Chapter 2
Sunlight came pouring through the window. It seeped through the curtain making Michael roll over in bed. His eyes slowly opened. Sarah was gone. Michael turned around and peered with his drowsy eyes at the clock. It was 10:15. Before he could process this Sarah burst through the door
“Ah your awake. Rise and shine. Or is it still to early?”
“Very funny,” Michael said sitting up and smiling “I needed that,”
“Well dad’s cooking breakfast so get your lazy ass downstairs,” she threw a pair of jeans at him making fall back into bed. She left the room laughing to herself. Michael grinned, pulled on the jeans and grabbed a black t-shirt from his desk. He than took a grey hoddie from his wardrobe and threw it over his head. He looked out the window to see their yard coated in glistening white snow. Michael now had almost completely forgotten about the dream or the man on the road. They felt like distant memories. Instead he was relieved to have the vacation with Shannon in the cozy Cape Cod house. He walked downstairs and his good mood was spoiled with a nasty glare from Martin. Mary elbowed him and Martin’s eyes quickly shot down towards his toast
“Morning Michael,” Gerry said enthusiastically “Want some bacon?”
“Um yes thank you,”
“Coming right up,” Gerry flipped some bacon onto a plate and handed it to Michael
“So who’s cooking for Christmas?” Sarah announced “I could use some help this year,” Sarah who was only 24, cooked for remarkable amounts of people
“I’ll help you out,” Gerry said “I can make some damn good beef,”
“So Michael how are the holidays treating you?” Mary asked
“As of now good. I’m just glad to be here with everyone,” Martin scowled at this under his breath
“Yes were glad to have you here to,” Mary said. This cause Martin to mumble under his breath
“Someone’s gotta get the ingredients for Christmas eve dinner,” no one spoke
“Martin why don’t you go?” Mary asked
“Sure thing,” Martin grumbled
“Honey go with him,” Sarah said to Michael. Both Michael and Martin silently objected
“But I-“
“Go,” Sarah said, “You two should get to know each-other,”
“You wanna take my car?” Martin said with hinted resentment
“No I’ll drive. Come on,” they both got in Michael car and began driving towards the Jams, the local food store. The car barely slid through the sleeted roads
“Martin I think we got off on the wrong foot before,” Michael said
“Oh?”
“I mean it’s no secret that were not very fond of each-other. So how about a fresh start?” Martin thought this over for a while
“Yes maybe so,” he said, “It was my fault in the first place. I’m just being possessive over my niece,”
“You have a perfectly good reason,”
“Yeah and you’re a lucky man Michael,” they pulled up at the store and Michael walked in with Martin
“Well I’m glad Martin. It will be better for Sarah without us glaring at each-other every time were near,”
“Yeah,” Martin said, “You got it,” Michael bumped into a girl with a blue dress and blond hair. She had a red scar running down her cheek
“Sorry,” Michael said. The girl didn’t respond and went to the back of the store. Martin looked at the shopping list and started loading ingredients to a cart. They purchased it at the front desk and exited the store. Michael looked at the field right by Jams noticing the firms slowly swaying back and fourth and the winds. A silence seemed to sweep over. A similar silence to Michael’s dream. And than he saw a little girl with a blue dress a deep scar running tearing down her face. The exact same girl from inside the store
“Michael come on,” Martin said “Let’s get the ingredients to Sarah,”
“Martin do you see that girl there?” Michael asked
“Huh? No what girl?”
“There standing by the ferns,” Martin squinted his arms
“I don’t see a girl,” the girl was identical to the one Michael had just seen in the store
“Wait here,” Michael said
“Michael what are you doing?” Michael went down the hill towards the field. The girl seeing him turned in fear and disappeared into the ferns. Michael had definitely not seen the girl from the store exit. She had been in the back the whole time. Perhaps there was a back entrance. Michael approached the ferns and stopped. Something was holding him back from entering. Somewhere in his head he knew not to go into the ferns. Michael looked around for the little girl and than backed away from the ferns. Martin came walking over
“Michael come on,” he said grabbing his arms “Let’s go. It’s cold,” Michael slowly turned around and walked towards the car not saying anything to Martin. Possibilities were circulating through his mind like a whirlpool. How did the girl get outside so quickly? Did she have a twin? But the scar. Martin tore into his chain of thoughts by saying
“I’ll drive this time,”
“Yeah,” Michael said. Memories of the dream and the tall figure on the road came flooding back into his mind. His knees began to weaken from under him
“Hey man are you feeling Ok?” Martin asked. And than with a flash all the memories seemed to disappear from his mind. He looked around as if he had just gotten up and said
“I’m fine. I’ll drive,”
“Sure,” Martin said looking at him suspiciously. Michael began to feel like he had thrown his second chance out the window
“Sorry for my weird behavior,” Michael remarked hastily trying to remedy the situation “I’ve been really stressed out from work lately,” to Michael relief Martin smiled
“Must feel good taking a break than,”
“Yes. Very good,” as the car hurled down the icy road Michael could not shake the feeling that he was being watched.

