A few weeks had gone by since the incident. His teachers had begun to notice that Henry hasn't shown up in over a week. They wondered what happened. He wasn't sick or out of town, so what?
One teacher called home to see what had happened, but his parents just said he went out for a walk and he didn't come back and to not call them again about Henry.
The teacher notified the police that Henry had gone missing.
Soon, the news of Henry being missing reached the media.
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People began to grow worried. Rosemeadow was safe! How could this have happened?
Parents were the most affected, if it happened to one kid, it could happen to theirs. Paranoia settled in, making its home in the minds of parents and children alike.
"Does anyone want to walk home with me? My parents are at work until 7 and can't pick me up."
"I can't, my parents are picking me up since that kid went missing. Henry, was it?"
The mention of Henry's name made Liam freeze up for a moment. He didn't even realize he was eavesdropping on them until they mentioned Henry.
Liam tried to focus on something else, anything other than Henry. He still felt bad over it. He felt like he was the reason Henry went missing in the first place. The only reason Henry would go out alone was if he had nobody to ask to go with him. Since he lost his few friends, he therefore lost the people he could ask.
"Hey hun, how was school?" Liam's mom said
Liam stayed quiet.
Liam's mom stopped the car. "I know it's hard for you since your friend went missing. But you've got to start speaking again, me and your dad are getting worried. So is your sister."
"I know mom... Can we please stop talking about him? It hurts hearing about him."
"Alright, I'll stop."
On the drive home, Liam still couldn't stop thinking about Henry. At first it was about the guilt of leaving him, but his mind soon drew Liam towards the weirdness of the situation. Rosemeadow was generally a safe place, sure, crime still did happen. But that's inevitable. But a missing person case? That hadn't happened until now.
