Just One Look

The Run

"What in the hell are-" Asked a voice, it stopped talking. I looked up into the flashlight, I covered my eyes from the light and was lifted out of the sewers. "Catrina Scott! What the hell were you doing down there?" My Dad asked, half bewildered, half angry. Bruce crawled out next and sat next to me. I was sitting on the cold, hard, wet concrete staring up at my Father. "What were you guys doing down there?" He asked Bruce.

"Running away from a clown, and his clowns." He said shielding his eyes.

"I need to take both of you home." My Dad said, Bruce nodded and agreed that it was the best idea.

"You and I miss, are going to have a serious talk when we get home." My Dad scolded.

"Dad, it's not-"

"I don't want to hear about it Catrina. I am very scared for your health." He waved an accusing finger at me, I hung my head and got into the back of his cop car.

***

We dropped Bruce off at his manor and sped home. I was seated in the back seat, watching the lights of the city go by. My Dad's radio crackled and called for backup at the party, he ignored it and stared at me through the rear view mirror.

"What were you doing?" He asked oddly calm.

"We were running, from a clown."

"I thought you were with G-ma." He inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Can I tell you the whole story?" I asked, he nodded.

"That would be nice, Catrina." He said, so I told him. I told him everything that had happened, and I'm not sure if he believed me or not. But I had back-up, Grandma and Dean. Dean saw us walk out the door and G-ma was in the room with me when that purple clown walked in and killed a bunch of older people. I also had Bruce, but who knows if my Father would believe a billionaire playboy. He drove me home and demanded that I go inside, I did as I was told. He didn't drive away until the door closed behind me. The house was dark and quiet. I guessed that my Mother would be sleeping, so I crept upstairs to my room. I undressed and threw on sweatpants and a t shirt. The phone started to ring and I answered it.

"You forgot something, darling." Said a wicked voice on the other end. Then it hung up. At first I was confused, I forgot something? Who was that? What could they mean? What could that possibly- Dean, Grandma. My heart started to pump faster, my breathing became labored. I sat down on the bed and tried to clear my head. If it's not them the caller was talking about, then what is it? After I collected myself, I called G-ma. She answered.

"Are you all right?" I asked her.

"Yes sweetie, are you okay?" She asked hurriedly.

"Yeah, Bruce got me out of there and we ran into my Dad. He was on duty and he drove us home." I said, "Are you with Dean?"

"Yes, I'm with Dean." She said, I could hear her moving around on the other side of the phone. "Dean?" She called, it was muffled. She must be checking to see if he's still there. "Sweetie, he's not here anymore. When I came home he was here." She paused, breathing heavily.

"No." I breathed, "G-ma, I need you to make sure he's not sleeping." I said, looking at the time. 3:00am. My heart, again, began to thud in my chest. She gasped. No, no, no, no.

"He's gone." She said, "Cat, he's gone." She said starting to panic.

"Call the police." I ordered, hanging up the phone. I got off the bed and ran to my door, thrusting it open and running down the hall. I burst into my parents bedroom and flipped on the lights. My mom stirred in her bed, and then lifted her head. If this was any normal day, I would laugh. But my mood was polar opposite. "Dean's missing."

"What are you? He's what?" She asked, squinting in the light.

"He's gone!" I yelled.

"Shhh!!" She hissed, she slowly sat up in bed and rubbed her hand against her face. "Now, no thanks to you, I'm awake. Start over."

"Dean's missing!" I screamed.

"What!?" She yelled, standing up. "Where is he?"

"How should I know?" I shrieked, "He's not here, and he's not at G-ma's house anymore!"

"Did G-ma call the police?" She asked.

"I told her too, after I called her to make sure that she was safe and Dean was still there."

"Okay. Well, then lets get over there and see what we can do." She stood up and started walking to the drawer, she stopped and turned around pointing at me. "Wait, why are you home? How did you get home?" She asked. Funny, I could ask her the same question.

"Long story, no time." I said stepping out into the hallway.

"Tell me, while I get ready." She said, putting on some pants.

"G-ma surprised me and took me to a party, this purple clown dude showed up and killed a bunch of people. G-ma, Bruce, and I got out and G-ma disappeared, while Bruce and I had to run. Then we ran into Dad and he took Bruce home and then dropped me off. I called G-ma to ask if Dean was still there and she said yes, and then no." I summarized. She put on a sweatshirt.

"Sounds legit, something my mother would do." She said grabbing her purse off the floor. We walked out to her car and jumped in, speeding into the city to G-ma's apartment building.

No police were in sight. We got up to the apartment, to find Grandma in tears sitting in the livingroom. My Mom consuled Grandma until she calmed down and explained her side of the story that coincided with mine. Mom called Dad and told him what had happened, within minutes he was at the apartment in his officer uniform. He hugged my Mom tightly, and then I wondered why they weren't away like they said they would be this weekend. Wasn't that the whole point of Dean and I staying at Grandma's?

Dad calmly observed the situation and took a long, thorough look around Dean's temporary room within the apartment. The window had been broken into, and Dean may have been dragged out. There was no evidence of struggle, or of any footprints. He was just gone.