Mariana twisted in her bed, her legs kicked and tangled with the bedsheets. She groaned with her eyes scrunching in her disrupted sleep.
She was hurled into a place of immense darkness, with only a glow of light beaming down from behind. Her face was hung low like a weeping willow, with a stream of tears raining down. She tried to look up with her shaky eyes, but she struggled because it felt like a heavy matter pressed and pushed her down.
"Help..." a woman called out from the shallow distance. Her distress echoed with pain and anger.
"Mom?" She tried to look around and when she did, her eyes peered toward the narrow light where her mother's voice was coming from. She tried crawling towards it, her body sliding across as her fingers burned to grip onto the wood underneath.
She continued advancing even though each time she grabbed the floor, it strained and made her knuckles flame red. At the same time, someone seized her legs and pulled her back.
"Help!"
"I'm coming Mamma." Mariana's words came out broken, as she clenched her teeth. Her temples creased as her sweat trickled down her face. Her hair was like loose spaghetti as it drizzled all around.
When she got close enough, the voice lightened up to a child's cry with aching tears.
"Mommy, help..."
Hearing this made Mariana move even faster against the forces that were trying to pull her back. All while the thick, blackening darkness was consuming her, and not an inch of light could be seen. It suffocated her sight and lungs like heated winds of humid weather.
"Mommy, help!"
"Mommy has got you!" Mariana finally made it and she tried to pull her kids up from the balcony. They dangled over the edge as a dark shadow threatened to engulf them.
"Take them away..." A sinister voice thundered, making a fierce gust of wind tear them away and lead them down into the abyss.
"No!" Mariana tried to hold on but failed as she was rapidly pulled backward Her clothes shattered into broken fragments, and a hospital gown swirled onto her body.
"No Mommy! Help!" Their voices cried out to her, but she couldn't reach them as she was tied back and thrown onto the floor.
Mariana screamed out loud as her bum landed with a thump. She groaned at the nightmare as the sheets cascaded down the side. Heavy pants escaped out of her as she clutched her beating heart. Her dilated pupils roamed around and she realized she was back in their hotel room.
"Oh..." she continued panting in relief and coughed a little. She wiped her brow, and her face was incredibly wet. She shivered in disgust and then punched the ground. It was firm and hurt her knuckles, but at least she knew she was actually back.
Micah woke up and saw her laying frightened on the floor. Her face was pallid as snow as she stared up at him like she witnessed something horrifying.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah —I— um just had a nightmare..." she mumbled and awkwardly rubbed her arm. Her cheeks grew pink as she picked herself up and walked towards the bed.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He fixed up the sheets and invited her in with open arms. She allowed herself to be enveloped lovingly into his embrace. He stroked her hair and kissed her face to console her.
"What was your nightmare about?"
"I heard my mother calling out to me and then our children..." she explained as she clutched the neck of his shirt. She started sobbing again, and her tears dripped down the material.
"I failed... again." Her voice cracked like she was broken all over again. She faltered as she couldn't bear to look at him and instead, allowed her body to fall against his chest. It was warm and calming, just what she needed.
"Don't be so hard on yourself my Mariana. You didn't fail as it was just a dream." He said and used this thumb to wipe her face. "It wasn't real my baby."
"I know, but it felt real." She sniffed and wiped her nose with the fringes of her PJs. Micah got a tissue from the side and cleaned her nose.
"I know my baby," he spoke with empathy, "but sometimes we don't see these things coming and it can catch us off guard. But that still doesn't mean it's your fault."
"Yeah, I guess that's true," she mumbled into her pajama top. She started to calm down a bit and breathed more softly.
"Thanks." She smiled and nuzzled his nose. She pressed out her lips and kissed him repeatedly. He always knew how to make her feel better, and that was something she definitely needed during these difficult times.
She fell asleep peacefully after that as he snuggled her up like a warm blanket.
The following morning, Mariana and Micah were busy having breakfast in the Landscape of Flavors. There was a huge beam of light on the ceiling which had fishes swimming around. There were pictures of fireworks displayed around the tables as they poked at their waffles and sausages. Their faces hung low as they nibbled off their forks.
Leilani and Miguel looked opposite at them with concern. They wanted to brighten their mood in some way until they got something from the detective.
"Hey, um, do you want us to take your mind off things for a little bit?" Leilani asked nervously.
Mariana sighed heavily and just nodded. A tear dripped from her eye and onto her waffle as she couldn't be bothered to look up.
"Alright, so what should we do?" Leilani tapped her chin and started thinking.
"Well, Mateo has been getting better at origami lately, maybe he could make something out of the napkins?" Miguel suggested as he wiped some cream off his mustache.
"That's a good idea," Leilani said and then turned towards Mateo who was eating a sandwich.
"Mateo, would you like to make some of your origami for Aunty Mariana?"
"Okay!" Mateo happily obliged and cleaned his hands with the napkin. He started folding it and produced a crinkly rose that was ripped at the edges.
"Here you go!" Mateo displayed it with the happiest smile.
