She says she'll text me when she arrives. Tom picks me up which works out because then Magdala will give me a ride later.
I'm a little anxious when I haven't heard from Magdala at the start of the game, but then she texts to say she's finally on her way. I relax a little, every so often check my phone, but I know traffic can be a bitch at this time.
It’s coming up to half time, and now I'm stressing. Tom tries to reassure me that it will just be the traffic, but I worry she might have had an accident. I tell him I'll go outside and check, maybe she can't get a park. I'm just about to leave my seat, when an announcement comes over the speaker system.
"Ladies and gentlemen, could I have your attention please. Due to an incident, I have had a request that you avoid the carpark at this time. I repeat, please avoid the carpark at this time. Police and emergency services are at the scene, so please -"
I take off down the stands. "Nate," I hear Tom call, followed by his footsteps. I can feel adrenaline kicking in, my heart is thumping, I just know something is wrong. Tom and Dane are right behind me. Security is blocking the doors. "My girlfriend," I plead, pushing my way through, "my girlfriend." Already I'm trying to ring her, but her phone goes straight to voicemail.
We get through. There are police cars and an ambulance. I feel like I'm hyperventilating.
Tom and Dane are talking, but I don't hear what they're saying.
"Magdala's car," I gasp, "need to find her car." I don't want to find her car. Finding it will mean the worst. We take off at a semi run, eyes darting. Is it here? Teal green Honda CRV. Where is it? We can see the police tape, officers milling about, people crowded. We keep moving, and then, a feeling of utter devastation - we see her car and we sprint. Please be in it, I pray, please be sitting in it. But from thirty meters away I can see its empty. I reach the car, lean on it, look inside, as if she might miraculously be curled up on the backseat.
The three of us look at each other. "Oh man," Dane says, "fuck this."
Tom is the calmest. "Let's go talk to the cops," he says, leading the way, but I jog past him, I need to be first. I approach an officer, security tells us to back away, I demand to talk to a cop, my girlfriend is missing, I say. The officer takes notice of me, and I tell him about Magdala's car. He talks on his walkie-talkie and within seconds another two officers arrive. Tom does most of the talking, he's so calm, my thoughts are all over the place. Dane has his arm on my shoulder. The officers are writing stuff down. Tom nudges me for a photo of Magdala. I scroll through my phone, there are hundreds of her, of us. They take photos of my photos. They walk with us over to Magdala's car, still writing notes. More walkie-talkie. I hear one of them say Trey Strauss, that's Magdala's dad. We walk back towards the main hub of activity, the crime scene, and it's then that I ask the cop if I should ring Cassian, because it suddenly seems imperative that I ring him.
"Just hold off a bit," he says, surprisingly gentle, "we're ringing her parents."
I feel I can ask him now, I feel my thoughts regathering, "Is she going to be okay?"
"They're taking her to the hospital now," he puts his arm on my shoulder. I feel like I'm going to break down, like I'm going to start sobbing.
"What happened to her?" I say, my voice quivering, and it dawns on me, What has happened to Magdala? Has she been beaten? Attacked? God forbid, raped?
"It's too early to say," the cop says steadily, "but she's being taken care of. You boys wait here and we'll get some details from you."
I feel like my legs are going to give way, and I lower myself into a squat position. It all seems so surreal. Dane is texting, Tom too.
"You okay?" Tom asks, squatting beside me.
I nod. A woman cop comes over. We stand up. She says
I'm a little anxious when I haven't heard from Magdala at the start of the game, but then she texts to say she's finally on her way. I relax a little, every so often check my phone, but I know traffic can be a bitch at this time.
It’s coming up to half time, and now I'm stressing. Tom tries to reassure me that it will just be the traffic, but I worry she might have had an accident. I tell him I'll go outside and check, maybe she can't get a park. I'm just about to leave my seat, when an announcement comes over the speaker system.
"Ladies and gentlemen, could I have your attention please. Due to an incident, I have had a request that you avoid the carpark at this time. I repeat, please avoid the carpark at this time. Police and emergency services are at the scene, so please -"
I take off down the stands. "Nate," I hear Tom call, followed by his footsteps. I can feel adrenaline kicking in, my heart is thumping, I just know something is wrong. Tom and Dane are right behind me. Security is blocking the doors. "My girlfriend," I plead, pushing my way through, "my girlfriend." Already I'm trying to ring her, but her phone goes straight to voicemail.
We get through. There are police cars and an ambulance. I feel like I'm hyperventilating.
Tom and Dane are talking, but I don't hear what they're saying.
"Magdala's car," I gasp, "need to find her car." I don't want to find her car. Finding it will mean the worst. We take off at a semi run, eyes darting. Is it here? Teal green Honda CRV. Where is it? We can see the police tape, officers milling about, people crowded. We keep moving, and then, a feeling of utter devastation - we see her car and we sprint. Please be in it, I pray, please be sitting in it. But from thirty meters away I can see its empty. I reach the car, lean on it, look inside, as if she might miraculously be curled up on the backseat.
The three of us look at each other. "Oh man," Dane says, "fuck this."
Tom is the calmest. "Let's go talk to the cops," he says, leading the way, but I jog past him, I need to be first. I approach an officer, security tells us to back away, I demand to talk to a cop, my girlfriend is missing, I say. The officer takes notice of me, and I tell him about Magdala's car. He talks on his walkie-talkie and within seconds another two officers arrive. Tom does most of the talking, he's so calm, my thoughts are all over the place. Dane has his arm on my shoulder. The officers are writing stuff down. Tom nudges me for a photo of Magdala. I scroll through my phone, there are hundreds of her, of us. They take photos of my photos. They walk with us over to Magdala's car, still writing notes. More walkie-talkie. I hear one of them say Trey Strauss, that's Magdala's dad. We walk back towards the main hub of activity, the crime scene, and it's then that I ask the cop if I should ring Cassian, because it suddenly seems imperative that I ring him.
"Just hold off a bit," he says, surprisingly gentle, "we're ringing her parents."
I feel I can ask him now, I feel my thoughts regathering, "Is she going to be okay?"
"They're taking her to the hospital now," he puts his arm on my shoulder. I feel like I'm going to break down, like I'm going to start sobbing.
"What happened to her?" I say, my voice quivering, and it dawns on me, What has happened to Magdala? Has she been beaten? Attacked? God forbid, raped?
"It's too early to say," the cop says steadily, "but she's being taken care of. You boys wait here and we'll get some details from you."
I feel like my legs are going to give way, and I lower myself into a squat position. It all seems so surreal. Dane is texting, Tom too.
"You okay?" Tom asks, squatting beside me.
I nod. A woman cop comes over. We stand up. She says
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