THE PICTURE OF YOU -rafe cameron-

042; missing

"Myra?"

JJ's voice rang out groggily into the small fishing shack down by the marsh, not getting a response. Daylight peered in through the old windows, filling the place with a calming kind of morning glory. A faintly golden one. It was pretty, although it did illuminate all the dust that laid upon every surface of the home. JJ had woken up not long ago, still feeling a overwhelming sense of tiredness lingering within his veins. He had slept at home in his own bed, which was rather unusual for him these days. Him, Pope, Kiara, John B and Sarah had been fully preoccupied lately. Their search for the royal merchant gold took up a lot of time and honestly a lot of JJ's energy and focus too. Energy was a thing he almost never ran low on, but focus however, that he would lose rather quickly.

"Myra? Hello?" the pouge boy called out as he rounded a corner, peering into the living room. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before dragging his hands through his messy blonde mop of hair. The small house laid still and gentle, washing over JJ with a kind of calmness that he hadn't felt in a long time, years even. Their dad wasn't home, he knew as much. The house was never this quiet when he was around and the air didn't feel this light and easy to breathe. JJ took a deep breath, dragging his feet out onto the porch. He gazed around, squinting as the bright sunlight almost blinded him. It danced over the dry grass on their yard and it made the water down by the marsh glisten. "My?" JJ called out again, a little louder this time, "hey stinky?". The yard was empty, so was the water further down on their property. Still and empty, gently moving with the faint summer breeze. Their old and run down fishing boat was docked by their wobbly wharf, left untouched by his little sister. JJ stared at it as it gently bobbed back and forth with the slight waves. Myra wasn't out somewhere fishing, she wasn't mowing the lawn, she wasn't planting seeds and she wasn't out in the marsh swimming. The woods were still, not showing any sign of her. She wasn't seen and she wasn't heard outside, which was unusual for a day as nice as this. Myra lived for the summer, it was when she was truly the most in her element. Free to roam around in the sun. It said itself that sweater weather and school isn't exactly her forte. Nor was it JJ's either. It could be seen so clearly on the both of them he thought.

JJ walked back into the old house again, now stomping his feet. He was growing impatient and frustrated, with a slight thump beginning to be felt within his chest. He knocked on the bathroom door, only to find it unlocked. He pushed it open, but Myra wasn't in there. She would've yelled at him before he would've even managed to catch a sight of her, that's for sure. But it was quiet. JJ then made his way towards Myra's bedroom, finding the door closed. He had gotten back quite late last night, so he had gone straight to bed without checking on either his dad or his sister. The small house had been dark and silent, so he had just figured that they were both sound asleep. JJ had been quiet himself, as to not disturb them. "My?" he asked gently as he stopped by her bedroom door, knocking three times. Thump, thump. "Hello Myra?" he asked once more upon getting no response. Thump, thump, thump. He knocked again, raising his voice a little, "My?". JJ reached his right hand down to the doorknob, feeling the cold metal of it. He began twisting it as he held his breath, preparing to either see his sister sound asleep on the bed or hear her yell at him for invading her private space. The door was unlocked, but Myra wasn't in there. JJ quickly noticed that as he popped his head into the room, peering around carefully. It was a little messy and the bed wasn't made. She had clusters of things laying on both her desk and her nightstand. JJ pushed the door open further, stepping into the small room. It smelled like Myra. He wandered around, soon reaching the bed. It was cold, as if she hadn't laid in it for a while. Hours at least. JJ felt stupid for not checking in on her last night, now he didn't know what to think. He wandered around the room looking for clues, but he found nothing.

A million thoughts spun around in JJ's head as he drove his dirtbike over to the chateau. It wasn't a long drive, but enough to make the blonde boy spiral. He drove fast, making the bike fly over every bump in the road. His heartbeats had seemingly doubled within the past few minutes, and he could practically feel his heart beating out of his chest. It was a feeling that he was unfortunately familiar with, yet he didn't like it at all. It made him feel weak, like an easy target. John B walked out onto the porch as JJ made his way down the dirt road, stopping his bike by the end of it. "Hey man, what's up?" John B called out in a chill manner, a dark tinted glass bottle of cheap half drunken beer in his right hand. "What's up?" JJ muttered as he laid his dirtbike down in the dry glass before the chateau, stomping his feet over towards his friend, "what's up... Myra is gone, that's what's up". John B frowned as he took a sip of his beer, swallowing it as he glanced at JJ. "Gone? What do you mean Myra's gone?" he asked, needing more clarification on the whole situation. "She's gone, she's missing" JJ repeated himself, anger and frustration lingering so clearly within his voice. He was stressed to say the least. What if she had gotten hurt? Or worse. He couldn't bare the thought of it. All while he had been out chasing gold, forgetting about her. Forgetting to take his responsibility as her older brother. He could never forgive himself if that was the case. Thump, thump, thump. JJ put his right hand over his chest, feeling every single harsh beat of his racing heart.