Little Tooth

Chapter 20:

 The stir 

-...-

Oliver Time sighed and looked at the wall clock. It told the time being almost 6:15, which was a bit late considering he started dinner late. Baby Tooth was told be back by dinner, so she wasn't late yet. However, it still worried him. He mentally laughed at himself. She was with Jackson, at least that's what she told him. She would be fine!

On the stove, he cooked the last of what would be a large omelet that he'd split in two for the two of them. He added ham and lots of cheese. It was one of her favorite dinner meals. That with some tea and she'd be happier then...well, anything you could think of.

He almost let the omelet burn, he was so focused on the door, waiting for her to walk through. He gasped, turning around to flip it onto a plate. He cut it up in two and placed one half on another plate. He turned off the stove and took both plates to the table. He poured two glasses of freshly made tea and set one of the glasses next to Baby Tooth's plate. He sat down, and to be polite, would wait so that they, as father and daughter, could eat together.

…

Okay. His patience could only last so long. He waited for so long, the TV in the living room being the only noise in the house. The clock now read 6:35, and this was not good. Trying to clam himself down, he took a few breaths. He adored Baby Tooth and the last time he was left like this was that night she ran to find Jackson, which was years ago. He stood up and walked to the house phone that was hung on the wall. He dialed a number and waited.

"Hello? This is Jackson." Oliver heard Jackson answer.

"Where is Baby Tooth?" Oliver almost demanded in a parental tone.

And then, weather Oliver knew it or not, Jackson's world crashed down. His heart probably literally skipped a beat. His body probably prepared to shut down. This silence only caused the father to get more impatient.

"W-Wha...what?"

"Where is my daughter?" Oliver's growling only scared the younger one more.

"S-Sir, she's supposed to be home." It would feel wrong to address a man by his first name with a situation like this.

Jackson knew he didn't make it any better, so he spoke first this time. He tried to sound like he wasn't being murdered inside.

"I had to take something to the hospital for Mary and I offered to take her home. She told me she had to stop by CVS to get some school supplies and would take the bus that was just down the block back home." Jackson explained. "And that was around 4:35"

4:35 and it was almost 7 now.

Oliver shook his head. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to blame it all on Jackson, for that was the other thing he could do right now. But he knew Jackson wasn't lying, and just like Jackson, he would have trusted Baby Tooth alone at the store as well. This situation had never once crossed his mind.

"I will call the police and then go out searching for her myself." He said in the calmest tone he could do at the moment, which still sounded upset.

"You're not alone in this." Jackson replied. "I'll get some help."

And Jackson was the first to hang up.

-....-

Felix walked into the living room, his face showing a mix of fear and upset. Cry and Marzia, whom both sat on the couch, turned to him with concerned faces.

"What's wrong?" Marzia asked.

"Jackson called me." Felix walked over and started putting on his shoes. "Baby Tooth is missing."

Marzia and Cry stood up.

"Are you going to look for her?" Marzia asked.

"What's it look like?" Felix asked, finishing his shoes and going for his car keys.

"Come on then." Cry was ready to go just like that too.

Cry grabbed his helmet and motorcycle keys. He had an old motorcycle, which is very rusty and kinda slow compared to others, but it was a gift that his only way of personal transportation. Marzia put on her own shoes fast and joined Felix.

"I'm coming too."

They exited the apartment, locking the door behind them, and headed out into the dark, winter sky.

-...-

Jamie put down the burger he bit into, sighing. He had a frown on his face and Sophie and his mother both noticed.

"What's wrong?" His mother asked with a concerned face.

"It just doesn't taste like Burgess' burgers and even if I've had these thousand times since coming here it still makes me feel down." Jamie sighed.

"It tastes pretty okay to me." Sophie said, stuffing her mouth with a burger.

The family decided to have take out tonight from a local burger place. Sophie seemed to like it, as well as her mother who really only got a salad. Jamie was about to take another bite when the phone in his pocket buzzed. Jamie nearly jumped.

"Jamie. I told you no phone at the dinner table."

Despite that, Jamie pulled out the phone to see who it was. Caller ID claimed Jackson. Since exchanging numbers, this was the first call between them. Must be important at 6:40 at night. Jamie looked at Sophie.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"Jackson." Jamie looked at his mother. "This is important. I'm sorry."

Jamie stood up and walked into the other room, taking the call. His mother sighed and looked at Sophie.

"Important? I don't think it's a job accepting him." She rolled her eyes.

"Well he said it's Jackson, who doesn't seem to be the type to just drop a call to say hi." Sophie replied with a concerned face. Her mother felt defeated.

After waiting for half a minute, Jamie walked back in the room, only his face showing fright. This surprised the two at the table.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked.

"Baby Tooth's missing." Jamie said. He quickly put away his food and walked over to put his shoes on.

"Oh no." Sophie shuttered.

"Where do you think you're going?" His mother stood up.

"To go and look for her." Jamie almost growled.

"Me too!" Sophie got up and did the same.

"It's almost 7 and it's pitch black out there." His mother said.

"But she's missing! She's probably somewhere, hurt." Jamie glared at his mother.

"Well let me go look." She said.

