An Unexpected Encounter

Aithley was the only one in detention that day. She had an entire hour to go before she could leave and she spent it on her laptop typing. Though she had her history textbook open, it was only a pretense so that Mrs. Gilbert thought she was doing schoolwork while in reality Aithley was writing down what Meggie and her friends had told her. It was like her waning interest had been set alight and now the ideas were swirling around her head with the new things she'd been told about Alba. Alba Hayes, who had an unhappy home life, indifferent parents, a much older sister who was starting her own family and didn't have time for her little sister, and a cute boy she'd met somewhere named Jude.

Aithley stopped typing as she thought about that last part. Had Alba really run away than? Was that why the police couldn't find her? Because she didn't want to be found? Aithley frowned as she thought about that. Even if Alba had run away, could she really hide from the police for so long? Where could she possibly go and with who? Jude? Aithley closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. It would be so easy if she knew who this Jude was and what he knew about Alba's disappearance.

"Are you alright, Aithley? Something wrong?"

Aithley opened her eyes and looked up to see Mrs. Gilbert looking at her with a concerned look. "Oh, yeah. I've just been studying so hard my head hurts. That's all."

"Ah." Mrs. Gilbert gave her a small smile. "Well, it's reassuring to see a student study so diligently but try not to overdo it. You're still young, enjoy your freedom as much as you can. After all, college will be around in no time."

Aithley, only twelve years old and who didn't care for school right now, chose not to say anything. She dropped her eyes back to the screen but it seemed Mrs. Gilbert wasn't willing to let the conversation drop so easily.

"So Aithley, I hear you're an aspiring filmmaker. It must be so interesting."

Aithley sighed inwardly but she didn't want to get on the bad side of the teacher. She might get an extra hour's detention and that was the last thing she needed. "I just make some short films with some friends. It's no big deal."

"It is a big deal, Aithley. For someone your age to have such a passion for filmmaking, it sounds so exciting. How did you get into it?"

Do we really need to talk? Aithley thought sourly. Out loud, she said "My uncle gave me my first videocamera when I was nine and ever since than, I've been pretty hooked."

"Do you write your own movies?" Mrs. Gilbert persisted.

"Yeah, pretty much." She said reluctantly.

"You post your movies online, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you mind letting me see them? I'm just always interested in the activities students do outside of class."

"Um, sure." Aithley got up and went upfront to the desk Mrs. Gilbert was sitting behind. She had her own laptop open. "Do you mind?"

"Go ahead." Mrs. Gilbert pushed her chair back and Aithley typed in the web address of her site. "You can just click on any of these videos. They aren't too long, usually around twenty or thirty minutes," Aithley began but stopped as Mrs. Gilbert leaned in close over her shoulder; too close for the girl's comfort. She moved aside, backed away slowly.

"Um, I should be going back to studying. I have a big test next week."

