Vanished

The beginning Part one

It was boiling. I felt heat rush all over my body. My head...my....head. I heard a noise, my name. It sounded distorted, I tried to open my eyes but the rays of the sun burnt them.
"Oww I can't...open my eyes!" I said my voice feeling dry and croaky.
"Come on, just come on!" snapped a voice, it sounded agitated and distressed. I knew it was my little sister Janie. She tried pulling my arm, I made no effort to move. I wanted to stay on this soft sand forever, i just felt so tired. Suddenly I was bolted up right and with shock, my eyes opened to see the golden sand and the glimmering turquoise sea before me.
"Huh?" I muttered in confusion. Why was I on a beach? What happened? I rubbed my tired eyes, my lips too dry to speak, I got up and started following my sister, she was in a mood with me and I could understand why. When we go to our house, I suddenly felt cool and more at home. My head still hurt but some of the weariness had faded.
"Sit down and I'll get you a drink of water," snapped Janie as I flopped onto the sofa, moaning in comfort. When the icy liquid touched my lips, I was in heaven. I didn't even have a chance to thank her before I engulfed it down.
"Hey Jan, I'm sorry sweetie, I shouldn't have....." Before I could finish my sentence, she snatched the glass from my hands and muttered something about running me a bath. I felt like protesting, she was treating me like a baby I was seven years older than her, for fucks sake, but I suddenly felt a pang of hunger and as I looked at the clock I realised it was lunch time. I went up to the cupboard and pulled out a bag of Malteasers and started eating them, they tasted so good.
"Hey stop, you need something nutritious, stop!" said my sister. Snatching the chocolate away and getting out the bread and peanut butter. I just laughed at her.
"Oooh look at you Little Miss Healthy!" I mocked, i didn't mean that to be mean but Janie turned round and looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"I shouldn't be doing this! This should be you making ME lunch, I'm the little sister!" Janie shouted, tears sliding down her freckled cheeks. I felt so guilty, all my anger gone. She was right, she was the little sister. I should be looking after her, not the other way round.
"Look I'm so sorry, here let me make it. You go out and play," I said in the best soothing voice I could muster. I thought this would work, it usually did, but she just shook her head, her strawberry blonde curls waving slightly.
"It's not about the sandwiches," she said through gritted teeth, I tried to hug her but she moved out the way. "I had to skip school today because you got into this same old mess, like time and time again. Daddy said that you will return by yourself, he knows what your like. He isn't bothered when you go out at night and don't return, he isn't worried anymore, but I am, I will always be waiting for you from my bedroom window, checking when your coming back. You really don't get how I feel." When she said this, she just stared at the ground, her voice didn't brake once.
"Oh sugar, baby you should have said," I said wiping her tears away before she yanked herself away and walked into her room, pleading not to be followed. I sighed, I really didn't know how upset my sister was, I wanted to make it up to her, I decided I would, once I got rid of this hangover. I made my sandwich and then took it in the bath with me.
When I got out of the bath, I threw on my best blue night dress and went to find Janie. There was a note on the table saying she had gone swimming. I quickly checked outside to see if she was ok, she was doing laps of the salty sea water that this house rested upon.
"Jan? You hungry? Come inside for some food?" I shouted. She ignored me but I knew she heard me. I tried getting her attention but she was in a mood with me so what was the point.
"Ok, I'll leave some salsa and nachos on the table for when your ready!" I said, walking back in, that was her favourite food so I had hoped that would cheer her up a little. After I laid the food out, I went into my bedroom and lead on my bed. I was so tired, so I just let sleep take over my body.
                                                              ........................
"MELANIE, WAKE UP! I said wake up!!" Shouted a voice. I groaned and told them to piss off.
"Don't you dare speak to me like that! Get up you lazy girl!" repeated the voice. I suddenly realised it was my dad and I sat up abruptly.
"Oh my god what do you want?!" I exclaimed, annoyed that I couldn't get a normal sleep without getting woken up by my retarded family.
"Where is Janie?" asked my dad in a crisp and firm tone. I looked at him, confused.
"She's outside swimming, I've just seen her," I said.
"No she's not, I've checked. How could you have just seen her, I've been back two hours and you've been asleep the entire time" said my dad
"Oh right, well she's probably at a mates," I said lying back down, annoyed that I was being interrogated for no reason.
"Well I want you to go and look for her, she's only little. She might be lost somewhere," said my dad, I scoffed. I highly doubted that but I knew my dad wouldn't drop it so I got up and as I went to the front door I saw the salsa I had left out for her was still there, untouched. A feeling of dread appeared inside me, making my stomach clench but Janie probably went to her friends right after swimming, hoping not to bump into me.
"Bye dad!" I said as I left the front door, it was dark and I suddenly felt that dread again. It's not like my little sister to be out this late but then she could be having loads of fun and maybe she just lost track of time. I clambered into my little blue car and started driving. I went around nearly every house, asking if she was there. I even went to the houses of the people I had never seen before, I went to the beach, the school as sometimes they ran an evening art club. I checked everywhere, even the football stadium and the skate park. No one had seen her, no one had heard from her and as I drove near my house, I felt like I couldn't bring myself to go in so I drove to a little fast food place and ordered myself a milkshake. I couldn't understand, where was Janie? This seaside town was tiny and Janie was only little she can't have gone far. Suddenly my mind casted back to stories about serial killers and rapists, what if my baby sister was going to be s victim of a murder, it would be all my fault, I shouldn't have gone to sleep, I should have forced Janie to come inside and we could have talked about it. Talked about everything. I could have promised to never spend a whole night away again, never get so drunk. I get plastered onto the sand until the next morning. I tried to remember last night but I couldn't. What had happened that had made me lose my way. Why didn't I have any common sense?
