[Mother :: Bloodline, Chapter I]

II

NOTICE OF MISSING PERSONS:

At approximately 1:00 AM, the morning of Saturday, April 10, 1999, two residents of Onett, Mary and Tracy Franklin, went missing, following a fire at their household in Onett Hills. A darkly painted station wagon with wood paneling was seen near their house around the time that Mary and Tracy went missing.

Mary Franklin is described as 42 years old, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin. She stands 5’6” and is thin. Tracy Franklin is described as 15 years old, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin. She stands 5’3” and is thin.

All leads, tips, and sightings relevant to a suspicious station wagon as described or Ms. Franklin and her daughter as described should be reported immediately to the Onett Police Station by calling (11)-15-1000.

-- Onett Police Force, Fiore Strong, Chief

Ness sighed as he held the notice up to the light streaming in through the window. “Yeah, that looks fine,” he said, examining the physical descriptions of Tracy and his mother. Ness’s clothing was still encrusted with ashes, and dried mud covered his shoes and was lingering on his pants. He walked over to a desk and placed the notice back on the stack. “How far away are you going to be posting these, Officer?”

Officer Wallace, a stout man in his forties with thick glasses stood up. “We’ll send them as far as Fourside. The FMPD has a really good missing persons alert program.” He took the stack over to the door and held them up into the other room. “These are good, let’s go ahead and laminate them.” A secretary in another room took the papers and nodded, as Officer Wallace turned back and rubbed his moustache. “I’m really sorry to hear about your house and family. It’s got to… really be the pits.”

Ness nodded slowly. “Yeah, it’s the pits.” He stared out the window into the early afternoon sunlight, but could not find joy in the spring atmosphere.

“If there’s anything we can do for you in the meantime,” said Office Wallace, “let us know and we’ll try to help you. We’re still kind of… in debt to you, for straightening the Captain out that one time.” He grinned heartily, flaunting the entire breadth of his moustache. “He’s been a new man ever since then.”

A moment of silence fell over the back room of the Police Department before Captain Strong strolled in, carrying a mug of coffee in one hand, alternating sipping it with eating the jelly doughnut he had in the other hand. “Wallace.”

Officer Wallace turned around and stood at attention nervously. “Y-yes sir!”

“You have a phone call. I think it’s your girlfriend.”

Wallace left for the other room and picked up the phone. Above his dialogue, which consisted entirely of saying, “Yes, Mom,” and “I understand, Mom,” Chief Strong addressed Ness.

“We have a few options for you that might help you find out about your mother and sister.” Chief Strong licked powdered sugar from his doughnut off of his fingers as he spoke. “A bellhop at the Onett Hotel said that he saw a blue, wooded station wagon around the hotel in the last few days. The management there said it would be all right if you looked through their recent records.”

Ness nodded, but was slightly shaken at hearing that the station wagon had been in town for some time. “I would very much appreciate that.”

Chief Strong continued. “Once the flyers are laminated, we will have them posted from here to Fourside, but right now we have issued a BOTL to the Eagleland Mobile Patrol.”

Ness tilted his head to the side, making a face. “BOTL?”

“Be-on-the-lookout,” answered Chief Strong. “So far there have been no sightings, but the BOTL will be active until we take it down.” He adjusted his belt and dusted a morsel of donut off of his right holster. “How does this all sound to you?”

Ness fought his hardest to remain optimistic. “It sounds promising.” He sighed, looking out the window once again. “I just don’t know why this all is going on.”

Chief Strong formed a face of concern. “Me either, Ness, but the more quickly we work on it, the less you’ll have to worry.” He gave a satisfied nod, as if he were proud of saying something so poignant as what he had said. “The Onett Hotel is expecting you, what do you say?”

Ness shrugged. “Might as well.” He stood up and stretched his arms. “You have my cell phone number if you have any more information, right?” Ness held up a mobile phone in question.

“Yes, we got that from you earlier. We’ll be sure to call you if we come upon anything.”

Ness managed to break a smile through his wall of despair. “Thanks a lot.” He turned and went through the door into the main lobby of the police station. Upon passing Officer Wallace, he realized that Wallace was still on the phone with his mother.

“Yes, mom, I’ll pick up the groceries tonight. Yes, yes, what? I did it already mom, don’t worry.” Wallace spoke in a slightly annoyed tone.

Even with the embarrassing nature of the discourse that Wallace, a fully-grown man, was having with his own mother, Ness still was moved to miss his own mother and sister very much. It was with this being moved that he quickened his pace and bolted out the door, headed for the Onett Hotel down the street.

The sun was shining through holes of dense clouds, angled streams of light from the sun’s early-afternoon position beating down on the earth in all places but Onett. The shadows of the clouds that did cover Onett were dark and ominous. The cold, damp pavement echoed the sky’s dismal appearance as Ness made his way out down the street. The dank air and barren feel of the town caused Ness to slow down considerably, as he slowly passed by the mundane businesses of downtown Onett. A group of three younger boys in dark jeans and black hooded sweatshirts watched Ness go by from across the street. Ness’s dirty hair and muddied boots, both of which were uncommon to see on him, commanded the attention of the boys. Ness thought back to the days when he quarreled with boys just like that, when he was at odds with the Sharks, a local street gang whose activities consisted primarily of loitering and scaring the elderly. Now Ness felt completely detached from those days, and his mind, weakened from the emotional stress of his missing family, hung on the notion of the past, and how it was unrecoverable.