“I don’t what to say,” Officer Harris said taking a bite out of his sandwich “I’m sorry man,”
“Yeah,” Detective Henry Simmons was sitting in an unparked car in the middle of the parking lot. He would peer outside onto the dark streets ever so often
“Why did she leave?”
“The promotion I guess,” Simmons said, “The new job just took over my life. I was never at home. She deserved better,”
“Hey man, don’t say that,” Harris consoled
“I was never there for her,” Simmons said “Being on the kidnapping desk, all I can ever think about anymore is all the people that have never been found. Unsolved cases buried under a stack of files. It’s all I ever think about,”
“Why do you do it than?”
“You think I can just leave it all behind now? I already feel like I don’t make much of difference,”
“I guess,” Harris said “But think of all the people you’ve saved,”
“And it still goes on. Nothing I do here makes the world any different. Crime just continues to increase by the second. There’s nothing anyone can do about that. You know it’s these recent cases I just can’t get my mind off of,”
“The children?”
“Three have gone missing over the past month. And we barely have any suspects. There’s no evidence or sings of struggles. It’s like they’ve just vanished into thin air. I see their pictures every day Harris. Of them smiling, innocently. Playing with their families. It’s supposed to be the Christmas season a time for celebration. But I can only think of who’s gonna go missing from their bed on Christmas Eve,”
“You can’t blame yourself. That isn’t going to help anything,”
“It’s my job. Who else is to blame?”
“Well my patrol is just about over,” Harris said peering at his watch “We can go now. Thanks for accompanying me,”
“Yeah it was nice to talk to you,” Simmons replied “Better than sifting through missing persons files. And good luck with the test on Friday. I could use a partner,”
“I’ll do my best,” Harris said. He started the car again and began driving “Henry you have to block out murder, and kidnapping from your mind when you’re not on the job,”
“I wish it was that simple. I really do. This job consumes everything though. Your mind, your personal life your family,”
“Well thanks for the positive encouragement,” Harris said “Remember I want to pass the test,” Simmons chuckled
“Or it’s just me. You’ll do better,” the car pulled up and Simmons’s house
“See you Henry,” Harris said
“Yeah we’ll talk tomorrow. I’ll keep you informed on the case,” Simmons got out of the car and closed slammed the door. Harris sped away into the night. Simmons stuck the key into the lock and slowly turned it opening the door to his now deserted house. It was dark and empty not how Simmons was used to it. His wife, Alison did not look up from dinner anymore to greet him and ask him how his day was. He sighed deeply and kicked his shoes to the side flipping the lights on. Despite his hopes this action did not make the house feel any less deserted. He sat down at his desk, opened the cabinet, and pulled out a stack of papers. Most of them were picture. One was a boy with dark black hair and freckles smiling flashing the camera a toothy grin. Another was a girl with blond hair and a button nose on a swing. Here they were free, happy without a care in the world. And now they were gone. Vanished without a track. Simmons never expected every case to turn out perfect but there was always an explanation. Always a reason, a motive. Simmons stared at the pictures for a long time the silence only broken by the ticking of his grandfather clock. Eventually, as time passed on he began to become more and more drowsy. Just as his eyes started to shut he noticed something in the corner of his eye in both the pictures. Something disturbing.

