Finding Aster

Fox - New Information

"Okay, Jack, I understand you were at Lila Deramaine's house party the night your girlfriend disappeared?" Sally Lane asks. She's nice, with brown amber eyes, dark skin and curly dark hair with blonde highlights scraped into a tight ponytail.

"Yes,"  I nod.

"Did you notice anything off about Aster's behavior?" Sally asks, tapping her pencil on the desk.

"Yeah," I recall, "She wasn't herself. She's usually the life of the party, but this this she seemed...overwhelmed. She was wearing a weird dress, not like her at all."

"Could you describe it, please?" she asks, taking notes.

"Pale blue, floral, old, like a couch." I answer.

She stifles a laugh, then turns serious. "We questioned Lila Deramaine. She said you two went on a date on Saturday?"

I turn pale, "I went to her house, to see if I could find anything about Aster."

Detective Lane frowns, "Lila seems to think it was a date."

I sigh, "That was the only way I could get into her house."

Sally Lane smiles, slightly, the edges of her lips curled, "Leave the detective work to us, okay, Jack?"

I nod.

"So, uh, did you find anything?" she asks, bemused.

"No," I answer. "I'm sorry, I'm just really worried about Aster."

Sally Lane nods. "Probably shouldn't be telling you this. In high school my boyfriend went missing. It was really hard, you know, trying to get on with my life and school work when there was always the possibility  he could be out there. But then again, what if he was dead? I would have gone to the same extents as you. That's why I ended up joining the police force. To provide security to those who have lost their loved ones. That doesn't mean it's okay though, to go snooping around in other peoples' business."

I can hear faint crying in another room, and my ears prick up. "Oh my God, is that Kitty? He can't push her too hard! Aster going missing broke her! You need to let her go!"

Detective Lane gets up, and unlocks the door, and lets me go, after turning and locking eyes with me. "You go help her. That's all the questioning for today, but we will call you in again, if necessary. You're a good boy, Jack, I know you'll do the right thing."

I run to Kitty, banging on the door. She's inside, head bowed, tears running down her cheeks. Detective Casterwyre comes to the door. "We'll question her later. Right now, Kitty needs a friend."

I sit down opposite her. "Kitty? Kitty, are you okay?" I shake her hand, "He didn't dig too deep did he?"

She looks up sniffling, here eyes red and puffy. Tears have ran down her cheeks, and leave little trails like snails. "It was dumb. For a second I thought Drew Casterwyre was...was my dad. You know, the eyes, the police station..."

I clasp her hand and look into her eyes, "Kitty, you've been through a lot lately. It's okay, I'm sure Detective Casterwyre understands. He was your dad's friend."

Kitty looks down. "I just really miss him. And Aster. I feel like my life's just falling part. I lost two of the people closest to me, and I'm never going to have them back."

I come over to her side of the table, wrapping her in a big hug. "It's going to be okay, Kitty. I promise. We've got Midnight and Eilon helping us. We'll find Aster."

The door handle turns, and standing there is Helen Roseavelt. Kitty's mother is a slender woman, with straight, honey-brown mid-length hair and a twinkle in her brown eyes. Today she's wearing a drapey floral cardigan and pale blue skinny jeans. "Thanks, Fox," she smiles, a warm, maternal, knowing smile.

I move away from Kitty, as she goes to her side. "Kits? It's going to be okay. We all miss Dad. Let's go home, I'll make your favorite for dinner."

Kitty nods, and rises from the chair, Helen drapes her cardigan around her shoulders. I stand and watch as they go. Reversing out of the parking lot and driving around the corner.

"Do you need a lift home, Kiddo?" I turn around to see Detective Casterwyre behind me, mug and doughnut in hand.

"I'll walk," I say, "but thanks for the offer, I just need some...contemplating time."

Detective Casterwyre chuckles to himself, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright Kiddo, we'll find her. Now, don't tell anyone this, but Head of Department filed the report presuming she's dead. We found a ton of blood out in the forest. But we have no records of Aster's blood types and samples. I reckon she's out there, son, despite what Head says."

As I walk out the door, this new load of information sends me crazy. My head is divided, with thoughts of 'they found blood, whose else could it be?' and 'is that real evidence? She has to be out there!'

***

Midnight is going full-on stir-crazy. Pacing back and forth across The East's office, scribbling on the board, tapping her chin. The board is a tangle of red string, photos and theories. Were the Deramaines involved? Where the Police involved? But despite all that. It just isn't enough. Because Aster's still out there. Dead or alive.

"Oh my God, oh my GOD! Blood? Blood! Aster's blood? Someone else's blood? Is she dead? Is she alive? Hmm...are the police involved? I knew it! Have you told Kitty?" Midnight bursts.

"No, she's uh...not in the right state of mind. I don't want her to worry. If she knew Aster was dead right now, she'd full-on break." I answer. 

Midnight's left eyebrow curls like a question-mark. "Huh, push her too hard with questioning? Is she involved? Is this all a trap?"

I take Midnight by the shoulders, stopping her pacing. "Don't be ridiculous, Midnight, you know very well that isn't true!"

Midnight pauses, and sits down on the big desk. "I'm sorry. I guess I've just got carried away. I've spent the last four years trying to crack my own mystery. Why my Mom left us. Why we could never be enough for her. What was so much better than her family that she had to go and chase it instead?"

I sit down on the desk beside her, putting my hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Midnight. I am. Right now Kitty's going through the same thing. Maybe once all this is over we can track down your Mom."

She nods, but then looks my right in the eyes. I've never noticed before. How piercing deep and blue her eyes are. "Maybe. But maybe I don't want her to be found."