"Of course." Mrs. Gilbert smiled sweetly. As Aithley sat behind her desk, she realized she didn't like Mrs. Gilbert. At all. She didn't know much about the older woman, except that she taught the ninth graders and sometimes substituted for other classes when one of the teachers got sick. She seemed popular enough but she smiled too much for Aithley's liking. People who smiled all the time didn't mean it and it was that insincerity that really bugged at Aithley.

~~~

Aithley couldn't get Fane on the phone which meant she would have to go at it alone. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it sooner but it made sense when she really thought about it. Disregarding the fact that she was supposed to go straight home after school (she was still grounded after all), Aithley took a little detour. She soon found herself back at the Hayes residence.

What am I doing? she thought as she pressed the button of the intercom. As if I’ll actually-

“Yes?”

Aithley swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to control the sudden beating of her heart. “Um, it’s Aithley again, Mrs. Hayes. I was wondering if I could come in for a minute?”

“Oh, Aithley. Of course. Come in, the gate is unlocked.”

Aithley took a breath and went inside. Her mind was racing with her lies and despite her nerves, she thought she could get away with it. After all, if her past visits were any indication, it should be easy for her to do what she needed.

Mrs. Hayes was waiting at the door, the same as last time. “Hello again, Aithley. How are you?”

Aithley smiled back. “I’m fine, thank you. Um, I know I was here a few days ago but you see, I just remembered that I’d lent some books to Alba before she- she disappeared and I was hoping I’d get them back? I mean, if it isn’t too much bother,” she added hastily.

“Of course not. Come in.”

“I’ll just go straight to her room and get them, if you tell me where it is.” Aithley said, amazed that everything was going according to plan.

“What’s going on, Mom?” It was a woman’s voice calling from the kitchen, throwing her for a loop. If she had called Mrs. Hayes “Mom” that could only mean that it was-

“It’s a friend of Alba’s from school, Iselle. She’s here to pick up some books she lent your sister.”

A woman appeared at the doorway and Aithley’s first thought as she took a first look at Alba Hayes’ older sister was of a doll. A pretty doll with  black hair tugged into ringlets that framed a white face, heart-shaped, red lipstick standing out like blood against that pale skin. She looked nothing like the Alba she knew, with her light-brown hair in a constant mess around her head or a face used to being out in the sun. Alba was a real flesh-and-blood character, easy to like, easy to smile. Iselle was more static, artificial. Beautiful, yes, but there was nothing on the outside that told what was behind the character. She was, as Aithley stared into her clear eyes, an enigma.

“Hello.” Iselle said with a smile, and a deep dimple appeared in her right cheek, just like the one Alba had.

“Hello,” Aithley stammered. She hadn’t expected for there to be anyone here. “Um, I’m Aithley.”

“Ah, yes. Alba told me about your movies.” Iselle moved into the room, her long blue dress hanging loosely around her body. Aithley’s eyes went to her stomach, which seemed heavy enough to drop, and remembered that Iselle was pregnant. Feeling overwhelmed with this unexpected intrusion, she turned to Mrs. Hayes.

“I really need to get home, so if you could show me where Alba’s room is I’ll just get the books and leave.”

“Of course, let me show you.”

Aithley felt her heart constrict. Her plan depended on being alone in Alba’s room for a few minutes. She had banked her entire, half-baked plan on that. She followed Mrs. Hayes down the bare wood hallway where she stopped in front of the third door on the right. Mrs. Hayes opened it. “This is Alba’s room. Just let me know when you find your books. I’m afraid Alba wasn’t very organized.”

Aithley nodded, barely able to believe her luck. “Of course,” she managed to say. She slipped into the room leaving the door slightly ajar. As she stood in front of the door, staring at the room, Aithley wondered once again what she was looking for. She didn’t know. The plan had been half-cocked to begin with. Talking with Meggie and her friends had made Aithley painfully aware of her own ignorance about Alba, whom she’d thought she’d known well enough even though they weren’t close friends. But the truth was she didn’t. If Aithley was going to find out what happened to Alba she would have to know more about the girl herself. Some faint voice in the back of her head was telling her that there were easier, less intrusive ways of finding out then sneaking around a missing girl’s room, hoping to come across a diary or something that would help her learn more about Alba, and as Aithley surveyed the somewhat unkempt room she was wondering why she didn’t heed it. But since she was here already…

She dropped her backpack on the floor and headed for the desk first. It occurred to her that the police had probably searched it but she decided to give it a go anyway. Maybe they’d overlooked something. She rummaged through the papers and notebooks, quickly reading through them. There was a laptop on the desk. Aithley turned it on and waited but to her irritation she needed a password to log in. A sudden impulse led her to type in Jude’s name but that didn’t work. Acutely aware of time passing by, she moved away from it. From the desk she headed for the bed. The covers wee rumpled, and Aithley wondered if that was how Alba had left it on the last day she was seen or whether the police had done it in their search for clues. She checked under the mattress with some difficulty, patted the pillows, and pulled open the drawers of the bureau beside the bed.

