Caitlin jumped off the couch panicking until she realized it was just a picture on the television screen. After calming down she slowly returned to her seat and slumped down into the cushions relieved. Then she realized her dad was home, and he was sitting on the other couch, staring at her in confusion. Her eyes flashed back and forth between him and the tv, at first not even realizing he'd spoken to her.
"Caitlin!"
"I'm sorry what?" She stammered out, before once again glancing at the tv.
"I asked if you were okay. Did you have a bad dream or something?" he asked with raised eyebrows.
"Oh umm, can you rewind this real quick please?" she responded almost pleadingly.
"Yeah sure," he said, as he picked up the remote and pushed a button a couple times.
Caitlin was completely transfixed by the woman on the screen. She hung onto every word that fell from her mouth as though her life depended on it, as the banged up red truck returned.
17 year old Emily Horn, was last seen around 4:30pm, getting into this truck, with a young man that had brown hair. She was wearing a green tank top, black skinny jeans, and a grey cheerleading jacket. Her car was found on the side of the road, it appeared to have run out of gas.
According to her parents she didn't know this man, nor do either of them, they also said it's extremely out of character, for her to get in a car with a random stranger. If you see this man, or have any other information that could be used to find her whereabouts, please contact the police.
It would be best if your teenage daughters are not allowed to walk around by themselves, until this is figured out.
A phone number flashed across the screen as Caitlin continued to stare at it in shock. Then the reporter moved on to another, much less important story, and she was able to force her eyes away.
"Caitlin," her dad repeated for the third time.
"Yeah," she finally answered as she turned to look at him.
"Okay, what's going on?" He asked sternly.
"Well..., I....I saw that truck today," she slowly stammered out. Obviously it was time to tell someone.
"What truck?" He questioned, a little confused since he'd been paying attention to her not the tv.
"The one that was just on the news," Caitlin answered gesturing to the television.
"What! When? Where?" He peppered her with questions and stood up from the couch to pace back and forth. He was trying to catch hold of his temper and cool it down, because he was on the verge of completing flipping out.
"Today, when I was walking home from school," she said hunching her shoulders trying to make herself smaller, wishing she could momentarily disappear.
"Are you sure?" He asked staring into get eyes, hoping she was mistaken.
"Yeah....he umm, he tried to give me a ride home," she barely had time to verify before he angrily responded.
"Excuse me?" He spat, his face turning pink.
"I didn't like the way he acted so...I...I ran the rest of the way home," she crossed her arms and slumped down further, her eyes glistening with tears.
"What? He bothered you that much and you didn't think to call and tell me? What if something happened to you! No one would know because you didn't think to call and tell anyone!" His face turned beet red, and was yelling at her by the time he got done.
"I...I'm....I'm really sorry dad. I didn't think-," she tried to respond, face turning white as a sheet.
"You're exactly right you didn't think!" he interrupted. She started to cry, she hated when her dad was mad at her, that alone was enough to have her in tears. But she was crying because what he'd said had scared her.
"I'm calling the police! And you will not be walking home, any more!"
Fifteen minutes later he was back looking extremely stressed and running his hands through his already messed up hair.
"They'll be by tomorrow to get a written statement from you. You need to think about every little detail and write it down, anything might help them find that girl," he said calmly before letting out a sigh.
"Yes sir."
"I'm going to bed. You should go to your room and start writing while it's still fresh in your mind, then go to bed yourself."
"Okay, I love you, goodnight," Caitlin responded standing up from the couch and walking over to him. She gave her dad a kiss on the cheek, and turned towards her room.
"I love you too. Sorry for yelling earlier...it's just, thinking of what could've happened, it scares the crap out of me."
She turned back towards him, "I know, it's fine dad."
"Well, goodnight Honeybun."
"Goodnight dad." They both walked off in the direction of their rooms.
Caitlin sat down on her bed with a pad of paper, writing down every scrap of information she could think of from earlier. When she finished she put it on her bedside table incase she remembered anything else. Then she got up, and turned off her light, before curling up in her covers to go to sleep. Her last thought was how thankful she was she didn't get in that truck.