Each step Ness took toward the Onett Hotel seemed to be longer and more agonizing, and the closer he came to the hotel, the less he desired to probe what could be a lead to his family’s kidnapping. He felt discouraged in not knowing the depth to which his investigation might grow. Ness did not want to engage an adventure like the one he embarked on years ago, with his mind and emotions in such disarray. Arriving at the elegant doors of the Onett Hotel, Ness’s usual zeal for discovery was replaced by a solemn responsibility to find his way out of his predicament.

Ness entered the Hotel and approached the reception desk. The receptionist, a short, young female with straight, black hair and square glasses looked up at him from a stack of papers.

“Do you have a reservation?” she asked.

Ness shook his head. “Actually, no.” He tried hard to gather his thoughts. “I’m here to speak with… uh… I need to speak with someone about…”

The receptionist broke through his stuttering. “If you don’t have a reservation, I can’t help you, there is no vacancy tonight.”

Ness let out a barely audible breath of frustration. “I need to speak with someone about hotel records.”

The receptionist looked at Ness with an unconvinced glare, twirling her chewing gum around her index finger as she drew it from her teeth while saying, “Listen, there is no vacancy, and I can’t help you. Have a nice day.” She rolled her eyes away in very snooty disgust.

Ness, who at this point was ready to erupt, gathered his thoughts one more time, as the receptionist stared at him superciliously. He placed his hands on the counter of the reception desk, but just as he did, a small shock hit his fingers and he was distracted.

At that moment, a tall man with blond hair waltzed in quickly. “I’ll handle this, Sylvia, go back to filing.” The receptionist rolled her eyes again in disgust and returned to a tall stack of discombobulated papers. The tall man grabbed Ness’s arm and grinned in a businesslike manner. “You must be Mr. Franklin.” Ness nodded, and the man continued. “I’m Ed Young, I’m the manager here. Let’s go into my office and we can talk.” In much the same manner as Ed waltzed in, he led Ness quickly into a hallway and through a wooden door to a small office.

Ness looked around. “I appreciate your help… I know—“

“Police force says you could really use our help. They say you’re important and deserve our immediate attention.” Ed sat down at his desk, which was covered in papers and small objects of personal and business nature. “Have a seat,” he said, motioning to a modest leatherback chair on the other side of the desk.

Ness sat. “How exactly can you help?”

Ed grabbed a file folder from the top of a stack of papers and opened it, removing a paper clip. “These are our guest records for the last five days. Everyone who checked in, remained in a room, changed rooms, or checked out is in there. There aren’t too many guests, so five days of guests are manageable to review.” He looked up. “Do you want to look through them?”

Ness didn’t say anything for a moment as he examined the file folder. “Have you looked through these yourself yet?”

Ed shook his head slowly. “We just got word of it, and the police department didn’t tell us what to look for. They said to give you access to recent records.” He held the folder out farther. Ness took the folder warily. “I’ll help you with reading it, it’s a little confusing to read at first. But the names are all there, that shouldn’t be hard to read.”

Ness opened the folder on his side of the desk, which was actually not as cluttered as the part closest to Ed’s chair. He tried to make sense of the entries, which contained a lot of data he cared not for. Ed was fiddling with a small desk clock, trying to set the time, as Ness made his way through the dozens of pages of the records. Finally, after a few minutes, Ness spoke up. “Franklin.”

“Franklin? Are you looking for someone named Franklin?”

“Yes,” said Ness. “I was looking for my father in these records.”

“So, did you find him?”

Ness looked closely at the record for a moment, and then frowned. “Wait.”

“Yes?”

“This is me. This isn’t my father, this is me.”

Ed chortled slightly. “Well, did you stay here?”

Ness replied, “No.”

Ed’s chortle died down. “That’s no good, impersonating people and forging identification is against the law.”

Ness looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” began Ed, “we check everybody out to make sure we know who is staying in our hotel. With ID systems and all the checks we do, it’s hard to just come in and say you’re someone else. You need to prove who you are.” Ness handed the folder back to Ed, and Ed examined the entry. “Ness Franklin, checked in two nights ago, paid in cash, valid driver’s license, checked into the Executive Suite and checked out after one night. You’re sure this isn’t you?”

Ness gave a serious look. “That was not me. It was forged.”

Ed donned a look of concern. “That’s bizarre. The police department wasn’t lying when they said some weird stuff was going on. I believe you, Ness.” He looked at his desk clock and then back to Ness. “Do you want to look at the Executive Suite, where this guest checked in? It’s between staying hours, and there isn’t anyone in there right now.”

Ness spoke weakly. “Sure.”