"Excuse me, are you alright madam?" An old lady, must have been clearing away the leftovers and getting ready to close the restaurant for the night, she touched my shoulder looking concerned at me.
"Oh um yeah I'm good, I was just thinking that's all, I'm going now." I said embarrassed, as I caught my reflection in the glass door, I saw that tears were seeping down my cheeks. I wiped them away before getting into my car and driving off.
                                                                        .......................
When I got to my house, I saw there was a police car in my parking space. My heart started pounding, what could this mean? Maybe they found her, maybe she was on her way back from her friends, maybe she got lost. I shut my eyes and prayed she'd be ok, I prayed that I would walk in and I would find Janie laughing and dipping nachos into salsa. I prayed right until I got to my front door, I looked and saw the moon glaring at the calm sea, I sighed. I needed to be calm. If I was calm everything would be ok, I believed that right until I opened the door. When I did I saw two policemen and my dad looking grave. He looked at me like I was the one that was missing.
"Mel did you find her?" He asked, in his eyes there was longing and passion. Something I hadn't seen since my mother died of cancer.
"I'm sorry, I looked everywhere. I did." I said, I was going to cry again.
"Melanie would you mind sitting down, we have some questions we would like to ask you," said one of the officers in a displeasing tone. I nodded my head and sat down, what were they going to ask me?
"Ok so we believe that you were the last one to see Janie? Where was she when you last saw her?" He said. I shuddered, I pictured her swimming in the deep blue sea, her head bobbing in and out of the water. I then pictured her getting out, a van, a man appeared in front of her, my little sister. He asked if she liked Cotten candy, I pictured her nodding and the man grinning, leading her into the van. I shuddered, I shouldn't be making stories up. I don't know if that happened, but what if it did?
"Ok well this morning I was....on the beach and Janie came to find me. She was annoyed, she said she was worried about me, I told her it was ok. I tried to apologise. She was in a mood with me so I went to have a bath, when I came out, she was swimming around here, I was tired so I went to bed. That was the last time I saw her," I said, I felt sick with guilt. What if this was my fault? One of the officers frowned at me whilst the other wrote stuff down, I felt my chest tighten.
"What were you doing at the beach this morning?" asked the officer. I stopped. What could I say? I could say I was going for a jog or that I was studying quickly with a friend. I don't know, was that even believable? The police might believe me, but chances are my dad wouldn't.
"Um I was....Last night my friend threw a party at the beach and I got a bit drunk and......" I trailed off, I didn't know how to finish that sentence, I couldn't remember a thing about last night, nothing at all. Only the fact that I got so wasted that I must have collapsed on the beach. Both policemen looked and my dad with concerning facial expressions, I looked down at my knees in shame, I knew he'd be angry and I couldn't bare looking at him in the eyes.
"Ok Miss, how old did you say you were?"asked one policeman, obviously knowing I was under age.
" Seventeen, eighteen next month," I mumbled, thinking it would make a difference.
"Right, did you know about her drinking?" Asked the officer, looking at my dad. I suddenly felt awful, what if my dad got arrested and I got thrown into care. That could happen, I'm not an adult yet.
"Yes, but I thought it was under control now." said her dad, glaring at me. I knew that I was in for a load of shit when the policemen were gone.
"Right well we will continue our search tonight. We will search the sea for any.....traces tomorrow when it's light" he said as they went for the door. I sighed, I wanted to scream and cry and tell them to look for her now. But I couldn't, I wasn't a baby, the police knew what they were doing. When they left, there was so much tension that you could slice the air with a knife.
"Dad?" I questioned, making sure he was ok. Of course he wasn't. He looked up at me and hit me with such a hard glare that I thought he might hurt me.
"You just left her? She's eleven years old and you just left her swimming on her own!" Exclaimed my dad, I wasn't sure what to say.I wanted to say sorry, say I should have had more common sense, but this was serious. This wasn't about just forgetting to put the bins out or forgetting to feed the cat. This was serious shit that was partly my fault.
"I know, I thought she was ok. I tried to get her in but she was in a mood with me, I had left her some food out. I thought that would help," I said, my eyes reverting to the food on the table. The sight burnt my eyes, I really should have made sure she came back in.
"YOU'RE PATHETIC YOU ARE!" He bellowed, I tried to speak but he chucked the salsa onto the floor and charged toward me. "I give you a lovely house, food, a happy life and you just chuck it in my face. I'm not having it anymore, once they find Janie, you can pack your bag and live somewhere else!" I was stunned. Did he really just say that, my own dad? To my face. I wanted to say something I wanted to make him take that back. How could he say that? I didn't want to live in this shit hole anyway, I sauntered off upstairs before he or I could say anything else. When I got to my bedroom, the first thing I saw was the photo of 10 year old me and three year old Janie sitting on the beach. We were both so happy, dad was too, although he had never been the same since mum died when I was eight. It was like a piece of him had been torn a part, even though I was young, I remember her well.I have pictures of her everywhere in my room. She had hair like Janie's only it was straight and it hung past her shoulders. She always smelt like raspberries and faintly of sea salt, her voice was sweet and soothing like honey and she could sing like an angel.

I looked out the window and I realised I was crying. I studied the rippling sea, the last place I saw Janie.
"Baby girl, where are you?" I whispered to the window like it had all the answers. I shut the curtains and laid in bed until I fell into a deep sleep.

(Author note: So what did you think of that first part? What do you think happened to Janie? Leave any tips on how I can improve or any questions I can answer. I'm going to start part two now to info would be great!!)