Time Traveler: To the Moon and Back. E232. Denial

Once outside, it took Dustin a few seconds to collect himself.
“Regardless of what your sister did”.
That had hurt because, what had his sister done, except to meet Robin and have a child with him before Ann did? He shuddered at the thought of Juliette’s reaction when he told her what had happened.

“Damn it, Ann, why couldn’t you let him stay, he’d be safe and sound now,” he groaned. “Now, how this happen to him? I don’t get it. Why did these people choose him precisely? He’s not a resident of Aurora; he doesn’t belong to our timeline either...

“Anyway, I must hurry, it’s almost dawn, Jul must be desperate, I’ll put Robin’s things in the car while I think about how I’m going to tell her”.

VELKOMINN RD 58, ALMOST 5 AM…

“Alright sweetie, you’re all cleaned up and changed, now we’ll just call your nanny and then, mommy will go find daddy, okay?” Juliette said, putting Rowan back in the crib. She had grown tired of waiting for a reply from Robin or Dustin, something was definitely wrong, so she’d have to find out for herself what it was.

She was about to call the babysitter when someone knocked on the door, loud and desperately as if they wanted to break it down.
“Jul? Jul, please open up, it’s me Dustin!”, she heard her brother’s voice call from outside.

“Dustin?” she startled.
“Yes, it’s me, open up please!”
Juliette’s heart fluttered, there they were. Dustin and Robin were back and safe! Without a second thought she ran to the door and opened it.

“Dust, thank God, I was about to come out and get you. I didn’t know if…” He stopped short and looked behind him, then towards the street and into the car. “W-Where’s Robin? Why isn’t he with you? Weren’t you supposed to go get him?”

“I-I did but – He wasn’t where we were supposed to meet.”
“He wasn’t? You mean…? Don’t tell me, he made up with his wife and decided not to leave her is that it?” Juliette asked disappointingly.
“No, it wasn’t that. I wish.” Dustin sighed.
“You wish? I don’t get it, would you explain it to me?”

“See, Robin and his wife did break up, but… Listen I, I have bad news.”
Juliette turned pale.
“Dust, please, stop beating around the bush and speak at once, where’s Robin?”
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Dustin blurted out.
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Juliette snapped.

Dustin was speechless, he was trying to control himself so as not to show his own dread. Juliette pressed:
“Dust you’re scaring me, speak up already, did something bad happen to Rob?”
“Uh, I think you’d better sit down,” he suggested.
“No. I don’t want to sit down. I want you to tell me now what is going on.”

Dustin took a few seconds to take off his jacket, calm down and catch his breath.
“Well?” Juliette urged him.
“Okay,” he sighed and turned to his sister.

“Remember the UFO we saw out our windows a few hours ago?
“We’re not sure if that was indeed a UFO.”
“But it was.”
“Ok, but you’re not suggesting that…?”
“Yes. I’m afraid Rob was abducted by that thing.” Dustin replied as cautiously as he could.

“What?” Juliette turned even paler. “Abducted? No, that can’t be.”
“I refused to believe it myself, but all indications are that it was so.”
“All indications? Were you there when it happened?”
“No, I wasn’t, but his wife Ann was, she witnessed it all.”
Juliette’s fear then turned to confusion.

“Wait a minute. His wife?”
“Yes, she was the one who told me everything.”
“She told you.”
“Yes.” Dustin confirmed agitated.

“How? You mean she was there, with Robin?” she asked.
“No, I just told you Robin wasn’t there”.
“Then how come you talked to her? Was she the one on the sidewalk or what?”
“No, listen…

“I arrived at Rob’s house to pick him up like we planned. He should’ve been waiting for me on that sidewalk, but he wasn’t. There were only his suitcase and his laptop.

“I walked around the house to look for him in the backyard. I called out for him, thinking he’d be out there, but he was nowhere to be found. So I knocked on the door.”
“And?” Juliette prompted him.

“Ann came to answer. She looked distressed, she was even crying. I asked her about Rob. She told me in tears that he had been abducted by an alien ship right in front of her eyes.”
“And you believed her.”
“Well, yes.”

“For heaven’s sake, Dustin!” Juliette exploded.
“I did, cause she sounded so sincere,” Dustin explained. “Plus, I heard strange noises myself on the phone with Rob, and both you and I saw that ship. It all adds up, Jul!” he crowed.

Juliette pulled away, her eyes starting to fill with tears.
“No. Something so horrible couldn’t have happened to Robin. She probably made the whole thing up in order to scare you and make you leave.”
“Yeah, I thought the same at first, but I realized it was true when she gave me the details of what happened”.

“Everything she told me is consistent with the abduction stories we’ve heard before.”
“Oh yeah? And what was her story?”
“Well, she said she saw out her window how a beam came out of the alien ship and sucked Robin inside while he screamed for help”.

“She also said that the ship flew to this side of the street, and then to the west. The two locations where you and I saw it.”

