Ellie; short story

It was cold and wet and dark walking through the ditch. I was looking for my partner, Ellie. I saw the old brown shed our boss, Leighton had told me not to look in. She’d sent me here to look for Ellie. We all belong to a service working to rescue missing people, but now it was my own partner who was missing.

The sun was setting, and the air was beginning to grow cold around me. I hugged my jacket closer to me and walked on. There was no giving up, no stopping until I found her. Not only was it my job to find her, but I wanted to because she’d grown to become my best friend. I looked at the old shed again. I kept my distance from it, obeying orders from Leighton. What’s wrong with that shed? That I don’t know. There’s nothing I, a trained professional with more experience seeing scary things than most, couldn’t handle.

I thought back to the morning that Ellie had disappeared. It had only been two days ago. I remember getting up and checking my phone, I’d had one missed call from Ellie. I thought nothing of it and opened my window. The air smelled of rain and the grass appeared to be wet. I noticed my car was covered in rain drops too. It must’ve rained while I was sleeping. There was a small rainbow off in the distance. I took a picture of it to send to my mother, who loved rainbows. Then I got ready and went off to work, where I first heard Ellie was gone.

Now, all I can think is one missed call from Ellie! One missed call from Ellie! Maybe if I’d got her call, I could’ve done something. We have no idea where she could be, but Leighton seems to think I should be searching the ditches around the outside of the city. Others from the team are searching elsewhere, but it feels like I should be the one to find her.

I came to an area of the ditch that was full of water. Disgusting. Just as I was about to walk around it, I wondered… Could she… Could she be in... there? The water was murky, discolored and I couldn’t see an inch beneath the surface. I decided to call Leighton. I quickly pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and just as I did so, I accidently dropped it into the ditch. “Are you serious?!” I shouted, frustrated. “Ew.”

I rolled up my sleeves and began to comb through the remains of the water. Then my hand touched something that felt like clothing. I froze. I pulled it out and saw it was a jacket. It was a jacket all the members of my team have.  I looked at the arm, where our names were sewn into it. Ellie. I began to feel hot, and sick. I felt like I was going to faint. The jacket was ripped and torn and covered in mud. I got myself out of the sludge water, and sat on the dirty grass close to the shed. I stared at the jacket and held my breath. “Don’t cry,” I said to myself. “She’s alright. You just found her jacket, not her. Keep looking.” I let out a breath but with that came the anger. “WHOEVER DID THIS,” I screamed. “WHOEVER DID THIS I’M GOING TO FIND YOU.” I felt sick to my stomach and so weak. Where is she?

I heard a muffled noise coming from the sludge. It sounded like.. music? My phone! I ran into the water and started to search and search for my phone. It grew more quiet and then stopped, but I didn’t stop. I eventually found it but it wouldn’t turn on. I decided it was time to go back to the office since it was no use searching in the dark alone. I started on my way back to my work and heard a sound.  It was twig snapping. I felt scared which is rare for me. I didn’t know what to do. I stood there on the road listening for it again. Crack. I got my flashlight out and pointed it to side of the road opposite the shed. There was a bushy area just a few meters from me. That’s where the sounds were coming from. I had an urge to run, but my job is to find Ellie, and running didn’t seem like the right choice.  

I gathered enough courage to take a step towards the bushes. I heard a whimper and thinking it could be her, I ran to the noise. I pulled back some branches to see Ellie, looking sad, hurt and scared under a tree. I ran to her side. “Ellie! Are you alright? What happened?” I asked trying to push the tree off of her. It looked like someone used a saw to cut it most of the way through, and then pushed it on her. She had cut all along her throat, arms, legs and face. I asked her if she had her phone with her, and she nodded yes. It had cracked but I was still able to use it. I dialed 911 and started talking. Then I saw Ellie, and her last movements were coming. She seized and I began to cry knowing these were death throes and she was dying. I touched her hand and told them to hurry with an ambulance. But it was all too late. Ellie was gone already.

After that, the rest is a blur. I have been just sitting at home the past few days. It all seemed like a dream. Some days I still hope I’ll just wake up, and Ellie would still be here.

I hope you enjoyed my short story! I wrote it earlier this year for my creative writing class! Let me know what you think in the comments or message me! please <3 my story too and vote! Thanks for reading :) I hope you follow me, I'll give you a follow back! -Julia