Chapter 22: Traurig

Emily woke up suddenly out of a miserable dream. The quiet of the darkness was loud in her ears.

Where am I? She tried to flex some of the tension out of her crooked-feeling body. Stiff muscles complained at being asked to relax.

For a few moments, she was still in her dream. The horn studio had been filled with people practicing right next to each other, each playing louder and louder to hear themselves. She was looking for someone. She couldn't remember who that was, after a while, and then she found herself seated on the studio's comfortable couch, now green, surrounded by people playing their incessant instruments.

Sitting next to Joel.

She suddenly snapped out of her half-dreaming state and sat up.

Oh shit! What time is it?

Her head was a mess of dizziness and pain, somewhere on the journey between the disorientation of late drunkenness and the punishment of an early hangover.

She could feel his presence near her, still sleeping, so she carefully stood up. Not that it mattered, she knew, for he was as hard a sleeper as he was a drinker.

Emily felt her clothes. Still on, she thought, only slightly relieved. Some things from the night before she still remembered.

The blinds kept out the streetlights, so it was hard to see anything in the room. She stood numbly for a while, unsure of what to do. Should I wake him up? No... That would be very awkward. I just need to find my horn and go.

She shuffled around in the darkness, feeling around for items with her foot. Just as she located her instrument and grasped the handle, she jumped in shock as a tolling bell broke the silence. Her horn case toppled to its side as she clutched at her chest.

It was Joel's grandfather clock striking the hour. She waited, fearful it would wake him. Fortunately, it did not. He was obviously used to the loud clangs of metal.

The fear quickly turned into panic and guilt as she registered the number of tolls.

It can't be that late... Please don't let it be that late. Please let his clock be set wrong...

She had to get out of there. With a rush, she grabbed at her horn case, and then gingerly made her way toward the door, hands outstretched. Given the hour, each step seemed to take forever.

At last, the wall and then the doorframe came in contact with her fingertips. She pulled the door open, and was almost blinded by the harsh yellow streetlight. She slipped out into the night.

It was about a half-mile to the dorm. Suddenly she wondered if she had brought a purse with her. Shit, I just left it at Joel's.

She checked her pockets, and felt the ID card and cash she had taken with her that afternoon. Yesterday afternoon...

At least I can get into the dorm, she thought. She wasn't sure what would happen after that.

Richard lay on Sandra's bed, his head a whirl of thoughts. Sandra and he had gone in circles for hours, wondering what was happening with Emily.

"Maybe she stayed in the practice room to practice all night."

That was possible; older students sometimes told of their all night cramming sessions before concerts, to learn orchestra parts they had neglected. One had to stay in the room the entire time, or the motion sensors in the hall would set off the alarm. As long as one brought a pot to pee in and some water, and turned off the lights and stayed quiet while the security guard did his walkthrough, it was workable.

But it was very unlikely that Emily was holed up in a practice room. There was no reason to do so.

"At what point do we call the cops?"

Until now, they had been hesitant. It was very late, but still too early to go that route.

"Maybe she went to a friend's room?"

Who?

"Maybe she..."

They were running out of new worries to voice aloud.

"I guess we should try and sleep. We're not her parents."

"Feels like it, though."

After checking the answering machine again, they settled uneasily into the bed. Sleep was fleeting.

The noise was startling.

Richard bolted up, and Sandra was up almost as fast, as the phone rang urgently. Richard felt his stomach turn a few times as Sandra lifted the receiver.

"Hello?"

After a slight pause, Sandra spoke. "Oh my god. Where are you?" she said, anxiety full in her voice.

Another pause. "Why not?" Sandra asked.

Richard wondered what was going on. At least she was alive. He doubted if he'd sleep any more tonight.

"Okay, just wait, I'll come down and let you in."

Sandra hung up the phone, and turned to Richard. "She's downstairs. Outside."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. She lost her card, or something."

Sandra started towards the door, and Richard followed.

"Is she all right?" he asked.

"I don't know anything else."

"Why didn't you buzz her in?"

"It's after midnight."

"Oh yeah."

The system was offline for safety, Richard remembered. The stairwell flashed by as they ran down, swinging around the posts.

Richard felt some relief as he caught a glimpse of Emily standing outside of the front door. He half expected her to be hurt.

Sandra pushed the door open.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" she said, letting Emily through.

Emily came into the entryway, and stood there, looking at them. Richard saw that her face was significantly wet from tears. The pain in her eyes was unmistakable.

