October 20, 2002 – 23:45
Coralis climbed to bed next to Frank. He pulled her to him and kissed her neck. She heard her hologram vibrating on the bedside table. She cursed and tried to ignore it. It wouldn't stop and a purple light came out of it, so she turned to check where the call was coming from. It wasn't from EBEE, so she pressed to answer it.
Someone she recognized as the principal of the Winisk Elemental School came out of it. She sat straight up.
"Blue Thunder, according to our records, you are the elemental guardian of Ms. Audrey Hudson. It is therefore must inform you of her disappearance."
"Audrey disappeared? When?"
"It just got brought to our attention. Her roommate notified us when she realized that her bed was empty."
"I'm on my way. Expect me in your office in an hour."
Coralis turned it off and got up to get dressed.
"How is that possible, I thought the school was well protected and no intruders could get in."
"I don't know yet, but I'm going to find out and when I find your cousin, I'm going to have her transfer school. It is not the first incident I have with that school, but it will be the last."
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you when I get back."
She kissed him and left. As soon as she was gone, his phone rang.
"Frank, is Coralis there?" said Lizzy.
"She just left, Audrey' school called you too?"
"Yes, they just did."
Frank could hear the panic in his aunt's voice.
"Coralis is on her way to her school. I trust her, she's very good at what she does. She'll find her in no time."
He heard her repeating what he said away from the phone.
"How is she travelling there if she doesn't drive?" said Louis.
"Do I hear Uncle Louis behind you?"
"Yes, Linda and your mother are also here. That was our night for your mother's birthday. I trust her too... do you think Sebastian will be helping her?"
"Ah, yes, I remember her me telling about it when I saw her yesterday. I'm sure Sebastian will help her, yes. She probably called him as soon as she left and you know he just moved in with Stephanie, so I wouldn't be surprised if my sister calls you tonight."
Frank heard his mother's ringtone in the background.
"I think it's your sister calling her right now. Can you please tell Coralis to call me as soon as she has a chance? Doesn't matter what time."
"Yes, I will tell her."
Frank called Coralis as soon as he hung up. He walked out of their bedroom to make coffee. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until she'd be back and wondered what had previously happened at that school.
Nearly 20 minutes later, Stephanie rang Lizzy's doorbell, and Sebastian stood next to her. Lizzy hugged him as soon as she opened the door and started sobbing.
"She'll find her, don't worry, Coralis will bring her back to you," said Sebastian.
She let them in and closed the door behind them. Out of habit, Sebastian was about to pull a mute-ball out of his cloak but remembered that Coralis recently had Gus come to soundproof her apartment.
"I know, thanks for coming here with Stephanie, that means a lot to me. Coralis called you?"
"Yes, as Stephanie told you on the phone, she called me shortly after she left her apartment and asked me if I could come to check on you, figuring it'd also make it easier to keep you updated with what's going on. She also wants to make sure that her father doesn't come anywhere near you, at least not without one of us present."
"You two are angels sent to us, I swear," said Molly.
"What makes you think her father is the one who kidnapped her?" said Louis.
Sebastian looked up and noticed Molly, Louis and Linda.
Meanwhile, Coralis was flying at high speed toward Winisk Elemental School. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened to her cousin Nadilla when she was there, nearly 8 years prior. She remembered what was said during the funeral. She knew that Lord Meozo didn't have anything to do with Audrey's disappearance, but she questioned the school's ethics regarding their students' safety.
She was still lost in her thoughts when she approached the school perimeter. She abruptly came back to her senses when the wards sent her almost a meter back. She landed on the ground wondering how whoever took Audrey managed to pass through the wards. Someone working at the school must have let them in.
Pablo, the principal of WES, met with her at the guest entry and took her to Audrey's room.
"How can someone take a student away from school when you have decent wards protecting the school from intruders."
"I don't know more than you do at the moment, but she probably left on her own. One of her roommates, Ms. Cynla Dupuis, woke up to use the bathroom when she noticed her friend wasn't there. Their window was opened and Ms. Audrey Hudson does not have a history of sneaking out at night, so she warned us. We took the time to search the entire premises before we notified you and her mother."
"When I spoke to you earlier, you said that you had just been warned."
Principal Pablo and Coralis entered Audrey's room. Audrey had two roommates, and they were both staring at Coralis.
"Audrey wasn't lying," said a young brunette.
"This is Ms. Cynla Dupuis, and next to her is Ms. Bomita Chorm," said Principal Pablo while his hologram vibrated. "I need to take this. Take the time you need and let me know if you find anything. Do you remember where my office is located?"
"Yes," said Coralis and watched him leave. She closed the door behind him and activated a mute-ball, before heading to the window. "Now, I want to know everything that you know about what happened tonight and about anything odd that you noticed regarding Audrey from the moment she started school."
Lizzy was pacing her living room. Louis and Linda sat on the couch, looking at her. Molly sat on a single-seater chair next to them, staring at the ground, and Sebastian stood near the door, his back leaning against the wall.
"Do you think she's there already?" said Lizzy.
"How could she be there already? You said Audrey went to a boarding school in Northern Ontario. Even if she had access to a private flight, she still has to make it to the airport, and I don't think there is one anywhere close to where you told us her school is located," said Louis.
Sebastian looked at Louis and Linda. He knew that it was a matter of time before Coralis reached out to him through his hologram, and she didn't know they were at Lizzy's. He considered his options. He could try to send her a text message to warn her but he wasn't sure if there were a cellphone signals where she was and text messages weren't pushed into her hologram.
He realized that if Louis and Linda were going to stick around until Audrey was found, they were bound to see or hear something that he wouldn't be able to explain. Sebastian decided that at this point, the best course of action was to tell them the truth. If Coralis had done it twice, he figured that he could do it. They were Audrey's family.
"I'm sure she's there already, giving hell to the school administrators. She flies fast. Louis… there is something that you should know about us"