"She's our childhood friend!" Jamie hissed.

His mother looked at him, hurt.

"Childhood?" His mother shook it off. "Whatever. I'm coming with you two."

-...-

"BABY TOOTH!" Felix called out, walking the streets of the shopping district with Marzia following behind.

"TOOOTHIANA TIME!" Marzia knew which name was preferred, but she'd at least try anyway.

They ran around, their feet hitting the rain puddles. Marzia stayed as close to Felix as she possibly could, scared. However, to tell the truth, Felix was probably more worried then she was. He was scared that the little girl could be dead as they yelled her name.

-...-

"BABY TOOTH!"

"BAABBBYY TOOOOTHH!"

Jamie and Sophie ran down the streets of Baby Tooth's neighborhood. Their breathing got heavy, but they ignored their lack of ability to run so much in such amount of time. The streets lights shined in their watery, worried eyes. As they ran by Oliver's house, they noticed all the lights off, and not a car in the front yard.

-....-

Cry's hair blew in the wind as his helmet wasn't completely on. He stopped once he got to the middle of a wide street, taking off his dark head piece and looked around. He squint his eyes to see better, as his glasses struggled to deal with the air after a rain shower.

"BABY TOOTH!" His mature voice shouted into the air, an echo returning. Nothing.

He gave off a frustrated sigh and place back on his helmet, ramming the old engine of the motorcycle and going off, into the lonely, dark, and yet open streets of this side of Savannah. He drove against the highways and even decided to got into one, looking carefully wherever he went.

-...-

Oliver had checked with the people in CVS, asking them if they had seen her. When told the girl's description, one of the employees remembered seeing Baby Tooth. They remember her walking out with school supplies and that was it. Oliver was told that the video tapes would be sent to the police force, but other then that, they couldn't help him.

Now he was pacing down the sidewalk just outside of the building, walking towards the bus stop that Baby Tooth should have taken. His boots made the silent section of buildings echo with the almost quiet sound of rubber hitting the water puddles. His breathing was loud and he had run so much he was very tired. But all that stopped bothering him when he noticed a CVS bag on the ground.

He picked it up and looked inside to see soggy notepads and journals, as well as some pencils and other small utensils. It was School supplies. Just like Jackson had said. Only to make his fears worse, he pulled out a receipt that had, in fine print, "Toothiana Time" on it.

His eyes widen, he realized the bag was dropped right in front of an alleyway. He stared into the darkness of the space between two buildings. There was trashcans and puddles of water. It was creepy and eerie. And He was almost sure this was where the crime took place. Running down the alleyway, he searched frantically for any sign of Baby Tooth. But when he reached a dead end just around a small corner, he realized that there was not a clue left behind. He fell to his knees in agony.

His baby girl was no where to be found.

-...-

It was dark, but she had the whole room mapped out. She was in the corner, her arms bound behind her back. She had something, probably a sock, shoved in her mouth. However, with no light in the room, she was able to tell where everything was. The door, which was across the room, was there to mock her. She was scared, but it wasn't the darkness. She'd stop being scared of it since Pitch. She'd been awake for a few minutes, however she didn't know how long she had been knocked out.

She could hear voices from outside the door. She could hear laughing. There sounded like two women and more then a few guys. She could hear their voices slur and it was no joke that they were probably getting drunk. However, within this unknown situation, those voice spoke to her. They told her they were familiar. She knew these altered voices from somewhere. She feared that maybe, she knew just who they were. If she was right, Jackson was right, and she'd probably be dead by morning.

-...-

Jackson sat in the park. He'd looked everywhere. In the shopping district, around the houses, and even in this cold, dark park. His eyes showed a depletion of sleep. His arms and legs felt weak and shook. His nose was cold and he wouldn't be surprised if he'd wake up with a bad cold. His head leaned back to touch the bench he sat on, and he let out a breath to look up at the glowing moon. Why was it glowing so bright? Why on this night? Jackson wanted to ask it those questions and more, but there wasn't anyone to answer back, right? Right?

"I don't know if there is anyone listening...heck, I probably sound insane at the moment, but...if there is..." Jackson took a deep breath. "What do I do?...She saved me, but part of me wants to believe I'll never repay the debt."

The wind grew cold and he shivered, crossing his arms for more warmth. Sitting not to far away, behind him and out of sight, was a particular winter spirit. The spirit listened to the man, but had no idea who he was or what he was talking about.

"Wish I could help you man, but" Jack jumped down from the weak tree branch and hit the snow quietly. "I've got problems of my own."

Walking away in the snow, Jack Frost kicked some around and pressed his staff to some of the trees to create flowing patterns of frost. He felt fine at the moment, but he'd never feel 100% better after seeing the corpse a child. That and there was still no sign of that little tooth fairy that he had grown to have a tight bond with after the Pitch invasion so many, many years ago.

Jackson looked back behind his back. He wasn't sure, and for a second he believed that maybe he was crazy, but...did he just hear a reply? It was too far away to be heard clearly, but Jackson heard it. He heard Jack Frost's voice. He sighed, shook his head, and got up to look around more. He wouldn't be heading home until some time in the early morning, that was for sure.

-...-