Missing

Chapter 2

While I was driving in the direction of more mystery, I wondered about everything that had happened. I was necessary anyways, but given the extremely unusual things that had occured so far, I needed to reflect. Specifically on the day Jace disappeared.

"Jace! Put me down or I will kick you right in the face!" an eight year old me shouted at an eight year old Jace, laughing hysterically, partly from panic at being held up above a giant slide. He had picked me up because I wouldn't go down with him. Smiling sweetly- too sweetly- down at me, he nodded. I began to relax... until he sat down. "Jace..." I warned. He leaned forward.

The next twenty seconds were spent shrieking. For him, it was delight. For me, it was pure terror. I even practiced a few cuss words I had heard some older kids saying. I earned myself a flick on the arm from Jace for that. When we got to the bottom, he stuck his feet on the ground so he wouldn't fall off while holding me, which he always found fun, though he ended up complaining about his "butt bone" afterwards. I slowly removed my hands from my face and used them to slap him.

"I deserved that." That made me want to slap him again. "And that, too."

It went on like that for a couple minutes until we heard a beeping noise. It was Jace's little phone. His mom had bought him that to keep him from disappearing. He looked sad as he answered it.

"Yeah, Mom... I'll come home..." I looked at him, becoming every bit as sad as he was. Those words meant that we were about to separate. My eyes filled up with tears until Jace kissed me on the cheek. I blushed lightly, while his lighter skin turned red all over as we both laughed. Smiling, we got our things and turned around. That's when I heard the noise.

I whirled around, and Jace was gone. Suddenly, all the light and heat drained out of the area. It felt like the whole world had gotten depressed. At that point, I became terrified to the point that I ran without even choosing to. Sobbing, I started to scream.

"Mommy! Jace! Mommy!" I screeched at the top of my little girl lungs. My dark hair flew out behind me from running. When I reached home, I fell into a quivering heap on the doorstep, half sobbing and half whispering.

"Mommy, please... help me, Jace is gone..." I said about twenty times before my mom answered the door. She picked me up and called 911. After she realized what I had been saying, she called the Michaelses as well. She cried with me as she waited for the police and Jace's parents.

I stopped the memory. I began to feel another pull in a different direction, and as I drove, I started to recognize the route. This was the way to the playground. I felt like ice as I kept driving. It felt wrong times fifty thousand to keep driving. My hands shook as I got out of the car. I stared at the giant slide and walked towards it with weak legs. I collapsed at the bottom and cried again. I felt people staring at me, and I heard some things they said.

"Who is that freak crying on the side?"

"You know who she looks like?"

"Is she that girl with the friend?"

"The dead one?"

"He disappeared here, right?"

"Oh, yeah. That is really sad. It's too bad how he died."

My head snapped up and I glared at them, my eyes puffy. "He isn't dead," I growled. They looked sympathetic. I hated them for it. Sadly, I couldn't do anything but put my head back in my arms and cry. I felt like that was all I could do since I left- cry, and find nothing.

After what felt like an eternity of nothing but tears, I went towards the spot where I felt the pull. When I got there, my worst nightmares replayed themselves. This time, it wasn't a dream. What...?