Beatrice & the Beast

Chapter 26.

Beatrice's POV: 

I awake to the sound of static and beeping. The static is coming from my TV and the beeping is coming from my phone, indicating a voice mail. I go and turn off the TV that had been playing Glee before I passed out on the couch. Mostly, my dreams are of Ashton and I getting married. But then, something happens. There's some loud noise like a car crashing and screams. I noticed that that's why I've been waking up too. These dreams scare the living hell out of me and I wake up crying. But while I was asleep on the couch, I woke up with no tears. My dreams were of a black open space. Like I was floating around or something. Thinking about it now, I woke up feeling nothing. I wasn't happy or well rested... it was nothing.

Before I fell asleep, Ashton told me he was leaving to go and get groceries from the Walmart across town, around four. He gave me a kiss on the forehead and told me to get back to watching Glee so he could come back and watch it with me. I check my phone and ignore the voice mail, probably just some wrong number. So, I check the time instead. My face furrows in confusion, because it's 12 AM.

"What the hell? Where are you, Ash?" I say this aloud without even realizing it. Listening to the sounds of the apartment, all I hear is the AC kicking on. Nothing else besides my breathing and the AC. My phone makes a loud noise as I slam it on the counter.

Quickly, I run to our bedroom. Empty. The bathroom: empty. The kitchen: empty. I even check the living room for him, even though I know it is empty. My eyes dart to my shoes next to the door and I run to put them on. Without turning off the lights, I run out of the apartment with my keys and my worried thoughts.

Thoughts in my head run wild as I run down the lit, empty street. Why the hell would he stay out so late? Maybe he's with Mikey and Calum. Ever since Maycee left for Australia, Calum has been as pouty as a puppy dog with no owner or some shit. But, he would have texted me if he was. My mind is running wild and I know I'm running wild too. I'm down the street by now and I've obviously seen no sign of him. Michael and Claudia's! I totally forgot that they moved back and maybe Ashton went over there and had one too many and couldn't drive back.

The convenience store coming up surprisingly has a taxi parked in the parking lot. Sketchy, but it's what I have. My feet make a slapping noise as I approach the drivers side of the taxi. I knock on the window and the driver jumps so high in his seat, it looks like he's a jack-in-the-box. He rolls his window down and stares at me.

"Can you take me to 246 West Santana?" He continues to stare at me and jerks his head towards the back set. "Get in kid."

---

"No, Beatrice. He's not here. I haven't heard anything from him or you since we got back."  Claudia sits down beside me and shakes her head while Mikey gets me a glass of water from the sink. 

"Shit, I'm sorry about not visiting you guys. Listen. You guys have to help me find him because I haven't gotten anything at all on my phone- oh shit." I stop and remember my phone. The voice mail. I quickly check my pockets: empty. Shit, I left it on the counter.

"I'll get you a blanket and you can just stay the night okay? It's too late for you to be out and about." Claudia rubs my back as I put my head in my hands. I shake my head and close my eyes, breathing deeply. "No, Claudia, I gotta get to my phone. I have a voice mail on there and it might be from him."

She nods and looks back to Michael. "I'll take her home, okay babe?" He shakes his head, no. "You stay here if he shows up and I'll take her, okay? Let me take her." Mikey walks over and hands me the water and strokes Claudia's hair. "Alright," she says "you take her. I'll text you if he shows up."

---

Michael's car is sort of small. It's kind of like those Mini Coopers but even smaller. A Smart Car? I think that's what it's called. We're just pulling out of their driveway when he looks over to me with a worried look on his face. "Mikey, don't. I'm fine. I just need to find him. I already got enough comfort from your wife and I can't take anymore."