Untold Secrets

Chapter 1

The disappearance

Never take anyone for granted
You never know what's going to happen
Live with them at the fullest
Those moments with them are Heaven

Everyone behaves differently now. Mom and Dad are more overprotective than ever. They often talk in hushed tones about something, something they are hiding from me. I don't understand why. I want to ask but I know they won't tell me. I've always known we are a strange family. I mean come on, how many teenagers can say that they learn karate before learning to ride a bike, that their mom is obsessed with teaching her daughters surviving skills, instead of teaching them arts and music. My family has always been bizarre. My dad sometimes behaves as if he comes from another planet and my mom has more knowledge than Wikipedia. But still, we were a happy family. Happy until my sister Gaia disappeared.

It was a normal Sunday morning, we were having breakfast together and everything was fine. Dad was reading a newspaper, mom was talking to someone on her phone, while Gaia and me were sitting on a couch. We loved Sundays, the only day we could all be together and relax. Mom and Dad worked the whole week, so they didn't spend a lot of time with us. But I never minded, I had my sis with me. She was more than just a sibling to me, she was my best friend, the only one I shared my every secret and feelings with. She was just one year older than me, so she understood me more than anyone else. That day she was telling me about a guy she had a crush on and I was having fun pulling her leg and seeing her go all red. She had a pure kind of beauty, because she was beautiful both on the inside and on the outside. We shared the same emerald eyes, but that's where the similarities ended. She had long blond straight hair, while I had dark brown wavy hair. She was shy and patient while I am much more extroverted and rebellious. I was with her when her friend called her, asking her to meet her in a café. She asked me to join her too but I said no, I had to meet Cordelia, my friend. Sometimes I wonder if things would have gone differently if only I had said yes. We never saw her again. She never came back. Her friend said she never called her and police confirmed it was true, but how was it possible? I was with her when it happened. It still seemed like a dream no, actually like a nightmare. I can't even imagine my life without her. Now I know why people say that we understand someone's importance only when they leave us. I took her for granted and now I don't have her anymore. I'm alone. All alone.
The police have been searching for her the whole week but they found nothing. It's as if she vanished into nothing, so after all the investigation when they found nothing, they started saying she escaped and doesn't want to be found. The worst thing is that Mom and Dad didn't even pressurise them, as if they knew the police wouldn't find anything. Does everyone expect me to believe this crap? Cause I'm not giving up on my sister. Not now. Not ever.
Is it my fault? Should I have said yes? Should I have listened to Cordelia? Saturday night she told me she had a bad feeling, as if something bad was going to happen. Obviously, I ignored it. She was one of my closest friends, like a sister actually, but she was even crazier than me. She was the sister I chose and Gaia was the sister I had. She was my partner in crime and we always got into trouble, and Gaia helped us when we fucked up. It was difficult sometimes to take her seriously. She asked me to meet her on Sunday morning because she was feeling even more anxious than the day before, she kept asking me about Gaia and if she was okay. I still don't understand how she knew, how she felt it. I blame myself for not believing her, for not doing anything to avoid whatever happened to my sister. But not again. I'm not going sit and watch while my sister is who knows where. No, I'm going to find her and bring her back. I won't give up, no matter what.
_______________________________

Mom and Dad insist on sending me to school, they say staying closed in my bedroom all day won't help anyone. I know that, in fact I'm going out, just not at school, somewhere else. Now I'm sitting on the front seat of my car, thinking about what to do next. Like always I don't have a plan, I just react without thinking about the consequences. Gaia is the cautious one, who thinks before acting. I'm in front of the café where my sister had to meet her friend last Sunday. Okay Hecate you can do this. Just go in there and look for some hint, anything that can lead you to your sister. Yeah, you can do this.
I get out of the car, closing the zip of my jacket. It was quite cool in north Italy in this time of year. I hated winter, actually the only thing I loved about it were Christmas and Gaia's birthday on 8th January. She turned 18 this year and disappeared a few days later. Now I enter in the café and take a seat. Talking to the owner would be useless, the police have already done it, so I just sit here and observe. There aren't a lot of clients today, obviously only students who want to bunk school or people without a job would be here at this hour on Monday morning. There is a couple in the left corner, kissing. Eating each other's faces actually, ugh! Well here goes my appetite
There is also Iris with her friends, having breakfast. She's in my sister's class. I've never tolerated her, so full of herself and always talking about how rich and beautiful she is. God, why do I always meet people I don't want to meet, my patience level is already zero. And oh she's looking at me and now she's coming towards me. Ugh no no no, okay Hecate keep calm, be nice, be..
"Hi Hecate, heard about Gaia, I'm really sorry"
Okay then maybe she's not really a bitch
" Who knew she'd run away like that? She was just so boring and dull, it was totally unpredictable!"
Bloody fucking bitch!
"Yeah, it's something I'd expect a bitch like you to do and don't worry she didn't run away, she'll come back soon. I don't need your fucking fake sympathy, you can go shove it up your..."
I hear a guy laughing at that, strangely I didn't notice him before. But now I see him and oh wow, I just forget what I was saying or where I am. He's the hottest guy I've ever seen. Dark hair, dark blue eyes, tall and by what I can see, really fit. He's smiling right now, a sensual amused smile. When he notices me staring at him, the smile vanishes, replaced by confusion as if he didn't expect me to see him. Actually no one seems to notice him, Iris is saying something and she looks really angry but I can't concentrate on what she's saying. It's as if I turned the mute button on and everything is in slow motion too. I watch Iris slowly walk out of the café. A girl throwing a glass of water on the floor, that falls slowly, every drop of water falling silently on the floor. What's happening? Why is everything in slow motion and why is this guy the only one not moving slowly?
He's still staring at me, it makes me nervous and yes, also afraid. His stare is intense as if he's trying to reach my soul, read my thoughts, try to understand who I am. When I force myself not to look him in the eyes, I notice something in his right hand. It's a chain, my sister's chain! She was wearing it the day she disappeared. How the hell does he have it?
My heart stops for a second and then starts beating faster. Maybe I can find her, maybe he knows where she is. Suddenly everything turns back to normal. He turns away and starts to go toward the door. I try to call him, I think he hears me but he doesn't stop. He gets out and I follow him. He's right in front of me. Okay I'm going to ask him about Gaia. I'm sure he knows where she is. I'm just going to..
He vanishes. Really fucking vanishes! He was right there before me and then the next moment he was just gone. Oh My God! Am I going crazy? Who the hell was that guy? Or should I say "what" was that guy?