Addicted

Chapter Thirty-Four: Crisis

Continuation of the previous chapter...

Less than an hour later, having gone straight from the gym to his dad's place, T.K. walked into the Strand residence, hoping that Avery was there.
"Dad!" He shouted. He walked through to the kitchen and saw Owen preparing some food.
"Hey, son." Owen smiled at him.
"What brings you here?"
"Is Avery here?" T.K. asked him.
"No." Owen shook his head.
"She's still with Jason."
"She's not with Jason." T.K. told him, shaking his head.
"What do you mean she's not with Jason?" Owen asked his son, confused.
"Megan called me asking if I'd seen Avery today. I told her that she'd told you she was spending the day with Jason. She told me that Jason hasn't seen her today." T.K. said. "Carlos is out looking for her." He added. He had called Carlos as soon as he had gotten off the phone with Megan and Carlos had gone straight out to look for Avery.
"What else did Megan say?"
"She found the necklace she gave Avery for her birthday on her door." T.K. replied.
"She never takes it off."
"I knew we should have gotten her admitted the other day." Owen shook his head.
"You think she's run away somewhere?" T.K. questioned.
"She did the last time she had a psychotic episode." Owen raised an eyebrow.
"She can't have gone far. You keep her passport locked away now." T.K. stated. It dawned on him.
"Unless she figured out the code to your safe." Without hesitation, they both ran up to Owen's room. He unlocked the safe and looked in it.
"It's gone." Owen said quietly.
"She left this." He took out the bracelet Avery had left and handed it T.K.
"The one you got her, right?"
"Yeah." T.K. nodded. He sat on the edge of Owen's bed and rubbed his hand over her face.
"We better call Carlos." Owen told him, sitting with him.
"Get a missing person's report out for the police. We can't risk going to the news just yet, it will just freak her out and she'll take off somewhere else like last time."
"And it was a bit too late."
"Why don't you go and let Megan know what's going on, I will call Carlos." Owen suggested.
"Good idea." T.K. nodded sadly as he stood up.

Half an hour later, T.K. was arriving at Megan's. She answered the door and led him through to the front room.
"Anything?" Jason asked as T.K. sat down. Megan stayed standing.
"Megan, you might want to sit down." T.K. stated. Megan slowly sat down and Jason grabbed a hold of her hand.
"Her passport is gone." T.K. informed them.
"I thought your dad kept that locked up in his safe?" Megan questioned.
"He does." T.K. nodded.
"She must've figured it out. She left the charm bracelet I got her for her birthday in its place."
"Could she have gone to L.A.?" Megan looked at Jason.
"I don't know." Jason shook his head.
"I doubt it."
"Carlos is putting together a missing persons bulletin." T.K. stated.
"We're not going to the news yet, we don't want to risk her getting spooked and taking off someplace else. Carlos" plan is to send a BOLO out to the States we think she'll have gone to first, then if we don't hear anything in a couple of days, we'll send it out to all the other states."
"Scratch what I said about last time being the worst with her mental health. This time is the worst." Jason stated.
"I think - I think it's going to be really hard for her to come back from this." He gulped.
"I don't think she'll ever fully come back from it."

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A few days later, Avery was still missing. A.P.D had been doing everything possible to locate her but due to her age and the circumstances, they were struggling. Carlos had been working as much as possible, trying to find any possible leads. He had been on the phone with a detective from Chicago for about 15 minutes. They finally had a lead. Carlos stood up from his desk as soon as he got off the phone. He headed down the corridor to the conference room where Owen, Megan, T.K. and Jason have been every day, waiting for news.
"She's in Chicago." Carlos told them.
"Two positive sightings of her."
"Is she okay?" Owen asked, as he stood up.
"She was spotted at one of their hospitals by a psychiatrist, fresh cuts to her wrist and agitated. They tried to section her but she ran away." Carlos informed them.
"They're doing everything they can to track her down. The detective I spoke to, he's with their intelligence unit. I've heard rumours about said unit and their damn good at their jobs."
"But Ave is even better at hiding." Jason pointed out.
"I want to come with you guys to Chicago, if that's okay?"
"Of course." Owen nodded at him. He looked at Megan.
"After what happened between us I uh- I think it's best that I stay here." Megan stated. "I'll see her when she gets back." She added.
"I'll call my mom, you can stay with her." Jason told his girlfriend.
"Jase-"
"She would insist too," Jason raised an eyebrow.
"I don't want you to be alone but I also want to be there with Ave."
"Okay." Megan nodded after a moment of hesitation.
"I'll book some plane tickets and a hotel." T.K. stated standing up. He looked at Megan. "She's going to be okay. Once she comes home, we'll get her the help she needs." Megan nodded, sadly.
"You'll keep me updated?" Megan asked, looking at Jason.
"Of course I will." He nodded, as he grabbed hold of her hand.

An hour later, after stopping by her apartment to pack a bag for a few days, Megan and Jason walked into his house.
"Mom, we're back." Jason called out as he threw his keys in the dish by the door. Sharon walked down the stairs.
"Megan, it's good to see you again." Sharon smiled, embracing the teen in a warm hug.
"You too Mrs Anderson." Megan smiled weakly.
"Please, Sharon will do." Sharon told her. Megan nodded.
"Thank you for letting me stay here whilst they go find Avery." Megan thanked Sharon politely.
"Of course sweetheart! You're welcome here anytime."
"I need to go pack a bag." Jason said, excusing him and Megan.
"There's a guest room all set up for you Megan or if you'd prefer, you can sleep in Jason's room." Sharon told them as they headed up the stairs.
"Thanks mom."
Megan followed Jason up to his room. She had been there a couple of times before so she knew where she was going by now.
"I take it you're going to stay in here?" Jason asked his girlfriend as she sat down on his bed whilst he grabbed a bag from his cupboard.
"Yeah." She smiled a little.
"You remember where all the towels and bathroom stuff is right?" He asked her as he started stuffing stuff into his bag. Megan nodded.

A little while later, Megan was standing out front with Jason. Owen, TK and Carlos pulled up outside.
"We're gonna bring her home." Jason told Megan confidently.
"Yeah." Megan nodded.
"I'll call you when we land and I'll let you know every update we get." Jason told his girlfriend as he wrapped her up in a warm hug. Again, Megan nodded. He leant down and kissed her before he let her go and headed towards Owen's car. He hopped in the back with Carlos. Megan watched as they drove away before she headed back inside.
"I was thinking maybe we could order something in for dinner? Chinese or pizza maybe? Whatever you fancy." Sharon told Megan as the teen joined her in the lounge. Megan knew better to argue about Sharon buying her anything so she agreed.
"Pizza sounds good." She smiled weakly.