Despondency

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Welcome back, my sweet reader. I've missed you.
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It's been four days since Norma's disappearance, and Alex was losing his mind. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around the fact that Norma, his Norma had seemed to vanish off the face of the earth.

The entire town was looking for her. There were posters, pictures of her around town, the act unnecessary since everyone knew who the cute but nutty motel owner was.

It was a small town, and that's what aggravated Alex the most. When it comes down to it, when they really need feedback from them, from the gossipers that roam these cold streets, no one seems to know a thing.

Alex hasn't gotten any sleep since then. He knew something terrible had happened when Norma didn't show at Brenda's four days ago. His heart sensed something. Something odd and scary.

The feeling has still to shake off although he knows it won't go away until they find her.

72 hours.

Everyone knows what that means. You don't have to be involved in the force. You don't have to be a genius nor private detective to know what's ruled out after that seventy two hour stretch. At this point, everyone is opting to be optimistic about the possibility of finding her alive.

But her husband, one to lose hope easily, is still holding to that last thread. He couldn't remember when was the last time that he had hope; that he believed in something more than faith. His heart was aching to find her. To find her alive. He couldn't understand why this was happening, and he needed answers. He needed them now.

"Alex..." a soft and genuine voice breaks his train of thoughts. Dylan places a cup of coffee in front of him with a turkey sandwich, and Alex is yet to notice his presence in the room. "Eat. Please. Mom would have wanted you to."

"Would have? Why are you talking as if she's dead?" Alex demands in fury, his burning and angry glare excavating holes in his skull.

"I didn't mean to," he apologizes rather quickly. "I just-you have to eat something. You won't find her if you keep this up."

Alex knew that the young boy meant well and that he had the best intentions, but he refused to eat. He couldn't, and why would he? Norma's still missing, and only God knows where.

She's probably scared. Perhaps as petrified as him and he didn't have it in him to eat and pretend that everything was okay. He can't. He can't do it.

"He's right," Emma speaks from the other corner of his office. "You have to eat. I know it's hard, but you need to be strong for her. We can't let you decay like this. She won't like knowing you haven't had a bite to eat, Alex. She's going to kill us when she finds out."

Although Emma didn't talk the same way Dylan did, he still wouldn't budge. He took a deep breath and got up, grabbing his keys.

"Where are you going?" Dylan demands, walking closer to him as if capable of blocking him out and not allowing him to leave the station.

"Out," he stands in front of Dylan, in front of his stepson with the same colored eyes as his wife. He stares at him, wanting to be mad at the kid, wanting to physically remove him out of his way, but he wasn't capable. He needed an outlet. He needed to escape. And seeing that same color blue as the love of his life made him terrified of the possibility of never finding her again.

But he's not as strong anymore, and he needs her. He needs to find her. He has to go find her. Alex bows his head and lets out a painful sob, breaking that tough facade in half along as the heart of the other two individuals in the room.

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