Wake of Destruction Interludes (1/ )
David arrives at the dorm Connor insisted on staying in and makes his way to the room. He hopes that he’ll be able to find out what’s bothering his son. He knocks on his son’s door and isn’t surprised when a half dressed irritable boy opens the door. He is surprised when the boy says, “Where the hell have you been? You-oh.”
“Eric. Where’s Connor?”
Eric stiffens, babbles incoherently for a moment before saying, “Mr. Sheppard. Hi. Connor is at the library. You know how he is.”
“I know how he is,” David agrees, “Where is he?”
Eric isn’t ashamed to admit that Connor’s father scares the crap out of him. He finds it hard to believe that someone as stiff and intense as Mr. Sheppard could have a son that was so…random. He was convinced that Connor should come with a translator.
But he can’t lie to Connor’s dad. Maybe Connor will forgive him. “He didn’t come back last night.”
David pushes his way into the room and immediately knows which side belongs to his son. Connor’s always been excessively tidy.
“Does he do this often?”
“Stay out at night? Yeah. He has problems sleeping at night. He practically bounces off the walls when the sun goes down. He goes running sometimes to tire himself out. I tried calling him but--.” he gestures to the cell phone on the desk.
“He’s usually back by the time I wake up.” David scowls and tries not to worry.
--
By noon, David alerts campus security. Connor isn’t back yet and his car is gone. He calls the police that night. They explain that Connor is a college student and it is the weekend, which leaves David less than impressed.
He calls Layla’s grand-daughter and asks her if she knows where Connor is. Sarah may be all the way at Colgate University but if anyone knows where his son is, it’ll be his partner-in-crime.
She doesn’t.
David knows his son and he had spoken to Connor the night before to confirm that he was coming.
It’s Monday and Connor doesn’t show up for class. The police are finally taking this seriously. They interview students and try to make a timeline of his activities the night he disappeared.
--
The most horrifying moment of David Sheppard’s life is when the detectives show up at his hotel room and informs him that they’ve found his son’s car…and blood in a warehouse. The car is in Los Angeles of all places and the only saving grace is that there is no body and the blood wasn’t enough to indicate he was dead.
David heads home and waits. He goes over his finances and knows that when the kidnappers call, he’ll give them whatever they want.
Two weeks pass and they all acknowledge that there will be no one calling to demand money.
A month passes and investigators are unable to trace his moments after the warehouse. He leaves campus, drives to a 7-11. Forced to drive to LA (a long drive. Why?) and taken to the warehouse. The car is abandoned and blood, identified as his, left in the warehouse.
David is desperate and there is nothing he won’t do for his son. Nothing. He puts aside his pride and all his resentment and calls his brother. It takes him a while to track down someone who can put him in contact with John and he sends a message.
Not knowing exactly what he expects John to do, he waits for a replay. He finally gets one… a promise to put all his contacts to use.
Connor’s still missing.
--
Investigators know this:
Connor Angel Sheppard
Age: 19
Occupation: Student (Stanford University)
Boy/Girlfriend: None (Have you ever seen him with a girl? We were at this party once and this hot chick, and I mean hot, comes up to him. She flirts, and man was she’s all over him. And Connor? I thought he was gonna have a stroke. Hid every-time he saw her after that. Boyfriend? No. Connor doesn’t like to be touched. I don’t know if he’s gay or not but he didn’t let anyone close enough for me to figure it out.)
Dean’s List. GPA: 4.0. Member of multiple clubs. Held in high regard by professors. Lots of friends.
Runaway? No reason. (No way. You should have heard the way he’d go on about the courses he was taking and the ones he couldn’t wait to take. He’d be so excited about some musty old books that he couldn’t even read yet. Why would he run away when he was on his way to getting what he wants?)
Kidnapped? Possible.
--
David often finds himself in Connor’s room. He sits on the bed clenching a photo in his lap. It’s his favorite photo of Connor taken a few days after his appointment with the doctors of Wolfram and Hart. The photo is black and white. Connor is sitting under a tree hugging his legs, with his head resting on his knees. It’s his favorite because it’s the only one he has where Connor isn’t glaring at the camera or giving that smirk that just says ‘I’m about to do something you’ll hate, won’t you stop me’. He looks sad and exhausted but it calls out to him.
He refuses to accept that this is all he has left of his son. He can’t bear the thought that he’ll never hear Connor’s sarcasm or yell at him for harassing his grandfather…that he’ll never listen to him and Layla taunt each other.
That he’ll never hug his baby boy again.
If Connor were here, he would try to be comforting but would end up saying something completely inappropriate and out of context. But Connor isn’t here. So instead, he watches Layla cry, convinces Sarah to stay in New York and endures his father’s awkward attempt at comfort. He pretends he doesn’t notice how shiny his father’s eyes get sometimes or that he spends hours staring at a photo of him and John.
He wishes he could turn back time and watch those movies. He wants to attend his son’s high school graduation instead of watching the recording Layla made. He wants to tell his father to leave it alone. If Connor wants to learn dead languages, then he will. He wants to be able to yell at Connor and Sarah to stop whatever inane plan they’ve concocted. He wants his son to walk through the door and complain about his privacy. He wants so many things but it doesn’t matter what he wants because he can’t do it all over again and Connor isn’t here for him to say how sorry he is.
He’d once thought that the aching emptiness he had felt after his wife died was the worst thing he’d ever felt. But this?
David takes up one of the pillows and brings it to his nose. It still smells of detergent and the soap the Connor uses. Whenever he closes his eyes he sees Connor as he was that day on the porch.
He sees that heartbreaking smile and wonders if Connor knew something was going to happen. Wonders if staying that day could have somehow changed things.
He closes his eyes and lets the tears fall.