Where Is Araminta Green? (ONC 2024)

Chapter 2: That Morning

After three blissful hours of sleep, Jordan was on the move again. Kiki took the lead and bounced down the stairs while Jordan lumbered behind, rubbing his eyes and yawning. His current sleep schedule was more fitting for a cat's crepuscular rhythm than for a human.

Stumbling down the last step, Jordan banged his foot into the dresser below. "Dammit." He bit his lip to avoid screaming from the pain that radiated through the affected toe. Meanwhile, Kiki skittered off toward the kitchen, attracted by voices that may belong to someone who could fill her food bowl. Being a weekday, the rest of Jordan's family—his parents and younger siblings Darcy and Chase—were all awake and about to start their day.

"Jordan, is that you?" his mom called from the kitchen. "I didn't think you would be up yet, so I didn't put out a plate for you."

"Yeah, I'm up..." Jordan mumbled, snatching his jeans jacket from the hanger in the hallway, while he tried to ignore the pain in his foot. He was on a mission and didn't have time for physical ailments. "But I'm going outside. I need to... do some stuff for the podcast."

His parents knew Jordan was working on a podcast—since he kind of had to give them a reason for camping out in their attic for four weeks—but they weren't privy to the topic of his investigation. Because Jordan had seen the concern in their eyes two years ago when the police came by several times to question him about Araminta's disappearance. They'd been worried about how the ordeal affected him. So he didn't want them to know Araminta was still on his mind. Constantly.

"Okey..." his mother replied, probably biting her tongue to not ask her son exactly what he was going to do outside. His parents seemed to have decided to treat him as an adult during his brief stay in his childhood home, even if it took them a lot of effort not to monitor him the same way as his younger siblings and require information at all times about exactly what he was doing and with whom. "I'll put away some pancakes for you that you can eat when you return. And there is coffee in the pot if you want."

The mention of coffee was probably his mom's way of showcasing that she considered him an adult because Jordan had never drunk coffee when he lived at home. But late nights studying in college had made him appreciate the perkiness-inducing beverage. He would enjoy both the coffee and pancakes once he returned. By that time, his family would have left for work and school, so Jordan's only table companion would be Kiki, trying to snatch pieces of bacon off his platter.

The sound of breakfast bickering and the sight of two neatly packed backpacks in the hallway reminded Jordan that he no longer was part of his family's daily routine. But he also wasn't just a guest in the house. The role of the half-adult child, back for a moment but soon gone again, was difficult to master. With one foot in the adult world and one in childhood, Jordan longed for independence while also finding comfort in old patterns.

But he wasn't back in Mistwood to enjoy nostalgia from his upbringing. He was here to find Araminta, or at least attempt to do so. And that quest started here and now. Stepping out on the stairs, Jordan inhaled crisp morning air, hoping it would put him into the focused mode of a journalist looking for a scoop.

Pulling out his voice recorder—a Christmas present from his grandparents—he pressed the start button. "It's 7.15 am," he began. "About the time Araminta must have left her house that morning. In this episode, I attempt to recreate her steps before disappearing in the hopes of discovering some kind of lead."

Jordan stepped out on the sidewalk and turned right, toward the looming house next door. After Araminta's disappearance, her parents had escaped to their summer house up the coast, seldom returning to what must be a place filled with painful memories. But they hadn't sold the house. So now it just stood there, quiet and unchanging, reminding everyone in the neighborhood of how quickly life could shatter.