“Aargh.” Aithley blew out an impatient sigh. This was ridiculous. Her over-impulsive nature had led her down another bad plan. Aithley headed for the bookshelf, planning on grabbing a few books so that she wouldn’t be a total liar. There weren’t a lot of books on the shelves and some of the spaces had been filled with small toys and knickknacks. As Aithley reached for a book, her eyes were drawn to a small, fluffy bear about the size of her palm. It looked vaguely familiar. She reached for it instead and as she stared at it closely, she realized that her younger sister Delyth had a similar bear in her room though hers was purple. She also remembered the secret pocket Delyth had shown her, only big enough to fit something the size of a pinky finger and no more. Aithley didn’t have any hopes as she turned it over and poked a finger into the secret pocket. To her shock, she hit something hard. Daring not to hope, Aithley managed to remove what was hidden inside the teddy and it was-

“Are you alright?”

Aithley turned around in surprise. It was Iselle standing in the doorway, a curious look on her face. “Oh, hello,” Aithley said hurriedly. She held out the bear in front of her. “Um, this fell over when I was reaching for the book. I was just picking it up.” She swallowed, trying very hard to keep her expression blank.

“Ah, Roberto.” Iselle said amusedly.

Aithley blinked. “Um, sorry?”

“That’s what Alba named him. She used to carry him around everywhere when she was younger, it was so cute and so silly.”

“Oh.”

Aithley was looking at Iselle’s face closely. The way she talked about Alba, there was nostalgia and sadness behind that reminiscence which differed from the seeming indifference of her parents. As Iselle took the bear from her hand and returned it back to the shelf, Aithley quickly pocketed what she had taken from it. “You still haven’t heard anything from the police about what happened to her?”

Iselle kept her back to her and Aithley had a feeling she was deliberately doing so so she wouldn’t have to see her face. “No,” she said, voice sounding oddly strange. “I’m afraid the trail has gone cold for the police. It seems no one knows what happened to Alba on the night she disappeared.”

“Do they- do you think she ran away? Is that why they can’t find her?” Aithley asked hesitantly, wanting to tread lightly lest she scare Iselle off. The pretty woman turned to her in surprise.

“Alba, run away? No way. She’s-” she frowned, biting her lower lip as she struggled to explain. “Alba isn’t the sort.”

“But if Alba was unhappy, or if she met someone who convinced her to run away…?”

Iselle frowned at her. “Why would you think she was unhappy?”

Aithley paused. “I didn’t. I just said if. I mean, I have two sisters but I don’t know everything that goes on in their lives. There could be a lot of things going on that Alba didn’t tell you about. Like Jude.” She had casually slipped the name in but she was watching Iselle’s face very closely.

“Jude?” She frowned. “Who’s Jude?”

“See.” Aithley pointed out. “She never told you about him.” Secretly she was disappointed. She had hoped that Iselle would have known who he was.

“Who is he?” Iselle said sharply, taking Aithley by surprise. Her expression had changed suddenly, like a sudden storm cloud. The porcelain-faced doll had disappeared and now an intense atmosphere hung in the air. Aithley felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and her breath caught in her throat. She involuntarily took a step back.

“I-I don’t know,” she said truthfully. “He was just some boy she met somewhere. She never said where and no one seems to know who he is. That’s all I know.”

Iselle closed her eyes and when she opened them everything seemed back to normal. “I’m sorry,” she said with a wan smile. “It’ just that, with everything that’s happened, I’m a bit on edge.” She rubbed her stomach. “All this stress just isn’t good for the babies. Have you found your books?”

This sudden change set Aithley on edge. Under the watchful eyes of Iselle, Aithley slowly went back to the bookshelf. She grabbed three books- why three she didn’t know, but she grabbed the ones that caught her eye. She picked up her backpack but didn’t bother to put the books in; Aithley just wanted to get out of that room and away from Iselle as quickly as possible. Out in the hallway, Iselle closed the door shut and led her down the hallway.

“Would you like something to drink before you leave?” Iselle asked solicitously. Aithley shook her head, staring up at the bland expression she exhibited and thinking about the one she’d seen earlier.

“Tell your mother I said thank you and sorry for the trouble.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all.” Iselle said easily. “In fact, I’d like it if you visited me as well.”

“You do?”

“Yes. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about you that reminds me of Alba. Hold on, let me write down my address.” Iselle went to a bureau in the hallway and scribbled down the address. “Please do visit, Aithley, even if it’s just to check on any updates from the police.”

Aithley took it. “Thank you. Bye.” She turned and left but the sense of apprehension didn’t leave her until long after she’d left the house.