It Comes in Darkness

Casey was never a one to consider himself a person who had regrets, but if he ever had one, it was that he had told Liv about the new disappearances. After a month, he could no longer convince her to eat, sleep, bathe, or even contact her family. Helplessly he watched her float off into a sea of obsession over each of the three new cases. His ears were full of her theories, some long shots, some more feasible, some bordering insanity, but nevertheless, each one was her trying to justify her hope that one day he would reappear as if he had merely gotten lost on his way home from work.

“Liv...,” Casey sighed almost inaudibly. “Liv...,” He was hesitating. “Maybe you should just stay with me for awhile. I think--”

Liv deflated almost instantly. “You don't believe me. Of course not.” She put one hand on her hip and the other rubbed the tension from within her forehead.

“No! No, I promise I believe you...I just think...perhaps it might be better if you want to focus on this stuff to be closer to someone you know and trust?” Truthfully, this was an outright lie, but the only thing he suspected would get her to agree. “You might feel safer.” There was an urging in his voice that tried to override the skeptical look Liv was giving him now.

“I don't need a fucking babysitter, Casey. I know...I know it seems a little off...but I just can't bring myself to give up on him until they find I don't know...some blood...some hair, or god forbid...his body? He's your brother. You don't...you don't understand?” Her eyes looked at him, almost disappointed it seemed.

“Liv, I definitely do. But, if he were out there alive...I feel like we would have found some trace of him by now. The best thing I can do now is take care of his family and the ones he loved. His wife, his daughter, my niece, you guys shouldn't do this alone. Please, please just come with me. It doesn't have to be permanent.”

Staying with Casey somehow felt like a burden to both of them she couldn't stomach. Knowing Casey would baby her and knowing she needed to be babied sat like hot coal inside her and her throat bubbled with the threat of crying from shame.

Looking up at him, tears brimmed her already dull and sullen eyes. Casey felt desperate to help her. He didn't know how she had kept the baby alive or if she had even been going to the doctor. The only thing that hinted the baby lived was that you could see her growing. Mid nod in agreement, a knock on Liv's door made their eyes shoot towards the door.

Liv had honestly not had any visitors since after Ryan's disappearance, save for Casey. Her parents stayed for a month with her and then left. The few times they had spoken since, she had lied, said she was fine, said everything was okay. Keeping them in the dark felt wrong, but she knew she would never see Casey, or Ryan ever again if she told the truth. Her parents would force her back home right away as if she was still a teenager trying to run away.

“I'll go out with you.” Casey assured her, putting his hand on top of hers to ease her sense of insecurity.

Wary of this unexpected visitor she approached the door as whoever it was pounded on the door again, the reverberations feeling like they would rattle every single bone in her frazzled body.

Feeling bold with Casey's support, she opened the door instead of checking the peephole first and was greeted to the sight of police officers and what she assumed were detectives.

“Olivia Larsen?” A mid-height man with short salt and pepper hair that thinned on top asked. He didn't seem threatening, but she didn't assume.

“Y-yes?” She stammered.

“I'm hoping I'm not bothering you. I know this time of evening tends to be dinner time, people have plans, that sort of thing. I'm Detective Anderson. I have a quick question regarding the disappearance of your...boyfriend...Ryan Roth?”

A look flashed across Liv's face, the closest she figured you could describe it would be a grimace. Boyfriend was a dismissive term for who Ryan was to her. Living without Ryan was possible, but she felt like she was throwing away to give up on him with no proof he was gone.

“Please, come in.” Liv said, offering a path through the door.

“No, that's quite alright. I'm hoping to keep this short. I just need you to identify an item we acquired from another crime scene if you're willing to do that for us today.” The detective asked her. Looking behind him, the police officers at the end of the sidewalk shifted and talked to each other. The other detective was leaner and a little younger but looked a little worse for wear.

Furrowing her brow, Liv nodded. “Of course.” Her voice broke.

The detective pulled out a small plastic baggie containing a small silver ring. He handed it to her gently and with a soft expression. A simple band with a few small stones along the shaft and three centered, slightly bigger ones. The inside was engraved with the smallest lettering she had seen on jewelry. 'With all my love.' It said.

