Sixteen (ON HOLD)

1.4 Awake

The psychologist straightened up at the sound of his voice. "I was saying, sixteen weeks is a long time to be gone."

It hadn't taken long into the investigation, under 24 hours from the time they realized they were dealing with a whole slew of missing kids, for someone to point out the unnerving oddity that all sixteen of the victims were exactly sixteen years old. With nothing else to go on though, they had eventually let it slide out of their minds as they concentrated solely on looking for leads they hoped would pan out. If this woman's observation about the timeline was correct, and Tanner had a sinking feeling that it was, the media was about to have a field day all over again. They ate crap like this up like candy. It was only a matter of time before those vultures found out about the kids returning.

On the board, the station secretary had started to draw stars in the lower right hand corner of all the pictures where the kid had returned. Tanner quickly scanned the pictures and counted the stars, there were ten so far. Picking up a black sharpie he walked over and added a star for Troy, although he wasn't in the station yet, he was accounted for. Eleven out of the sixteen were returned but there were still no answers yet, goddamn it was going to be a long day. 

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Kate and her mother were still waiting in the Chief's office. Being the daughter of one of their own, the officers wanted to shield her from the chaos that was sure to erupt at any moment. Already there was a lot of movement around the office as staff rushed to get as much information as they could before releasing everyone to the local hospital. Kate's mother sat on a small leather couch, nervously biting her nails. Despite her pleas to get Kate to stay seated next to her, Kate had resumed her position at the window once more.

Kate was starting to feel the fog in her head lift. This made it easier for her to think, and she moved more swiftly than before. Although she still couldn't remember anything that had happened prior to that night, she had started to piece together what was going on around her. Out the office window she could see other families arriving. Each time a new group arrived, a small brunette woman would add a marking to a photo on the wall. From what Kate could tell, they were still waiting on five or six more to arrive. Each young person was accompanied by one or two older versions of themselves, the heredity was unmistakable.

The older people meant nothing to her but the younger ones like herself, seeing their faces stirred something inside her - concern, maybe even fear for their safety. Kate took it all in with a clinical detachment that she herself couldn't explain. She was a part of things and yet she wasn't. It almost felt like watching from very far away instead of from a few feet.

She decided to try talking to one of them. Somehow she had been able to speak to a boy, Cole they kept calling him, using only the thoughts in her head. She wondered if it would work on anyone else. Bravely she first selected the large man that kept hovering over Cole, he seemed to be in charge. "Hello," she thought, "if you can hear me . . . if you can hear me turn around now." She waited for a moment then added, "Please." Nothing happened. The man just stood there, looking tired, holding his hands up to his temples occasionally as if experiencing discomfort.

Disappointed, Kate shifted her focus to one of the younger ones, a girl that looked a lot like herself, small and blond with large blue eyes. The girl was wearing a red and white uniform just like the one she saw herself wearing in the photograph at her house. She looked intently at the girl and imagined her inner voice traveling through the air towards her, willing it to be heard. "Hello? Hello? If you can hear me, look up." The girl who just moments before had looked completely void of life, suddenly snapped to attention and lifted her head in Kate's direction. A look of mild concern crossed the young girl's face but she didn't panic. In fact, she barely responded at all, but following Kate's command let her know that it worked at least. She tried it a few more times on random people in the room, it only worked on the younger ones.

Interesting, Kate thought, a term that was crossing her mind often that night.

She had been waiting here a long time. At first people had bombarded her with questions she didn't understand but now that she was more awake and actually able to answer them they had given up. There were men in formal blue uniforms who took notes and asked questions, they seemed to have a form of authority as they gave orders. Shiny badges were fastened to their chests, apparently that meant something. One thing was becoming clear to Kate; there was an "us" and a "them." Although she wasn't entirely sure anyone else had realized it yet.

The men in blue and the other older adults all acted as if they knew Kate and the others, but she couldn't remember them. She only remembered darkness, and everything that had happened so far today. She did not feel like she belonged here though and that was starting to worry her. The tension in the room in front of her was strong; Kate couldn't tell yet if they were prisoners. She decided to find out.

Stepping away from the window, Kate gripped the door handle. Her mother rose apprehensively from her seat and put one shaking hand on Kate's shoulder. "Where are you going," she asked. "Do you need something honey?" The door to the Chief's office slowly opened and Kate stepped out. She surveyed the room, there were nine people in blue uniforms plus the big guy she assumed to be the boss. None of them had noticed her yet. She looked back at the woman who had brought her here. She seemed kind enough, but Kate felt nothing when she looked in her eyes. It could be a trick, better to be safe and not communicate with her at this time.

Watching the pained expression on the woman's face, Kate closed the door and started to walk away but stopped short. Her feet suddenly felt stuck in place, her heart rate accelerated, a small bit at first but then panic set in and she was breathing heavy while standing still. Without knowing why she was doing it, she turned back to the door. This was the same uneasy feeling she got before opening a bedroom door back at the house, but her sedated state had kept her emotions in check then. Now that she was fully awake, she could not control the irrational fear that was gripping her like vice.

She curled her hand tightly around the brass door knob once more, opened the door, and shut it. The waves of panic started to subside at once. She opened and closed the door again, and again. Her breathing hitched in her throat but eventually started to slow. All eyes from the room were now on her as she opened and shut the door, opened and shut the door, opened and shut the door. When the panic was completely quelled, she turned and continued with her original purpose. She walked towards the front door where she had entered the building a few hours before.

"Was that sixteen times," she heard the big guy ask the woman standing next to him, but that didn't mean anything to her so she continued walking. People automatically moved out of her way as she approached. They were obviously slightly nervous around her. The door had been propped open to provide the crowded building lobby with cold crisp fall air from outside. She walked unhindered out into the early morning dimness and stood on the front steps, off in the distance a pink mist was raising through the sky, it was almost day break. The air smelled pleasant, it was full of dried leaves and faint ozone.

Suddenly her peace was disrupted as a heavy hand fell on her shoulder from behind her. A male voice started to say something but was quickly quieted when Kate, a comparatively petite girl, grasped the offending hand and jerked it forward. The action lifted Chief Tanner into the air and torpedoed him over her shoulder, crashing to the ground with a loud snap of broken bone. There was a collective gasp from within the lobby of the building and the blue uniformed men rushed towards her. She stood stiffly in place, a renewed confidence built inside her. Even if they intended to hurt her, she somehow knew that she would come out on top. 

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Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone for reading, voting and fanning! I'm so sorry the updates aren't coming out longer or faster (but I do have a job, and two little boys to care for) - I just wanted to let you all know that I appreciate your patience and I am fully committed to completing this story, and am so excited to have you all along for the ride! Please check out my other, nearly completed story, Slow Motion. Thanks!