LOST GIRL

Chapter 6

After 2 weeks, there was a new letter waiting for me at my front door. I ripped through it before I could even grab my keys to unlock my door. This time there were two letters, on the first letter it had in huge, bold letters: LEAVE THE POLICE OUT OF THIS IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE SHE IS. Along with the letter, there was a picture of her attached. I couldn't do anything but put my hands over my mouth and silently cry. My baby sister. She had her long, beautiful, curly hair up into a high ponytail, as she always wore it. She had on a white t-shirt and black spandex shorts, with her favorite pink crocs. There was a bandana wrapped around her mouth and I could see the wetness around her beautiful brown eyes. My baby sister. Lord my baby sister. I could see the hurt in her eyes. I knew she wanted to come home. I wanted her to come home. The second letter attached stated: "In order to receive clues on your sister's whereabouts, you must go back to police and tell them that the letter situation was all a lie. Tell them something to make them drop the case again. OR ELSE."

Seeing the picture of Zalia was enough to make me drive right over to the police department to retract my statement. I told them I had written the letter myself and only did that so that they could start back investigating the case. They all looked at me as if I was a patient fresh out of the psych ward. Mila's dad took me into his office to inform me that I couldn't make false reports like this again. And how I could've gotten someone in trouble had they followed up on any leads they would have received. I told him I understood, I just really wanted her case to be looked into again. He said he is still actively working on her case but by making false reports, it makes everything more complicated. I apologized over and over until he finally let me leave his office.

News traveled quickly because as soon as I walked through my front door, Brian and Mila were there waiting with a slew of questions.

"Babe, have you seen the news," Brian asked, with a look of concern.

"You're all over it, Zee," Malia said, standing up.

I took a deep breath, "let me see it."

    The article read: "SISTER OF MISSING GIRL CLAIMED LETTER WAS HOAX". There were multiple articles painting me as a liar, psychopath, attention seeker and someone that is wanting to gain money from her sister's disappearance. It was all so overwhelming but I knew it had to be done in order for me to bring Zalia home for good.

    I sat down at the dining room table and was preparing to tell Mila and Brian what was really up, when I received a call from my mother.

I answered the phone and she yelled, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME AND YOUR FATHER? THIS IS WHY WE WISHED IT WAS YOU INSTEAD," and she ended the call.

    I could feel the tears forming in my eyes because all the things I felt about myself were true. It should have been me instead of Zalia. I brushed it off and turned back to Brian and Mila, who were staring at me, waiting for me to speak. I showed them the letters and the picture and their mouth dropped exactly as mine did. Mila even started to cry. She always looked at Zalia as a younger sister as well. I told her she could not tell her dad about these letters or the picture or whoever the abductor is, would probably harm Zalia. For now, we know she's alive and we have to do whatever we can to bring her home.

"So what do we do now," Mila asked.

"I guess we'll wait for the next letter," I replied.

Brian reached for my hand and said, "We are going to bring her home, Babe. And whoever this sick bastard is, will receive exactly what is coming to him."