What Happened That Night (Continued)

My mind has never felt this blank before. I tried to piece together anything, anything to give an idea where Cobbie had gone off to. Did she get into a car? Did she take a new route? Did she feel adventurous and walk under the bridge rather? But nothing, nothing came to me and nothing strung together.
My eyes began watering and the man realized I couldn't carry on.
"Alright Miss Lillium, it seems this is taking quite the.... a mental toll on you. You can head home now, but if anything comes up be sure to drop by." He rose from his seat and opened the door, he wasn't empathetic to my tears he could careless how I felt.

I decided to walk the way we would have that night, see if the journey would bring back any memories lost along the way. But everything seemed so different in the day.
Well all up until the bridge. Our town was built on top of an old coal mine that ignited when I was a child. They told us that there was no harm it could do to us now, the ground beneath us would not collapse nor would our air or water be poisoned. They were right about a majority of it so it seems, but I wouldn't trust the water with from what I've seen.
This bridge is a perfect example of why though, as you approach it you notice a strange fog that doesn't move from the river's bed. Just follows it along our town and the mine beneath it. The closer you get to the water you see the bubbling and escaping steam. The mine's fire is boiling our streams, they do not dry up but they provide no life. You'd have to be a mad man to dare swim or to let alone swim in this water.
I guess this is just why the water companies were so sure it was still safe to live here, they didn't care about whether or not we'd be healthy they just wanted to expand their markets.
While standing midway along the bridge I held my head in my hands and waited, the road was silent and the only sound was of the fog swaying up around me. It had been late when I left the office, but as my eyes reopened it was as though I had regained consciousness. There is no way I had been here for this long.

"Lilliummmm...." My name rung like a bell from God knows where,
"Oh Lillium, wont you come and play?" The voice seemed to escape from beneath me and stuck inside my head like a mental plague.
"Lillium come down here, I have something to show you..." It continued, echoing on as though the world was enclosed to the two of us.
The voice rang clear, she was beneath me. But why would anyone dare to be under the bridge?
I began back down the road to the edge of the hill to make my way down into the fog. The ground was moist and being able to keep grip was nearly impossible. I made my way down fast and sharply by no choice for I spent a great deal sliding and clinging to trees and roots to regain stance. Upon making it to the shore I had no idea what to do, where to go, or where I was.
"Forwards Lillium, you wont find anything if you don't even look hard enough." The voice echoed on as a pebble came skipping across the water from in front of me.
I slowly approached as the water spewed small geysers of unusual gases into the fog. I could hear the waters bubbling go silent and I saw a grey figure outlined in front of me. I continued forward to see someone unbearably familiar staring back at me.
"Finally Lillium, I thought you'd never come." She seemed to not fear a thing as she reached into the boiling stream to pull up Cobbie's deformed corpse.
I woke up immediately. No longer was I near the bridge, it was all a dream. Or at least so it seemed. I realized my room had tracks of mud through it and my shoes were still on. It was as though I walked home from within a dream.

My body told me to clean up the mess, I had to get rid of any sight of mud or this dream. I wanted to wash away the thought really. But I also wanted avoid any further questioning of my suspicious activities.
No one was awake yet, and in which I was lucky. My mother is pretty anal about the well being of her house and the last thing you wanted to do was be the one who tracked unusual black mud through it. I scrubbed as though my life depended on it, I couldn't have anyone wake up and catch me in the act.
I was just finishing polishing up my shoes to clear their them of any remaining evidence when the door bell rang. At this hour no one would dare ring a doorbell in this town, unless something serious had came up.
As I changed into pajamas and hobbled myself down the hall behind my family I felt as though I had gotten away with my forgotten night. I too looked as though nothing out of the usual occurred.

"Uhhh, sorry to wake you at this hour... But the body of Cobbie was found this morning down the stream in the next town over. I'm sorry but, Cobbie is dead." The officer barely paused in his movements. He just took a step back and headed back towards his car after giving a once over of our reactions.
I felt my family's arms all caress me as I stood in shock. They must have felt they had comforted me from nearly breaking down. But I just felt like I had already knew.