Logan unlocked the apartment door and stepped into Vanessa's uninhabited apartment. He took a moment to assess his surroundings. The apartment was small, but nicely arranged so that it didn't seem crowded or cluttered. The furnishings were simple, yet stylish and warm. He wondered how much the apartment reflected the woman who lived here and again he felt terrible for not doing more for her when he had the chance.
Trying to clear his mind of speculation and focus on just the facts, he returned to the task that had brought him here, searching for a lead to who might be responsible for Vanessa's disappearance.
Logan crossed over to the desk and started sifting through the stack of letters and notes left on the desk top. The flashing light of the answering machine caught the corner of his eye, so he hit play and listened as he continued to look through the papers on Vanessa's desk.
At first he was finding nothing unusual. The letters were mostly bills and credit card offers, the phone messages standard and too brief to gather much information from. He was about to move away and search through the rest of the apartment for clues, when something on the answering machine caught his ear. He moved back to the machine and pressed a button to replay the message, this time, listening more carefully.
Something about the way the caller spoke, maybe it was the turn of a phrase, reminded Logan of the creepy notes Vanessa had received. He quickly jotted down the caller's name and searched through Vanessa's desk for an address book.
Reese offered Annie a seat. As she waited for her to speak, Reese wondered nervously what she had come here so gravely to talk to her about.
Annie took a deep breath. When she finally spoke she went directly to the point. "This isn't an easy subject for me to bring up, but I feel like it's one that cannot be ignored. As I was going through my file cabinet, I noticed that your file and only your file was missing. I hate to make assumptions, but the more I thought about it, I realized there was only one conclusion that I could come to . . . Do you know what happened to the file?"
Reese squirmed in her seat, feeling like a scolded child. She hesitated before answering, but found herself unable to lie. "Yes. I have it. I took it from your office. I still have it and I'll give right back to you if you want it."
Annie shook her head. "No, I'm not worried about getting it back. I was more worried about you seeing what was inside of it. How much do you know?"
"Everything," Reese said quietly. "Blaine and I looked up Elyse Hudson and we made her tell me the whole story about my parents and my birth. I know everything."
Annie sighed heavily. "I hoped it wouldn't come to this. Reese, I wanted to protect you from your past, but I suppose I should have known I couldn't keep you from it forever. How do you feel now that you know the truth? How have you handled it? Are you ok?"
Reese frowned thoughtfully and shrugged slightly. "I think I'm doing ok. The truth was so much worse than I'd ever imagined, but I'm glad I know. At least now, I can stop asking myself so many questions about my past and I can quit wondering. I've been trying to put it all behind me and not think about it at all."
"I'm sorry. I think it is better that you do try to put it behind you. I've seen many terrible situations like yours in my work, and it never gets easier. I really feel for the children who have to live with their pasts. I'd hoped to at least shelter you from yours."
"I wanted to know. It was my choice."
"I know. I'm glad you seem to be taking it well. I want you to know, if you ever need anything at all, I'm always here for you. You aren't alone, dear."
Reese sighed. She felt alone. Her entire life she had felt alone, except when she was with Blaine. Since they'd first met he had always been there for her. She wasn't sure how she would have gotten through everything without him. She didn't realize how hard it would be to go on without him now.
"It sounds like maybe she just wasn't the one for you," Cassie said carefully as she and Blaine stopped in front of her house. They had spent the entire walk home talking about relationships and what had happened between him and Reese.
"Yeah, I guess not, but I was so sure she was. She was smart and sweet and just a really great girl. I thought we had this great connection from the start, but I guess not. We couldn't have, if we don't even want the same things in life, could we?"
"I wouldn't think so. It's important to want the same things, but if someone is truly the one for you it wouldn't matter. I know I would be willing to do anything for my soulmate. If I had a great guy, I wouldn't let him go. Not just because I wasn't willing to compromise."
Blaine and Cassandra's conversation was interrupted by a shout coming from inside the house.
"What was that?" Blaine asked, looking up.
"Mother," Cassie answered as she hurried towards the door.
When Blaine and Cassandra entered the living room, they found Serena standing in the middle of the room, her face twisted in pain, she pressed her hands against the sides of her head.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
"Make it stop. Make it stop," Serena cried out before collapsing to the floor.
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