“She saw if fly to this side of the street?” Juliette jumped. “So, she lives nearby?”
Dustin sighed. “Yes, on Velkominn Rd 68.”
“That’s just one block away.”
“That’s right.”
Juliette was about to say something, but stopped, her eyes sparkling, Dustin couldn’t tell if it was anger or fear.

“So she lives close by. Okay, take me there.”
“T-to Robin’s house? What for?” Dustin blurted.
“I’ll question her myself. I’ll find out if she’s telling the truth or not.”
“Jul, I don’t think that’s wise, she’s just…”

“Stop, Dusty. I’ve heard enough, now you’ll listen to me. I admit that a ‘UFO’, or whatever, flew over this street, cause I saw it with my own eyes. But that Rob was abducted, I won’t take that, okay? That woman is hiding something and I’m going to find out what it is right now.”

“If you want to come with me, that’s fine, otherwise I’ll go by myself,” Juliette ended, heading for the stairs.
“Jul, calm down, will you? It’s not a good idea to go talk to Ann right now. She’s very upset, you both are! It isn’t prudent to…”

“Prudent or not, it’s the only way to know what really happened. You go start the car; I’ll go get Rowan.”
“So you’re gonna take Rowie out, at this hour, and with an alien spacecraft hovering the neighborhood?” Dustin objected; Juliette paused to ponder.
“Okay, I’ll call the babysitter, we’ll leave as soon as she gets here,” she replied. Dustin counted to ten.

“Jul, sis, listen…,” he said, holding her as gently as his desperation would allow. “I know this is a shock to you, it is to me too. What happened to Rob is horrible, but every minute you remain in denial, the chance of finding him safe and sound gets further away.”
Juliette fell silent, the tears welling up her eyes again.

“So I’m in denial? Is that your explanation for all this nonsense, Dust?”
“Sorry, but that’s what it sounds like. And believe me, I get it, but…”
“You think I’m being childish and immature for suggesting that woman lied to you in order to mislead you, is that it?” Juliette insisted; Dustin started counting again, but didn’t get to ten.

“I don’t think you’re childish, let alone immature. You’re far more of a grown-up than I am, in so many ways. Now, I get that you’re terrified, and that terror makes you deny a reality that’s painful to you, but, really, I don’t think Ann was lying.

“She looked genuinely upset, she was in tears, and she begged for my help.”
“Your help? You were there to get Rob home safely, not to comfort that woman and listen to her inventions.”
“Jul, seriously, I don’t think she’d make up something like that.”
“Of course she would. Wasn’t she able to run Rob out of his own house?”

“Okay, let’s say she made it all up. To what end, would you explain to me?” Dustin snapped.
“I-I don’t know, maybe she’s got Robin kidnapped and locked up somewhere? Maybe she hit him in the head in a fit of rage and knocked him unconscious…

“She could’ve even murdered him and hidden his body somewhere”.
“Oh yeah, and how does a girl about 5’6” tall get rid of a guy Rob’s size?”
“No idea. Maybe she dragged him down to the boardwalk, dumped him in the ocean, and called it an abduction to cover up her crime,” Juliette explained, tears streaming down her cheeks. Dustin gasped.

For a second, the fear that what his sister suggested had in fact happened assailed him. He couldn’t deny it was a possibility he had considered himself. But after meeting Ann, having talked to her, he wanted to believe she wasn’t capable of such a deed.
“I think we should report Robin’s disappearance to the police,” Juliette muttered.

“Jul, listen,” he replied, after a pause. “I understand your fear, but, having met Ann, and having seen that alien ship fly over our rooftops ourselves, I think she’s definitely telling the truth.” He ended. Juliette held back a sob.
“You’re right, forgive me. I must seem crazy to you blaming that poor girl for a crime she surely didn’t commit.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy, only scared and upset, just like me, about this whole situation,” Dustin responded. “To be honest, I doubted Ann at first too, but after hearing her story I’m convinced that, unfortunately, everything she told me, as absurd and inexplicable as it may seem, really happened.”
Juliette kept her silence for a few seconds and then no longer held back.

“Oh Dusty. You’re right, I’m so scared!” She exclaimed, throwing herself into her brother’s arms.
“Yeah, so am I. But we have to be strong, for Robin’s sake,” he replied, hugging her tightly.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to”.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, I want him back, I want him back now!” Juliette burst into tears.
Dustin felt shivers run up and down his body. But once again, he refrained himself.
“Easy sister, we’ll find him. I don’t know where, or how, but we will, I promise you.”

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Credits for the poses used in this episode:

Sad Pack by My Pal Sim.
Emotive Talks by NotJustaBook
Discution_Gênante by Au Fil Des Sims
Anger and Sadness by Delight33
Emotion Male Set 2, Convo/Emotion Poses Set 2, Just Standing Males, Adult Argument, Snooty/Snobby/Attitude, Male Hug, and Cuddle Sad, all of them by Bee. (Poses by Bee Tumblr)

Thank you very much to all of them! ❤️

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