thailand for hours, looking in all of the nearby hospitals and shelters. There were still no signs of Dad.

By then, Mom said it was best to just head home. She made it clear that if he was alive, he would come home. Her words made sense, and something told me there was no reason to keep my hopes up.

We left an hour later with the same people we had arrived with, and got a ride to our next destination:

The airport.