Ed took one last prod at his desk clock before standing, closing the file folder with a paperclip. “Come on,” he said, walking toward the door. Ness followed Ed back into the main hall, and into a wing of rooms. At the end of the hall, Ed stopped, and dug into his left pocket. “Shoot.” He spoke to a stout woman from housekeeping down the hall. “Ay! Necesito una llave para esta puerta.” The woman came down the hall and unlocked the door, grumbling. Ness and Ed walked into a spacious, sterile suite, complete with a large desk, two couches, a large television, and a large air conditioner in the window. “Have a look. I’ll go around and see what I can find amiss.”

Ness walked around, and as he did, he felt an eerie sense of discomfort. However, Ness could not see any sign of anyone having stayed in the room.

Neither could Ed. “I guess this is what we pay housekeeping to do, make it seem like no one has ever lived here.” He turned toward another door. “Let’s check the bedroom.”

Inside the bedroom, Ness looked around, but saw nothing that looked even close to touched by human hands. Ed went over to the drapes and opened them. “This might help.”

Ness kept looking, but nothing in the sterile room seemed amiss or even touched. He got down on his stomach to look under the bed, but could not see anything. Ness stuck his hand under the bed and began to feel around. The carpet was soft, and the consistent texture of it across Ness’s hand was almost tickling. Ness shifted to stick his hand further under the king-sized bed. Upon reaching as far as he thought he could, he felt something. Something hairy. Squeezing every last inch of extension from his arm, he tried grabbing the object, when suddenly he heard a shrill squeal, and a creature from under the bed raced toward him. Ness yelled in shock.

“What is it?” asked Ed in a surprised panic. The creature ran over Ness’s face and around the room, until Ed picked it up. “Lucy!” Ed exclaimed. “Ness, no need to worry, this is my daughter’s guinea pig, she’s been missing since yesterday.”

Ness’s heart was racing, but he took a deep breath. “That scared me.” He pulled his arm out from under the bed. “No luck.” He sat up, and pulled himself to a stance, as Ed placed the guinea pig in his shirt pocket.

Ed frowned. “That’s too bad, sorry about the scare from Lucy.” The guinea pig in his pocket squeaked. The two walked out of the sleeping quarters and back into the living chamber of the Executive Suite. Ness walked over to the chair at the desk and sat down. “This is even more confusing than when I came here.” He glanced at the lamp and the coffeemaker on the desk. “How much does this room cost per night?”

“One hundred and fifteen dollars,” answered Ed. “Quite a steal for the amenities.”

Ness let out a murmur of contemplation as he poked through the tourism brochures placed neatly on the desk. Ed looked over Ness’s shoulder and stopped him.

“Wait, what’s that?”

Ness looked up. “What’s what?”

“This brochure.” Ed picked up a brochure and opened it up. The front face of the brochure has a picture of a large footstep on a hill and was titled Giant Step – A Marvel of Giant Proportions!

“I don’t get it,” said Ness. “It’s just like the others.”

“No,” exclaimed Ed. “We don’t put this brochure in our hotel rooms. Someone brought this in.” Ed handed the brochure back to Ness. “The person who stayed in here last had this with them.” Ness paged through the brochure, which was quite lengthy, and contained a factual and geological history of the Giant Step area of Onett Hills.

“It doesn’t make sense.” Ness turned to the back page, which showed the sun setting over the west hills of Onett.

“Maybe whoever was here was planning on going to Giant Step for something?” Ed was becoming less able to understand the situation, but still strove to help Ness. “Perhaps you’d want to check it out?”

Ness nodded slowly. “Perhaps.” He stood up. “Are any of these other brochures not yours?”

Ed sat down and rummaged through about twenty brochures. “These are all provided by the hotel. That seems to be the only one.”

Ness nodded slowly. “Alright. That’s all then, I guess.”

Ed gave a firm nod. “Okay, I’ll lead you back to the lobby.” Ed and Ness walked out of the room and back to the lobby, a sort of awkward silence between them until they got back to the lobby. “If you need anything…” Ed trailed off for a moment. “Let us know.”

Ness nodded slowly, firmly clutching the Giant Step brochure. “I will. Thank you for your help.” Ness turned to examine the room one last time. The receptionist glared at him derisively. Ness turned away and looked to the door.

Ed looked at the receptionist. He walked over to the reception desk and pulled a stack of papers out of a cabinet, placing them on the counter. “Here, Sylvia, you can sort this stack now.”

The receptionist rolled her eyes and huffed. “Come on, dad!” she whined. “I just finished sorting the last stack!”

Outside the building, Ness walked down the street. The air was getting slightly warmer as the afternoon wore on, and the clouds were starting to move. A few blocks down the road, Ness got a good view of the Onett Hills. Ness had only been up to Giant Step twice in his life, and both times it was a tricky task. He deemed the task necessary this time, as his search for any lead had become more and more desperate up until that point in time. As Ness surveyed Giant Step from afar, the clouds in the sky broke to let a beam of light fall to the earth right where Giant Step was. A strong gust of wind blew against Ness’s pace across town toward Giant Step, but he pressed on.