"What... ?" he started to ask, and then Emily came close and tried to embrace her two friends. She started crying in earnest.

Richard and Sandra looked at each other over Emily's head. They moved closer, as Emily was almost hanging on them for support.

"You need to sit down, or lay down," Richard said. "Come on, let's go to the couch."

Richard noticed an ugly scrape on the palm of Emily's hand as they dragged her to the couch in the darkened common room.

Emily curled up into a little ball on the couch, crying against the back cushion.

"Emily, you have to tell us what is going on," Sandra said, putting an arm on her shoulder as she cried. Emily winced at the touch.

In the faint lighting, it was hard to tell, but it seemed like her clothes were dirty in places. Her pant was ripped at the knee. Richard couldn't remember if it was like that, earlier.

Something had been nagging at Richard's mind from the moment he saw Emily at the door. She looked... bare... Missing something...

"Where's your horn?" he suddenly blurted out.

Emily's crying was redoubled at Richard's question.

"It's gone," came the strangled reply.

"Gone? What? Where?" Sandra asked.

Emily didn't respond.

"Did you lose it somewhere?" Richard asked, trying to keep his tone gentle.

"No. I was... I was..." The words couldn't fit between sobs.

"Did someone steal it?"

Emily nodded.

"Oh my god," Richard said quietly. The seriousness of the situation made him stop thinking for a moment. He had no idea what was going on.

Sandra appeared to be just as overwhelmed. They looked at each other for a long moment.

"Are you hurt?" Richard asked, suddenly feeling stupid for not having asked earlier.

Emily shook her head a little.

"We need to call the cops," Richard said.

"No," Emily whimpered.

"Why not?"

"It was my fault."

"What?"

Emily didn't speak.

"Emily, you need to tell us what's going on," Sandra said. "Please. Just calm down a little, and tell us."

Emily didn't seem to hear the words, but then she turned a little to take her face out of the cushion.

"You are going to kill me," Emily said, starting a fresh bout of weeping.

"No, Emily, whatever it is, I'm just glad you are here, and safe," Richard said. "But please, just tell us what happened. I won't be mad."

"Me neither," Sandra said.

After some time, Emily composed herself enough to speak again. It was a broken and halting speech.

"I was... I was walking to the dorm. And this car pulled up next to me... And the guy started talking to me... He wanted me to get in the car. I just kept walking. And then... And then he got out when his friend stopped the car. He started grabbing me, so I would stop walking, but I didn't. I told him to go away. And then..."

Emily shook a few times.

Richard felt ill. He didn't want to hear anymore, lest it be as bad as his imagination was foretelling.

"He t-told me he had a knife. He said, 'Stop, or I'll use it.'"

Emily paused for a moment, trying to control herself.

"'Stop or I'll use it, '" she repeated. "So I stopped. He told me to give him my... my wallet, so I gave him my money... and my card, and then he... Then he... he pushed me, and I fell down. And he took my horn!" Emily's voice grew extremely anguished. "He put it in the car... I thought he was leaving... He came back and started to drag me towards the car... I couldn't fight him off..."

Emily was utterly distressed, and both Richard and Sandra moved close to her, trying to offer some support.

Richard braced himself as Emily spoke again. She seemed to regain some composure.

"Then his friend told him that someone was coming. The guy let go of me, and pushed me down again."

Please let that be it, Richard thought. Please...

Emily shuddered. "And they drove away. They took my horn."

"Did someone come help, then?" Sandra asked, her voice hollow.

"No, a car drove by, but didn't stop."

"Did the guys come back?"

"No. I ran to the park and hid for while, and then came to the dorm."

There was a sudden silence, occasionally interrupted by Emily's quiet crying.

"We have to call the cops," Richard said again.

"No," Emily said.

"Emily, you just got attacked and robbed. We have to call the police. This isn't your fault."

Emily started crying harder again.

"Richard's right," Sandra agreed. "I'll go up and call them."

"I don't know if I can take that right now," Emily said.

"Now's the time, Em. I know you're feeling bad, but maybe they can find the guys, or something. Do you remember what car they were driving?"

"It was light grey, or white. I don't know."

"Okay, just wait. I'll be right back," Sandra said.

A million questions nagged at Richard's head, but he was afraid to ask Emily anything just then. She was still completely distraught.

Richard took the time to try and clear his head. Still feeling ill, he moved to Emily's other side, and put a gentle arm around her. He stayed quiet until Sandra returned.

