Missing

Retrospect: Hope destroyed

Days passed by slowly.

Then weeks passed by, even slower.

Still nothing.

Jacob spent the days comforting Grace, trying to remain strong for her. But he was broken inside.
Grace spent the days in the comfort of Jacobs arms. She missed her mum.

---
It had now been nearly three months since the day Connie had disappeared.
The search had continued, but so far, all efforts had been unsuccessful.

Jacob and Grace couldn't help but begin to doubt if they would ever find her.

The police had exhausted every bit of information they could gather. They had searched countless places. But they were unsuccessful in finding anything that might lead them to find Connie.

Jacob paced up and down the living room. He was waiting for the officer to arrive who had called earlier, telling him they had some news.

He heard the knock that he had been waiting for, and let the officers in, who followed him to the living room and sat down opposite him.

"We wanted to inform you of another case that has come to light. Two weeks ago, another person was reported missing, taken from their house, very similar in nature to this case. Yesterday, their body was found. We have strong evidence to believe that it was the same man who was pictured on the CCTV taking Connie."

Jacob stared at them in disbelief. He automatically assumed the worst. Connie must be dead.
The man must have finished with her now, buried her somewhere, and moved on to his next victim.

He studied the officers' faces. Both had solemn expressions. He could tell what they were thinking.
They were thinking she was gone. Even they had begun to loose hope that she would ever be found.
She was now just a missing body.

"We understand how difficult this must be. We can assure you that the whole team has done everything they can, but it has been three months now and-" but the officer was interrupted by Jacob.
"What are you saying? You're not going to carry on searching?" He narrowed his eyes in anger. He wasn't going to let them stop until they found her.

The officer shook her head. "No, not at all. We will of course be continuing the search. We just want to prepare you though, that if she is found, it may not be alive... the evidence and information that we have gathered doesn't look promising, particularly considering how his other victims have been found. Unfortunately, we do believe she may have been killed. It will be difficult, but we need you to realise that Connie may never be found alive."

They were telling him she was dead. Gone. He had to accept that she was gone and never coming back.
This was it, he thought, all hope of finding her had been destroyed.

Jacob knocked before gently pushing open the door of Grace's room. She was lying on her bed, knees curled up, facing the wall. It was how she spent most evenings.
Jacob hated to see her like this, so upset, so desperate for her mum.
"Gracie" he said softly.
Grace sat up in anticipation, she had heard him talking to the police officer and was hoping to hear some good news. She looked at him with her wide eyes which were red and puffy from crying.
Jacob glanced away for a second. She reminded her of Connie so much, they looked so alike.
He walked towards her bed and cautiously sat down next to Grace.
"Have they nearly found her?" Grace asked.
Jacob looked at her hopeful face, he knew what he was about to tell her was going to destroy that.
He wasn't sure how to approach this.
He forced his lips to form a small smile. "You're being so brave Grace, I'm so proud"
Grace just continued to stare at him, waiting.
Jacob looked down, he hated the sad look in her eyes.
"I want you to know what's happening and be honest with you about all of this" he told her.
Grace nodded. She did want to know everything that was happening. Hiding the truth from her would only make it worse. She didn't want to be sidelined just because of her age - this was her mum they were looking for.
"The police that were just here, they said that they're still no closer to finding her...they...she might not be coming back Grace, ever"
Grace let the tears that had been forming overspill from her eyes. "Is she dead Jacob? The police think she's dead don't they, that's why they think she's not coming back isn't it?" She said.
Jacob let his own tears slowly roll down his cheeks and put his arm around Grace.
Grace knew what his silence meant - she was right. Her mum was dead. She was never coming back.
"You're not going to leave me as well are you Jacob?" Grace whispered.
Jacob shook his head. He was all Grace had now, he was going to look after her, for Connie.
"I'm never going to leave you Grace ok? I'm here. We're doing this together and we are going to get through this. We have to be strong, for your mum". Jacob reassured Grace.
Grace rested her head against him. She felt safe with Jacob.

Jacob left after a short while to give Grace some time alone. Before he left, he lingered in the doorway for a moment, before leaving the room and closing her door softly behind him.

He leant his back against the closed door and slid down to the floor as his legs refused to hold him up.
He tipped his head back and looked up. "I'm going to look after her Connie, I promise" he whispered as he closed his eyes tightly.