Anywhere But Here

Alyssa's heart pounded in her chest as her eyes swept up to the two story house that she had been standing in front of. How, exactly, her dad had managed to afford this home was out of her understand. Yet she wasn't one to draw conclusions- she hadn't spoken to or even heard from her father in nearly sixteen years.

The honking of the taxi cab that was idling on the sidewalk behind her tore Alyssa's eyes away from the house and she instead looked at the open trunk of the car before her. She struggled to retrieve the final bags in the compartment as she glanced up through the back window and into the taxi driver's eyes.

They shined with an emotion that exerted impatience and boredom. The same look that had been in the police officer's eyes the day she had approached her home, where the cars with the flashing tops were parked chaotically around her mom and step-dad's yard.

"Miss," The man in the blue uniform patted Alyssa's bare shoulder roughly. His hands were warm and calloused. The last thing she wanted was some old man touching her shoulder at a time like this. "I am sorry to tell you that your mom has just been pronounced dead in the left bedroom. We don't know anyone else to contact, and we need a few questions answered as soon as possible."

Alyssa's heart sped as she tried to catch the breath that had escaped from her lungs. Her eyes tried to look past the crowd that had gathered next to the large window at the front of her house. The summer wind allowed the yellow police tape that had been quickly set up to flow restlessly around the white picket fence at the front of the property.

"W-what," Alyssa gulped, "What kind of questions?"

Her eyes shot away from the window suddenly as she glanced at the police officer. He had been staring at something behind her, but now his eyes lazily fell upon hers. He sighed and motioned for her to sit on the trunk of her car. She stayed where she was.

"Miss, when was the last time you saw Richard McClellan?" She rarely called her step-father, Richard, by his full name, so hearing it then made Alyssa's stomach churn even more. She shrugged her shoulders and glanced back at her house.

"I don't know, earlier this morning? He was headed off to work when I was leaving for school. Is he alright?" A twitch in the police officer's mouth told Alyssa that he was most likely the direct opposite of that.

"We aren't sure," The man mumbled, pulling his cell phone off of his clip-on carrier that was attached to his leather belt. "Richard seems to have gone missing."

"Whoever you're looking for wont be home until later tonight," a voice startled Alyssa, forcing the few carry-on bags that she had left dangling from her fingers to fall onto the pavement in front of her. She turned around hurriedly and instantly spotted a boy, who seemed to be around her age, leaning against the mailbox across the street from her father's home. he slowly walked his way to the sidewalk before Alyssa and smirked gently. "You're Alyssa, right?"

She was somewhat troubled by the fact that this complete stranger knew her name, but nodded her head anyways. He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and gripped onto a shiny key. Alyssa watched as he dropped it into her open palm.

"Greg and Lisa said that you were visiting," The boy told her, "they both have day jobs, so they asked me to give you the key when you got here. They'll probably be home around six."

Alyssa, who still hadn't spoken a word, glanced at the boy curiously. "...Who are you? Who is Lisa?"

"Oh," The guy's cheeks turned dark crimson as he held out a tan hand in her direction, "my name is Joe. My family and I live across the street. Lisa is...your dad's wife..."

Alyssa continued to stare at Joe, taking in his features quickly-dark, long hair, darker eyes, tan skin, charming smile-as he continued to speak.

Their eyes met as Alyssa wondered if he had heard about her mother. By the way Joe chose his words carefully and watched her sympathetically, she was pretty sure he that he had.

"...Do you need some help getting settled in?" Alyssa had been zoning out for a few moments before she had realized Joe had asked her a question. She gulped slowly and tried to smile. That was something that seemed more and more difficult to do every day.

"Uh..." Alyssa trailed off, her eyes once again scanning over Joe's appearance. She sighed and nodded her head slowly, "Sure, why not."

Joe smirked in spite of himself and nodded his head, looking at the slew of suitcases that littered the sidewalk in front of Alyssa's new home. He reached for two luggage cases on the outside of the mess and began stumbling his way up the porch steps. Alyssa followed behind with another bag.

Holding the door open with his foot, Joe glanced behind him at Alyssa, who was staring off into the distance toward the ocean. A horror stricken look was flooding across her face as Joe cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Uhm, are you alright?" He asked warily, setting one of the suitcases down. Alyssa jumped suddenly and glanced at Joe, sighing quietly.

"Yeah, sorry. I thought I..." She turned around again before shaking her head, "I just though I saw something. It was stupid, I thought I saw someone."

Joe nodded, not quite sure on what to do next. Alyssa pushed past him suddenly, walking up the stairs without asking for directions where she was supposed to go.

Joe took Alyssa's place in the doorway and glanced in the general direction that she was facing. A few miles down the shoreline, the blur of a red sweater disappeared into the thick woods next to it, leaving nothing on the entire shore except for the waves that crashed against the sand recklessly.