Colin's posts

"I'm going to wait here for now." Lindsay replied.

"Someone needs to stay here, in case she returns." he said.

"...I want to go out and look, heaven help me, I do..." he then went on.

"But we can't risk her returning and needing immediate help, and there being nobody here to see her." he reasoned.

"...that makes sense." Darrel admitted.

".....fair point." Lindsay muttered.

It was at that point, Darrel returned.

"Do you want me to check in at any time?" he asked.

"Like... regular intervals? A specific time? That sorta thing?" he asked further.

"Or... well, anything, really?"

Darrel nodded.

"I'll go and get it." he told her.

"And I'll grab my shoes and go." he said, before heading inside.

"...I can't sense her, Casey..." Lindsay said quietly.

"Do... you think she's...?" he started to ask, but was unable to finish the question.

"Hm." Darrel muttered.

"Well, can I help?" he asked.

"How would you help?" Lindsay asked in response.

"Well, I know some of her usual routes that she takes when she goes for runs." Darrel responded.

"I can travel them, and see if I can't find her, or some sorta clue or something." he offered.

"......" Darrel was silent for a moment, before making his way downstairs.

He looked around, before noticing that Lindsay an Casey were in the backyard.

He went outside, himself, and made his way over.

"Excuse me." he said.

"Is Samantha back yet?" he asked.

"She's normally not gone this long, is she?" he asked further.

Darrel was silent for a moment, before shaking his head a bit.

"Die, huh?" he asked.

"I've had headaches like that." he said.

"But all right, go and sleep." he told her.

"Get some rest." he continued.

"You want to be woken up at any time in specific?" he asked her.

"Or just... you wake up when you wake up?"

Darrel looked over towards Sammy, and then turned the volume on the TV down.

"Oh, hey." he said, getting up and making his way towards her.

"Yeah, that's a relief." he went on.

"Glad to see you appear to be okay." he said further.

"So what did your uncle say?" he asked her.

"Everything cool?"

"He should be downstairs." Lindsay replied.

"Last I checked, he was in the living room." he told her.

"But he may have gone outside since them." he continued.

"Either way, head downstairs. You'll find him." he said.

"Sorry about the miscommunication earlier." he then apologized.

Lindsay looked at her, and was silent for a moment.

He then lowered his head, and sighed loudly.

"Seems I under-communicated again." he said.

"I meant for you to come see me after you'd laid down for a while, and then dealt with your brother after that." he told her.

"For the love of..." he mumbled further.

"This is my fault. I apologize." he told her.

"In no way did I expect you to have this talk with me in the condition you are currently in." he explained.

"Do not feel we need to discuss this now." he said further.

"Please. If you want to go lay down and clear your head, go do so. This CAN wait, I assure you."

Evan's eyes widened, before he sighed.

"THAT'S the Sammy I know." he said.

He then quickly shot out from where he was, and ran off.

Odds are he was headed somewhere else to lay low... but she noticed something.

As he had taken off, some of the toys that had been in the hallway in front of his door had disappeared, meaning he'd scooped them up as he went.

Seems something had finally managed to burrow into his skull about leaving stuff around this time.

".......uh....." Evan muttered, obviously confused.

"Okay..." he said.

"I will." he told her.

"...uh... Sammy...?" he then asked.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

Normally he would get a gelling out from her or their parents, but this was new. She was calm, and wasn't looking like she wanted to even the score.

It unnerved him.

There was silence for a moment.

Sheer and utter silence.

But then she heard some scampering... some scuffling... and then Evan slowly emerged from under her bed.

".....Sammy...?" he said quietly.

"Sorry..." he apologized, guilt in his tone.

"I'll be in my office." Lindsay replied.

"Need to sort through some papers." he said.

"Come find me whenever you're ready." he went on.

"Oh." he then said, stopping at the door as he was leaving.

"Don't kill your brother." he chuckled.

"That makes sense." Lindsay replied.

"Two things." he said.

"One... we haven't dealt with your brother." he told her. "Odds are he's hiding in one of his usual places, so we're saving that for you to deal with personally." he continued.

"Secondly... after you're finished all that, we should talk." he said further.

"No trouble or anything, just... we ought to discuss something."