Never-ending Nightmares

"We open todays broadcast with an update on the disappearance of a valley girl last week. Her father, Mark Condor, put out a statement yesterday at the Winged Pillar, urging anyone with any news on her disappearance to reach out to valley police immediately. Police say that there is still hope that she may be alive, but every day, and every moment matters. Lily Condor was last spotted leaving Starling High School at 11pm Friday, August 12th. We hope one day the Condor family finds closure."

*click*

The TV shuts off leaving only the reflection of Mark on the screen. He sets the remote down on the table and tuns around to see his wife, Isabella, entering the kitchen.

"Do you think the police will find her," she asks.
"They already think she's dead, they're in no hurry to find her anymore."

Mark walks over to their front room with 2 large windows facing their driveway. There are reporters walking down the sidewalk while being filmed, they most likely are reenacting the path Lily would have taken home that day.

"They'll sit here and listen to our story --but they don't care," Mark shouts, venting his frustration. "All they show is pity and not support, I can't take it anymore!"

Mark slams his hand into the window.

*THUD* 

It was loud enough to make the reporters jump outside, but when they looked towards the house, there wasn't anyone in the windows.

Mark was already back in the kitchen heading towards the bathroom.

"So what are you going to do Mark," Isabella, who hasn't moved since entering the kitchen, asked.
"I'm going to track her down, no matter where it takes me."
"Be careful," Isabella warns, with a worried look in her eyes as she walks back into their bedroom.

Mark enters the bathroom and takes a shower. He hears Isabella enter the bathroom and then quickly leave, so she must have forgotten something in here.

He finishes his shower, puts on a fresh polo and pants Isabella bought for him, and stares at himself in the mirror.

"I should really shave, but I really don't have time for that. I'll shave again when I find her."

***********************************************************************

Mark gets into his car and drives towards Starling High School, the place where Lily's final walk home began. He pulls into the school, parks, and starts walking the trail back to his house. It's currently 11pm, so he presumed most officers had already gone home for the night. 

The sidewalk is lined with lamps so it's pretty easy to see where you're going. This was a initiative by the high school to make it safer for students to walk home in the evening. The main reason for this is because Sterling High is surrounded by nothing but woods. Even the sidewalk itself had one section completely covered with trees just a few feet away. The trees are even lined with fences with stating, "DO NOT CROSS," on them. This was because 10 years ago a group of high schoolers lost themselves in the woods for 4 days, this experience lead to them dropping out of high school and moving to a different town altogether --a very grim series of events. 

After about 10 minutes of walking, he couldn't feel, or see, anything off. The occasional lights flickering due to a weak connection or the sudden, strong breeze of summer air. He hadn't crossed anyone on the sidewalk at this time of night, he hadn't expected too, but it all feels too ominous. He had seen, maybe one car drive past, and a loud drunk couple on the other side of the road stumbling out of a hotel.

*Crunch*

He flung his head to his left when he heard what sounded like a twig breaking in the woods. It was too dark to see; the lamps didn't light up into the woods. He glanced left and right before stepping off into the dirt towards the fence just before the trees.

There were zip-ties on the fence. More specifically, they were bounding the two sides of the fence together because it had previously been cut. Maybe it was the work of the city, or maybe some troublemaker students, but he figured he would at least check it out. 

"I think I'm getting too old for this," he says as he starts climbing over the fence. Almost seamlessly, but he snags his brand new Polo on the tip of the fence, causing him to frown.
"Gahh, Isabella is not going to be happy when she sees what I did to this. Why did I even wear a polo to go exploring in the first place? I don't know."

Mark, with his newly torn polo still on his mind, starts walking into the woods. He pulls out his flashlight and turns it on. He made sure to bring one, because, well --it is dark. As he expected, there's just trees. He walks farther and farther into the depths of the woods, and believe it or not, there's still just trees.

"Yeah, honestly, don't know what I expected. I could call out to her, or, maybe not, I don't want any bears to come eat me alive. I'm not that tasty, and Isabella would be mad."

Mark looks around his surroundings, still thinking about whether or not he could even beat a bear in a fight, and sees a phone.

"Oh shit," he blurts out of his mouth as he falls to the floor to pick it up.

It is shattered to pieces and the phone case had been removed, but it was the same model that Lily had. There was not a single doubt in his mind, it had to be hers. He stands up quickly and starts running. Whether or not he could find his way back or even if he was going to find anything at all wasn't even crossing his mind. She had to be out there and he had to find her! 

Running and running, and stopping and breathing, and then running some more! His determination not wavering a single sliver as he plunged in the darkness.

*BAM*

All of Marks momentum suddenly comes to a halt as he slams into a metal wall. It was a thin wall, so it didn't hurt as much hitting it as it did toppling back down onto the floor.

"Auughhh, DAMN that hurt."
"Ugh, wait, why is there a metal shed in the woods?"

Crows in the distance fly away, spooked by the loud noise around them, and the twigs can be heard hitting the ground and cracking. 

Mark stands back up, clenching his behind, praying it doesn't become swollen later, and walks to the front of the shed. There's no lights or anything, but it looks rather, clean? He ponders for a moment whether he should actually enter the shed or not, but when he thinks for a second Lily might be in there, he throws it open with full force. 

But there was no one in there.

He took 3 steps into the shed and turned around.

A figure entirely immersed in the shadows of the night was standing just outside the shed. They immediately reach for their belt.

"OH SHIT," Mark yells as he tries to jump out of the range of the gun.

But it was futile.

***********************************************************************

*GASP*

Mark struggles for air as if he hadn't had any for 5 whole minutes. His mind was numb and he was struck with a headache that made him topple onto his knees. His eyes were pinched shut as he tried to regain his consciousness, but a feeling of shock hit him all at once.

"Am I --dead?"

He slowly opened his eyes to see a white, freshly cleaned granite floor. He stood up and looked around.

"A train?" he asks, confused how he went from being in a shed to on a perfectly clean train.
"Wait, I was shot!" he yells as he grabs at his bullet wounds. But there weren't any there, he was perfectly healthy.

He sat down on the bright blue seat, that looked like it had never even been used before, and began to think out loud.

"There was a white flash; everything was blurry?"
"Was that heaven?"
"There was a figure shrouded entirely in white it had to have been!"
"But this doesn't look like heaven," Mark states as he reopens his eyes, looks around, and then closes them again.
"They gave me something; it was, like, blue and round?"

Who was the white figure?

What did they give me?

So many questions left unanswered, but the truth about Lily had to be hidden in there somewhere.

The nightmares don't seem to ever end.

Then an announcement rang out throughout the train.

"This is the first train to Serenity."