Missing

Facing fears

Jacob tried the handle, expecting to find it locked, but was surprised when the door slowly began to swing open with a creak.

Connie turned to Jacob in concern, as worry immediately flooded her body.
He wouldn't leave the door unlocked. Unless of course, they were no longer here - had they already gone, were they too late?

Connie had to close her eyes as she stepped through the door.
She couldn't stop the memories from flooding back and she was taken back to that day...
...the sharp pain where his knee hit her back, the rubbing of the rope against her wrists, the damp smell.
The door to the basement...there it was, when she opened her eyes again, in front of her.
The chains didn't sit across the door though, instead they trailed loosely to the ground and the bolts were all open.
Surely he wouldn't leave this door unlocked, if Grace was still here, otherwise she would be able to escape.
Unless of course, he was confident there was no way Grace would be able to escape even with an open door...

Connie reached out for the handle. She had to get down there, what if Grace was in need of help and every second counted?
But Jacob stopped her, by placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you sure you want to go down there?" he asked warily, as he looked around at their eerie surroundings. "Maybe we should wait for the officers...you don't know what might be down there"
"I'm fine." Connie retorted.
She was afraid of what she might find down those stairs, but she was here now and she had made it this far, so she was determined to continue in the hope they would find at least something to help in the search for Grace.

The metal was cold against the palm of Connie hand, which she had placed loosely around the handle, and she hesitated briefly before opening the door.
She shivered as she looked down into the oblivion that awaited her, as the staircase faded into darkness after the first three visible steps.

But the staircase was suddenly illuminated and Connie jumped in surprise, turning around to find Jacob holding his phone and using the torch light to help guide them.
He gave her a small smile and Connie steadied her breathing.
"Maybe I should go first." Jacobs suggested.
But Connie shook her head and instead simply held out her hand to take the torch from Jacob, and began leading the way downstairs.

The staircase was narrow and Jacob found his shoulders nearly touched the walls either side of him, only just able to walk through. It seemed never ending, creating and enclosed and claustrophobic feel.
Connie stopped at the foot of the stairs, just below the last step where the narrow passage finally opened up into a vast empty space.

Both scanned their eyes frantically around the room as best they could in the dim light, as even with the torch, it proved a difficult task.

Connie looked to her right and shone the torch at the wall ahead in the same direction, slowly moving the light to follow the searching path of her eyes.

It was only a matter of seconds until she saw it.
"Jacob." Connie whispered, keeping her eyes fixated on the spot highlighted by the torch light.
Jacob immediately looked to Connie, then followed her gaze to the small area of the room that the light had illuminated.

Connie suddenly wished she had found the room empty.
She would have preferred to have found nothing here, and for him to have taken Grace to another location, rather than what she did discover, a lifeless body slumped against the wall.