“Now this is one expertly crafted fire,” Gerry said rubbing his hand together. He sat back in the rocking chair
“Nice one dad,” Sarah said. It roared up over the fireplace greedily sucking up the wood
“Ah now this is cozy,” Aunt Mary said sinking back into the sofa. Martin remained silent relaxing on the couch
“So I heard you boys figured out your issues,” Sarah said to Michael
“Yes most of them,” Martin said
“What do you mean?” Sarah asked
“He was acting strange this morning,” Martin remarked accusingly “I think he works to hard,”
“Were you?” Sarah inquired smiling
“I just thought I saw something that wasn’t there,” Michael said hastily wanting to change topic. Sarah smile faded remembering the incident on the road. Gerry saw the look on her face and said
“Well I just wanted to announce how great it is to have everyone with us for Christmas,” he raised his wine glass
“Dad,” Sarah said
“No someone’s gotta say it. This is the first time we’ve all really been together. And Michael you’ve been good to my daughter this whole time. I’m proud of the both of you,” Michael smiled warmly
“Gee dad waitta get all sentimental,” Sarah said “But thanks,”
“Yes thank you,” Michael said
“Well said Gerry,” Aunt Mary said approvingly
“So have you heard what’s going on around here?” Martin asked. It seemed like he had wanted to say this for a while now. Everyone looked at each other. Gerry knew what he was talking about
“Martin I’m not sure this is the best time-“ he began
“What’s been happening?” Michael asked interested
“Three kids have gone missing,” Martin replied eagerly “All in the past month,”
“I haven’t heard of this,” Mary said softly
“That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration,” Sarah said
“Hey if you don’t believe me look it up,” Martin said “I saw it on the news yesterday,”
“What happened to them?” Michael inquired
“Nobody knows,” Martin replied “They just disappeared from their beds in the middle of the night. And I mean literally disappeared into thin air. They haven’t found a trace of them,”
“Creepy,” Sarah remarked
“It’s not right,” Gerry said, “The police haven’t done anything about it. They have no idea what there doing despite the lies that they feed to the public,”
“That was great thing to hear before bed Martin,” Sarah said
“The worst thing is that it could easily happen again,” Michael said
“Your right,” Gerry acknowledged, “The authorities are baffled by these kidnappings. Who’s gonna stop it?”
“Infact, it feel like it needs to happen again for the authorities to make any progress,”
“Alright you two,” Aunt Mary said, “That’s quite enough. I’m going to bed. You coming Martin,”
“Huh? Yeah sure,” the two of them exited the room
“It’s such a small community,” Sarah said “It’s creeps me out to think of things like this going on,”
“Don’t worry about it,” Gerry said “I’m sure whoever is doing this will be caught,”
“Well when Anya comes I’m keeping my eye on her,” Sarah said referring to her niece
“You know, what I saw it might have been one of the children,” Michael said. This caused Gerry and Sarah to stare at him “I saw a blond girl with a blue dress disappear into the ferns,”
“Michael,” Sarah began uneasily “I don’t think Martin saw anything,”
“He didn’t,” Michael, replied, “He was standing right next to me and he didn’t see her. She had a scar across her face,”
“Maybe you heard about the missing children somewhere and you sub concisely absorbed the information,” Gerry said “And you just hallucinated from stress,”
“No I’m telling you this was the first time I’ve ever heard about the missing children,”
“You’re sure?”
“Very,”
“Well I don’t know then,” Gerry said slowly rising from his seat “This whole things very mysterious. If you want perhaps you should tell the police tomorrow. Goodnight guys,”
“Goodnight dad,” Sarah said. When he left Sarah said, “Michael I was very tempted to bring up what happened on the road. Maybe you should see someone-“
“No,” Michael demanded, “I’m fine,” Sarah did not reply to this “Ok?”
“Ok,” Sarah said, “If you say so,” for a while they just lay on the couch together. Michael stared directly into the fire watching the flames crackly into the air. And without knowing it he feel slowly into a deep sleep.

Michael was out in the yard his feet into the snow. He only had a t-shirt and his boxers on. Flakes fell and rested in his hair. Michael looked around and he saw the little girl standing by the edge of the woods. She turned to him and beckoned him over with a hand motion. Michael walked as fast as he could pushing through the thick snow. When he got close she ran into the woods beckoning him more. He knew he had to follow. He tailed her into the woods and before he knew it they were deep in the forest. Finally, she stopped and turned around getting a good look at her face with the deep scar running down her cheek
“Who are you?” Michael asked
“No one,” she replied. Her voice felt distant and it echoed in his mind
“You were taken weren’t you? From your home,”
“I- I don’t remember. It was so long ago,”
“Look I’m gonna tell the police where you are. And there gonna find you and bring you home to your family,”
“But I only exist to you,” she said simply “I am nothing,”
“No, everyone’s looking for you,”
“They’ll never find me. It’s too late for you now,”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t talk anymore. He’s coming,” Michael shivered at this
“Who’s coming?” he said. But as he was saying this he felt something sinister approaching. The girl didn’t respond. And now Michael heard a voice in his head again. But not the girls “You don’t see. I always see,” this voice was very familiar
“Who’s coming!?” Michael demanded
“Him,” the girl replied. Than everything started to go black. He heard screaming echoing in his head. The girl screaming before he was pulled into the real world drenched in sweat.