"Aw thank you, Mateo." Mariana smiled and then took the flower into her palms. It looked so gorgeous and made her laugh for the first time today.
"It's okay!" Mateo bounced in his seat and then took a sip of his apple juice. He made loud slurping noises as some of it dripped down his chin.
"Mommy, where are my friends?" Mateo asked, which tingled Mariana's ears and made her eyes droop. Her breakfast started to look soggy within her watery lens as it made her lose her appetite.
Leilani noticed this and quickly got out a coloring book and crayons to distract Mateo with.
"How about you do some coloring while you have your breakfast?"
"Okay, Mommy!" He took them from his hands and opened up to some random page. Meanwhile, Mariana went back to nibbling as she was close to crying again.
"I want my babies back," Mariana mumbled with her voice breaking, "I'm just confused on how we didn't see it at first."
"Well... she did say she almost changed her mind, so I guess last minute?" Leilani said while nibbling at her fork.
"Hmm no, this seems way too thought out," Mariana groaned. She then bounced her head on the table. "I don't know man." She hated doing all this thinking when it didn't lead to anything.
"Anyway, we just have to look forward now, chérie. Don't worry." Leilani patted her hand with a comforting smile and continued eating.
"Urgh!" Mariana groaned again and rolled over to Micah's side. All this mess was taking up too much of her energy.
"What did she mean about a 'promise?" She asked herself and tried connecting her fingers like she was trying to make a connection.
"I don't know," Micah said as he took another bite of his waffle. "But it seems like quite a grudge."
"Mm." Mariana rolled her eyes and then her phone started ringing. She quickly got it out and answered it.
"Hello?" She expected some good news, and the other line answered, she was relieved to hear the detective's voice.
"Hello Mrs.Peréz, this is detective Williams. We have got some new updates on your case."
"Really? What have you got?"
"I think it's best if we discuss this in person. Are you and your husband available to talk right now?"
"Yeah sure, we are in our hotel right now."
"Alright, I'll come speak to you shortly."
"Okay, thanks." And she ended the call. The smile excitedly returned on her face and she started tugging at Micah's shoulder.
"Micah darling, the police just contacted me and said they got some updates."
"Really?" He exclaimed and then tried grabbing her phone to hear the call.
"Yeah, he's said he's coming to talk to us about it."
"That's amazing news." He then huddled her closer and rubbed her arm, making her giggle slightly.
"This means we are a step closer to finding them," he whispered so only she can hear.
"Yeah, I'm so happy." She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. "I didn't think we'd actually get a positive response."
"Same, but I'm glad we did, and now we get to hear on what they have to say," he said and clasped her hand while he ate.
Afterward, Detective Williams then arrived with some FBI agents as they sat down inside their hotel room. Before they came, Mariana had been full of joy and eagerly held onto Micah. But now they were here, her body was filled with unknown dread as a cold chill ran down her nerves. She didn't know what to expect, and that made her nervous.
"So Officer, what did you find?" Micah asked as Mariana had their arms linked, sitting closely together.
"Well, we managed to find the location of the phone that Mrs.Rossi-Lupu was using and track down the road she was on. We found out that she was using a prepaid phone and quickly disposed of it on the side." The agent Marler explained.
"No wonder the call was from a private number," Mariana muttered while grumbling. This whole situation still greatly annoyed her.
"That's right. But luckily, we found another phone signal around the time of the call. They were coming from the same area and also from the same source." Detective Williams said and then the other agent revealed a satellite picture of where they found the phone signal.
"That looks like the road we took to get here from the airport," Micah said as he glanced at it sideways.
"Maybe that's where they're heading," Mariana spoke out her thoughts.
"That's what we were thinking. So we are going to head over to the nearest airport from there, and then get a hold of the passenger records, and check any CCTV available," Agent Marler added on.
"Thanks for all your help detective, we really appreciate it," Micah said and shook their hands.
"Yeah, thanks!" Mariana happily raised her voice and then leaned her head on Micah's shoulder.
"No worries. We will be on our way out now, and we will keep you updated." Detective Williams got up and so did Agent Marler.
"Bye, and thanks for coming." Mariana escorted them out and closed the door. She turned back to Micah and immediately sprinted into his arms.
"I'm so excited Micah!" She said and kissed him on the lips.
"Me too Mariana!" He kissed her back as his fingers lifted her and seated her on his lap.
"I hope they find out where she went," Mariana said.
"I'm sure they will because they have the technology for it," he said reassuringly and grazed his fingers down her neck.
She sighed like a fairy and leaned on his chest. What seemed like a dark park with no way out, finally has an opening. They were going to get their kids back, and she was sure of it.
Then suddenly, a great idea clicked into her mind and her face beamed like a light bulb going off in her head.
"Hey, to celebrate, do you want to go to a water park?"
"Alright, let's get changed, and then we can go."
Mariana bounced off his lap and then got their swimsuits out. They changed and went to the Typhoon Lagoon water park with their friends.
A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter! We are now on our way to running down Mona's arse. 🏃🏻♀️💨
I just love how Mariana and Micah emotionally support each other 🥺❤️🤞🏾