Episode 15: Insanity and Investigation

Aubrey Lance, S.S. (Supernatural Sleuth) -- Season 1, Episode 15: Insanity & Investigation

Lockley took our news better than expected… considering the news was literally insane. 

The dictionary definitions of insanity: (formal use) unable to perceive, behave, or interact normally; (informal uses) outrageous, shocking, astonishing, impressive.

All of those fit our situation, because I surely wasn’t functioning normally after what I’d learned today… and now, neither was Lockley. 

She’d lowered herself into her chair again, then sort of gone catatonic. 

“Lockley?” Collin leaned toward her from his porch chair. “Are you okay?” 

“So Emery might actually be alive?” she whispered, glancing at me. 

I swallowed. “Yes. Maybe? I hope so.” I desperately wished I could be more certain, but so far, I only knew what the cheer hawks had told us—that she might be. 

Just that possibility opened up a whole new reality to contend with, along with the burning urge to find her. 

“And Chloe is tied to this somehow, too?” Lockley asked.

I nodded. “They seemed to think so.”

Lockley closed her eyes for a long moment. “None of this makes sense, but—goodness, Aubrey, I hope you’re right about Em.” Her eyes flicked open and locked on mine. “This isn’t a joke?” Her gaze cut to Collin. “Either of you?” 

Collin genuinely looked hurt. “I would never joke about Emery, Lock. You know that.” 

The fact that I could tell he meant that caused a strange feeling in my chest, but I shoved that away to ponder later.

Lockley looked at him, processing the truth she had obviously recognized in his statement.

“I wouldn’t have ever joked about Em’s disappearance, either—or Chloe’s,” I added, trying not to feel hurt. Deep down, I knew Lockley had already known that, but we’d given her a lot to take in. 

She drew a long breath. “You both sound like conspiracy whackos. You know that, right? No, it’s worse than that. You sound like those crazy ‘Aliens came in the night to abduct me and implanted me with magic orbs that make me levitate’ people.” She looked at both of us, then sighed. “But I guess I believe you. I mean, I believe that both of you believe you… I think.” 

That was a start, at least. 

I reached for her hand. “I promise we’re telling you the truth, Lockley. None of it makes sense, but it is what happened—the cheer hawks and what I’ve realized about my dreams.” 

I’d stumbled a bit over my explanation that the cheer hawks believed my dreams had meaning, but the more I pondered it, the more sure I was. 

She studied my face. “What they said about the reason for you and Emery being targeted… Are you seriously saying you think you have supernatural abilities or something? You and Emery?” 

I sighed. “Maybe? I don’t know.” I was still struggling with disbelief, even though a part of me knew it made sense—that it was what my dreams and instincts had been trying to tell me all along. “That’s what Tory, Meredith, and Jillian seemed to be saying, but I’m still trying to figure this out.” 

“Right,” Lockley said numbly, “just before they turned into hawks.”

“Yep.” Collin nodded. 

I leaned toward Lockley. “Whether Emery really is still out there or not—” My throat tightened around those words, and I swallowed. “Either way, there’s a good chance Chloe is. It might not be too late to stop the people who took her from hurting her… whoever they are.” 

“Who do you think they are?” Lockley asked. 

I sighed. “I have no idea.” 

Collin looked at me. “Wanna show her the crime board?” He looked genuinely excited. 

“The… what?” Lockley asked, glancing between us. 

I chuckled. “Come on. It’s in my room.” 

Once we reached my bedroom, Collin and I spent a solid ten minutes explaining the crime board to Lockley, then she spent another five minutes standing in front of my desk where we’d set up the trifold poster, tracing her right pointer finger along the threads and muttering to herself as she tracked our theories in visual form.

“Any questions?” I asked her. 

She dropped her hand and looked back at me. “No. It’s pretty much what you explained to me downstairs.” She sighed. “Can I see Emery’s notebook again?” 

I retrieved it and spread it open on my bed. 

Lockley and Collin joined me, leaning over to look at it. 

“There has to be a reason for each of these, right?” Lockley said, glancing at me. “I mean, you said you think they’re more than just quotes she thought you’d like.” 

“Yeah,” I said. “At least, I think so. They’ve always felt like more, to me.” 

Lockley looked me right in the eye. “Then you shouldn’t ignore that. I don’t fully understand what’s going on with any of this—I mean, you just told me three members of my cheer squad can turn into hawks, for goodness’ sake. But you also said they hinted that Emery may have been trying to communicate something to you—in your dreams, or here on the page. Anything that seems relevant to you, we shouldn’t discount it. If Emery really did leave a message for you, it’s because she believed you would find it. Trust your gut, Aubrey. I do.” 

“You shouldn’t trust your gut, Lock,” Collin said with a deadpan expression. “I’ve heard the noises it makes after taco night.” 

A laugh escaped me, but Lockley just gave Collin a flat glare. “If we’re bringing up that kind of stuff, there’s a lot I could share with—” 

“Nevermind. Truce,” Collin said quickly, looking back at the notebook. 

Their interaction was amusing, but my brain caught on something Lockley said and ran with it. “This quote right here.” I pointed to the quote at the bottom of the page:

I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore, 

And I hold within my hand

Grains of the golden sand

“This last quote—Emery knew I would know it. It’s one of my favorites,” I said. “It’s from ‘A Dream within a Dream’ by Poe.”

Lockley looked at me. “Does that mean anything to you? I mean… other than that you like the poem?” 

I met her gaze. “Maybe. It might be nothing, though.”  

She and Collin both focused on me. 

“Nothing is nothing,” Lockley said. “Tell us.” 

I pushed through my hesitation of sounding foolish and tried to put my gut feeling into words. “It’s just… This one has really been bothering me. I keep thinking it's got to be about the beach where Emery was last seen, right? I mean, the dreams I had of her, the way she disappeared, and then this quote—-it’s too much of a coincidence. But the cops searched all over that beach when they found out it was her last known location. They didn't find anything unusual. I even went there myself again and again, early on, trying to figure out why she would've gone there that night. There was nothing. It's just a beach." 

Lockley glanced at Collin, then locked eyes with me. “Let’s go look again.”

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