WHO: Everett and Nick, then Caitie WHAT: Arriving and continuing the search WHERE: The courtyard WHEN: Forward dated to October 25, 2019 ; afternoon RATING: Low
Everett Dallas was already bracing himself for another disappointment, as little as he'd like to admit that to himself. He felt as if he'd been searching forever, but there was no question of giving up. If he did that, in his mind that would have been as good as admitting that Caitie and Christina were probably dead, and he couldn't do that. He had to have hope, even the faintest bit of it, or else he wouldn't want to live with his entire family wiped out.
He'd arrived here at Sing Sing earlier in the day, having heard about the place through the proverbial grapevine. His goal was to hit as many of the safehouses as he could before winter came again. This past year, the winter months had felt like torture, since he'd felt he should stay in one place until the worst of the bitterly cold weather had passed. He was hoping not to be in that situation again this year.
Ev had put his things away in the room where he'd be staying, changed into something less travel-grimed and then headed outside. He was planning to do what he always did: ask anyone he happened to run into if they'd seen his sisters. Thus far, at the other places he'd been, he'd never gotten an affirmative response, but he couldn't let that stop him. They had to be somewhere. He stifled the little voice in his head that tried to tell him they were probably dead, because he couldn't bear it, and thought about the photos he had. There was one of Caitie by herself, one of Chris alone, and then one of the three of them together, taken right before everything had happened. He'd spent hours sometimes gazing at those three smiling faces, so unaware that despite the ordeal of losing their beloved father, even worse things were in store in the near future.
Everett reflexively patted the pocket where he'd stored the photos and took a deep breath, glancing around him as he walked along.