Choices

Chapter Six

Chapter Six: No Alleviating 

"I have suffered for my anger. There are wars that can't be won." -Bon Jovi: Keep The Faith

-

 "Okay, the police have been notified of a missing person," My mom paces through the living room as she has just hung up the phone, "What else do we have?"

 "S.H.I.E.L.D. has seen nothing of unusual activity; they're a bust," Tony responds as he pockets his own cell phone.

 "His room is clean of any clues," I answer, for I have just come back from ransacking his guest bedroom.

 "You're sure you didn't see him this morning?" Jeanna asks timidly with her face stained with tears.

 "And you didn't hear anything last night after Alex went back to bed?" My mom adds on to the question as she paces back and forth.

 "No one saw him, and I didn't hear anything," I sorrowfully shake my head.

 "Besides, Jarvis would have alerted me of any trespasser," Tony runs his fingers through his hair.

 It has been two hours since I first discovered Alex to be missing. In that first hour my mom, grandma, and Jane were told of the situation and rushed back home. We all personally searched through the entire living space and had both Lucis and Jarvis search the tower. Tony recalibrated their systems to be able to scan a thirty mile radius around the building to pinpoint the missing person without the use of cameras. Once we knew without a doubt that Alex was definitely not in the building or anywhere close by, we began taking more drastic measures.

 The second hour started with my mom calling for a chauffeur to take my grandparents home. Tony called S.H.I.E.L.D. to see if they saw anything suspicious before my mom reported to the police. I was in charge of searching his room for any clues. Alex's room had nothing to help shed light of what happened. His wallet and phone lay on his desk untouched. Even all of clothes remain in his suitcase. The only garments missing are the t-shirt and sweats he was wearing when he came down to the lab in the middle of last night.

 Poor Jeanna has been very quiet throughout the hours. She is terrified for her son's safety as any mother would be if their child was abducted. She just sat silently crying for the longest time. My mom tried to comfort Jeanna, but how do you comfort someone whose son has disappeared? It is upsetting to see such a happy and sweet woman's heart being undeservingly broken.

 "Wait, what about the security cameras?" My mom exclaims, "Tony, the security footage!"

 "Yeah, I'll go check that," Tony begins to walk to the elevator.

 "You have security cameras in our rooms?" I know that is not the most pressing matter right now, but I am still curious.

 "Yes; however, no one ever looks at them. They're only there in case of an emergency and then only three people know the password to gain access to them," Tony answers before stepping into the elevator.

 Jeanna looks hopeful that we will have actual video that will show where Alex went or what has caused his disappearance. My mom offers Jeanna a cup of coffee as she reassures her that Alex is fine. I am very distraught as I feel as there is something that I could be doing to help.

 I have had this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that something is very wrong. It is not the simple feeling of stress because of Alex missing; it is the undeniable, unmistakable feeling of dread. I do not want to tell anyone that I think that the security footage is going to reveal something we don't want to see because that would worry Jeanna even more. Plus, the optimist side of me keeps saying Alex is fine, that this is all one big and unfortunate mistake. However, no matter how much I keep telling myself that, the feeling of awful misfortune never goes away.