Yanni POV
What the fuck is happening?!
My life.... the world... has gone completely crazy!
Last night Syd was attacked, terrified and nearly raped, now she has disappeared from the bed beside me!?
How the fuck does that happen? What kind of protector am I?
The shit kind evidently!!
Noah better tell me what the fuck is going on soon or I'll be tearing him a new one!!
Jimmie and I follow rapidly behind him on our way to the hotel reception, the panic on his face reflecting the feeling in the pit of my stomach, my brain frantic with worry, the fingers of fear massaging icy needles into my skin sending involuntary shivers up my spine, very much at odds with the clammy and sweaty face and over zealous heart rate, but mainly I am filled with a burning rage that has gone from a spark to a flame incredibly quickly. That flame is well on its way to becoming an entire forest fire of all consuming wrath!
The target of that rage being Noah, and whoever had taken Sydney.
I will find her, and whoever took her, and I will make them pay for the trauma she is no doubt suffering right now.
I suck in a lungful of steadying air as we arrive at the reception desk and Noah implores the polite young man behind the desk to allow us to urgently speak to the security manager, which he organised with a quick phone call and a curt smile before ushering us behind the desk and into a beautiful and spacious office, indicating we take seats on the white leather sofas while we wait.
"Right.... spill, and it better be good Noah, or so help me I'll crucify y...." I am cut off by an emphatic and strong......
"STOP!"
Jimmie is slumped forward on the edge of his seat, his posture a visual representation of my own feelings of fear and dejection, his elbows on his knees, fingers knotted in his silky soft baby pink hair, head hanging loosely from his slouched and sagging shoulders.
We are promptly silent, turning in unison to look at the source of the commanding tone as Jimmie lifts his head.
"Thankyou. I am Amelia Baron, head of security here. I understand you have a matter of urgency to discuss? That will most effectively be dealt with if only one of you explain as concisely as possible what I can help you with, no interruptions, and no raised voices. Are we clear?" she enunciates in a soft but clear British accent.
I relax the tiniest amount. This young and attractive woman may not look like your perception of a security head, but she has an aura that speaks of an intensity to perform, to achieve and to succeed, and is the perfect combination of kind but firm and decisive, but not directive.
In a gentle but clipped tone Amelia fixes her eyes on Noah and asks, "So, who would like to tell me how I can help today?" almost as if she already knew he was the one person in the room with even an inkling of what was going on!
Clearing his throat and glancing nervously at me and Jimmie, Noah gulps before beginning to speak.
"Our friend was attacked here last night, and now she has gone missing!" he informs Amelia very concisely indeed.
"The young lady in question is Miss Benfield, currently resident in room 1104, is that correct?" She questions, writing something in a small black notebook.
"Yes. We found her room key card in the ground floor stairwell around five minutes ago and have reason to believe that something is terribly wrong. We've been unable to contact her by any means yet but are certain that she left the room with her phone. Can we view security footage for her floor, all stairwells and landings and the car park please? Maybe it will help us find her quickly? Please!?" he pleads, his emotion apparent in the quivering tone of his voice, and in the glassy wetness of his eyes.
"Yes. Let's go to the control room. Follow me please" she states as she stands and turns towards the door.
That was easier than I expected, and I can't help but tell her so whilst thanking her over and over.
"What reason would I have to not show you the footage? If a young lady is in danger then I will do all I can to assist in finding her, but I am duty bound to inform the police. You understand that you NEVER saw this footage. How you happen to find her entirely 'without help' is for you to decide" she says, air quoting around the words 'without help', the implication that she would deny having given us access to the footage.
"Let's cue up the eleventh floor cameras first. I'll go back half an hour and scrub through the images. Please tell me if you see her?" she clicks the mouse and takes the footage back to 05:50 and then fast scrolls forward until 06:01 when Noah is seen knocking on our room door.
I'm desperate to know what he is saying to her but push down that thought as Amelia's words ring in my ears. At 06:02 he leaves the doorway and heads towards the lift, getting in and heading down to the lobby.
Amelia continues to fast scroll through the images before freezing the frame at 06:10.
There she is! Dressed in a black shirt, jeans and boots with no coat or bag, suggesting to me that she had no intention of leaving the building. She stops in the doorway and looks back in for a few seconds. It's only possible to see her left profile but I clearly see her blow a kiss back into the room, throwing a tiny wave after it before turning and walking towards the camera.
She's blowing that kiss at me and I didn't know, I was asleep. A lump forms in my throat as I send up a silent prayer to a God I don't believe in to keep her safe until I can find her. I clear my throat loudly and fake a yawn to cover the fact that tears of worry and fear are falling from my eyes.
Why didn't she wake me?! How can I keep her safe if she sneaks off alone while I'm sleeping!?
She looks pensive, but comfortable.... and beautiful!
My throat closes, my eyes still stinging with salty tears and I'm struggling to catch my breath. I can't afford to lose it, can't fall to pieces and let myself cry because that won't help find Syd. That flame has started to burn harder, growing... sweeping through the plains of reason in my mind, razing rationality to the ground!
I need to de-pressurise, give rein to this hideously painful anger that is starting to eat me alive!
"WHY THE FUCK DIDNT SHE WAKE ME?" I scream, my rage directed rather irrationally at Sydney herself. I need to vent, feeling powerless and inadequate is anathema to me. I NEVER give up, being beaten is not a feeling that I enjoy and I will throw myself into conquering any challenge..... but I've never had to try and rescue a loved one from... what?? A kidnapper? A rapist? God forbid anything worse!!!