Through Eyes of Love and Cold Glass

VysePresident · #1

The white, glowing words suddenly flashed onto the center of the monitor as the video started playing, causing Audrey to blink.

A sudden creaking sound startled her briefly, but she relaxed a moment later when it wasn't repeated. After all, it wasn't likely that her parents would walk into the room just now. She'd waited until her dad had gone to work, and her mom was outside weeding before she dared to try this. Still, it was hard to stop being so tense. She knew they'd be upset if they found her trying to watch anything to do with SOTF.

It had been surprisingly easy to get on, under the circumstances. Her parents had never bothered to put a password on their computer. Once they were both gone, there hadn't really been any obstacles in her way. Well, except her conscience; That part was hard.

It felt so wrong to be going behind her parents' backs like this. On some level, she knew that they were only trying to protect her. They'd clearly tried to stay as outwardly calm as was possible under the circumstances, for her sake, but she was old enough now to see the pain lurking just beneath. Her resolve had faltered time and time again, only holding up now by the need to find out what was happening to Chase. She didn't want to wait, dreading each day that this would be the one where her parents would take her aside and tell her that he was...had been......

That's why she was here now, anxiously watching the screen as her brother pulled himself off the floor of a decrepit building. In spite of herself, Audrey giggled when the camera zoomed in towards his face. That bleary-eyed, dazed expression was just so...him. Every time he stayed up working on one of his art projects, he'd had that same look on his face. Audrey had always liked teasing him about it. Not in a mean way, it was just a thing they did in good fun, like so many other things. It felt so good seeing him again, even knowing what could so easily happen in the all too near future. Chase had been presumed dead in a plane crash, along with the rest of his class. It had seemed so unreal at the time, like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from. Then the terrorists had slowly started releasing the videos, and her hopes and fears rose yet again.

It was still hard to believe this was happening. The last time SOTF had aired, she hadn't been old enough to really appreciate what that meant. All she could remember then was that she had she had broken down crying at one point because of how upset her parents were. That had lasted all of maybe a minute before she was back playing with her toys again. Back then, death was something vaguely ominous, something to threaten the heroes and heroines in the novels she read, not something hanging over your family. At that time, she hadn't truly understood the fear that someone you loved could be next. Now her brother had been kidnapped, and forced into that same terrible event; Chase, who'd always been there for her, helping her with her homework, playing with her, and working on his art projects well past bedtime. He had to come back, somehow. She didn't know what she would do if he didn't.

It had been painful enough the first time.

An abrupt change of view broke her train of thought. The film had apparently switched to the viewpoint of another camera, looking from an overhead angle. By now, Chase had gotten up, and was rummaging through the bag that had been lying next to him. She saw him dig out what looked liked a medical kit, some bars, water bottles, and a couple odds and ends, including a little silver box. He peeked inside the box first and pulled out a tiny note, but apparently it wasn't something good, judging from his expression. He slowly closed it again, almost mechanically, and turned back to his bag. He seemed to be searching for something else, but whatever it was didn't turn up, as he came out empty-handed. She could tell from the ways his shoulders slumped, and from the little facial expression he made that this wasn't something to be glad about. It was so hard watching him like this, trying to read his emotions. She knew him better than almost anyone, but she still couldn't do more than guess. She'd never seen Chase this way before, not even when he felt like he'd messed up one of his art projects. It felt like anything would be worth just knowing what he was actually thinking right now, or even to be there with him a month ago, instead of watching through the cold glass of the distant cameras.

Clearly dejected, Chase carelessly swept the stuff back into the bag, and started making his way out the door of the shop, into the main section of the mall. He seemed a little unsteady on his feet at first, taking slow and measured steps as if he were afraid of falling down any moment. However, he shook off quickly, gradually picking up the pace until he was walking normally out the door. Then the video once again switched to the viewpoint of another camera. This new one was attached to what was apparently an elevator shaft nearer the center of the store, watching her brother as he left the Old Navy store. When the camera started rotating to show someone else around the corner, Audrey's heart nearly jumped out her throat.

It was a girl, wandering in the general vicinity of where Chase was heading.

She was holding a large gun.

((Chase Rodriguez continued Man, what are you talking about? I sent you a helicopter and a boat.))