She leaned into Richard and whispered. "Please tell me you have my keys."

"Me? No. I didn't grab them."

"Shoot. We're locked out, then," Sandra said.

"The door is locked?" Richard asked.

"Yeah."

"Um..."

"Emily, do you have your keys?" Sandra asked.

"No. They were in my horn case."

"Oh. Okay..."

"Why?" Emily asked.

"I kind of locked myself out of our room," Sandra said.

"Crap, my keys are up there too," Richard said.

"I'll use the callbox outside," Sandra said.

"Let me go," Richard said, staying her with his hand. If those guys had followed Emily to the dorm, he didn't want Sandra outside alone.

"It's just outside the door," Sandra said.

"Let me go," Richard repeated. "Stay with Emily."

Richard went outside. Part of him was a little frightened, but part of him wished those guys would show up right there.

What, so you can get stabbed? Or worse?

With a deep breath, he dialed the emergency code.

The police arrived soon after Richard called. He let them into the dorm entryway, and then led them to the couch where Emily sat. One of the officers asked for some light, so Richard turned on one of the switches. The bright overhead lights made everyone blink for a moment.

Emily looked a mess. Her shirt and pants were dirty and ripped in a few places. Her face was red and her body still trembled.

After helping her to sit up on the couch, the two officers took some information from Emily and asked her to recount what had happened. She told the tale of the attack and theft to them. They asked for her best description of the two men and the car they were driving, and an inventory of what was stolen. When describing her horn, Emily broke down again.

"I'm sorry," she said, after regaining composure. "I've had that instrument for a long time."

"We're going to do what we can to try and get it back, but there's no guarantee," one officer said.

"It was my Dad's horn. He's going to kill me."

"Did you hear the men say anything else? Names?"

"I don't remember hearing any names," Emily said, shaking her head.

"Where were you walking from?"

Emily paused for moment. "I was at a friend's house."

"Why were you walking home at this hour?"

"I fell asleep during a movie, and then I woke up and it was late. I didn't want to stay there."

"What's your friend's name?"

"Um, Joel. Joel Brent."

"And his address?"

"I... I don't know. He lives in the neighborhood across the park."

"He didn't offer you a ride?"

"No, he was asleep," Emily said.

"Is that a bad neighborhood?" Richard asked the officers.

"No, not really. But at two-thirty a.m., a young woman walking alone... That's not really safe anywhere."

"Did you consume any alcohol at your friend's house?" the other officer said, turning to Emily. Richard could tell that the officer knew she had been. He hoped she'd answer honestly.

"I had a few drinks at a bar earlier in the night," Emily said, after a pause.

"Where was that?"

Emily told them, and then the officers asked Emily a few more questions. Since Emily rejected medical attention, they said they had what they needed.

"We'll come by in the morning to brief your resident hall director. Since they took your keys and access card, they'll have to take you out of the system until you get a new card."

"What about tonight? If those guys figure out where I live?" Emily asked, fear in her voice.

"Nothing we can do about that right now. I wouldn't worry about it. We'll keep someone posted in this area."

After the officers left, Richard and Sandra sat down heavily on the couch to either side of Emily.

"Man, I really hope they find your horn, Em," Richard said.

Emily didn't reply. Instead, she put her face in her hands and cried some more.

"How are we going to get into our room?" Sandra asked. "Should I go wake up Joey?"

Richard had forgotten about the key problem. It was the last thing he wanted to be dealing with at that moment.

"I guess we have to. Either that, or we sleep here on the couch," Richard said.

"Do you want to go?" Sandra asked.

"Um... Why don't you go? He won't mind you waking him up at this hour."

Sandra arched a brow at Richard.

"What? It's true. He'll be much nicer to you," Richard said.

"I'll probably have to explain this whole thing to him," Sandra said.

"I don't want to talk to him right now," Emily said.

"All right. I'll be back in a minute. Or a few minutes."

Sandra went off to wake up Joey. Richard stayed seated next to Emily, holding her close. He still had many questions in his head, but they all seemed accusatory. He didn't think Emily wanted that right now. Mostly, he was glad she was safe.

It was after three by the time they closed the door to the dorm room. Sandra had explained the situation to Joey, and fortunately he had not pressed her to see Emily. After letting Sandra into her room, he went back to his.

"What did Joey say?" Emily asked Sandra. She and Richard were helping Emily to take off the ruined clothes she wore, and put on nightclothes.