Re: Audrey's house: Hugh & Rafe
In the meantime, Hugh set his attention to the downstairs. With the knowledge looming that he was very likely going to have to turn in a missing person report, he didn't touch stuff, but instead made a sweep first of the living room looking for anything on the coffee table or fireplace mantle that might provide some clue. The reality was that everything looked normal to him. There was nothing that stood out as being something that pointed to the idea of… what he didn't even know.
A secret affair? Some sort of family emergency?
Both of these notions were considered and dismissed. Audrey didn't seem like the type to be able to have a secret affair, and a family emergency - she would have left a note, or texted or said something. He was certain of this. Audrey wasn't the type of person to leave people worried or hanging about her whereabouts and she wasn't the type of person to run off and simply not think about the impact that it might have. If anything, Audrey was too concerned about whether or not she would inconvenience people, and you could frame that however you wanted to, but in this particular instance - it pointed towards something being terribly wrong.
He moved into the dining room, but there was nothing on the table that seemed amiss and nothing on the buffet beyond. The kitchen held a small bit of clutter, a couple of glasses in the sink waiting to be washed, and some fruit in a bowl on the counter, but frustratingly nothing that felt as if it would provide any clues as to what had happened. It looked exactly how it should look for someone who left the house in a bit of a hurry intending to return to it later.
Hugh sighed, chewing his lip as he did another sweep of the room, his attention interrupted by Rafe's voice from upstairs.
He turned on his heel, making his way back towards the staircase and quickly taking the stairs to the top. Towards the top the smell hit him, perhaps less powerfully than it had hit Rafe, but that didn't mean Hugh didn't smell it. It smelled like something hot - burning, mixed with rotten something. It turned his stomach, along with the certainty that something was really wrong. It was strong and acrid, and smelled nothing like what he associated with Audrey - which was light and floral, probably rose water.
He came up behind Rafe, and at the first glimpse of the room, he breathed out: "Audrey. Fuck." Worry sprang up anew, because something had happened here, and if Audrey had been here. But she had come back to the house, that seemed obvious. For some reason she had come back, but maybe whatever this was, she'd left again - it would explain the unlocked door. She could have run. But, she'd show up. Somewhere, like, she would have shown up in town if she was running from something. The anxiety in his stomach tightened a knot.
"What happened?" the question came out practically a whisper.