the girl who lost things

wednesday

— jessie's pov

the week went by too fast; the weekend was fun. Derek took me to the one-direction concert, and I got my vinyl signed. It was a moment of happiness until I realized what was coming next. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday went by fast, then today hit. Wednesday. I grab an apple from the counter and dial Emily." hi, mom, how's the case?" I ask while walking down the street.

" it's hectic, but are you on your way to dance?" I take a huge gulp." yes, I'm about to get on the train," I say with tears in my eyes. I don't want to go through it, not again.

" Remember, your stronger than those bullies!" little did she know, little did she know. " yea, I have to go. but love you." I shut off the phone before I get a response. I step on the train and take a bite of my apple. Then another. Enough, a voice in my head says. I stop and throw the apple in the trash. Today was the day I was going to let him rape me. Again. For someone I don't even know. This could all be a ruse, and she could be a part of it. Maybe, I shouldn't go. 

I continue to think and make myself aware of my surroundings till I get to dance class. I undress and immediately get to stretching. Breathe. I make sure everything is perfect for this freestyle. 

I watch the girls dance; Ava was first. She did a hip-hop dance, and I swear she was directing it at me. Next, it was Emma. she did contemporary, the same genre that I was doing. I guess this was the competition. She did good, really good. My heart began to race.

Push. I try to push my feelings down. " Jessie?" the instructor calls; I stand in the front and play the music. I leave my body to go with the music. Turn after turn, leap after leap, and emotion. Put all your emotion into the dance. Everything your feeling; the hurt, the anger, the pain. I give it to the dance floor. 

Done. I drop my head, signifying the end of the dance. It goes silent, followed by a round of applause, and I look up. The eyes of the girls are all staring at me. I ran back to my spot and sat down. The instructor comes up to the center, " congratulations, Ava and Jessie. the solos are yours." I smile to myself and go back to stretching.

-- emily's pov

" Ma'am, we need to know everything about your husband." I focus my eyes on her. I was making sure to keep her on edge." he's not a bad man! he would never hurt those kids!" tears of confusion fill her eyes. " do you have kids?" she looks me directly in the eyes.

" yes, a daughter," I reply, easing up on her." well, what if she came up with something as absurd as that?" she says, jolting from her chair and to the window.

" I would believe, her and you have to believe those kids!" I walk back up to her. " he only left three kids alive? don't you wonder why?" I pull out the investigation images." look!" I put the dead children's faces on the table and then the ones he left, barely clinging to life. " this is your husband!"

" Stop! Stop! stop!" she scatters the picture on the floor and begins pacing around. " I didn't want to believe it at first, and he came home late. I thought he was having an affair." she stops and picks up one of the pictures of the dead kid. she starts to cry. " but then he began to look at Maggie weirdly, snapping and yelling at her for the littlest thing."She picks up another picture. " it's not until he came home with blood one day. until I started putting the pieces together. " she takes the image of the kids he let live. " how could he do this?"

" your husband is a pedophile and a psychopath. He finds a sexual release when he's with kids. afterward, an even stronger release when he kills them." I stop and pick up the rest of the pictures on the floor.

" Why didn't he kill all of them? Why didn't he kill maggie?" she takes a seat on the floor.

" because psychopathy and pedophilia are always clashing with each other. he needed a sense of control, by leaving them alive; it helps him control a part of the aspect. Hence, Maggie being his greatest control." 

She looks me in the eye. " he's in the cabin, across from lake moinsterr." she looks back down at the pictures of the kids. Apart from me wanted to hug her and weep with her, but I had a job to do. 

-- jessie's pov

" thank you, the class is dismissed." we all exit to the changing room. I sit on the toilet. What am I going to do? Just do it. 

Get it over with, for the girl. I change and walk out the door. Breathe. Breathe. Control, but the tears erupt from my eyes. I head into the alleyway and wait. Am I waiting to be raped? What have I become? I hear an all too familiar car rev into the alleyway, and someone gets out; I still turn my back to the car. Control yourself. Turn your emotions off.

He grabs me and puts me into the back of the car; now, I'm sitting right next to the blonde girl from before. He ties me up and puts tape over my mouth. He drives, but he doesn't stop; we were driving for half an hour. Then, the car stops, and first, he pulls the girl out. It takes about 5 minutes until he pulls me out. We were at a studio apartment; we walk up the stairs and into a doorway. " don't make a sound." he opens the door and pushes us in there. He guides us into this room with numerous locks. 

He locks us inside and then leaves. The room was bare, with just a toilet and a mattress on the floor. I take off the tape from my mouth, and I rip out the girl's tape. I fiddle with the ropes to get them loose." Hurry, let's try to get out of here." I try to un-latch the door.

" it won't work; he'll be back soon." I turn to her. "How do you know?"

" I've tried." She did look like she's lost hope in everything." how long have you been here?" she sits in the corner. "two years, I think." she says, fiddling with her finger. " my name is Clara, by the way." 

"So you're like his sex slave?" I look at her in the eyes." He kidnapped me, and I've been forced ever since." she looks back into my eyes. "Why aren't you scared?" I was. But, before I could respond, he opens the door and grabs me; he pushes me on the bed. " please, no."

-- emily's pov

I dial Jessie. This case hit heavy, " everything ok?" Morgan comes and sits in front of me. 

" Jessie's not picking up." I look back at my phone. " that's not the reason." before I could get to Morgans' extended theory, my phone rings.

𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿

I pick it up," Ian Doyle est la," then the call hangs up. My heart drops. I almost drop my cell phone.