“We expected him to be carrying a ring on him...for the...for the...occasion...he missed before being reported missing. We were just hoping to get a positive identification on this being the one. It was a long shot if you would know, but we figured you could point us in the right direction if you didn't.”

This ring held such a gravity that Liv could barely stand to hold it in her hands. She shook her head. “I don't know what it looks like...” A deep breath was pulled into her lungs. “Casey?” Relief was as strong as if she had been drowning and suddenly pulled above water.

Stepping forward, Casey took it in his hands and deflated. Liv hadn't ever seen him come close to crying before, but simply seeing this ring brought tears to his eyes and a whimper escaped him as he held onto it. His silence hung in the air.

“He made me go with him to pick it out. Liv, I'd never seen him so excited before. This one wasn't his first pick, he thought it was too small, not good enough for you. I had to tell him anything more and you'd think it was gaudy. I really fought him about it. I picked a simple band...this was our compromise. We chose it together."

The second detective spoke up as Casey and Liv quietly began to realize they had asked for a sign he was dead and they had been answered.

“And you are...?” A notepad rested in his hands.

Casey nodded. "Casey Roth...I'm his brother..."

“This does belong to him then?” The first detective asked after he gave what he felt an appropriate pause.

Casey nodded again, handing it back to him. “Yes, my friend's an engraver. He engraved it special. I'm positive it's the ring he had on him.”

A silence fell over the detectives as they seemed to come to terms with the fact they had suddenly reopened some wounds.

“Where did you find it?” Liv asked, tears nearly free falling quietly from her face.

With hesitation, Detective Anderson opened his mouth to speak and decided better of it. “Right now we cannot say. The second we can release the information we will let you know.”

Gripping her chest, Liv took a deep breath and understood she may never have all the answers. “Well, did you find anything else? Blood, hair? Anything? Do you suspect he's alive? Do you think it's him making those people disappear?”

A swift glance was exchanged between the two detectives.

“At this time the local law enforcement at each crime is still gathering evidence. This was released to us for the purpose of identification. As far as we have been told, no blood or other biological evidence has been found, although I suspect soon the FBI will step in and perhaps uncover something we missed.” The second detective, whose badge Liv could barely make out said 'Barnes' chimed in.

After a painful silence, the Detectives stepped back with pursed lips.

“We appreciate your time. Thank you for this identification, we are hoping it opens up some new leads so we can get this case closed and settled for everyone.”

As they left, Liv held her arms tightly around herself as her chest and throat seized with sobs. Eyeing a pen that fell from Detective Barnes' pocket, she picked it up and hurriedly rushed to him across the porch, down the steps and half way to the sidewalk.

“Detective Barnes!” She called out causing him to turn around and come back to her, while Anderson headed to the driver's seat of a white unmarked car and got in.

“Yes?” He asked, his expression suddenly softer.

When she looked up at him, she could tell he pitied her. She looked like a child, eyes read, nose running, her breathing choppy and ragged as if she had just thrown a tantrum. “Please tell me if it's related to those other disappearances?”

Pleading with him would work, she could tell, but it took some effort. “Ma'am, right now is not the best time for me to say.”

“Please!” Begging, she took his hands and put his pen into them. “My daughter is without a father. I am without the man who was going to be my husband. I have nothing, I'm only a heartbroken pregnant woman. Please just give me this one answer.”

Looking down, he stepped closer together as the police officers started eyeing them suspiciously. “There's a new one, happened about 3 days ago. This was found with shards of what we suspect was the ring box he had put it in. You will hear about it soon. There are no signs he's alive so please don't get your hopes up, it could have merely been found by someone else or even stolen.” Pulling away, Liv stared at him, her lower lip quivering as her watery eyes obscured her vision.

“Maybe you were right.” Casey came down and suddenly hugged her. “Maybe he is still out there. But how would we go about trying to find him ourselves? We're just two people.”

Liv hugged Casey, then pulled back and wiped her cheeks. “Whoever is taking these people, knows where he is. We need to find them first."

Casey paused and wiped the stray tears from his own face. "We need to find a map.”