Interlude Three

They entered the apartment building, and went up to Amalthya's apartment. 
Silviet knocked on the door. "Ann?" No reply.

"Ann? This is Xander. We just stopped by to see if you were okay." Still 
nothing. "The door's locked, though, so she must have come home at some 
point."

"Not necessarily. I still have her spare key. I locked the door when I 
left." She took out her keys now, and unlocked the door.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure she's okay. I'm her best friend, Xander, and she'd do the same 
thing for me."

"You're right, of course. You go on in. I'll wait out here."  He didn't 
admit it to Silviet, but there was a feeling of dread building in the pit 
of his stomach. Ann may have been a dreamer, but she was also very 
responsible. She never left town without telling someone, never just 
disappeared. He didn't like this.

"Xander!" Came Silviet's voice from in the apartment. She sounded afraid. 
He sprinted in to find her standing in the kitchen, staring mutely at the 
counter.

"What is it?" She pointed, and he shifted his gaze to a bottle that rested 
there. He reached over and picked it up. "Who's Sarah?" He asked, reading 
the label.

"Ann's mom. She died a few weeks ago, I think I told you."

"Yes that's right. I don't like this, Silviet. I didn't want to worry you...
but now with this. You said she'd been upset."

"Well yes. Even before her mother passed on, she seemed a little depressed. 
I thought it was just one of her moods. She'd get like that, sometimes, 
really melancholy and sad. Oh God, Xander. What if she killed herself? I'd 
never be able to live with it knowing I could have done something and 
didn't...." She started to sob.

"Here, here Love. Don't always assume the worst. Sometimes you're too 
dramatic for you're own good. I'll talk to the building super, have him 
keep an eye out, and I'll call the police if you want. Do you think we 
should contact her family?"

"All she has are her grandparents and an uncle who lives in London. I don't 
know how to contact them."

"Well,  I'll call the police, and you can tell them what you know. They 
might be able to help. Come on, and lock the door behind you." They set 
about accomplishing the grim tasks set before them with equally grim 
determination. The police, it turned out were of little help. Ann hadn't 
been missing long enough to file as a missing person, but they were to call 
back if she didn't turn up within the week. They had, however, gotten her 
grandparent's number. Silviet dialed the number with shaking hands. What 
would she tell them?

"Robert Williams." There was a pause. "Hello?"

"Um, Hello, Mr. Williams. This is Silviet DeCrisso. I'm a friend of your 
grand daughter. I'm afraid I have some bad news...." Her voice faded out. 
She couldn't speak. 

"Miss DeCrisso?"

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Xander took the phone from her 
hand. "I'm sorry about that Mr. Williams. This Is Xander Grey. I'm a friend 
too. The reason we called is Ann's gone missing. Silviet talked to her 
yesterday, when Ann got back, but we haven't seen her since. We thought you 
should know."

"You've called the police?"

"Yes, sir. Unfortunately, she hasn't been gone long enough to classify as a 
missing person, so there's not much they could do. We were wondering if you 
might have any information that could help us."

"I'm afraid not. I drove her to the airport myself. We haven't heard from 
her since."

"All right. We'll contact you if we learn more. And I hope you'll let me 
know if you hear from her." He gave him his number.

"Yes of course. I appreciate you taking the time to call. It must be late 
there."

"It was no problem. You had a right to know. Good-bye, Sir."

"Good-bye."

Xander put the phone down with a sigh, and sank down into a kitchen chair.

"I'm sorry I froze up like that. I just couldn't say anything!"

"It's all right." He drummed his fingers on the table. "I wish there was 
more I could do, Silviet, for both of you."

"Ever the protector, Xander. We've grown up. See? I'm not seventeen anymore."

Don't I know it!" He said with a laugh. "Come on. We haven't eaten yet. 
Unless you want to forgo food all together..." He gave her a wicked grin.

"Not tonight, Xander." Before she knew what was happening, he had swept her 
up into his arms.

"What do you think you're doing?" She cried in mock protest

"Sweeping you off you're feet. Isn't that what Prince Charming is supposed 
to do?" Before she could reply, he bent down and covered her lips with his 
own. 

When the kiss ended, she glared daggers at him. "That was a low thing to do.
You know I can't resist it when you do that."

He smirked an raised one eyebrow. "Is that so? I'll have to make a mental 
note of it." He carried her to the bedroom, and shut the door with his foot 
behind him.

End Interlude Three