Disappearance of the Angel

Disappearance of an Angel

When Susie Campbell "disappeared" and her mother started a missing person's case, Sammy Lawrence knew he was in trouble. Of course, many employees at the studio were questioned, but only Sammy and Joey Drew truly knew what happened, and if either misspoke, they could be uncovering Joey's dark experiments to the world. While Joey didn't see what he created as a big deal or understand how it isn't actually for "the greater good", it left Sammy feeling regret and anger. He wouldn't enjoy lying about what happened, although he knew he would.

Sammy had known Susie for many years prior to the studio so of course he was first on the list for inquiring.

"Let's start simple. What is your relationship with Susie Campbell?"

Sammy was now sitting in the office of a police department. Various people from Joey Drew Studios, along with Susie's mother, were waiting outside of the room.

"I've known her for years, we met at a movie theater in the 20s and she invited me later on to join a theater troupe as the musician for their performances. We're friends." He didn't want to say very much, deciding to give the officer the basic idea without details that could lead to more unnecessary questions. Sammy and Susie had loved each other dearly but the officer didn't need to know.

"When did you last speak with Susie?"

Sammy knew their last conversation was an argument. He remembered it was in the studio archive room, a small circular library of files with a small table in the center. He sat there attempting to drink a hot bitter cup of coffee as coolly as he could, but his feelings were boiling. Susie had yelled at Sammy for being so careless, not considering her career and her feelings. She yelled at him for taking her dear Alice away. Sammy had managed to get her to stay in the music department as a background voice actress, but nothing would calm Susie's rage or make her any less distressed over the matter. She started their conversation by saying that Joey had something for her. A secret. Sammy knew what it was and knew that it wasn't good. The conversation spiraled after that. He snapped at her "Listen to me, I can't do anything about it, I tried more than you realize! Alice isn't coming back and I hope you know that Joey isn't gonna make it any better." He saw tears well up in her eyes, her face flushed from the emotions, and Sammy then felt remorseful. It didn't matter though, as what he said was the truth. After more arguing the actress decided it was enough and with a small "hmpf!" she ran out dramatically in a hurry, knocking over her chair and left Sammy uncomfortably seated with his bitter coffee, now cold, something he didn't want to drink anymore. He slowly got up, picked up the discarded chair, and left back to his office.

"It was maybe a day or two before she disappeared, we had a disagreement of sorts. It was just about how the music department was operating, though. Nothing major." The officer looked at him skeptically, so he clarified. "It was just over her current roles. We concluded a new deal and she was fine." He knew she was not in fact okay and that was certainly a lie, but there was nothing else he could say.

The officer noted what was stated and continued,

"Is there a possibility she ran away on her own?"

"I don't believe so. She enjoyed it here." He looked absently out the window of the dimly lit office, Sammy could never make eye contact for very long. The officer stared at him, observing. Sammy thought about how much Susie loved it here in New York City. She loved the people and the noise and the stardom. If Sammy wanted to leave and take Susie with him, he knew she'd refuse.

"Is there a chance someone took Susie, or led her away? Such as the woman who replaced her?"

"No.. I work with Allison Pendle every day and I don't think she would even know how to do that!" Sammy laughed roughly. "She's a good woman and didn't even know she could hurt Susie like this. It's foolish, really."